The Note: Final Friday on the Campaign Trail
— -- --HINT OF MOMENTUM FOR CLINTON, WITH ISSUES A DEFINING FACTOR: A hint of momentum for Hillary Clinton has produced a 3-point race in the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll results, with wide leads for the Democrat in trust to handle the economy and health care among likely voters focused on those two issues. Donald Trump pushes back with a clear lead on dealing with corruption in government and immigration among those who cite either of these as their top issue. The candidates are evenly matched on another key concern, trust to handle terrorism and national security. The poll finds a 47-44 percent race between Clinton and Trump in a four-day average among likely voters, vs. Trump’s best result, 45-46 percent, three days ago. http://abcn.ws/2eGgMAe
--BOTTOM LINE: While the shift is not statistically significant, two of the last three nights -- moving away from news of the FBI’s renewed email investigation -- have been Clinton’s best since the early days of tracking. MORE from ABC’s GARY LANGER, GREGORY HOLYK, CHAD KIEWIET DE JONGE and SOFI SINOZICH: http://abcn.ws/2eGgMAe
--REPUBLICANS APPEAR TO BE ON REBOUND IN EARLY VOTING: Donald Trump and Republicans appear to be making up ground in some key swing states, bouncing back to 2012 early voting levels after a slow start in some states, and surpassing past early voting levels in others. More than 34 million Americans have already cast their ballots, according to data from The Associated Press. Still, Hillary Clinton's campaign appears to maintain a grip so far on key states to win the 270 electoral votes that would put her in the White House. ABC’s RYAN STRUYK gives an update on early voting so far, according to data from ABC News and the Associated Press. http://abcn.ws/2e84ep4
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Amid all the celebrities – Pharrell, Jay-Z, James Taylor – and political boldfaced names, the most influential appearance of the week might have belonged to the man who’s been known as the brother-in-law you actually like. Yes, Melania Trump grabbed the headlines Thursday – the English-language ones, at least. Tim Kaine, meanwhile, delivered a speech exclusively in Spanish – a first for a presidential or vice-presidential nominee. “Es importante que nuestra campaña se dirija en un idioma que es hablado por tantas familias a través del país,” Kaine said. (“It’s important that our campaign reach out in a language that is spoken by so many families throughout the country.”) With every passing day of early vote, it’s clear that Latinos represent a critical part of the Clinton coalition. Sure, this type of outreach runs the risk of being labeled “Hispandering.” But recall how Mitt Romney’s “self-deportation” comments dominated Spanish-language media four years ago. Kaine speaking the primary language for millions of voters, just days before the election, could be remembered as a campaign moment.
BY THE NUMBERS -- LATEST POLLS IN THE SWING STATES. ABC News currently rates 15 states and two congressional districts as being in-play on Election Day, either leaning to Democrats or Republicans, or as tossups. These states total 184 electoral votes, more than enough to swing the election to either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. http://abcn.ws/2fh4wHS
LOOKING BACK -- KEY MOMENTS OF THE 2016 ELECTION. As this historic and wildly unpredictable election comes to a close on Election Day, it may be hard to remember how America got here. ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has a refresher of key moments Clinton and Trump faced in their pursuit of the presidency: http://abcn.ws/2euIMt4
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
MELANIA TRUMP VOWS TO FIGHT CYBERBULLYING AS FIRST LADY. Melania Trump Thursday laid out how she would like to be an advocate for women and young people as first lady -- specifically identifying social media as an area where she’d like to have a positive influence, ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS reports. “Our culture has gotten too mean and too rough,” the wife of GOP nominee Donald Trump said, speaking about the potential negative impacts of social media and cyberbullying on the self-esteem of young people in a speech in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. “Social media is a centerpiece of our lives,” Melania Trump said. “But like anything that is powerful, it can have a bad side.” http://abcn.ws/2f4o9SK
KAINE DELIVERS HISTORIC SPEECH IN SPANISH, PAINTS TRUMP AS DANGER TO LATINOS. In a presidential race full of firsts, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine made a little history of his own yesterday, delivering a campaign speech only in Spanish in Phoenix, Ariz. -- a first for a candidate on a presidential ticket. "There is so much in play for the Latino community that it’s important that our campaign reach out in a language that is spoken by so many families throughout the country. My Spanish is not perfect and thank you for your patience,” said Kaine at the Maryvale Community Center. ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER has more. http://abcn.ws/2fiNwAG
