raleigh, n.c.<u+2014> hillary clinton is devoting more attention to the postelection landscape, working to bolster democratic numbers in congress and trying to set voter expectations about what she could realistically achieve should she win. mrs. clinton still talks about republican rival donald trump on the trail, but she seems more resistant to directly engaging an opponent who has been losing ground in the polls . the democratic nominee told reporters she no longer wants to spend time parrying mr. trump, having stood on stage with him for three presidential debates . aboard her campaign plane this weekend, she said: <u+201c>i debated him for 4<u+00bd> hours. i don<u+2019>t even think about responding to him anymore.<u+201d> inside her campaign, advisers have begun thinking through ways to curb the bitterness unleashed by the election in the event she wins. at a late-night rally in philadelphia<u+00a0>on saturday, mrs. clinton made overtures to trump voters, saying, <u+201c>i want to be your president, too, and will work for you, and i will fight for you, as well.<u+201d> but a clinton agenda could easily stall unless democrats win extraordinary victories on nov. 8<u+00a0>and take control of both the house and senate from republicans. president barack obama saw much of his policy agenda stymied by congress after he lost his governing majority in the 2010 midterm elections. should she win in november, mrs. clinton seems to want to avoid a scenario in which voters feel let down if progress is sluggish. capital journal is wsj.com<u+2019>s home for election 2016 news. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m not going to pretend that we can just snap our fingers and solve our problems,<u+201d> she said at a rally in a high-school gym in pittsburgh. <u+201c>that doesn<u+2019>t happen in the real world.<u+201d> a good chunk of mrs. clinton<u+2019>s speeches now center on house and senate races that could tip the balance of power. if mrs. clinton is elected, democrats would need to pick up four seats to control the senate, given that mr. kaine would be enlisted to break a tie vote. the democrats<u+2019> chore to flip control of the house is much steeper: they would need a net gain of 30 seats. speaking to a crowd of about 3,500 in raleigh<u+00a0>on sunday, mrs. clinton mentioned north carolina democrat deborah ross, who is running against republican sen. richard burr. <u+201c>deborah is exactly the kind of person i need in the united states senate,<u+201d> mrs. clinton said. she struck a similar note<u+00a0>saturday<u+00a0>in pennsylvania, promoting katie mcginty, a democrat trying to unseat republican sen. pat toomey. <u+201c>katie is exactly the kind of partner we need in the senate,<u+201d> she said. flush with cash, her campaign is dedicating money and volunteers to try to make the gop the minority party in congress. at the end of september, mrs. clinton and democratic party fundraising accounts had $150 million on hand. in a recent conference call with reporters, clinton campaign manager robby mook mentioned plans to spend $1 million in indiana and missouri. mrs. clinton is expected to lose in those states, but democrats hope to make gains lower down the ballot. <u+201c>candidates<u+2019> names are on our phone scripts and door scripts that our volunteers are using, and many candidates are appearing on our literature and mail,<u+201d> mr. mook said. still, wary of appearing overconfident, mrs. clinton and running mate tim kaine stress they aren<u+2019>t assuming the contest is won. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re going to hammer to do everything we can before the polls close the evening of nov. 8,<u+201d> mr. kaine said<u+00a0>sunday<u+00a0>on nbc. asked about possible cabinet choices aboard her plane, mrs. clinton suggested it would be presumptuous to talk about filling a new administration. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m a little superstitious about that,<u+201d> she said. write to peter nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com
hillary clinton looks to nov. 8 and beyond - wsj
peter nicholas