• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, November 1, 2016

In the final week of campaigning, both presidential campaigns are in high gear, with candidates and surrogates crisscrossing the country in their last effort to drive voters to the polls.

Trump is trying to muddle the electoral map, which until the past few days, had been solidly in Clinton’s camp. What is clear now, is that Trump is playing offense and Clinton defense.

The outcome of the election will be determined in the swing states, particularly Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Virginia, Arizona and Nevada. That's the order of states FiveThirtyEight deems most likely to tip the election next Tuesday.

Both campaigns are on the march.

Hillary Clinton is in Florida today, vice president Joe Biden will be there on Nov. 2, and President Obama will be there on Nov. 3. While the Trump campaign doesn’t have much information regarding campaign events, VP nominee Mike Pence arrived in Florida yesterday, before moving onto North Carolina today.

Donald Trump will hold a number of rallies in Florida on Wednesday and Thursday, when the VP and President will also be campaigning. The Trump campaign is also spending time in Michigan (Trump on the 31st), Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

It's clear the Clinton campaign has a far more robust team of eye-catching surrogates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who will be campaigning for Clinton in Nevada, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is trying to shore up the Northeast (New Hampshire and Maine) for the Democrats.

That's in addition to the array of nonpolitical surrogates performing in support of Clinton: Cher, Jay-Z, Steve Aoki, Katy Perry and Jon Bon Jovi to name several.

The Clinton camp is well represented across the swing state map this final week. Each one of FiveThirtyEight’s top swing states noted above has a top Clinton surrogate holding an event this week, except for Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia. These four states are rated 80% or higher to vote Democratic, according to FiveThirtyEight.

What might be worrying for the Clinton campaign: Pundits like Michael Moore, who has his thumb on the pulse of the American electorate, have little confidence in the polls, particularly in states like Michigan. Moore reminded Jake Tapper on CNN yesterday that polls had Clinton ahead of Bernie Sanders by double digits in the primary, with the Vermont Senator winning.

It’s a stretch to contend that every swing state poll in which Clinton is ahead is off, but the Trump camp sees opportunity in the Rust Belt. If a few seemingly secure Clinton states, like Wisconsin and Michigan, go Trump’s way, who knows what upsets may in the South.