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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Gear Up for a Busy Labor Day On Labor Day, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Begin a Final Sprint
(about 7 hours later)
The presidential candidates and their surrogates planned a blitz of activity on Labor Day, with Hillary Clinton returning to the campaign trail after a long run of fund-raising and Donald J. Trump bearing down on Ohio, a state critical to any hopes of a Republican victory. CLEVELAND — Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump immersed themselves in on-the-ground campaigning on Monday, bearing down on Ohio and sending surrogates to other swing states as the campaign turned to its final phase.
For Mr. Trump — whose campaign schedule has often seemed haphazard — the first Monday in September marks the beginning of a week of strategic events in competitive swing states, including stops in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. With Mrs. Clinton moving from a summer of fund-raising back to retail campaigning, she and Mr. Trump crossed paths in Ohio, with their motorcades all but passing each other and the planes of the candidates and their running mates ending up on the tarmac of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at the same time.
And Mrs. Clinton, who has not held a news conference since last year, will kick off the holiday by finally allowing her press corps onto her campaign plane for the first time this election cycle. (The Republican nominee still travels on his own, Trump-branded private plane, with his press corps trailing behind on a charter.) While Mrs. Clinton holds comfortable leads in many swing-state polls, she worked on Monday to confront nagging doubts about her candidacy. She let the press corps onto her campaign plane for the first time this election cycle and met with them briefly to say hello; she gathered with union leaders in Cleveland while her husband, Bill Clinton, appeared at a Labor Day parade in Detroit; and she enlisted the help of her primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, who made his first solo appearance on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf in an effort to draw out his supporters in New Hampshire.
Labor Day has traditionally marked the beginning of the homestretch of presidential campaigns, a two-month sprint to Election Day when candidates seek to seize the attention of voters as summer fades and debates loom. Not to be outdone by Mrs. Clinton’s outreach to the news media, Mr. Trump invited reporters onto his personal plane, where he sought to clarify his views on immigration. He said he opposed any path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, but did not explicitly rule out a long-term path to legal status if the nation’s immigration system is overhauled.
“Labor Day comes and it’s kind of like a recalibration,” said Beth Myers, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and served as his senior adviser in 2012. “You see the finish line, you see that there’s not too many game-changing events left, and most campaigns take a measure of where you are on Labor Day.” “We’re going to make that decision into the future,” Mr. Trump said. But, he added, “to become a citizen, you are going to have to go out and come back in through the process. You’re going to have to go out and get in line. This isn’t touchback. You have to get in line.”
This cycle, however, both candidates have eschewed traditional campaigning, albeit in divergent ways. Normally, they would already have been circling each other in battleground states and accelerating their campaigning as autumn approaches. On the plane, Mr. Trump also told reporters that, “as of this moment,” he planned to attend all three debates, saying that only a “natural disaster” could make him change his mind. He added that, while he was preparing, he was not holding any mock debate sessions.
But Mrs. Clinton has largely spent the summer away from the campaign trail, focusing on fund-raising, hobnobbing in places like the Hamptons and Beverly Hills with celebrities like Jimmy Buffett and Harvey Weinstein. Mr. Trump has also kept a languid pace, favoring large rallies that often take place in the evening instead of making several daily campaign stops. Labor Day has traditionally been the beginning of a two-month sprint to Election Day, in which candidates try to seize voters’ attention as summer fades and debates loom. Monday proved no exception. At one point, all four presidential planes — one each for Mr. Trump and his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, and Mrs. Clinton and her No. 2, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia — idled on the tarmac at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, highlighting the importance of a state that Republicans believe Mr. Trump must win to have any chance of reaching the White House.
This year’s Labor Day campaigning reflects another difference. The conventions fell earlier in the summer this year, leaving five weeks between the end of the Democratic National Convention and the holiday weekend. “Labor Day comes, and it’s kind of like a recalibration,” said Beth Myers, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and served as his senior adviser in 2012. “You see the finish line, you see that there’s not too many game-changing events left, and most campaigns take a measure of where you are on Labor Day.”
Mr. Trump, the political novice, and Mrs. Clinton, the politician’s-wife-turned-politician, face the challenge of confronting historically low approval ratings among voters for whom they are well-known commodities. This cycle, however, both candidates have eschewed traditional campaigning, albeit in divergent ways. Normally, they would already have been circling each other in swing states as autumn approaches.
“Labor Day used to be this big important marker in the campaign season,” said Amy Walter, national editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “A kickoff, if you will. Today it feels like the start of the third quarter instead of the kickoff.” But Mrs. Clinton has spent most of the summer away from the campaign trail, focusing on fund-raising and hobnobbing in places like the Hamptons and Beverly Hills with celebrities like Jimmy Buffett and Harvey Weinstein. Mr. Trump has also kept a languid pace, favoring large rallies, often in the evening, over several daily campaign stops.
