By FoxNews .com
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton barnstormed the country on election eve Monday to deliver their respective closing arguments before the raucous 2016 presidential race goes to the voters, with Trump vowing to make America safe and prosperous again and Clinton vowing to unite a divided nation.
“Anger is not a plan,” the Democratic presidential nominee said in Pittsburgh, Pa.
As Clinton blasted what she called her opponent’s “divisive vision” for America, Trump blamed her and her husband’s policies for manufacturing job losses and vowed a change if he’s elected.
“We are going to bring back jobs that have been stolen from you. We’re going to bring back wealth taken from this country,” Trump, the Republican nominee, said in battleground state North Carolina, the second of his five stops Monday.
Trump began his day in Florida before heading to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Michigan.
The race remains tight hours before voting gets underway. The latest Fox News Electoral Scorecard shows Trump’s prospects improving in four key states — Arizona, Iowa, Utah and North Carolina – though Clinton still has the advantage on the electoral map.
(Final national poll before voters cast their ballots revealed on ‘America’s Newsroom’. Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube)
Clinton returned to the campaign trail Monday, less than 24 hours after the FBI concluded a revived probe into her personal email use as secretary of state, lifting a cloud off her campaign in the final hours as she seeks to become the first woman elected president in U.S. history.
“Tomorrow we face the test of our time,” Clinton said at her first rally, in Pittsburgh. “Will we come together as a nation or split further apart? … We don’t have to accept a dark and divisive vision for America. Tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive big-hearted America.”
Before embarking on her three-state campaign swing, Clinton told reporters that she has “some work to do to bring the country together” and that she wants to be president for those who vote for her and those who don’t.
Clinton after Pennsylvania went to battleground state Michigan before planning to return for an event in Philadelphia, then a midnight rally in Raleigh, N.C.
Trump on Monday resumed his breakneck race through the country to make a final appeal to voters to help him “drain the swamp” in Washington. In the wake of the FBI announcement, he urged voters to “deliver justice at the ballot box.”
On Sunday, Trump and running mate Mike Pence held events in seven states, with the last starting after midnight in Virginia.
“She wants to fight ISIS?” Trump said Monday in North Carolina about Clinton, who has essentially led for the entire 2016 election cycle. “She wants to fight nobody. She’s got no chance.”
Trump is aiming for an upset victory Tuesday, which is still possible if he is able to win key toss-up states and pick off one or more strategic states considered Democratic territory.
The former reality TV star shocked the country’s political class this spring when he defeated 16 major candidates in the Republican primaries, among them several senators and governors.
While seeking victories in the so-called battleground states, which have a mix of voters who could go for either major party candidate, Pennsylvania is considered critical for Trump.
The state has not elected a GOP presidential nominee since 1988 in the candidates’ race to get 270 Electoral College votes.
Trump still expressed optimism Monday about winning Pennsylvania. “Are you watching what’s happening in Philadelphia?” Trump asked. “We are going to win.”
The public transit system in liberal-leaning Philadelphia will be running in time for Election Day, after a weeklong strike, which is good news for Clinton and other Democratic candidates on Tuesday’s ballots.
City officials were worried that the strike could affect turnout at the polls. Pennsylvania does not offer early voting, so Election Day turnout is key.
Early voting in other battleground states suggests Clinton is leading among Hispanics, a key voting bloc. However, the African-American vote does not appear as strong for her as it was in 2008 and 2012 when black voters helped elect and re-elect Barack Obama.
The Justice Department said Monday that it will send more than 500 staffers to 28 states on Election Day to monitor the polls. That’s a 35 percent reduction from the number four years ago, amid Trump’s persistent warning about potential voter fraud at polling stations.
Department officials say personnel will be sent to 67 jurisdictions to watch for potential civil rights violations. The announcement also came amid rising concerns about voter intimidation, particularly aimed at minorities.
The Department has said its poll-watching presence has been curtailed by a 2013 Supreme Court opinion that gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, said Monday on NBC’s “Today” show that the staff has not stopped Trump from tweeting despite a report suggesting otherwise.
Many of Trump’s most inflammatory comments during the campaign were made on Twitter. But he has exhibited unusual restraint on social media in the final days of the campaign.
After days of attacks on Trump’s qualifications and temperament, Clinton this past weekend cast herself as the candidate of “healing and reconciliation,” despite being one of the most divisive figures in American politics.
Overshadowing the flurry of last-minute campaigning was FBI Director James Comey’s latest letter to Congress, informing lawmakers the bureau had found no evidence in its hurried review of newly discovered emails to warrant criminal charges against Clinton.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
