JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former President Bill Clinton visited Jacksonville on Wednesday to help open a Jacksonville field office for his wife Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, two weeks from the night she's expected to accept the party's nomination.
The 42nd president pumped up and wowed the audience in a very crowded office on the Southside. The campaign office is at 2117 University Blvd. South.
"If you think that we are stronger together, and that our diversity is a blessing from God, and we all have to rise together, we need each other, then Hillary is your candidate. And you ought to make her president," Mr. Clinton said.
Mr. Clinton speaking at a field office opening is a big honor for activists and supporters in the Jacksonville area. Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown appeared at the event with Mr. Clinton.
"Well, it is Bill Clinton, who has got a broad base of support here. This is the opening of the new Hillary office and to have the former president open it is, just, you can feel the energy in the room. And it just shows you how committed Democrats in Northern Florida are to turning this area blue and electing Hillary Clinton. And I think this is the beginning of an extraordinary campaign in this region," said Nancy Soderberg, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
The former president continued the campaign's message of 'stronger together', which is exactly what the crowd wanted to hear.
"I am a supporter of Hillary. I think that she's the smartest person in the room when it comes to foreign affairs," Bruce McGee said.
Activists and true-believers are now ramping up their local efforts to elect the first female president of the United States.
"I'm excited. I'm geared up. I'm ready to volunteer. I feel like this is what America needs," Nubian Roberts said.
Poll: Trump grabs edge over Clinton in Florida
In a major shift from last month, a poll released Wednesday shows Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump overtaking Democrat Hillary Clinton in the key swing state of Florida.
In a head-to-head matchup, Trump leads Clinton by a margin of 42 percent to 39 percent in Florida, erasing the Democrat's eight-point lead in June, according to the poll conducted by Quinnipiac University. Trump also leads by a margin of 41 percent to 36 percent when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are added to the mix.
Trump's lead in the head-to-head matchup is within the poll's 3.1 percentage-point margin of error.
Clinton led in Florida by a margin of 47 percent to 39 percent in a Quinnipiac poll released June 21. One of the biggest shifts in the new survey involves independent voters, who favored Clinton by nine percentage points in the June poll. The poll released Wednesday indicated that Trump leads among independents by a margin of 43 percent to 30 percent.
Overall, however, the new poll again reflected deep divisions among voters based on race, gender and age. Trump dominates among white voters, men and older Floridians. Clinton holds big leads among non-white voters, women and younger people.