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Taunting Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton Pushes Into Red States Showing Confidence, Hillary Clinton Pushes Into Republican Strongholds
(about 4 hours later)
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is planning its most ambitious push yet into traditionally right-leaning states, a new offensive aimed at extending her growing advantage over Donald J. Trump while bolstering down-ballot Democrats in what party leaders increasingly view as a possible wave election. Hillary Clinton’s campaign is planning its most ambitious push yet into traditionally right-leaning states, a new offensive aimed at extending her growing advantage over Donald J. Trump while bolstering down-ballot candidates in what party leaders increasingly suggest could be a sweeping victory for Democrats at every level.
Signaling extraordinary confidence in Mrs. Clinton’s electoral position and a new determination to deliver a punishing message to Mr. Trump and Republicans about his racially tinged campaign, her aides said Monday that she would aggressively compete in Arizona, a state with a growing Hispanic population that has been ground zero for the country’s heated debate over immigration.Signaling extraordinary confidence in Mrs. Clinton’s electoral position and a new determination to deliver a punishing message to Mr. Trump and Republicans about his racially tinged campaign, her aides said Monday that she would aggressively compete in Arizona, a state with a growing Hispanic population that has been ground zero for the country’s heated debate over immigration.
Mrs. Clinton is “dramatically expanding” her efforts in Arizona, her campaign manager, Robby Mook, told reporters on Monday, pouring more than $2 million into advertising and dispatching perhaps her most potent surrogate, Michelle Obama, for a rally in Phoenix on Thursday.Mrs. Clinton is “dramatically expanding” her efforts in Arizona, her campaign manager, Robby Mook, told reporters on Monday, pouring more than $2 million into advertising and dispatching perhaps her most potent surrogate, Michelle Obama, for a rally in Phoenix on Thursday.
In Indiana and Missouri, Mr. Mook said, the campaign will spend a total of $1 million to drive voter turnout, despite what he acknowledged as an “uphill battle” for Mrs. Clinton in two states with several competitive races below the presidential level. In Indiana and Missouri, Mr. Mook said, the campaign will spend a total of $1 million to drive voter turnout, despite what he acknowledged as an “uphill battle” for Mrs. Clinton in two states that could determine control of the Senate.
“Donald Trump is becoming more unhinged by the day, and that is increasing prospects for Democrats further down the ballot,” Mr. Mook said. He predicted record turnout nationally, citing registration and early-voting data that exceed 2012 trends. The maneuvering speaks to the unexpected tension facing Mrs. Clinton as she hurtles toward what aides increasingly believe will be a decisive victory — a pleasant problem, for certain, but one that has nonetheless scrambled the campaign’s strategy weeks before Election Day: Should Mrs. Clinton maximize her own margin, aiming to flip as many red states as possible to run up an electoral landslide, or prioritize the party’s congressional fortunes, redirecting funds and energy down the ballot?
For weeks, Mrs. Clinton’s team has weighed how seriously to look beyond core battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina, another state that Republicans carried in 2012. Thanks to an infusion of contributions in recent weeks, and what aides describe as a war chest they had maintained in case the opportunity arose, Mrs. Clinton is in effect trying to do both.
After nearly eight years in which Democrats on Capitol Hill grumbled about a lack of attention from President Obama, Mrs. Clinton has taken care to stay in frequent contact with Senator Chuck Schumer, her former New York colleague, about down-ballot races.
Mr. Schumer, poised to be the incoming Senate Democratic leader, and the current leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, met with Mrs. Clinton’s top campaign aides in Washington last month and pressed them to offer financial support for the Senate races, according to a Democratic official briefed on the meeting. And Mr. Schumer has not been shy since about his hope that if Mrs. Clinton clearly appeared on her way to winning the race, she would redirect some money to congressional races.
“This is one of many things that the Clinton campaign is doing to help us win a majority in a Senate,” Mr. Schumer said through a spokesman.
While party strategists are glad to have the money Mrs. Clinton is directing from the Democratic National Committee to voter-turnout efforts in Indiana and Missouri, they have little appetite for Mrs. Clinton to visit those states, where she is likely to lose, because that would make it easier for Republicans to tie Democratic Senate candidates to her.
Democrats are also attempting to unseat Senator John McCain of Arizona from the seat he was first elected to in 1986, but Mrs. Clinton’s late decision to swoop into that state is not related to his race, which few Democratic leaders believe they can win. Her incursion there is about her own campaign — and the Democrats’ desire to focus attention on the damage Mr. Trump has done to Republicans with Hispanics.
In particular, Democrats hope to make an example of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an ardent Trump supporter, by defeating the Phoenix lawman, whose incendiary comments about Hispanics and aggressive tactics with immigrants have garnered attention far beyond his jurisdiction in Maricopa County.
