Clinton, Trump sharpen attacks on one another, campaign in Midwest
OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - California might not be a swing state, but it is playing a key role with legions of volunteers willing to spend hours on the phone calling voters in swing states across the nation for the Hillary Clinton or the Donald Trump campaigns.
At a call center in Oakland, volunteers for Hillary say they aren't concerned about the recent FBI revelation of a renewed probe into her private email server.
"For the most part, at this point, we are calling people who are supporting Secretary Clinton, who are going to stay with her through thick and thin," said Katie Hooper, the Hillary Clinton campaign's Oakland office director.
In Burlingame, calls were going out from Republicans for Trump.
Joseph Grcar of Castro Valley says he wants a change in Washington D.C. and decided to help with phone-banking for the first time in his life.
"The undecideds are fairly small in number and it's usually some aspect of the economy. I haven't had a single person discuss the emails," Grcar said.
Clinton's lead over Donald Trump in national polls has slipped from seven points earlier this month to just over four points now, according to the latest Real Clear Politics polling average.
Donald Trump, campaigning in Wisconsin and Michigan Monday, told his supporters that Clinton is corrupt and suggested she would be impeached if elected, pointing to the the FBI's new probe into emails by Huma Abedin, Clinton's top aide.
Those emails were found on a laptop computer during the FBI investigation into Abedin's estranged husband Anthony Weiner for alleged sexual texting involving a teenage girl. The FBI director said it was unclear whether the thousands of emails discovered contain any new evidence in the Clinton private email server probe that was concluded in July.
"Her election would mire our government and our country in a constitutional crisis that we cannot afford," Trump told the crowd.
Hillary Clinton, campaigning in Ohio, addressed the issue head on.
"I am sure they will reach the same conclusion they did when they looked at my e-mails for the last year. There is no case here," Clinton said.
Emerson polls in key battleground states were taken October 26-27th, before the FBI announcement into the new probe. They show a tie in Ohio at 45 points, a tossup in Florida with Clinton at 46 and Trump at 45. In Wisconsin, Clinton has a six point lead and in Nevada has Clinton is up by 2 points. North Carolina, which was taken through October 28th on the day of the FBI announcement, shows Clinton up by three points...48-45 within the margin of error.
"This is one of the issues that can change an election," said political analyst Brian Sobel who says the email issue sets up a final week that could see the race tightened even further.
"Her job will be to hang on to the swing states because that's where the election is going to be won," said Sobel.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to FBI Director Comey Sunday which said "I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election." Reid said Comey had no idea whether the emails were new evidence or duplicates of documents already submitted to investigators, when he made his announcement Friday.
The Justice Department sent a letter to lawmakers saying it would devote resources to try and resolve the email question before election day.