With just 13 days left, the democratic nominee for president is back in the bay area and back on perhaps the most critical battleground turf in the entire country.
“What a great way to celebrate my birthday here in Tampa!” She shouted to the crowd at Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa.
Clinton supporters packed the tight venue — as many as five thousand people gathered in and just outside the park to get a glimpse at the presidential nominee.
“We can not stop for a minute. No complacency here,” Clinton told to a round of cheers.
Now in the home stretch, both candidates’ biggest message is to encourage people to get out and vote.
“Everyone says Florida, Florida, Florida. Florida decides. We hold a lot of electoral votes,” said Todd Parke, a Clinton supporter who waited in line for hours ahead of the event.
Think your vote doesn’t matter here? Think again.
Former University of Tampa political science professor, Dr. David Paine said the diverse nature of Hillsborough County can be a game changer. Sometimes it goes red, other times blue.
“That swing can make a difference in a close election in Florida,” he said.
And since Florida nearly always picks the winner of the presidential election, it’s understandable why the candidates practically live here.
Plus, the race seems to be getting closer in the sunshine state.
A new poll out Wednesday, shows Trump may be making a comeback, up two percentage points of Clinton.
“We can get really obsessive about the polls about who’s up and who’s down, but it’s kind of like being a member of the ball team getting obsessed about the score sitting in the dugout when the team is on the field. Every voter is a player on the team,” Paine said.
Clinton is off to campaign stops in North Carolina and Pennsylvania tomorrow but will likely return to Florida by the weekend.
ALERT: Clinton rally in downtown #Tampa today will have Ashley closed b/w Cass & Twiggs. 1:30pm to 4pm. Use Tampa St and Florida Ave
— Tampa Bay Traffic (@TampaBayTraffic) October 26, 2016
