‘Donald? I don’t even think of him’
UNITED STATES: Hillary Clinton is so far ahead of Donald Trump in the race for the presidency that she no longer feels the need to pay attention to him.
Buoyed by a double-digit lead in some national polls, Clinton has said she is now looking past her Republican rival entirely, and will no longer counter allegations made by him.
‘‘I don’t even think about responding to him any more,’’ Clinton said when asked about his charge that American media outlets are in cahoots with her presidential campaign.
‘‘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’s gonna sue women who’ve made accusations against him,’’ she added, referring to a speech given by Trump the previous day. ‘‘I’m going to keep talking about what we want to do.’’
With 15 days until the election, two separate polls have given Clinton a 12-point lead over Trump, with the real estate mogul’s support tanking among key voter groups.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released yesterday corroborated the findings of a study published earlier this week by the Monmouth University Polling Institute which showed Clinton leading Trump 50 per cent to 38 per cent in a four-way contest with two minor party candidates.
Clinton’s long-standing support among female voters has increased to 20 points following allegations Trump sexually harassed multiple women, according to the poll, while the study suggested the former first lady was leading for the first time among men, although the four-point advantage was within the margin of error.
Robby Mook, Clinton’s
"We're going to be emphasising the importance of electing Democrats down the ballot." Hillary Clinton
campaign manager said yesterday he was ‘‘not taking anything for granted’’.
But sources inside the operation have said Clinton strategists are quietly considering the possibility of a landslide victory.
In a sign of that confidence Clinton told journalists this week that her campaign was shifting its attention to trying to take back control of the Republican-majority congress, by helping Democratic politicians get elected in state races.
‘‘We’re going to be emphasising the importance of electing Democrats down the ballot,’’ Clinton said.
The Clinton campaign has already poured US$1 million of its funds into Indiana and Missouri. Clinton believes she can carry those reliably Republican states at the presidential level, and hopes the money will help Democrats win senate and governor races there.
The strategy has been embraced by President Barack Obama. He will intervene in the state senate races, endorsing about 150 candidates across 20 states, according to Politico, the American political news site
The Trump campaign has remained defiant in the face of such optimism.
‘‘The fact is that this race is not over,’’ Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager said yesterday. ‘‘He’s not - we’re not giving up. We know we can win this.’’ - Telegraph Group