Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will campaign at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa Friday.
The event will be among her final stops before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. That, of course, means Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay area are important, people!
You know the drill: As goes the I-4 Corridor, so goes Florida, and as goes Florida, so goes the nation.
Or so they say.
Plus, with polls showing Clinton neck-and-neck with GOP candidate Donald Trump, it couldn't hurt to spark some enthusiasm among Tampa Bay Democrats (and maybe even some Independent and non-party voters; who knows?). Those interested in that event can sign up here.
Clinton, after all, was on the losing end of a recent swing state poll pitting her against Trump, a Quinnipiac survey that had Trump as three points ahead with voters in Florida, a dramatic shift from June’s poll showing Clinton in the lead (though other polls have since shown her in the lead, suggesting it could be a tossup at best).
Some attributed this change to the ongoing email controversy, as surveyed voters questioned the candidate’s “moral standards and honesty.” So if Tampa crowds are regaled with stories about her helping grandmothers reach soup cans on the top shelf at Publix, we'll know why.
She is also stopping in Orlando Friday, another metro area situated along the I-4 corridor, as well as in South Florida.
The Clinton campaign said in a press release she will use the rally to “discuss her commitment to building an economy that works for all, not just those at the top.”
After visiting South Florida Saturday, she's bound for Philadelphia, where the Democratic National Convention kicks off July 25.
For updates on that event (oh, and the Republican National Convention this week), follow us on Twitter at @cl_tampabay.
This article appears in Jul 14-21, 2016.