Clinton wooing a new group of voters: Republicans

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Clinton wooing a new group of voters: Republicans

By LISA LERER and CATHERINE LUCEY

 

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hoping to capitalize on the criticism battering Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has begun portraying support for her candidacy as a patriotic duty of voters. She's broadening her message and appealing directly to Republicans to keep him out of the White House.

 

It's a twist for a Democratic presidential candidate who has some of the highest unpopularity ratings in history. But aides believe Trump's controversial campaign and the chaos it's caused within the Republican Party offers a unique opportunity.

 

In Ohio recently, Clinton urged Republicans "to pick country over party." She told several thousand at a union hall in Las Vegas on Thursday, "I want to be the president for all Americans. Democrats, Republicans independents. We're going to pull America together again."

 

Clinton had always planned to speak to a broader audience during the general election campaign, a standard move for presidential candidates after their party conventions. But the state of Trump's campaign and his decision to stick with his inflammatory primary message has prompted her to intensify her focus across party lines.

 

Democrats, including President Barack Obama, have begun arguing that Trump poses a unique danger to democracy. That's an argument they did not make against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or Arizona Sen. John McCain, the past two GOP presidential nominees.

 

As she's campaigned across the country this week, Clinton has framed the election as a choice between economic growth and "demagoguery" and "insults." And she's making a point of acknowledging the deep economic anxiety that helped fuel Trump's rise in the primary polls.

 

"I know people are angry and frustrated," she said in a speech on a factory floor in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. "I'm not going into this with some kind of rose colored glasses."

 

A small team is working on Republican outreach at Clinton's campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, largely focused on fielding calls from Republicans interested in giving money and helping with fundraising. A more formal effort will launch soon, focusing on wooing uneasy GOP voters at the national and state level.

 

This week, Clinton picked up the backing of Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO and Republican fundraiser Meg Whitman and New York Rep. Richard Hanna, the first Republican House member to back her. Clinton herself reached out to Whitman, her campaign said, and campaign chairman John Podesta is also involved in GOP outreach.

 

Republicans doubt the effort will gain traction. Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said he didn't think Clinton has "a prayer with Republicans."

 

"It's probably a good strategy for her to try right now. But her negatives are as high as Trump's negatives," he said.

 

But some longtime GOP voters appear persuadable, such as Don Campbell, executive director of the National Electrical Contractors Association, and a Republican who's backing Clinton.

 

"I've never seen anything like this in my life. I feel like we are out of control," said Campbell, who met Clinton when she toured a Las Vegas electric company Thursday. "It's because of what comes out of his mouth and there are a lot of people who are making the same decision."

 

Clinton's campaign doesn't anticipate a mass movement of what they call "common sense Republican" voters or elected officials to her candidacy, according to a pair of aides. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to publicly discuss campaign strategy.

 

Rather, the target is moderates, particularly women, in the crucial swing counties surrounding cities such as Richmond, Virginia, Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia.

 

Jennifer Pierotti Lim, who heads a group called Republican Women for Hillary, said they have heard from nearly 100 women since the party conventions concluded. "I think Trump doubling down on these things gives people an extra push to come forward," she said.

 

The campaign feels bullish about its standing in the more diverse battleground states including Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Virginia, the aides said. They believe the outreach also could help in whiter, Rust Belt states where the race appears close.

 

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid predicted that Clinton would have opportunities to pick up support in some traditionally Republican states, including Arizona, Georgia and possibly Utah. Clinton's campaign and her allies have paused some of their advertising in Virginia and Colorado, a sign of their confidence in those key battleground states.

 

"Georgia is Hillary Clinton's and I'm glad she'll be campaigning there," he said. "I think she's doing the right thing by not dumping all her resources in Colorado and Virginia."

 

If those efforts are successful, that could mean a blowout victory for Clinton, giving her a clear mandate for her administration and undercutting challenges from Trump, who's already proclaimed the election to be "rigged."

 

The outreach effort is not limited to her campaign: Allies at Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting her bid, have begun airing an ad in swing states featuring footage of Romney and other Republicans expressing their concerns about Trump's foreign policy experience and temperament.

 

Trump is making no such effort to woo Democrats. The centerpieces of his performance at his rallies have largely remained identical to that of early this year, with little outreach to undecided voters or independents. Republican strategists say Trump's devotion to his message and penchant for controversy have affected his campaign's ability to effectively attack Clinton.

 

"Her strength is experience. She's not credible, but she's got experience and they're saying this guy is going to screw things up. It's not a bad place for them to be. Trump can spin out of that, but he's not," said Republican pollster Greg Strimple, who added that there were a lot of issues to attack Clinton on, "but he's not doing it."

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report from Ashburn, Virginia.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-05

[Silurian]

Hillary doesn't need to woo Republicans. Trump is doing a great job of driving them away.

