A year and a half of stump speeches, debates and Twitter wars all come down to this, the last day of campaigning before Election Day. The polls in Ohio are very tight between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Ohio Public Radio’s Statehouse News Bureau caught up with the Clinton and Trump campaigns to find out how they’re handling the last-minute push.
Dozens of volunteers cycled through a central Ohio campaign office for Hillary Clinton. They dropped in. Grabbed their clipboards. Got their directive. Then went back out into the community for one last round of canvassing.
“The campaign’s goal is to knock on the door of every Democrat twice.”
'In that office you can be not very bright or you can be crazy, but you can't be both.'
Sheldon Gleisser, a self-proclaimed lazy person, says he forced himself to get off the couch and stump for Clinton because he believes she’ll make a good leader. Gleisser says he’s also motivated by his distaste for Donald Trump.
“In that office you can be not very bright or you can be crazy, but you can’t be both. ... I don’t like knocking on doors and saying, 'Hi, would you like to…? But it’s got to be done.”
As Clinton’s Ohio spokesperson Laura Zapata explains, there’s a high level of excitement among the volunteers as they make their final push. Zapata says it’s all about reaching out and connecting to those who are still undecided.
“Making sure that they know ... who their neighbors are and why they’re voting for Hillary Clinton and sharing their personal story.”
Volunteers say the No. 1 question they get from people when they open their doors is about Clinton’s email server controversy. The Clinton supporters say they talk about how the investigations have resulted in charges or indictments.
The push from the Trump campaign
'We are running full speed toward the finish line.'
Trump officials in Ohio wouldn’t do a specific interview on last-minute “get out the vote” efforts with Ohio Public Radio or allow a visit with canvassers or those working phone banks. But in a national teleconference, Dave Bossie, deputy campaign manager to the Trump presidential campaign, said volunteers are enthusiastic.
“We are running full speed toward the finish line.”
Chris Young, the Republican National Committee’s field director, says when it comes to Ohio, the ground game is stronger than ever.
“Ohio is a state where we’ve knocked right at 3 million doors this cycle, ... which surpasses anything we have done for any previous Republican in a presidential year. The majority of our effort out there, obviously, is chasing each and every vote to make sure we get those ballots in.”
The campaign says it will be using key software and political strategies to help get its supporters to the polls.
