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Trump and Clinton Sprint to Election Day Finish Line

Trump is making last-minute stops in traditionally blue states, while Clinton is focusing on Ohio and what could be called the 'dad vote.'
Image: Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton at a rally Nov. 1 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Andrew Harnik / AP

Donald Trump is making last-minute stops in traditionally blue states, while Hillary Clinton is hoping a basketball star from Akron can push her ahead in Ohio just two days before the election.

Trump stayed mostly focused on the Midwest on Sunday, with stops in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania, in addition to Virginia. Polls in Michigan — once thought to be solidly in Clinton's column — show a tightening race.

Related: Final NBC/WSJ Poll: Clinton Holds a Four-Point National Lead Over Trump

In a surprise move, Trump added Minnesota to his campaign schedule. He finished a distant third in the state during the GOP primary, and a recently released Star Tribune Minnesota Poll showed Clinton with an eight-point lead.

"I've been here many times, as you know. And Hillary, she doesn't even bother to come here," Trump said at an airport rally. "She should be penalized. Don't vote for her. She'd be a lousy president, anyway."

Clinton appeared with NBA superstar Lebron James, a Northeast Ohio native, in Cleveland. James endorsed Clinton last month but is making his first appearance on the campaign trail.

"We have to get out and make sure we vote," James told the crowd. "We have to get out and be knowledgeable about what's going on, about what we see that our future entails. And this woman right here has the brightest future for our world."

The Democratic presidential nominee is also making a stop in Manchester, New Hampshire, with musician James Taylor.

The final national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of the 2016 presidential race shows Clinton with a four-point lead. That's down from the 11-point lead the former secretary of state claimed in mid-October.

But her campaign got some good news Sunday as FBI Director James Comey announced that the additional review of emails has not changed the agency's conclusion that Clinton did not commit a crime by using a private email server.

"Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton," Comey wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

Trump responded at a rally by saying Clinton is being protected by a rigged system.

And after spending millions of ad dollars targeting suburban women, Clinton's campaign announced Sunday she will also be taking aim at their husbands.

Related: Electoral College Map: Potential Paths to Victory for Clinton and Trump

The campaign was running two 30-second spots during "Sunday Night Football," each featuring testimonials from men speaking about how Trump's comments about women could affect their daughters and granddaughters or could create a bad precedent for their young boys.

Designed to make men feel comfortable voting for Clinton, both ads feature veterans and portray them in traditionally masculine roles. The spots also seek to remind voters of the explosive "Access Hollywood" tape of Trump seemingly bragging about sexually assaulting women.

Much of the Clinton campaign's messaging has focused on encouraging voters to think about how children will hear Trump's words, designed to drive up the gender gap. However, in focus groups and other tests, the campaign discovered that the message was also effective for men, especially fathers of young daughters, and has been quietly ramping up its message to appeal to dads, as well.