 

I do disagree with the statement above that Trump is not trying to woo Democrats. That is false. Trump has stated several times about how Bernie supports should now support him. Poor reporting on that point.

[Alive]

Hillary is pro-war, pro-wall st, and pro-1%. She'll give the right wing super rich everything they've always gotten because she's one of them now.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

6 minutes ago, Alive said:

Hillary is pro-war, pro-wall st, and pro-1%. She'll give the right wing super rich everything they've always gotten because she's one of them now.

Really?? Because Trump is the one that says he will roll back taxes for the 1%ers. 

[Skywalker69]

2 hours ago, Alive said:

Hillary is pro-war, pro-wall st, and pro-1%. She'll give the right wing super rich everything they've always gotten because she's one of them now.

Trump is only pro-Trump. 

[Silurian]

2 hours ago, Alive said:

Hillary is pro-war, pro-wall st, and pro-1%. She'll give the right wing super rich everything they've always gotten because she's one of them now.

 

Oh look, another statement of hot air. No substance. Just opinions. And absolutely nothing to do with the OP.

 

I guess Hillary will never be able to "woo" you.  <-- just to bring it around to topic.

[Publicus]

 

 

Hillary Clinton is up by 40% in the critical southeast burbs of Philadelphia which accounts for her 11-point lead in the state of Pennsylvania.

 

Latest poll: Hillary Clinton is up 40 points in the Philly suburbs

http://billypenn.com/2016/08/04/latest-poll-hillary-clinton-is-up-40-points-in-the-philly-suburbs/

 

 

The post convention polling is not in yet for Ohio but look for the same in Columbus and its burbs. In Philadelphia HRC is up 8-1 over Trump which is decisive because metro Philadelphia accounts for one-third of the total vote of the state. (HRC is just as strong in metro Pittsburgh.)

 

Pennsylvania Republican women voters in the burbs dominate the difference between being 10-points ahead and HRC's current advantage in the Philly burbs of being 40-points ahead of Trump. Republican suburban women who are white, married with children (adult or minor) to include grandchildren, who are educated and run the local PTA, who are politically moderate or somewhat liberal, and who voted for GHW Bush with love and for their wonderful family guy Mitt Romney, do in fact wretch when they see, hear or think of Donald Trump. They reject Trump outright as the nominee and as Potus. Never Trump.

 

This is true in the vital and critical electoral suburbs throughout the country. This is why the Clinton campaign has removed its advertising in Colorado, i.e., the vital demographic groups in the state led by suburban Republican married women are for HRC and they are firm about it.

 

Since the 1980s elections of Potus have been decided in the suburbs across the country. Ronald Reagan for all his peacekeeper missiles and star wars technologies made suburban women feel safe...so did GW Bush and Barack Obama has wowed 'em. Donald Trump makes 'em clear up the old path to the fallout shelters.

 

The Clinton campaign has also pulled its advertising in Virginia for the same reasons (ahead by 9-points). Expect the Clinton campaign to pull more advertising in other states such as New Hampshire where HRC is up by 17 points in the state, and in Wisconsin which is off the charts for Clinton over Trump, and for Michigan (HRC up by 9)...and so on. These are humongous margins in elections of a Potus -- gargantuan. (It is shaping up to be a Godzilla election.)

 

Clinton is ahead in Florida by 5-7 points depending on the poll and the campaign will continue to spend there as insurance.

 

With these states all but locked up, the Clinton campaign will turn to red states where she is leading or in a statistical tie. Put the campaign resources there and run HRC and the sweetheart Sen Kaine though each state in personal stops from now to the election: red Missouri where HRC is up by 5-points (Bill won MO in '96), red North Carolina where she is up by an amazing 7-points (Barack won it in '08 by 0.4%); solid red Georgia where it's a statistical tie, Arizona where it's a statistical tie (Bill won AZ in '96); Utah is marginal but it remains very wobbly about Trump.

 

The Clinton campaign is in a strong position to change the Electoral College map in seriously radical ways. It would also radically change the Senate and the House.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Publicus
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[connda]

Correction: she is wooing RINOs.  Progressive, leftist, neo-con, war-hawks who hung their hats on the 'republican' side of the aisle to make the two-party tyranny look legitimate.  Now they are simply having a 'coming out' party.    Hoh-hum.  It's all pageantry anyway.

