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Clinton, Trump surrogates make final pitches in West Michigan

Posted at 6:11 PM, Oct 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-29 18:12:38-04

WEST MICHIGAN — Both Chelsea Clinton and Ben Carson rallied supporters Saturday as the campaigns face the final 10 days before the election.

Campaigning for her mother Hillary, Chelsea Clinton met with supporters during rallies in Muskegon Heights and Battle Creek. Clinton was joined by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Colleen Lamonte, a Democrat running to unseat Republican Holly Hughes in Michigan’s 91st House District.

Clinton urged supporters to vote, while not shying away from taking on Donald Trump’s attacks on her mother.

“Whenever I hear Donald Trump or someone else make fun of my mom for being so prepared or even over prepared, I think goodness gracious, don’t we want our presidents to be prepared,” Clinton said to a crowd of several hundred people at the Bishop William L. Burrell Multiplex Center in Muskegon Heights.

Clinton said she couldn’t remember a time in her life when her mother wasn’t being politically attacked.

“I’m really proud of the work she’s been doing for a longer than I’ve been alive,” she said.

Ben Carson, a Detroit native and former presidential candidate himself, wrapped up a  day-long statewide campaign tour for Trump in Grand Rapids. Earlier in the day, Carson rallied supporters and campaign volunteers in Livonia and East Lansing during the MSU-Michigan football game.

Speaking to a crowd of at least 100 people at a Trump campaign office in Grand Rapids, Carson said he believed Trump could pull off an upset over his Democratic rival, arguing that support in the final days before the election is shifting in the Republican nominee’s favor.

“We the people are the ones who determine the direction of this country, not they, the political class,” Carson told FOX 17. “It’s very important for the people to reassert themselves and understand this is not an election about Democrats and Republicans, this is an election about the political elites and the people.”

On Monday, Trump himself will be in Grand Rapids. The visit will mark his sixth campaign stop in the state since winning the Republican nomination in July.

The latest Real Clear Politics average shows Clinton leading Trump 46- to 39-percent in Michigan. Nationally, the race is closer with Clinton leading Trump by 4 points, according to the RCP average.