In final rally, Clinton says NC ‘is key’

Hillary Clinton stretched out her 2016 campaign schedule to the final moment, closing out the calendar with a post-midnight rally in Raleigh, N.C.

{mosads}Flanked by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, her daughter, Chelsea, and pop music stars Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga, the Democratic presidential nominee called on her supporters to help her sew up the battleground state.

“Bring out your friends, your roommates, strangers on the street, just stop and talk to them about what’s at stake in this election,” the Democratic presidential nominee said. 

“Because North Carolina is key.”

The Tarheel State has become one of the most pivotal swing states on the map. Polling has the race at an effective toss-up there, and electoral math experts have called it one of the most important states for Donald Trump to win if he is to have a chance at victory, along with Florida. 

Clinton began her introduction with a nod to the thousands who came out to the arena on the campus of North Carolina State University. 

“This is so worth staying up for,” Clinton said with a smile as the crowd cheered. The rally was scheduled to start at 11:45 p.m., but its start was delayed and Clinton did not take the stage until shortly before 1 a.m. 

“I cannot imagine a better way of ending this campaign than having the opportunity to see all of you.”

Her closing argument echoed her stump speech, an optimistic appeal to better days ahead similar to the tack she took hours earlier in Philadelphia, where she stood alongside her family as well as President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama. 

“We don’t have to accept a dark and divisive vision for America,” she said.

“Tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted America.”

Clinton was still speaking when Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, wrapped up his final rally of the night, which was held in traditionally blue Michigan. 

She closed her final rally of the campaign at 1:11 a.m. and ended with a line she frequently used on the trail, urging supporters to vote to show that, in America, “love trumps hate.”