COLUMBUS, Ohio — Coming off the best stretch of her campaign, Hillary Clinton on Monday drew what appeared to be her largest crowd to date: 18,500 people, according to the U.S. Secret Service.
Some of the traveling press corps members who cover Clinton were skeptical of the figure, pegging it at closer to 10,000. But in any case, the rally at Ohio State University was more reminiscent of those put on by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton’s rival during the primaries, than those of the Democratic nominee, who tends to stage more modest events aimed at getting television news coverage.
Monday night’s rally had several things going for it, including being held at night. Most of Clinton’s events take place during the late morning or afternoon, when most people are working. The outdoor event was also held on a large college campus, which are popular destinations for campaigns because of the large turnouts they can produce.
Clinton has also been buoyed in recent days by a bump in the polls as Republican Donald Trump’s campaign has become mired in the controversy over a 2005 video in which he spoke about women in extremely crude terms. And the race is nearing its end, when more people tend to tune in.
According to an estimate by the Secret Service, and passed along by the Clinton campaign, 13,500 people gathered inside a security perimeter at the event, while an additional 5,000 lingered outside.
Crowd sizes are one gauge of enthusiasm, but they are an unreliable predictor of elections. Clinton, not Sanders, is heading the Democratic ticket this fall. And Trump routinely draws larger crowds than Clinton at his rallies. He is now trailing in national and most battleground state polls.
No comments:
Post a Comment