Clinton, Trump focus on Florida as election day nears - Action News
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Clinton, Trump focus on Florida as election day nears

With the turbulent White House race scrambled in new directions, Donald Trump is campaigning like it all hinges on one all-too-familiar swing state: Florida.

In the campaign's final days both sides are fighting for support in swing states

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is spending a lot of time in Florida in the campaign's final week, a state many say he can't win the election without. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

With the turbulent White House race scrambled in new directions, Donald Trump is campaigning like it all hinges on one all-too-familiar swing state: Florida.

There was late action Wednesday in such unlikely arenas as Arizona and Michigan, too and in North Carolina, where President Barack Obama tried to energize black support for Hillary Clinton. But Trump marched ahead in his third multi-day visit to the Sunshine State in recent weeks.

The Republican nominee lashed out at "Crooked Hillary" in Miami, predicting that a Clinton victory would trigger an "unprecedented and protracted constitutional crisis" as federal investigators probe the former secretary of state's email practices.

Conceding nothing in the state, Clinton has also been a frequent visitor. She posed for pictures and shook hands during a surprise visit to a South Florida Caribbean-American neighbourhood Wednesday morning.

Both sides agree the New York businessman has virtually no chance to win the presidency without Florida's trove of 29 electoral votes. Clinton has been ahead there in opinion polls, but Democrats acknowledge that the FBI's renewed attention to her has helped rally reluctant Republicans behind their nominee. That's given Trump an enthusiasm boost in Florida and across Midwestern battlegrounds long considered reliably blue territory.

"I'm definitely nervous," said former Pennsylvania governorEd Rendell, a Democrat. "Democrats in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, if you heard it was over, if you thought those states were in the bag, don't believe it."

Nothing is guaranteed

Perhaps heeding Rendell's warning, Clinton's team is devoting new resources to states like Michigan, which hasn't supported a Republican presidential nominee in nearly three decades.

Former president Bill Clinton was making an unannounced appearance in Detroit Wednesday night to meet privately with black ministers, the city's mayor and other local leaders. While Hillary Clinton had two appearances Wednesday in Republican-leaning Arizona, she planned to spend part of Friday in Detroit as well.

At the same time, a pro-Clinton super PAC was spending more than $1 million on Michigan airwaves along with at least $1 million more in Colorado, another state where Clinton has enjoyed a significant polling advantage for much of the fall.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is focusing her campaign efforts in states where her lead is narrowing, which includes Florida. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Early voting numbers in some states suggest that her challenge stems, at least in part, from underwhelming support from African-American voters. Weak minority support could complicate her path in other states, too, including North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Early voting in North Carolina shows a five percentage point drop in ballots from black voters from 2012.

Obama, the nation's first black president, offered an urgent message to North Carolina voters on Wednesday: "The fate of the Republic rests on your shoulders."

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," Obama said, "then you'll tolerate that support when you're in office."

At the same time, Clinton allies are speaking directly to black voters in a new advertising campaign running in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida. The ad from the pro-Clinton Priorities USA shows white Trump supporters screaming at and pushing black protesters, along with Obama warning that voters would lose "everything" if Trump wins.

'We gotta win big'

As the final-days scramble for votes intensifies, Florida remains perhaps the nation's most critical swing state.

The New York businessman campaigned in three Florida cities Wednesday Miami, Orlando and Pensacola and will follow up with a stop in Jacksonville on Thursday.

"We don't want to blow this," he told rowdy supporters in Miami. "We gotta win. We gotta win big."

While Trump has devoted perhaps his most valuable resource his time to Florida, Clinton has built a powerful ground game, backed by a dominant media presence that dwarfs her opponent's. The Democratic nominee has more than doubled Trump's investment in Florida television ads. Overall, the state has been deluged with $125 million in general election advertising by far the most of any state.

Follow the U.S. election onTuesday, November 8thwith CBC News.

CBC online:Our day starts first thing in the morning atcbcnews.cawith news and analysis, then as polls close get live results and insights into the conversations happening on the ground and online. We'll cover the story from a Canadian perspective all day until a new U.S. president is unveiled.
CBC television: America Votes, CBC News' election special with Peter Mansbridge starts at9 p.m. ET on CBC and CBC News Network.
CBC Radio One: Our election special hosted by Susan Bonner and Michael Enright starts at8 p.m. ET.