by matt dixon 11/04/16 08:09 pm edt tallahassee <u+2014> with only a weekend of early voting left in florida, democrats are betting on a big turnout to boost their razor-thin lead over republicans and provide enough cushion to withstand the wave of gop voters who historically have high turnout on election day. both major parties and presidential campaigns are fixated on florida this weekend and spinning the latest early vote totals to explain why they are winning the nation's biggest battleground state. story continued below "the trump campaign could not be more enthusiastic about where we are right now," dave bossie, a trump deputy campaign manager, said on a friday night conference call. "we are already over performing where mitt romney was in 2012." in 2012, democrats had a 177,000-vote lead over republicans at the end of early voting and heading into election day. this year, democrats are up by only 2,000 votes. without offering any proof, clinton campaign manager robby mook, in a call with reporters friday, claimed they were winning by 170,000 votes. he also said that barack obama's campaign thought they were losing by 15,000 votes at this point in the race four years ago <u+2014> contradicting 2012 early vote totals that showed they were far ahead. "so, we're feeling very strong <u+2014> feeling very good about what we're building there," he said without explaining how he came up with the 170,000 lead in votes. even republicans happy they trail democrats by relatively small margins, understand the importance of trying to keep things close. in an update to members, the republican-leaning florida chamber of commerce listed just one item under its <u+201c>what we are waiting to see<u+201d> section. <u+201c>do early voting numbers stay high through the weekend and will early voting offset gains made by republicans in vote-by-mail returns this week?<u+201d> wrote andy gonzalez, the chamber<u+2019>s director of political development. to help get republicans to the polls, trump is holding a get out the vote rally in tampa saturday morning, one of a dozen he and running-mate mike pence are holding nationally over the weekend. pence was also in miami friday night. as of friday, more than 5 million people had already voted in florida, a number that shattered previous records. yet, in its typical down-to-the-wire fashion, the state remains close, with only 2,000 ballots separating democrats and republicans. the early voting margin is important because the last weekend before election day is generally a time when democrats bank large numbers of votes. and democrats are making a final push to get their supporters to to the polls with clinton and obama spending part of the weekend in the sunshine state. clinton is scheduled to speak saturday afternoon at a get-out-the-vote rally in broward county, home to the state's largest number of democratic voters. that night, tim kaine is in st. petersburg for a "get out the vote (gotv) concert with jon bon jovi. on sunday, obama campaigns for clinton with legendary singer/performer stevie wonder at a florida democrats get-out-the-vote event in kissimmee, part of the coveted i-4 corridor. also sunday, liberal groups and the clinton campaign are organizing several <u+201c>souls to the polls<u+201d> events at democratic-heavy black churches to encourage their congregations to cast a ballot on the final day of early voting. <u+201c>these <u+201c>souls to the polls<u+201d> events will facilitate african-american voters of faith across the state to ensure their voices are heard,<u+201d> read a release from for our future, a union-backed super pac helping organize the events. <u+201c>voters must choose between protecting president obama<u+2019>s legacy...and putting our country back in the hands of wall street traders.<u+201d> six events are being held in fort lauderdale and miami, three in tampa, three in palm beach county, and one each in tallahassee, jacksonville, and orlando. for our future<u+2019>s largest donors are labor union afscme, which has spent $5.1 million, followed by the afl-cio ($5 million), and american federated teachers ($4 million). both afsme and seiu, some of democrat<u+2019>s biggest national donors, are helping coordinate the efforts. the events often feature music, elected officials and prominent community leaders to help energize those in attendance. the tallahassee event will include a performance, by florida a&m<u+2019>s renounced marching band, a miramar event features a march to the polls with mayor wayne messam and state rep. shevrin jones, and a miami gardens event will include former nfl player willis mcgahee. during the first weekend of early voting, which also featured some <u+201c>souls to the polls<u+201d> events, democrats got a boost, but not nearly to the extent they were hoping. over that weekend, they cut republican<u+2019>s lead from 21,000 to 8,500, but the gop was able to hold their lead until friday. clinton campaign officials are eyeing the final weekend in hopes of building their firewall in florida and nationally. <u+201c>we believe over the weekend we will continue to be able to turn out our coalition in big numbers,<u+201d> said marlon marshall, the campaign<u+2019>s director of state political engagement, on a conference call with reporters. <u+201c>for all demographic groups are turning out in higher numbers.<u+201d> despite a smaller pre-election day margin, democrats are banking on the fact that hispanic voters are coming turning out in much larger numbers. as of friday, hispanics are slightly more than 14.2 percent of the pre-election day electorate, which is up from 2012. mook, the clinton campaign manager, told reporters friday that the hispanic vote is up 120 percent in florida from 2012, a good sign for democrats, who favor a younger, less white electorate. <u+201c>we feel good about florida,<u+201d> said mook, echoing a sentiment held by both sides. marc caputo's must-read briefing on what's hot, crazy or shady about politics in the sunshine state.
tight margins have trump, clinton campaigns fixated on final weekend of early voting
matt dixon