Frustrations Over Trump, Clinton Lead To Spike In Write-In Candidacies
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With the race for the White House incredibly close, it seems the latest October surprise may lead to a November nail-biter.
CBS2 recently received fresh polling information from swing states, which could determine where the candidates will spend the next five days, and perhaps the next four years, Dick Brennan reported.
Republican candidate Donald Trump was in Florida on Wednesday, a crucial state he must have to win.
"We're way up in Florida. I shouldn't say that because I want you to go vote, we're going to pretend we're down. We're down, pretend right? We'll pretend we're down," he said.
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Trump supporters now say they are counting on so-called silent or hidden Trump votes, perhaps five percent of the electorate, who are not seen in the polls but are ready to show up on Election Day.
Some Democrats agree.
"I think there is a hidden Donald Trump vote," former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell said. "And I think all this talk about being over and now the real contest is the Senate -- If I were the Clinton team, I would be desperately worried about that type of talk."
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will hold a rally in Arizona later Wednesday, but she had her No. 1 surrogate making her case in North Carolina. Earlier in the day, President Obama took the time to criticized the FBI director for his decision to review new emails in her private server inquiry.
"We don't operate on innuendo, we don't operate on incomplete information, we don't operate on leaks," the president said. "We operate based on concrete decisions that are made."
Four new polls came out in swing states, with gains for both of the candidates. Trump leads by five in Arizona and six in Nevada, while Clinton is up by two in Florida and four in Pennsylvania.
"Her path starts with winning Pennsylvania where she has a lead, but that could be her keystone, because if she wins that, she doesn't need much else. She only needs one other state," CBS News elections director Anthony Salvanto said.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump up by five in Ohio and Clinton up by three in North Carolina.
Both candidates' homestretch speeches were dripping with mutual disdain Wednesday, CBS2's Tony Aiello reported.
"Has anyone seen crooked Hillary Clinton today? That's going to be a great term for a president, right?" Trump asked his supporters.
"What would it be like to have a president who pits people against each other?" Clinton asked her own crowd.
The tough talk fired up partisan crowds, but turns off many voters.
Forty-percent of pollsters think neither Trump nor Clinton will make a good president, which may explain why there has been an explosion of write-in candidacies.
In 2008, only eight write-ins were certified in New York. In 2012, there were 10. But this year, 32 filed the paperwork required to have their votes counted on Election Day.
"I think that is indicative of the lackluster performance of our two major party candidates," Lehman College professor Christopher Malone said. "The number really tells you that a lot of people are not happy."
Michael Ingbar is one of the 32 write-in wannabes certified in the state.
"Trump and Hillary, nobody wants them. It's a negative rather than a positive vote. I think a lot of people just want another alternative basically," Ingbar said.
As always, the results are going to come down to turnout.
The Clinton camp disappointed in Florida where African-Americans made up 25 percent of early voters in 2012. This year, they only comprised 15 percent.
However, the Latino early-vote increased dramatically, which is a key constituency for Democrats.
"We expect the largest turnout of Latino voters in U.S. history. Roughly 13 million Hispanic voters will vote in this election," Janet Murguia, with the National Council of La Raza, said.
