Candidates in dead heat as campaign nears end
CLINTON CAMPAIGN ROCKED BY RETURN OF EMAIL SCANDAL
The U. S. presidential race has narrowed to a statistical dead heat in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s latest email scandal, a new poll showed Sunday night.
Donald Trump surged to within one percentage point of Clinton in the ABC News/ Washington Post survey, having been 12 points behind in the same poll a week ago.
An average of all recent polls still had Clinton more than three points ahead, but a newly buoyant Trump said: “We are now leading in many polls, and many of these were taken before the criminal investigation announcement on Friday.”
His running mate Mike Pence added: “Frankly, I think people have come to the conclusion that Hillary Clinton is a risky choice to be the next president.”
The FBI is looking into whether classified information was held on a computer shared by Huma Abedin, Clinton’s close aide, and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner, the disgraced ex- congressman accused of sending sexual text messages to a 15-year-old girl.
The justice department and FBI Sunday began discussions with Abedin’s lawyers to gain access to the emails, and she was said to be co-operating.
But Clinton’s campaign declared war on the FBI, launching a concerted attack on James Comey, its director, over his decision to make the inquiry public so close to polling day.
Clinton, meanwhile, urged churchgoers in Florida on Sunday not to be “distracted by all the noise in the political environment.”
During her remarks to about 300 people in Fort Lauderdale, Clinton stressed the value of perseverance when confronting obstacles in life.
“Everyone — everyone — is knocked down in life,” Clinton told the predominantly black congregation. “And as my mother showed me and taught me, what matters is whether you get back up. And those of us who are people of faith know that getting back up is what we are called to do.”
Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, said: “As far as we know now, Director Comey knows nothing about the content of these emails. If he hasn’t seen the emails they need to make that completely plain. Then they should work to see the emails and release the circumstances of those once they have done that analysis.”
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, said Comey’s announcement — delivered in a three- paragraph l etter to Congress — was irresponsible and inappropriate.
Appearing with entertainer Jennifer Lopez for a rally on the weekend in the key state of Florida, Clinton herself said: “It’s unprecedented and it is deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts.”
Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said Comey appeared to be “trying to clear his own conscience” after his decision in July not to recommend charges against Clinton for using a private email server when she was secretary of state.
Conway said the Democratic nominee simply had to “call her friend and confidante Huma Abedin” if she wanted to know what was in the emails. “This woman ( Abedin) and her perverted husband are possibly putting this nation’s security at risk,” she said.
It was thought the new emails may include some of the thousands deleted from Clinton’s private server. Or they could simply be duplicates of ones the FBI has already seen.
The latest poll showing Clinton leading by only 46 per cent to 45 per cent, a statistical tie, was conducted over four days ending on Friday, the day of Comey’s announcement. Around one third of voters spoken to afterwards said the development made them less likely to vote for Clinton.
In Florida, polls showed Trump with a lead of up to four points. However, he was still facing significant deficits in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, two states critical to his campaign.
At a rally in Las Vegas Sunday night, Trump said he was confident of victory. He said Clinton “set up this illegal server knowing full well that her actions put our national security at risk.”