@PatriciaMazzei
A week ago, Hillary Clinton sauntered into deep blue Broward County, the heart of Florida’s Democratic country. Sure, she warned of complacency and a close election, but her touch was light, her tone sardonic. Donald Trump trailed in Florida polls, and early voting, Democrats’ strong suit, had just begun.
When Clinton returned Tuesday, there was no sauntering.
Trump is leading. The FBI is again investigating her emails. Democrats are struggling to take over Republicans in total ballots cast so far.
Florida, the grande dame of battleground states, plays hard to get.
And so Clinton, in the tell-tale hoarseness of a candidate who’s had to pack her schedule in the last seven days before the election, railed against her rival with renewed urgency.
“I am sick and tired of the negative, dark, divisive, dangerous vision and behavior of people who support Donald Trump,” she said late Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, her voice rising over a heckler who called her husband a “rapist.”
It was her third Florida rally of the day, and her second trip to Broward in two days. Scheduled for 8:30 p.m., the rally began 73 minutes late. Some 4,300 people attended, according to Clinton’s campaign. Many of them stood for more than four hours at Reverend Samuel Delevoe Memorial Park, waiting for the delayed Clinton. But they started streaming out — especially, it seemed, if they had young children — 10 minutes into her 18-minute speech.
“You may be angry about something, but anger is not a plan,” Clinton implored supporters on a breezy night, with “VOTE EARLY” spelled out in bright blue behind her. “Don’t be used. Don’t be exploited.”
More here.
Photo credit: Patrick Farrell, Miami Herald staff
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