[dunroaming]

Polls are polls and don't always portray the facts. Clinton is certainly ahead.  It doesn't  help with Trumps premature ejaculations every other day. Still he has not crashed and burned quite yet although we all knew he will eventually.  I hope the circus will keep going for a while longer or it will be a very boring three months.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

 

[RaoulDuke]

The Clintons have always been on the right side of the aisle, anyway.  Bill's legacy is NAFTA, and he was just about to rubber stamp the privatization of Social Security before his lame duck party was derailed by Monica and an endless persecution by a bunch of philandering GOP'ers (who were all up to things far worse than BIll at the time, as history has proven). Hillary was one of the architects and one of the biggest supporters of the TPP until Bernie came along and almost derailed  her last chance at a coronation. She has only been providing lip service about changing her mind, but everyone knows she will sign off on it the day she gets elected, providing the nail in the coffin on the middle class.  The only progressive thing either have ever done is when she pushed for universal healthcare in the 90's. But during her debates with Bernie, she criticized his support of a public option by calling it absurd and unrealistic.  Typical two-faced hypocritical politician.

Edited August 5, 2016 by RaoulDuke

[boomerangutang]

One of the last vestiges of prowess that Trump professes (and his dimwit fans grasp onto) is his acumen in business.  The following video shreds that fantasy.  If Trump were to handle America's finances the way he handles his failed businesses, the US would be on a water slide down Broke Back mountain.

 

 

[Skywalker69]

24 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

One of the last vestiges of prowess that Trump professes (and his dimwit fans grasp onto) is his acumen in business.  The following video shreds that fantasy.  If Trump were to handle America's finances the way he handles his failed businesses, the US would be on a water slide down Broke Back mountain.

 

 

He is a true con artist.

[boomerangutang]

Interesting article from NPR.org specifying some prominent Republicans who have chosen to vote for HRC, and why.  There is also a mention of a Democrat who has decided to vote for Trump.

[Publicus]

7 hours ago, connda said:

Correction: she is wooing RINOs.  Progressive, leftist, neo-con, war-hawks who hung their hats on the 'republican' side of the aisle to make the two-party tyranny look legitimate.  Now they are simply having a 'coming out' party.    Hoh-hum.  It's all pageantry anyway.

 

Each week during the past 10 weeks Donald Trump has had his worst week.

 

Fourteen more worst weeks to go, in an uninterrupted succession of 'em till Trump meets the final and worst one of 'em all.

 

[Rancid]

The big money, Wall St and Armament manufactures are all backing Hilary, if that doesn't set off alarm bells for real Democrats then what does? The reality is that left and right are just labels that are thrown up for political parties to suck us in, in the end it doesn't matter who wins as they all have the same masters and similar policies.

 

[Pinot]

9 minutes ago, Rancid said:

The big money, Wall St and Armament manufactures are all backing Hilary, if that doesn't set off alarm bells for real Democrats then what does? The reality is that left and right are just labels that are thrown up for political parties to suck us in, in the end it doesn't matter who wins as they all have the same masters and similar policies.

 

 

No alarm bells, not a single one on the Democratic side. We're united. We have a mission. Stop the worst candidate in history from getting anywhere near the Presidency. 

 

The only ones ringing the alarm bells are Republicans and they should be. Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. He's simply unqualified to be President. And no, everyone jumping the Trump ship is not a Rino. They're the ones who think for themselves and see what a fake this guy is. The ones who can't handle the Trump koolaid any longer. 

 

I worry abou the deranged Trumpeteers, the Republican base.  What happens when Cheeto Jesus badly loses the election. Trump’s (the Republican) base may shift its focus to annihilation. His supporters might join militias and white secessionist movements.  Picture the Bundy family standoff on a national level with assorted militias and hate groups united behind the Trump banner, avenging his loss. Trump’s campaign has redefined extremism. They're scary. 

 

Trump’s current behavior should be ringing alarm bells for Americans–the hatred and intolerance his campaign has operated under has normalized this behavior. We've all seen the videos of the Trumpeteers after a Trump appearance. This is crazy stuff and these are the nuts with the guns. 

 

This election isn’t just Democrat vs. Republican. It’s normal vs. abnormal.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pinot]

538 has Clinton up 81 vs. 18. Great week Trump. Keep it up. 

 

Yeah, RINOs come on over. Watch government actually work again. 

[Publicus]

1 hour ago, Rancid said:

The big money, Wall St and Armament manufactures are all backing Hilary, if that doesn't set off alarm bells for real Democrats then what does? The reality is that left and right are just labels that are thrown up for political parties to suck us in, in the end it doesn't matter who wins as they all have the same masters and similar policies.

 

 

Well then I guess I'll have to vote for Trump.

 

Or if not Trump then vote for David Duke.

 

The torchlight right keeps trying to convince us that anyone who likes Vladimir Putin can't be all that bad. Or, rather, that Trump is in fact a good guy, same as Putin is a good guy, that together they want the best for all of us.

 

Sounds however more like a rewrite of Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. The establishment then was so bad that anyone who opposed it was received with open arms. We saw how that one turned out.

 

To burn down the house we'd need a superb architect to put us to rebuilding it, not some failed painter turned political organiser and beer hall political figure also known for his oratory and his hand. 

 

Never throw all caution into the winds. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Publicus
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