Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton reveled in reliably red Arizona, seeking to pluck a Republican state away from her counterpart, Donald Trump, in the closing days of the caustic race for the White House.
Meanwhile, Republican candidate Trump campaigned with rare discipline as he tried to close his gap to Clinton before next week’s election.
“’Stay on point, Donald, stay on point,”’ Trump, campaigning on Wednesday in Florida, teasingly quoted his staff as saying. “’No sidetracks, Donald. Nice and easy. Nice and easy.’”
Photo: AFP
Trump cannot win the election without carrying Florida, underscoring how narrow his path to the White House is.
Despite tightening polls, Clinton still has more options, which was underscored by her decision to make a stop in Arizona, which has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only once since 1952.
“This state is in play for the first time in years,” Clinton said at a nighttime rally on the campus of Arizona State University.
Clinton, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, was also buoyed by the Cubs’ dramatic victory over the Cleveland Indians in the clinching game of the World Series, giving the city its first baseball championship since 1908.
Clinton watched a portion of the game on an aide’s electronic device after concluding her appearance in Tempe, Arizona.
Clinton’s campaign has been eyeing Arizona for weeks, given Trump’s unpopularity with Hispanic voters.
As part of her pitch to voters in the state, Clinton painted a grim view of life for Hispanics under a Trump administration.
There was late action on Wednesday in Michigan, too, as well as in North Carolina, where US President Barack Obama tried to energize black support for Clinton.
Early voting in North Carolina shows a 5 percentage point drop in ballots from black voters.
Obama, offered an urgent message to North Carolina voters.
“The fate of the republic rests on your shoulders,” he said.
He also criticized Trump’s history of sexist comments and his initial reluctance to disavow white supremacists. They continue to rally behind the Republican nominee, though he rejects that support.
“If you accept the support of Klan sympathizers, then you’ll tolerate that support when you’re in office,” Obama said.
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