Clinton on defensive after FBI reopens email probe
Those echoes of election “rigging” changed camp this past week, as Democratic nominee HIllary Clinton and her allies blasted FBI Director James Comey on the timing of his re-opening of the Clinton email scandal. Many Democratic officials — who just months ago had praised Comey after he initially closed the investigation with no charges — piled on in their accusations that the federal agent was influencing the election with his move just days before Election Day.
Clinton called on the FBI to release its findings in order to put an end to the back-and-forth wrangling that has appeared to further damage her image, especially among independent voters. Reports surfaced of anonymous sources calling the FBI “Trumpland” and claiming that bias spurred the leaks and the renewed probe. Clinton saw her once-comfortable lead in nationwide polls narrow sharply. If there was any silver lining, it was in the reported record-breaking surge in Latino voters, who took to the polls early in an apparent push to oppose Trump, who has taken several anti-immigrations stances and made racist and bigoted remarks about Mexicans, and Hispanics in general, during his campaign. Democrats nationwide saw an early boost after this week, especially in Florida and Nevada, states with large populations of Hispanics.
While Latino voters have raced to the polls, black voter turnout reportedly has slumped in most states, which some saw as alarming for the party and for Clinton in particular. A recent poll found that African Americans were reported less enthusiastic about voting in this election. Early voting is usually seen as a good measure of enthusiasm — and enthusiasm is presumably down among blacks.
With Election Day looming, Clinton focused on battleground states, such as Pennsylvania and, surprisingly, New Hampshire, where she has seen her lead there evaporate. President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are also expected to hit the campaign trail in the final push — and big names like LeBron James, Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi and Cher also are expected to come out to support the top-ticket Democrat.