'i don<u+2019>t even think about responding to him anymore,' the democratic nominee says as she focuses on electing down-ballot candidates. by shane goldmacher 10/22/16 08:11 pm edt pittsburgh <u+2014> hillary clinton is done with donald trump. using her most dismissive language of the campaign <u+2014> <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t even think about responding to him anymore<u+201d> <u+2014> clinton said saturday she is now more focused on electing other democrats in the final days of the 2016 campaign than her republican opponent. story continued below <u+201c>as we<u+2019>re traveling in these last 17 days we<u+2019>re going to be emphasizing the importance of electing democrats down the ballot,<u+201d> clinton told reporters aboard her campaign plane. it was the surest declaration of confidence yet from a candidate and a campaign that enters the home stretch in so commanding a position that they are redirecting cash and manpower to traditionally red states, including arizona, missouri, indiana and georgia. clinton delivered a preview of her coming rhetorical focus at a rally in pittsburgh, as she excoriated republican sen. pat toomey for standing with trump and sought to saddle toomey with some of trump<u+2019>s most incendiary remarks. <u+201c>pat toomey heard donald attack a grieving gold star family who lost their son in the iraq war. he heard donald call mexican immigrants rapists. he heard him say terrible things about women. he heard him spread the lie that our first black president wasn<u+2019>t really born in america,<u+201d> clinton said. <u+201c>now how much more does pat toomey need to hear? if he doesn<u+2019>t have the courage to stand up to donald trump after all this, then can you be sure he<u+2019>ll stand up for you when it counts?<u+201d> it amounted to one of her sharpest and longest attacks on a sitting republican senator of the campaign. and aides forecast more such barbs in the days to come, as she heads to north carolina on sunday, where democrats are targeting sen. richard burr, who faces a surprisingly stiff late challenge, and to florida on tuesday, where sen. marco rubio is on the ballot. aboard her plane, clinton told reporters she is now looking past trump entirely, delivering the ultimate insult for a celebrity showman who for decades has made a living of capturing attention. <u+201c>i debated him for four and a half hours. i don<u+2019>t even think about responding to him anymore,<u+201d> clinton said when asked about trump<u+2019>s charge of a media conspiracy. <u+201c>he can say whatever he wants to. he can run his campaign however he wants to, he can go off on tangents, he can go to gettysburg and say he<u+2019>s gonna sue women who<u+2019>ve made accusations against him. i<u+2019>m going to keep talking about what we want to do.<u+201d> increasingly, though, she<u+2019>s talking about electing other democrats who will help her do it. democrats are hoping to win back the majority in the senate and some are even dreaming that a tanking trump could help them take control of the house despite what is currently a historically large republican majority. on saturday, an eleventh woman accused trump of making unwanted sexual advances on her, as trump threatened <u+2014> in a gettysburg speech that had been billed as the unveiling of his 100-day agenda <u+2014> to sue the women for their accusations of assault. for now, the map seems to be ever-expanding as recent polls show trump with shrinking leads even in ruby-red states such as alaska and texas. tim kaine, campaigning with clinton for the first time in six weeks, described seeing <u+201c>dramatic spikes<u+201d> in the polls. kaine said they were <u+201c>surging in states that are normally really tough, like arizona and utah and georgia. there is a momentum that<u+2019>s happening in this race.<u+201d> by shane goldmacher inside clinton<u+2019>s campaign, they are now debating landslide scenarios <u+2014> and not all landslides are viewed equally. clinton strategists say the campaign is less focused on utah because they believe the rock-ribbed conservative state is in play only because of trump<u+2019>s unique lack of appeal to its heavily mormon population. but they see the chance to win arizona or georgia as transformational victories. both states are fast diversifying and democrats believe if they could be placed in the democratic column it could redraw the electoral college landscape in 2020 and beyond, pushing the white house further from the gop<u+2019>s grasp. clinton<u+2019>s super pac, priorities usa, is already redirecting $2 million into a late television ad buy in georgia, with more planned for radio ads targeting african-american voters. justin barasky, a priorities spokesman, said georgia was the latest in a trio of southern states that demographics were pushing toward the democrats. <u+201c>virginia got there, north carolina got there and now georgia<u+2019>s next,<u+201d> barasky said. <u+201c>i do think 2020, 2024 georgia is going to be a swing state.<u+201d> priorities has also already redirected its remaining tv ad reservations in two states, pennsylvania and new hampshire, to come to the aid of democratic candidates rather than clinton. they are actively polling and exploring expanding to other senate races, too. but while clinton was comfortable dismissing trump and focusing down-ballot, she wouldn<u+2019>t go so far as to say she<u+2019>s thought about filling out her potential cabinet or administration. <u+201c>i'm a little superstitious about that,<u+201d> she said. by thomas wright by bill scher by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
clinton looks past trump - politico
shane goldmacher shane goldmacher jack shafer