Clinton makes bid for Arizona, Trump tries to keep focus

The FBI’s discovery of more emails tied to Hillary Clinton hasn’t hurt her in the polls.

“This state is in play for the first time in years”, Clinton exclaimed during a nighttime rally on the campus of Arizona State University. But it’s also 30 percent Latino, and one of three key states where Latino turnout could determine the outcome, as polls show Trump’s comments have driven even more of them into Clinton’s camp, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

Clinton stuck with her sharp-edged closing argument as polls showed her once-hefty lead noticeably trimmed in recent days.

The other targets include bigger states – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Virginia and MI, any one of which would put Trump over the top – and smaller states, Nevada, New Hampshire and New Mexico, of which he’d have to win two. According to public polling as well as private surveys, both Democratic and Republican, that have been shared with the Daily News, she has a lead outside of polls’ margin of error in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and a slightly more comfortable lead in MI, where she’ll campaign on Friday.

Trump, who has never previously run for elected office, has run an unorthodox campaign, with policy proposals including reviewing trade pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and imposing a temporary ban on Muslims seeking to enter the country. His opponent in the Republican primary Senator Ted Cruz will also campaign for Mr. Trump for the first time on Thursday. This may have the effect of depressing Democratic voters who may not turn out and energizing Trump voters to show up at the polls.

Despite this trend a Trump presidency remains unlikely.

Obama was walking a tightrope between criticizing Comey – something his press secretary said he wouldn’t do – and defending Clinton, his party’s nominee and his endorsed choice to succeed him.

Trump says Clinton would be under investigation as president, sparking a “constitutional crisis”, though the FBI has declined to prosecute her for her handling of classified information.

President Barack Obama was campaigning in Florida on Thursday as Clinton headed to North Carolina for rallies in Raleigh and Winterville. But both of its Republican US senators have opposed Trump, offering the tantalizing prospect of a shock Clinton win.

“He has spent this campaign offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters”, she said.

The Clinton campaign announced Wednesday that the event at the Des Moines Social Club was cancelled.

FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to members of Congress on Friday saying his bureau was looking into recently discovered emails that could pertinent to the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server. “‘I think it’s time you had a new sheriff in town, don’t you?’ Clinton said, to loud cheers”.

An average of earlier Florida polls by tracker RealClearPolitics gives Trump a narrow one point lead there, and TargetSmart’s survey suggests many registered Republicans have switched camps. Clinton’s lead took a hard hit with the revelations.

Those make up Hillary Clinton’s firewall, and Trump has to crack it somewhere.

This is Trump’s dream scenario, because it cracks Clinton’s blue wall of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania – which he hasn’t been able to win in polls.