“The candidates are well-defined, the ads have been running for months, and TVs have been saturated with talking heads,” she added. This year’s Labor Day campaigning reflects another difference. The conventions fell earlier in the summer than usual, leaving five weeks between the end of the Democratic National Convention and the holiday weekend.
In recent days, Mr. Trump has been trying to burnish his image as a statesman with a hastily arranged trip to Mexico City. He has also looked to increase his outreach to minorities, from a promised softening on immigration that ultimately concluded in a fiery speech in Phoenix that was laced with nativist undertones, to a stop at a black church in Detroit. Mr. Trump, a political novice, and Mrs. Clinton, a veteran politician, face the challenge of confronting historically low approval ratings among voters for whom they are well-known commodities.
Mrs. Clinton and her allies plan to mark the holiday by blanketing battleground states on Monday in a nationwide plea for labor support. “Labor Day used to be this big, important marker in the campaign season,” said Amy Walter, national editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “A kickoff, if you will. Today, it feels like the start of the third quarter instead of the kickoff.”
After her blizzard of fund-raising in wealthy enclaves, Mrs. Clinton will dive back into campaigning when she attends an annual Labor Day festival in Cleveland accompanied by her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, and by labor leaders including the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s president, Richard L. Trumka; Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the first unions to endorse Mrs. Clinton last year. “The candidates are well-defined, the ads have been running for months and TVs have been saturated with talking heads,” she added.
She will then travel to the Quad Cities, where she will attend an annual event called Salute to Labor, alongside Dennis Williams, the president of the United Automobile Workers, and other union leaders, in Hampton, Ill. Mr. Trump tried to burnish his image as a statesman last week with a hastily arranged trip to Mexico City. He has also tried to increase his outreach to minorities, from a promised “softening” on immigration that concluded with a fiery, nativist speech in Phoenix, to a stop at a black church in Detroit.
Labor leaders overwhelmingly supported Mrs. Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primaries, though many rank-and-file union members were drawn to Mr. Sanders’s promise to take on income inequality. Mrs. Clinton has consistently promised to strengthen labor unions as part of her overall economic plan to lift wages. At a diner on Monday in Cleveland, Mr. Trump met Maria Hernandez, a Mexican-American who said she was supporting him. “Mexican-American supports Trump,” he said. “It’s so nice.” Then he turned to the nearby reporters to emphasize his focus group of one: “Make a note of it, guys,” he said.
Mrs. Clinton’s surrogates will also be out in force. Before reuniting with Mrs. Clinton in Cleveland, Mr. Kaine is scheduled to appear at the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, where he will be joined by the man he is hoping to succeed, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Earlier, speaking to a dozen white men and a lone white woman at an American Legion post here, Mr. Trump criticized China’s treatment of President Obama: When the president landed in Hangzhou for the Group of 20 summit meeting, the host country forced him to disembark from the plane’s belly. Mr. Trump said he would not have gotten off the plane, instead saying, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
And former President Bill Clinton will also re-emerge on the campaign trail on Monday, attending a Labor Day parade in Detroit and a picnic hosted by the A.F.L.-C.I.O. He also took a shot at Mrs. Clinton, saying, “And she looks presidential, fellows?”
Mr. Sanders will make his first solo appearance campaigning on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf at a rally in Lebanon, N.H. Mrs. Clinton dived back into campaigning by appearing with Mr. Kaine at a Labor Day festival here. She was joined by labor leaders, including the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s president, Richard L. Trumka; Lee Saunders, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; and Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the first unions to endorse Mrs. Clinton last year.
Ms. Walter, the political analyst, said that voters who were just beginning to decide whom to support might also be waiting for reasons different from those in past elections. Labor leaders overwhelmingly supported Mrs. Clinton over Mr. Sanders during the Democratic primaries, though many rank-and-file union members were drawn to Mr. Sanders’s promise to take on income inequality. Mrs. Clinton has consistently promised to strengthen labor unions as part of her overall plan to lift wages.
“They are holding off because they don’t want to have to make the choice,” she said. “It’s like being in gym class where you have a swim test — you know you will have to jump into that pool of freezing cold water, but are holding off until the last minute.” Mrs. Clinton’s surrogates were also out in force. On a sunny morning in Pittsburgh, Mr. Kaine and the man he hopes to succeed, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., spoke at an outdoor rally before the city’s Labor Day parade, addressing a crowd that included many people in union T-shirts. Mr. Kaine assailed Mr. Trump for refusing to release his tax returns, then turned the stage over to Mr. Biden.
“My name is Joe Biden, and I work for Hillary Clinton and whatever the hell this guy’s name is,” he said.
Mr. Biden then portrayed Mr. Trump as out of touch with families struggling financially. “He really does believe that workers make too much,” Mr. Biden said. “He really does believe that the problem is American workers are lazy.”
Mr. Sanders planned to campaign for Mrs. Clinton later on Monday at a rally in Lebanon, N.H.