Hillary Clinton made a stop in Tampa on Wednesday, appearing at a rally at downtown's Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

  • Hillary Clinton spends 69th birthday at Tampa rally
  • Discussed healthcare, national security and her 'optimistic outlook'
  • She questioned her opponent's integrity and business practices

She began by thanking her hosts, including Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Gov. Charlie Crist, before taking a few jabs at her opponent, Donald Trump.

"If I ever need a pickup," joked Clinton, who turned 69 on Wednesday, "I’m coming back to Tampa, Mayor."

Throughout the rally, she questioned Trump's temperament and business practices, saying he's the "poster boy for everything wrong with our economy."

Healthcare, national security and her own 'optimistic outlook' were also topics of discussion.

"I want us to be a country where millions of people are working in good, high paying jobs," said Clinton. "Like clean industry and advanced manufacturing."

She ended her 25-minute speech with a call for unity, adding that her work won't end after Election Day.

"Let's prove, once and for all," she said, "that love trumps hate."

More than 145,000 people in Hillsborough County have participated in early voting. In nearby Orange County, 104,000 have placed their votes.

Clinton supporter Andrew Mason isn't among those numbers, though he said he’ll be joining them soon.

“I really want to vote for the first woman president on Election Day,” said Mason. “I don't know. It's just something i really wanted to do.”

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According to a Bay News 9/News 13 Florida Decides exclusive poll, Democrat Clinton and GOP candidate Donald Trump are running close in the Sunshine State. 

That's why both candidates have been zig-zagging the state this week.

I-4 corridor visits by presidential candidates

Clinton has a slim lead over Trump, 48 to 45 percent, in the race for the presidency, but 6 percent of the respondents say they would vote for a minor-party candidate if the election were held today, the exclusive statewide Florida Decides poll determined.

Trump, meanwhile, played to raucous crowds this week in Tampa and Sanford as part of his late campaign push for Florida. Both candidates know the path to the White House almost assuredly goes through Florida.

"This is a movement, folks," Trump said Tuesday. "This is the last time we're going to have a chance. Four years, it's over. In four years, you don't have a chance. All these characters that want to run in four years, they can forget it. They're wasting their time."