Washington, Oct 22 (EFE).- US presidential candidates Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump have focused on mobilizing voters and convincing undecideds in a number of states where early voting is underway.
During a visit Friday to Cleveland in the state of Ohio, where early voting began on Oct. 12, Clinton said: “I want to say something to people who may be reconsidering their support for my opponent. I know you may still have questions for me. I respect that. I want to answer them. I want to earn your vote.”
“I really believe our country is at a turning point,” she said as she addressed voters in a state where polls have showed the race is tightening.
Trump kept up a busy schedule in the competitive states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania as he faced the difficulty of the Republican Party’s decision to focus campaign funds on saving its seats in the Senate and not on the race for the White House.
In Fletcher, North Carolina, the tycoon accused Clinton of being the most corrupt person to seek the presidency and claimed the system was “rigged” against him.
“Let’s do this. November 8th, let’s win. We win, we have lots of options but we got to win. What a waste of time if we don’t pull this off,” he said.
The Republican candidate, who is behind his rival in the polls, added that “we have a bunch of babies running our country, a bunch of losers” and again spoke of his business experience as one of his strong points.
Trump said he would close his campaign by spending $100 million of his own money, something that shows, he said, that he is not being influenced by lobbyists as is so often the case in Washington.
In September the Trump campaign spent some $70 million, raised $54.7 million – including $2 million of the tycoon’s personal funds – and at the end of the month had $34.8 million in the bank, according to figures from the Federal Election Commission.
For its part, the Clinton campaign had close to $60 million in the bank at the end of the month, having spent more than $82 million after raising close to $74 million.
The campaign’s home stretch is when the majority of funds are spent on getting people out to vote and trying to convince the undecided to make up their minds, especially in the swing states.
Data from early voting and postal voting show that the Democrats are registering numbers similar to those of 2012, when President Barack Obama was reelected after he beat Republican Mitt Romney.
Data from the first day of early voting in North Carolina showed greater participation of women and voters registered as Democrats.