Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump headed to North Carolina today in a final effort to shore up support in the swing state as polls showed Mrs Clinton maintained her lead nationally just days ahead of the 8 November US presidential election.
Mrs Clinton was leading Mr Trump by 6 percentage points, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found yesterday.
Two new polls released today, by the New YorkTimes/CBS and the Washington Post/ABC, showed Mrs Clinton with a slimmer lead - in line with a drop in her advantage since there-emergence last week of a controversy over Mrs Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state.
An average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics website showed Mrs Clinton ahead by 1.7 percentage points today, well down from the solid lead she had until late last month
Mrs Clinton was in Arizona yesterday evening, addressing one of her largest rallies to date. She called on a crowd of about 15,000 at Arizona State University to imagine life with a Trump presidency, particularly for women, Latinos and Muslims.
"What would your life be like if he were in the White House?" Mrs Clinton said.
"And the truth is we really don't have to guess. We just have to look at everything he has said and done in his career and this campaign, it's a good preview of what would likely happen," she said.
"If you add up all of the people and all the groups of people he has insulted and demeaned it makes way more than half of America," Mrs Clinton added.
She and Trump are focused heavily on states where the race is close, given the White House is decided by the Electoral College system of tallying wins on a state-by-state basis.
Today, Mrs Clinton was to hold two events in North Carolina, where early voting has already started in the race for the southern state's 15 electoral votes.
Mr Trump also had three events scheduled in the state after urging supporters at a rally in Miami Florida yesterday to turn out and vote.
Florida, like North Carolina, is considered a must-win state for the presidential contenders. President Barack Obama scheduled a stop in Jacksonville Florida later today to stump for Mrs Clinton - part of a campaign swing by him this week that also included stops in North Carolina and Ohio.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls in the Florida, which carries 29 electoral votes, put Mr Trump 0.7 point ahead of Mrs Clinton. In North Carolina, the race is tied with both Mrs Clinton and Mr Trump at 46%, the RealClearPolitics average showed.
Polls of other key battleground states also show a tight race in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada, among others.
Mr Trump's wife, Melania, campaigned for her husband in a rare appearance on the trail today, speaking in Pennsylvania and telling an enthusiastic crowd of her plans to focus on women and children's issues if she became first lady.
In her speech Ms Trump said her husband "knows how to get things done, not just talk".
She went on to say: "I'm an immigrant and let me tell you no one values the freedom and opportunity of America more than me, both as an independent woman and as a someone who immigrated to America.
"Love for this country - something we immediately shared when I met Donald. He loves this country and he knows how to get things done, not just talk. He certainly knows how to shake things up doesn't he?"
"We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other. We must find better ways to honour and support the basic goodness of our children, especially in social media. It would be one of the main focuses of my work if I'm privileged enough to become your first lady", she said.
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