DESPITE TRUMP'S CLAIMS, EVIDENCE FROM FBI'S CLINTON FOUNDATION PROBE 'NOT IMPRESSIVE,' SOURCES SAY. On the campaign trail yesterday, Donald Trump touted allegations about the Clinton Foundation that reliable sources say are false and ill-informed. “It was reported last night that the FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s pay-for-play corruption,” the Republican presidential nominee said Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida, during his first rally of the day. ABC News sources, however, indicated those statements — and the Fox News reports they’re based on — are inaccurate and without merit. ABC’s MIKE LEVINE has more. http://abcn.ws/2fgKZtg
CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: ‘I DON'T KNOW’ WHAT FBI DIRECTOR IS DOING. During his visit to "The View" this morning, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager responded to questions about the newly opened FBI investigation surrounding her private e-mail server -- and whether the timing of Director James Comey's decision was intended to interfere with the election. He declined to provide a direct answer, ABC’s ALANA ABRAMSON notes. "I don’t know what he’s doing," Mook told the hosts of "The View." "I thought it was very strange. There's protocols that you don't announce things right before an election, but, also, that the FBI doesn't comment on anything that they're investigating.” http://abcn.ws/2fgSiij
STATE DEPT. DROPS MORE CLINTON EMAILS DAYS FROM ELECTION. The State Department published an additional 1,280 pages of official email belonging to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday afternoon as part of a court-ordered effort to produce some of her more recently discovered correspondence before the presidential election. According to ABC’s JUSTIN FISHEL, the documents come from the nearly 15,000 emails the FBI recovered during its investigation into the Democratic nominee's handling of sensitive information on a controversial private email server. http://abcn.ws/2fzPVeq
CANDIDATES VIE FOR LATINOS AS EARLY VOTING UP IN FLA. Hispanic voters could influence this presidential election more than previous campaigns, with early voting in at least one state suggesting they are heading to the polls at a higher rate than four years ago. "Hispanics are energized and they are voting early like they have never voted early before in Florida, and it's hard to say that’s not a positive energy; probably for Hillary Clinton," University of Florida professor Dan Smith told ABC News Thursday. The stepped-up voting comes as Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine held an event Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona, entirely in Spanish, making it clear the campaign will actively court Hispanic voters to the very end, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY notes. http://abcn.ws/2esw6Ty
TRUMP BLASTS 'PHONY' POLLS -- UNLESS HE'S UP. During a campaign appearance in Manchester, New Hampshire, last Friday, Donald Trump went after a familiar target: the polls. "The recent poll said we're 2 down in New Hampshire. You know what I said? I don't think so. I don't think so. These polls, these polls, these are called dirty polls," he told the crowd. Just days before, he rolled out the results of a different poll at a rally in St. Augustine, Florida. "The new poll that just came out from Investor's Business Daily, which was the most accurate poll from the last three presidential elections, has us up 2 points nationwide," he said on Oct. 24. For Trump, ABC’s TOM LIDDY writes, his relationship with the polls is love-hate: love when he's leading, hate when he's not. (He often calls the polls he disagrees with "phony" or "rigged.") http://abcn.ws/2e65JEn
‘POWERHOUSE POLITICS’ PODCAST -- NATIONAL REVIEW EDITOR ON THE FUTURE OF CONSERVATISM. A key conservative Republican thinks that Donald Trump, win or lose, has exposed a serious problem with Republicanism. Speaking to ABC News' Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast, Lowry described his take on conservatives, ABC’s ROBIN GRADISON writes. "The right had become too beholden to these old cliched policies and rhetorical tropes associated with Ronald Reagan," said Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review. "Everyone thought that there was this kind of sturdy house of Reagan and everybody had to occupy a room within it and ... genuflect at the door." http://abcn.ws/2f5R2xP
DOWNBALLOT -- 8 TIGHT HOUSE RACES TO WATCH ON ELECTION NIGHT. This year, Republicans are working to defend their 30-seat House majority -- the largest since 1928 -- from any down-ballot fallout from the presidential campaign. As results pour in on Election Night, ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL notes some close races to watch. http://abcn.ws/2eDTzyQ
WHO’S TWEETING?
@GovMikeHuckabee: Trump may be a car wreck, but at least his car is pointed in right direction. Hillary is a drunk-driver going the wrong way on the freeway.
@SalenaZito: In Pennsylvania: @HillaryClinton @JoeBiden @POTUS @FLOTUS @billclinton @mike_pence @realDonaldTrump @IvankaTrump
@DavidLauter: Tracking polls starting to show uptick for Clinton as impact of Comey news wears off. Odds are polls this wknd will look better for her.
@mateagold: Trump gave another $11,574.43 to his campaign in the last few days. Total donations, w/ 4 days left: $66,128,544.75.
@jaketapper: Trump Deputy Campaign Manager: Clinton ad threw ‘go high’ strategy out the window: http://cnn.it/2fhk5zb @David_Bossie on #TheLead