Clinton, Trump enter fierce final weekend campaign

CLEVELAND (AFP) - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump brandished starkly different visions of America as they headed into a fierce final weekend of campaigning, one celebrating hope as the other bashed corruption.

Trump doubled down on his attacks on Clinton as a product of a venal and incompetent establishment, while Clinton headlined an optimistic concert spectacular featuring superstar singer Beyonce.

Forecasts based on polling averages still give the 69-yearold Democrat an edge over the 70- year- old Republican property mogul ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

But Trump has been buoyed by signs that he is closing the gap in the key swing states that will decide who secures an electoral college win.

So both headed Friday to the American rustbelt, where blue- collar voters that were once reliable Democrats may be tempted by Trump’s protectionist promise to repatriate jobs from Mexico and China.

Clinton’s campaign brought her to Cleveland, Ohio, a state that fellow Democrat President Barack Obama won in 2012 but where she now trails Trump in opinion polls by around five percentage points.

She was introduced with a show stopping set by rapper Jay-Z and his even more famous wife Beyonce, who sang songs of emancipation and empowerment wearing a version of Clinton’s trademark pantsuit.

“The world looks to us as a progressive country that needs change,” Beyonce declared. “I want my daughter to grow up to see a woman lead our country. That is why I’m with her.”

Earlier, Clinton had been in Detroit, Michigan, where supporters booed her populist rival when she attacked his affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a “dark vision” of an America mired in poverty and failure.

“When I hear my opponent talking about America I don’t recognize it,” she declared, touting her own “confident, optimistic, inclusive” agenda.

Trump was in Hershey, Pennsylvania bidding to use his popularity with the white, male working class to smash a hole in the “firewall” pollsters once thought Clinton enjoyed in Democrat-leaning states.

“I want the entire corrupt Washington establishment to hear the words we’re about to say. When we win on November 8 we’re going to ‘drain the swamp’,” he said, as the 13,000-strong crowd took up the chant.

He predicted that Clinton will face prosecution after an FBI inquiry into her inappropriate use of private email when she was secretary of state, and vowed to tear up current US free trade deals.