WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Hillary Clinton sought to borrow from first lady Michelle Obama’s star power Thursday, as her campaign warned supporters that the presidential election is likely to be closer than polls now appear.
Donald Trump spent the day in another battleground state, seeking to build on a reed-thin lead during three stops in Ohio.
“As Michelle reminds us, this election is about our kids and, in my case, our grandkids,” Clinton said. “We have a job to do. Starting right now, let’s come together. Let’s work together and be hopeful and optimistic and unified.”
Obama called Clinton a friend, and praised her qualifications and determination. “Hillary doesn’t play,” Obama said to laughter.
The first lady also warned supporters that Republicans are actively seeking to suppress turnout by making the election “so dirty and ugly that we don’t want any part of it.” She told the crowd: “When you hear folks talking about a global conspiracy and saying that this election is rigged, understand that they are trying to get you to stay home. They are trying to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter, that the outcome has already been determined and that you shouldn’t even bother to make your voice heard.”
Clinton is hoping that some of Obama’s magnetism and support among young people and African Americans can help consolidate a lead in North Carolina. Obama has emerged as probably the Democrats’ most powerful and effective voice opposing Trump, and Clinton frequently quotes the first lady’s admonition to “go high” when critics “go low.”
In a sign of the power of Obama’s appeal, the Clinton campaign booked a huge stadium for Clinton’s first in-person campaign event with the first lady. The campaign cited a local fire marshal for the crowd estimate of 11,000 people at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, more than twice the size of most of the recent events Clinton has held alone.
Clinton appeared to joke about President and Michelle Obama’s reputation as a “cool” couple and the contrast with herself. She noted that she had enjoyed seeing the first couple dance.
“Ahhhh, one can only hope,” Clinton added in a wistful tone.
Campaigning in Springfield, Ohio, Trump renewed his attacks on Clinton’s stamina, claiming that she appeared “tired” after the last two debates and appearing to imply that she was on the verge of needing physical assistance .
At an afternoon rally in a sprawling barn, Trump called Clinton “a low energy person.” Then, without presenting evidence, he claimed that she was in bad shape after their most recent debates.
“I watched after the last debate and after the second debate. She was tired, wow. She walked off that stage, of course she had a lot of people around; they had a lot of people around her, which was smart,” Trump said.
No evidence has emerged that Clinton was suffering physically during or after the debates.
Trump has regularly sought to raise doubts about Clinton’s health. He recently began airing a television ad that shows Clinton stumbling as she tried to get into a vehicle after a ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York. After that incident Clinton revealed that she had been stricken with pneumonia.
Trump also took aim at the Clintons’ charitable foundation and financial dealings, pointing to private communications released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, including a memo by top Bill Clinton aide Doug Band.
“The more emails WikiLeaks releases, the more lines between the Clinton Foundation, the secretary of state’s office and the Clintons’ personal finances, they all get blurred,” Trump said.
Trump is scheduled to make stops later Thursday in Toledo and Geneva, Ohio. His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, visited Omaha and western Iowa, while Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the Democratic vice presidential candidate, was also campaigning in Ohio.
Kaine told supporters in Lorain, Ohio, that the state could seal the election for Clinton.
“You guys are more than a battleground. You are a checkmate state,” Kaine said. “If you win it, you done won it. If we win Ohio, the race is over.”
Polling released Thursday afternoon by Quinnipiac University showed the tick-tock nature of the race in the closing days. According to the poll, Trump holds a one-point edge over Clinton in Georgia – 44 percent to 43 percent – but they’re tied at 44 percent each in Iowa. In North Carolina, Clinton holds a four-point advantage (47 percent to 43 percent), while she holds a 12-point edge in Virginia.
Clinton tops Trump 48 percent to 42 percent among likely voters in the tracking poll conducted jointly by The Washington Post and ABC News. Clinton’s margin in the survey has barely changed from her 47-43 edge in a mid-October Post-ABC poll, but is less than the double-digit leads in earlier waves of the tracking survey reported by ABC News through Monday.
More than three in four Clinton and Trump supporters say they are “very anxious” at the thought of the other candidate becoming president, fears that underscore perceptions of the election’s high stakes and the distinct contrast between contenders.
In recent days Clinton has also been warning supporters not to assume that because she holds a lead in national polls that their votes are unnecessary. Her campaign released an online video Thursday in which campaign manager Robby Mook inveighs against complacency.
“Donald Trump has been going around telling people not to listen to the polls and saying that he can still win this race,” Mook says. “Well, you know what? He’s absolutely right.”
“We call states like Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire battlegrounds for a reason.” he added, “They can go either way.”
In a sign of how competitive the race remains in Florida, Clinton is scheduled to campaign Saturday night in Miami alongside the singer Jennifer Lopez.
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(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Abby Phillip
