donald trump's forces blanketed michigan this weekend and planned a slew of high level visits to close out the campaign. | getty with polls tightening, top democrats race to lock down state's 16 electoral votes. by kyle cheney 11/06/16 05:44 pm est updated 11/06/16 06:46 pm est suddenly, hillary clinton seems to have a michigan problem. a state thought to be off the competitive radar and part of the democratic firewall is looking a little less safe, forcing the clinton campaign to make it the focal point of a frenzied rush in the final days before the election. it's also drawn renewed interest from donald trump's forces, who blanketed the state this weekend and planned a slew of high level visits to close out the campaign. hillary clinton will visit grand rapids on monday to rally supporters, days after she made a stop in detroit. president barack obama will also be in the state monday. former president bill clinton, who made an unscheduled detroit stop here last week to rally local politicians and clergy, was there sunday as well. story continued below republicans insist they<u+2019>re seeing explosive energy in detroit's suburban macomb county <u+2014> a working class area that<u+2019>s tailor made for donald trump<u+2019>s appeal. and just as important, they say, suburban republicans in affluent oakland county who have long resisted trump are rapidly returning to the fold. the signs of life attracted a visit sunday from trump, his running mate mike pence and top surrogates like sarah palin. <u+201c>republican voters are coming home,<u+201d> said pete hoekstra, a former michigan congressman who supports trump. <u+201c>they<u+2019>re recognizing, <u+2018>hey, we<u+2019>re getting closer to the election. there may have been things we didn<u+2019>t like about trump but now that we<u+2019>re faced with a choice, we really remember why we don<u+2019>t like hillary.<u+201d> 2016 by steven shepard the late focus on michigan, which hasn<u+2019>t voted for a republican since 1988, is a familiar one. when mitt romney trailed in the closing days of the 2012 election, his campaign also made a last-minute play for michigan <u+2013> romney<u+2019>s native state and a place where his father was governor. while that effort fell far short, trump is hoping for the 11 th -hour michigan magic that eluded romney. <u+201c>with my uncle mitt, he actually never came into michigan as a candidate [after he was nominated],<u+201d> said ronna romney mcdaniel, the chairwoman of the michigan republican party and a romney relative. "michiganders need to see candidates invest their time here. donald trump has done that.<u+201d> romney mcdaniel, who spoke to politico before heading to trump<u+2019>s sunday rally in sterling heights <u+2014> located in macomb county <u+2014> said trump<u+2019>s skepticism of multinational trade deals has helped him unify reagan democrats, union members and traditional republicans. democrats downplayed the idea that something might be amiss. clinton is choosing to spend her energy in states with limited early voting, her allies say, which means putting michigan, pennsylvania and new hampshire on the front-burner <u+2014> voters in florida, north carolina and nevada have already cast a big share of their vote early. clinton campaign chairman john podesta described himself sunday as confident about the campaign's prospects in michigan and other midwestern states heading into the final two days of the campaign. a day earlier, clinton campaign manager robby mook entertained the notion that clinton could lose michigan or wisconsin <u+2013> and still emerge on top. <u+201c>if we weren<u+2019>t to win michigan or wisconsin, you can make up for all those electoral votes by winning florida,<u+201d> he told reporters. <u+201c>north carolina, plus one of the small battleground states, is the same number as michigan. donald trump has to win all of these battleground races.<u+201d> and that<u+2019>s the sobering reality for the gop nominee. a win in michigan would mark a huge upset for trump, but it<u+2019>s one of several he would need to pull off if clinton corrals other states she<u+2019>s leading, like north carolina, pennsylvania and virginia. trump<u+2019>s republican detractors were skeptical of his late move on michigan, wondering if he got duped into wasting precious final moments in a state he'll never win. <u+201c>if trump loses ohio and florida one reason is that clinton campaign head-faked them into thinking he had chance in michigan. & media helped,<u+201d> tweeted matthew dowd, a former george w. bush strategist, on sunday. 2016 by steven shepard <u+201c>the campaign reflects his personality, throwing darts at the map, confusing the media,<u+201d> tweeted john weaver, who emerged as one of trump<u+2019>s fiercest gop critics after running john kasich<u+2019>s presidential campaign. clinton<u+2019>s campaign also got a lift sunday from fbi director james comey<u+2019>s announcement that despite finding a new trove of emails connected to the agency<u+2019>s earlier investigation of clinton, the decision against pursuing charges would stand. it was his announcement of the new email cache last month that coincided with a fade in clinton<u+2019>s poll numbers and forced her to play defense in a handful of states where she had previously been leading. comey<u+2019>s decision to keep the case closed could stanch the bleeding, but it<u+2019>s clear the race has tightened. detroit<u+2019>s two leading newspapers both described a tightening race, and a detroit free press poll posted late saturday night showed trump closing to within four points of clinton<u+2019>s once double-digit edge. that still may be enough for her to win <u+2014> she's led in nearly every poll in the state for months <u+2014> but it also suggests the race is close enough to give republicans renewed optimism. romney lost the state by more than nine points. hoekstra said trump<u+2019>s subtle gains weren<u+2019>t reflected in late polls partly because the <u+201c>access hollywood<u+201d> tape in which trump was heard boasting about groping and kissing women without permission spooked a lot of republicans from coming on board <u+2014> especially in western michigan. but now, he said, as voters are confronted with their final choice, they<u+2019>re coalescing behind their candidate. <u+201c>there was a group of people who maybe were <u+201c>anybody but trump,<u+201d> or maybe wanted to cast a protest vote,<u+201d> said saul anuzis, a michigan-based gop strategist. <u+201c>now they<u+2019>re seeing that maybe their vote does matter.<u+201d> by bill scher by joshua zeitz by thomas wright by jack shafer
did trump turn michigan into a nail-biter? - politico
kyle cheney steven shepard steven shepard jack shafer