“If Democrats were going to win in Arizona in 2016, you’d need a Republican who turns off Republican women, who really energizes Latinos, and you’d need other races on the ground that can really drive engagement — and we have all that,” said Andrei Cherny, a former state Democratic chairman.
Alexis Tameron, the current state Democratic chairwoman, said Republican stumbles had allowed local Democrats to “jump our own timeline” for when officials expected to make the state competitive on the presidential level.
“I give credit where credit is due,” Ms. Tameron said. “And I have been thanking a lot of people, including Donald Trump.”
Mrs. Clinton’s team had weighed for weeks how seriously to look beyond core battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina, another state that Republicans carried in 2012.
Eager to torment Mr. Trump, and the Republicans straining to navigate his erratic bid, her team has also planned at least faint, attention-grabbing plays in other states with little history of Democratic success.Eager to torment Mr. Trump, and the Republicans straining to navigate his erratic bid, her team has also planned at least faint, attention-grabbing plays in other states with little history of Democratic success.
In Texas, the campaign has prepared an ad highlighting Mrs. Clinton’s endorsement from The Dallas Morning News. And Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, has begun sitting for local media interviews in Utah, where Mr. Trump has struggled to break away from Mrs. Clinton and an independent candidate, Evan McMullin, in recent polls. (On a conference call with reporters on Monday, Mr. Mook mentioned Mr. McMullin by name.)In Texas, the campaign has prepared an ad highlighting Mrs. Clinton’s endorsement from The Dallas Morning News. And Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, has begun sitting for local media interviews in Utah, where Mr. Trump has struggled to break away from Mrs. Clinton and an independent candidate, Evan McMullin, in recent polls. (On a conference call with reporters on Monday, Mr. Mook mentioned Mr. McMullin by name.)
The most brazen push, though, is in Arizona, where the campaign has also scheduled appearances on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf from her daughter, Chelsea, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.The most brazen push, though, is in Arizona, where the campaign has also scheduled appearances on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf from her daughter, Chelsea, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric and deeply disrespectful remarks about Senator John McCain have made Arizona more competitive,” Mr. Mook said.“Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric and deeply disrespectful remarks about Senator John McCain have made Arizona more competitive,” Mr. Mook said.
He added that Mrs. Clinton may appear there herself in short order. “We certainly hope to get her there,” he said.He added that Mrs. Clinton may appear there herself in short order. “We certainly hope to get her there,” he said.
The moves come as Mrs. Clinton has more conspicuously emphasized congressional and state races during campaign appearances, taking particular care to mention Senate and even House candidates on the stump and highlighting states that typically receive scant attention from Democrats.The moves come as Mrs. Clinton has more conspicuously emphasized congressional and state races during campaign appearances, taking particular care to mention Senate and even House candidates on the stump and highlighting states that typically receive scant attention from Democrats.
“If you’ve got friends in Utah or Arizona, make sure they vote, too!” she told voters during a stop in Colorado last week. “We are competing everywhere.”“If you’ve got friends in Utah or Arizona, make sure they vote, too!” she told voters during a stop in Colorado last week. “We are competing everywhere.”
The campaign’s emphasis has strayed, at least somewhat, from its treatment of Mr. Trump and the wider Republican Party over the summer. During the Democratic convention and in the weeks that followed, Mrs. Clinton’s team sought to cast Mr. Trump as a menacing anomaly, at odds with the history of his party and its leaders.The campaign’s emphasis has strayed, at least somewhat, from its treatment of Mr. Trump and the wider Republican Party over the summer. During the Democratic convention and in the weeks that followed, Mrs. Clinton’s team sought to cast Mr. Trump as a menacing anomaly, at odds with the history of his party and its leaders.
More recently, as several Republican candidates have been forced into contortions — distancing themselves from Mr. Trump’s comments about women and the integrity of American elections, but often leery of renouncing their support outright — Mrs. Clinton and other Democrats have pounced.More recently, as several Republican candidates have been forced into contortions — distancing themselves from Mr. Trump’s comments about women and the integrity of American elections, but often leery of renouncing their support outright — Mrs. Clinton and other Democrats have pounced.
“For months, G.O.P. members put their party ahead of the good of the country by refusing to take the step of condemning Donald Trump’s outrageous and insulting rhetoric,” Mr. Mook said. “Voters are now seeing through G.O.P. candidates who made last-minute conversions and tried to save themselves politically. And voters continue to be outraged that some of these candidates are choosing to stick with Donald Trump.”“For months, G.O.P. members put their party ahead of the good of the country by refusing to take the step of condemning Donald Trump’s outrageous and insulting rhetoric,” Mr. Mook said. “Voters are now seeing through G.O.P. candidates who made last-minute conversions and tried to save themselves politically. And voters continue to be outraged that some of these candidates are choosing to stick with Donald Trump.”