Clinton on offense to win over GOP
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton is seizing opportunities presented by a volatile presidential race to expand her base of support heading into the fall, seeking to position the Democratic Party for a sweeping victory in November.
As Donald Trump struggles through a second week of self-inflicted stumbles, the Democratic nominee’s campaign has started to push into Republican territory by courting some of the party’s core supporters and expanding her campaign’s operations into traditionally red states.
“The map favors us and, in a way, the dynamics right now favor us,” said Joel Benenson, Clinton’s senior strategist. “The more places you can make them play defense, the better off we are.”
Throughout his presidential bid, the Republican nominee has used controversy to draw attention back to his campaign. It’s a strategy that initially worried some Clinton aides, who feared he would drown out their candidate’s general-election message.
But with three months to Election Day, Clinton aides say they see more advantages than liabilities as Trump continues to say the politically unimaginable. Critics slammed Trump this week for appearing to suggest that gun-rights supporters could shoot Clinton to prevent her from appointing federal judges as president, and he drew criticism for standing by a false claim that President Barack Obama founded the Islamic State.
On Thursday, Trump said he would respond to his admitted problems in his campaign by doing “the same thing I’m doing right now.” In an interview with CNBC, he said, “At the end, it’s either going to work, or I’m going to, you know, I’m going to have a very, very nice, long vacation.”
Democratic strategists have long argued the party could win the White House with Obama’s political coalition, the group of minority, young and female voters who twice boosted him to victory. They see the additional support Clinton is finding among independent and Republican voters as frosting on their electoral cake, potentially allowing Democrats to win back control of the Senate and enter the White House with the political momentum that comes from a sweeping victory.
“You care very deeply about the 270th electoral vote, but there are also important reasons to care about winning big,” said Geoff Garin, a pollster for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign who now advises the pro-Clinton super PAC Priorities USA Action. “This is not just about rolling up the score.”
Clinton aides say she’s taking nothing for granted, noting the U.S. remains a deeply politically divided country. They say they remain singularly focused on the most efficient path to capturing the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the White House.
Yet Clinton is undoubtedly beginning to cast her gaze beyond the Democratic base.
