Once again, Florida's electoral importance is showing.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is headlining an event at the St. Petersburg Coliseum Monday, Clinton's campaign confirmed Friday afternoon.
Doors open at 1:30 p.m. and the event starts at 3 p.m. Clinton, who is expected to talk about her 100-day jobs plan, will travel to Orlando later that day and to Miami the following day. Those interested in the St. Pete event can find more info here.
Her scheduled appearance comes as she enjoys a boost in the polls, likely in part due to the lack of a total meltdown at last week's Democratic National Convention. Better numbers for her could also be a sign that GOP nominee Donald Trump's mouth spew is finally having consequences in the polls. Finally.
A Suffolk University poll of likely Florida voters released Friday had Clinton up by six points against Trump in a two-way race in the state; 48 to 42 percent. A hypothetical four-way contest that included Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein delivered 43 percent to Clinton, 39 to Trump, four percent to Johnson and three percent to Stein.
In other words, if the election were held today-ish and the poll is indeed an accurate reflection of the national mood, disaffected supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders — who pushed Clinton to the left over the course of a heated Democratic primary — aren't exactly flocking to Stein as some have said they might.
Last week during the DNC in Philadelphia, leaders in the Sanders camp (perhaps begrudgingly) told supporters who live in swing states that they might vote for Clinton so that a guy rumored to have repeatedly asked why we can't use our nukes, verbally attacked the family of a fallen soldier, etc. won't become president. But people in heavily Democratic states, like California, they said, should still vote their "conscience."
The Suffolk poll points something else out: that voters aren't exactly thrilled with either, and are actually kind of dreading November. Some 53 percent said they were "alarmed" by the election.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.