cleveland <u+2014> hillary clinton entered the final phase of her campaign on friday, working to ensure a victory that is decisive enough to earn a mandate for her presidency and a surge of voters to help democrats win congressional races. emerging from a nine-day absence from the trail, mrs. clinton seized on the momentum of her performance in the final presidential debate, choosing ohio <u+2014> a battleground state where she has struggled the most against donald j. trump <u+2014> as her first stop on a four-day swing. with new polls showing mrs. clinton closing in on mr. trump in the state, her campaign is glimpsing the opportunity for a clean sweep of traditional swing states. reminding voters of mr. trump<u+2019>s refusal in wednesday<u+2019>s debate to say definitively he would accept the outcome on election day, mrs. clinton said that as secretary of state she had visited countries whose leaders jailed political opponents and invalidated elections they did not win. <u+201c>we know in our country the difference between leadership and dictatorship,<u+201d> she said. she also portrayed herself as a candidate who could attract independent, undecided and even republican voters unhappy with mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign. <u+201c>i want to say something to people who may be reconsidering their support of my opponent,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>i know you still may have questions for me, i respect that. i want to answer them. i want to earn your vote.<u+201d> her stop here marked the start of a rare multiday tour of swing states as the clinton campaign revved up its efforts to decisively defeat mr. trump on nov. 8, including releasing a powerful minute-long ad featuring khizr khan , the father of a muslim american soldier killed in iraq. the ad featuring mr. khan, who was attacked by mr. trump after he spoke at the democratic convention, will run in ohio, florida, pennsylvania and north carolina, as well as other crucial states. with mrs. clinton holding a healthy lead in most national polls, democrats have turned their focus to trying to ensure victory by as large a margin as possible, deploying michelle obama in arizona and president obama in florida. the larger the victory, the less mr. trump and his supporters can claim foul play, mrs. clinton<u+2019>s allies said. a month ago, ohio seemed to be aligning as a trump stronghold, as its large bloc of white working-class voters responded to mr. trump<u+2019>s economic populism and america-first message. but the state is now back in play, with a poll from suffolk university in boston showing a tied race. mrs. clinton<u+2019>s afternoon rally at a community college in cleveland, the heart of democratic strength in ohio, was aimed at increasing early voting, which began last week. while early voting has traditionally been a democratic strength in ohio, the data shows potential complications for mrs. clinton on this front. requests for early ballots are down 22.3 percent in cuyahoga county, where cleveland is, compared with the same period in 2012. requests are also off 12.7 percent in franklin county, which includes columbus, the capital, according to data compiled by michael mcdonald, a university of florida professor who studies voter turnout . a decided advantage for mrs. clinton here is the strength of democrats<u+2019> grass-roots efforts. the party has leased 93 offices statewide, according to chris wyant, the clinton campaign director in ohio. mr. trump<u+2019>s ohio director cut ties recently with the state<u+2019>s republican chairman, matt borges, over mr. borges<u+2019>s sharply worded public doubts about mr. trump. <u+201c>they have an internal civil war on the republican side,<u+201d> brian fallon, mrs. clinton<u+2019>s press secretary, told reporters here. he added that two weeks ago, mr. trump was slightly ahead in the state. <u+201c>but ohio is really a symbol of the progress we<u+2019>ve made in the past two weeks since the first debate,<u+201d> he said. ohio is not essential to mrs. clinton<u+2019>s road to the white house. she could lose it and still romp through the electoral college given her dominance in other swing states like virginia, pennsylvania and colorado, according to polls. mr. trump spent the day hopscotching to rallies in north carolina and pennsylvania, a state where mrs. clinton has built a formidable lead. while he projected a subdued confidence at a rally in fletcher, n.c., he also seemed to prepare for at least the possibility of an election day loss. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t know what kind of shape i<u+2019>m in, but i<u+2019>ll be happy, and at least i will have known, win, lose or draw <u+2014> and i<u+2019>m almost sure, if the people come out, we<u+2019>re going to win <u+2014> i will be happy with myself,<u+201d> he said. at his rally in fletcher, he offered a slightly more restrained version of his typically freewheeling speech, largely hewing to his prepared remarks. gone were his complaints of a <u+201c>rigged<u+201d> and <u+201c>stolen<u+201d> election <u+2014> they have drawn condemnation by democrats and republicans alike <u+2014> and he did not, as he has recently, try to counter accusations from the 10 women who have come forward to accuse him of inappropriate sexual advances. the trump campaign has said that it plans to increase mr. trump<u+2019>s schedule in the final weeks, potentially holding as many as six rallies a day. mr. trump explained that he wanted to have no regrets, should he lose. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t want to think back, <u+2018>if only i did one more rally, i would have won north carolina by 500 votes instead of losing it by 200 votes.<u+2019><u+201d> later, again seeming to acknowledge that he might not win the white house, he grumbled, <u+201c>what a waste of time if we don<u+2019>t pull this off.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s team increasingly views north carolina as a state that is critical to a victory in november, along with others like florida, ohio and pennsylvania. mr. trump<u+2019>s running mate, gov. mike pence of indiana, visited the same town just last week. at a rally later on friday in johnstown, pa., mr. trump took the stage with a renewed vigor <u+2014> <u+201c>i just got caught in the rain,<u+201d> he bellowed, <u+201c>how does my hair look?<u+201d> <u+2014> and he returned to his theme of a <u+201c>rigged system.<u+201d> speaking to a crowd in the mill town, mr. trump cast himself as the champion of pennsylvania<u+2019>s working class. <u+201c>the iron and steels forged in your mills formed the backbone of our nation,<u+201d> he said, promising to bring prosperity back to the region. <u+201c>you were the leading steel producer in the united states <u+2014> did you know that?<u+201d> in cleveland, mrs. clinton accused mr. trump of buying chinese-made steel for his high-rise buildings. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m going to let donald try to explain himself to the steelworker filing for unemployment,<u+201d> she said. seemingly energized by the more raucous pennsylvania crowd, mr. trump ended his rally with a call to victory. <u+201c>we will win,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>we will shock the world.<u+201d> then, mr. trump, who, on the eve of a campaign trip to scotland , admitted he did not really understand the nuances of the <u+201c>brexit<u+201d> vote, ended with an ebullient rallying cry by predicting an upset victory. his win in november, he said, would be <u+201c>brexit-plus.<u+201d> but a full day of events seemed to drain some of the energy from mr. trump, whose mood often rises on the strength of his crowds. at his final rally of the day, in newtown, pa., the republican nominee began well ahead of schedule, spoke for just 30 minutes and wrapped up his speech at 7:31 p.m. <u+2014> exactly one minute after he was originally slated to take the stage. trip gabriel reported from cleveland, and ashley parker from fletcher, n.c. amy chozick contributed reporting from new york. find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the first draft newsletter . a version of this article appears in print on october 22, 2016, on page a1 of the new york edition with the headline: clinton hopes for a mandate and coattails. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
hillary clinton makes pitch for mandate and a swing-state sweep
trip gabriel ashley parker