Clinton touts optimism against Trump’s grim warnings
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
brandished starkly different visions of America as they headed into a
fierce final weekend of campaigning, one celebrating hope as the other
bashed corruption.
Trump doubled down on his attacks on
Clinton as a product of a venal and incompetent establishment, while
Clinton headlined an optimistic concert spectacular featuring superstar
singer Beyonce.
Forecasts based on polling averages
still give the 69-year-old Democrat an edge over the 70-year-old
Republican property mogul ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
But Trump has been buoyed by signs that
he is closing the gap in the key swing states that will decide who
secures an electoral college win.
So both headed Friday to the American
rustbelt, where blue-collar voters that were once reliable Democrats may
be tempted by Trump’s protectionist promise to repatriate jobs from
Mexico and China.
Clinton’s campaign brought her to
Cleveland, Ohio, a state that fellow Democrat President Barack Obama won
in 2012 but where she now trails Trump in opinion polls by around five
percentage points.
She was introduced with a show-stopping
set by rapper Jay-Z and his even more famous wife Beyonce, who sang
songs of emancipation and empowerment wearing a version of Clinton’s
trademark pantsuit.
“The world looks to us as a progressive
country that needs change,” Beyonce declared. “I want my daughter to
grow up to see a woman lead our country. That is why I’m with her”
Riffing on the theme, Clinton portrayed
her campaign to become America’s first female president as the next step
in the civil rights struggle.
“We have unfinished work to do, more
barriers to break, and with your help, a glass ceiling to crack once and
for all,” she declared, to loud cheers.
– ‘Dark vision ‘ –
Earlier, Clinton had been in Detroit,
Michigan, where supporters booed her populist rival when she attacked
his affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a “dark vision” of
an America mired in poverty and failure.
“When I hear my opponent talking about
America I don’t recognize it,” she declared, touting her own “confident,
optimistic, inclusive” agenda.
The crowd laughed in delight when she
mocked the New York billionaire, who avoided the Vietnam War draft, for
wearing a camouflage baseball cap.
Trump has run one of the most aggressive
and populist campaigns in history — browbeating his Republican primary
rivals into submission before launching into Clinton, “such a nasty
woman.”
Trump was in Hershey, Pennsylvania
bidding to use his popularity with the white, male working class to
smash a hole in the “firewall” pollsters once thought Clinton enjoyed in
Democrat-leaning states.
“I want the entire corrupt Washington
establishment to hear the words we’re about to say. When we win on
November 8 we’re going to ‘drain the swamp’,” he said, as the
13,000-strong crowd took up the chant.
He predicted that Clinton will face
prosecution after an FBI inquiry into her inappropriate use of private
email when she was secretary of state, and vowed to tear up current US
free trade deals.
“We’re gonna win Pennsylvania big,” he
said. “And by the way, I didn’t have to bring J-Lo or Jay-Z. I’m here
all by myself,” he added, mocking in advance Hillary’s celebrity event.
– ‘As corrupt as they come’ –
A Pennsylvania polling average compiled
by tracker RealClearPolitics gives Clinton a 2.6 percentage point edge
in the state, but the huge crowd Trump drew was clearly in tune with his
message.
“Hillary is about as corrupt as they
come,” declared 27-year-old welder Logan Sechrist, who came to Hershey
from Lebanon, Pennsylvania with his pregnant wife to hear Trump’s plan
for jobs.
“I think honestly we need somebody who’s
a businessman and not a politician,” Sechrist said. “The country’s
falling apart. We’re ready for something different.”
Zach Rehl, a 31-year-old Marine veteran,
said previous Republican candidates had failed to speak up for factory
workers who have seen their jobs shipped abroad under global trade
rules.
“This thing hits people at home,” he said, predicting that election night on Tuesday in Pennsylvania would be “pretty close.”
Some of Clinton’s supporters have a similar feeling — or in their case, a creeping dread.
Clinton’s supporters were getting tense.
“It’s nerve-racking that Trump’s gotten this far,” said Rachel Zeolla,
27, who works in marketing, at an earlier rally in Pittsburgh.
For the first time some pollsters agree with them.
Pennsylvania, Michigan and perhaps Ohio
were once seen as low hanging fruit for Clinton, guaranteeing her
victory even if she doesn’t pick off a prize like Florida — but the race
has tightened.
The prospect that the November 8 vote
will be close or that a once unlikely Trump victory could presage
instability and recession has rocked markets.
The S&P 500 stock index closed down
for the ninth straight day Friday, and the leaders of America’s friends
and foes alike are watching in amazement as the world’s most powerful
nation turns on itself.
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