Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump entered the final stretch of a bitter campaign – marred by mudslinging and ceaseless accusations – with each candidate declaring the other as unfit to be president on the eve of November 8 vote.
The Democratic and Republican rivals were making a last-minute push for votes in battleground states that could decide the outcome in Tuesday’s election.
Clinton leads Trump by 5 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Friday, maintaining her advantage in the national survey even as the race tightens in several crucial swing states.
In the Oct. 30-Nov. 3 opinion poll, 44 percent of likely voters supported Clinton while 39 percent supported Trump.
The Democratic is getting some starpower support from President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, who are campaigning for her this weekend.
Scheduled on Sunday for appearance is top American basketball star forward LeBron James, who will be by her side in Cleveland, a rare showing on the trail for James.
In Cleveland, Clinton relied on the power of Beyoncé and Jay Z. The singer and her rapper husband performed at a get-out-the-vote concert.
Swinging through several places, Trump has made the FBI disclosure of another probe related to Hillary Clinton’s private email account central to his final pitch to voters.
“If she were to win it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis,” Trump said in New Hampshire on Friday.
With Florida a key batleground, Clinton will be in Miami area Saturday before flying to Philadelphia, where she is set to share the stage with pop singer Katy Perry, the latest in a string of concerts aimed at moving young people to the polls.
Her campaign said some one million volunteers would go house to house and make calls over the final stretch.
Trump’s campaign is relying mostly on the Republican National Committee to reach out to individual voters, with a ground game generally seen as far less sophisticated.
Trump is campaigning in the Tampa area first thing on Saturday and then planned to jet to North Carolina and Nevada before ending the day in Colorado.
He will blitz through nine states, including Iowa and Florid.
In Pennsylvania, Trump mocked Clinton for her celebrity supporters. “I am here all by myself. Just me, no guitar, no piano, no nothing,” he said.
Continuing her endorsement of the Obama Administration’s policies, Clinton cited the government’s latest jobs report as evidence of America’s strong economy.
Trump disputed Clinton’s claims on economy in New Hampshire.
Analysts now say the two candidates may be tied in terms of popular vote but Clinton is clearly ahead of Trump with regard to getting to 270 electoral vote target.
