Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Like in 2008, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine said voters have the opportunity to make history by casting ballots for Hillary Clinton.

“I’ve always been the one with my name on bumper stickers, yard sign and ballots. But I’ve always been able to do well because of strong women,” Kaine, Clinton's running mate, told a crowd of several hundred people during a rally in Taylor on Sunday. “The next president will commemorate the centennial of women getting the right to vote. Is it unreasonable to have that president be a women, rather than a man who offends women every time he opens his mouth?”

It was a theme he returned to several times in his 43-minute speech at a fire station in the Downriver city, reminding Clinton supporters that they can’t take anything for granted in the days leading to the Nov. 8 election.

►Free Press endorsement:Hillary Clinton is a prepared, mature choice

►Related: Chelsea Clinton rallies voters in Battle Creek

“You will have the ability to tell your children and grandchildren that you made history on a night in 2016, just like in 2008 when you cast your votes and elected Barack Obama. The very moment that race was called, there were successors who had never been able to see themselves as the president of the United States,” Kaine said. “That’s what this race is all about. So let’s go win.”

His speech also touched on what has been overshadowing the presidential race for months and especially since Friday, when FBI director James Comey sent a letter to Congress saying that new e-mails had been found that may be relevant to the agency's investigation of Clinton's handling of classified information as secretary of state. The new e-mails were found during an investigation into former congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin. The FBI is looking at Weiner in connection with his sexts to an underage teenager.

Kaine asked the crowd not to be distracted by the FBI controversy.

“I know most of you were surprised and stunned last week when the FBI put out a letter on Friday, months after concluding after an expensive, multimonth investigation into the e-mail question that no reasonable prosecutor would take additional steps,” he said. “Are any of you going to be distracted? Are any of you going to take your eye off the job at hand, which is producing an engaged electorate that’s going to get out and vote.”

The crowed hollered back "NO!" And Kaine said there has been a positive effect from the controversy.

►Related: Details revealed for Donald Trump's Michigan stops on Monday

►Related: In Toledo, Trump says cancel the election, give it to me

“One thing this letter has done, it’s revved up some enthusiasm, a little bit of righteous indignation and righteous anger,” he said, noting that it should prompt many more people, including thousands of newly registered voters, to cast ballots

While none of the elected officials tasked with warming up the Taylor crowd and introducing Kaine mentioned the FBI controversy from the stage Sunday, it remained an undercurrent of the rally.

There was anger at the timing of the announcement from Comey and hope that the impact of the issue will be negligible, even positive for Clinton.

“This just reaffirms that people have to get out and vote,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Dearborn. “What (the FBI) did is outrageous and the timing is outrageous. It’s irresponsible.”

Kaine's visit to the region included a rally with union members in Warren late Sunday.

The presidential campaign has been reignited in Michigan with polls showing the race tightening. Republican nominee Donald Trump is headed back to Michigan on Monday for rallies in Grand Rapids and Warren, and Cher is headlining get-out-the-vote events Monday in Kalamazoo, East Lansing and Flint, before singing at a private Clinton fund-raiser in Bloomfield Hills.

Outside the Kaine rally, about a dozen people, including a person wearing a jail uniform and a Clinton mask, protested the visit.

And Scott Hagerstrom, director of the Trump campaign in Michigan, said in a statement Sunday that voters can’t trust Clinton or Kaine .

“Whether it’s Hillary’s public and private positions on trade, or the recent reopening of the FBI investigation into Hillary’s possible criminal conduct with her e-mails, Michiganders are fed up with the Washington corruption and back-room deals that have become synonymous with the Clinton brand, and will be voting for change on Nov. 8,” he said.

Contact Kathleen Gray: kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal