Clinton rallies in Tampa ahead of convention

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With the Democratic National Convention just days away, Hillary Clinton swung through Florida on Friday, hoping to steal some of Republican rival Donald Trump's spotlight.

"Are we ready to go win an election in November?" she told the crowd, which had waited over an hour for her to take the stage.

The campaign stop at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa was a who's-who of Democrats in Florida -- everyone from DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Rep. Kathy Castor to Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and even former Republican governor Charlie Crist.

But the crowd at the rally was abuzz with the news that Clinton would likely be announcing her running mate today, likely via text message to her supporters.  Speculation has centered on Tim Kaine, the current senator and former governor from Virginia.

Clinton's earlier stop had a much more subdued atmosphere.  She joined Sen. Bill Nelson for a round-table discussion in Orlando to talk about equality in the wake of the Pulse nightclub attacks and laid flowers at the club in memory of the victims.

En route to Tampa, Clinton sent a personally-signed tweet offering support to the people of Germany, who were coping with an apparent terror attack.

"Monitoring the horrific situation in Munich," she wrote.  "We stand with our friends in Germany as they work to bring those responsible to justice."

The Tampa rally was immediately more raucous, with over 3,000 people in attendance. 

Afterwards, Clinton was planning to head to Miami for an event there Saturday.  That would likely be her first in-person appearance with her VP choice.

The stops in Florida -- one of the country's largest swing states -- come the day after Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination at the convention in Cleveland.

"It's hard to believe they spent so much time talking about me and no time talking about jobs or education or health care," Clinton said at the start of her speech, wasting no time taking a shot at Trump.

The Democratic convention gets underway Monday in Philadelphia.

Us Fl/tampa BayNews