Clinton, Trump enter final stretch of presidential race

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump is just starting.

The national conventions showed that this presidential election is giving American voters a look at two vastly different choices.

On the Republican side is Trump, who brings a nontraditional background as a billionaire businessman and has never held elected public office.

On the Democratic side is Clinton, a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state.

Their policy differences are vast. Trump touts building a wall along the border of Mexico and deporting undocumented immigrants, saying it’s needed to keep America safe and preserve law and order.

Clinton backs comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship and casts herself as the only candidate with a serious record of experience and public service.

Their other differences are just as stark, ranging from trade deals and health care to war, world affairs and Supreme Court nominations.

With the conventions behind them, both parties are shifting their focus to the general election in November. That means registering voters, making phone calls and reaching out to potential voters who have already seen one or both conventions. Millions of people watched their prime-time speeches.

The Democratic National Convention ended Thursday in Philadelphia, one week after the Republican National Convention concluded in Cleveland.

CLINTON CAMPAIGN

“They really defined in the convention what the differences were between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton,” said Roberta Lange, chairwoman of the Nevada State Democratic Party. “It’s paramount we have Hillary Clinton as our next president.”

Lange said Clinton has an appeal and support base that extend to independent and Republican voters.

Chris Wicker, vice chairman of the Nevada State Democratic Party, said his party’s convention did a good job of reintroducing Clinton to voters and demonstrating her public service background.

One of Clinton’s most notable speakers was her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who outlined her career dating back to her days as a young Yale Law School graduate, well before she became first lady in 1993. Clinton’s early work included registering Mexican-Americans in the Rio Grande Valley to vote and investigating shortcomings in public school systems that prevented disabled youngsters from attending.

“I think this was a good convention to remind people that Hillary Clinton has been working hard for people her entire life,” Wicker said.

Trump, in comparison, was “born with a silver chalice in his hand” and has led a vastly different life compared to Clinton, Wicker said.

Of Trump, Wicker said, “He’s never done anything except for himself, and Hillary Clinton has spent her whole life doing things for other people and I think that was an important part of this convention — to draw the contrast between the two candidates.”

Lange said the convention also played a crucial role in introducing Clinton to first-time and younger voters.

“Once again just like in the debates, we’re talking about substantive issues that affect the American people,” Lange said.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spoke to reporters Thursday, echoing that theme.

“I think the convention has been one that shows why there’s a terrific choice, really a clear choice between Trump and Clinton,” Reid said.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN

Republicans said the outcome of the nomination process demonstrates voters are looking for something different in a presidential candidate.

Not only did Trump win the Nevada Republican caucus in February, but Republican turnout in that caucus had about 20,000 more voters than party officials had anticipated.

But at this point, registered Democratic voters in Nevada outnumber registered Republican voters.

June registration figures of active voters showed 528,589 registered Democratic voters and 458,828 registered Republican voters in Nevada, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s office. Another 334,495 are unaffiliated or belong to a third party.

Since early June, the Republican National Committee’s field effort has knocked on 1.2 million doors in 11 battleground states, including Nevada.

“This is what our people do in the field,” said Chris Carr, the committee’s national political director. “It’s voter contact. This is how you’re able to get the registrations. This is how you can persuade swing voters and eventually this is how you can turn out the voters.”

Carr said it’s important to look they’e beyond partisan voter registration breakdowns, noting that Trump has crossover appeal to voters who are independent or Democrats.

National Republicans started laying the groundwork and infrastructure in Nevada for the election in early 2015, planning and building teams of staff and volunteers.

“We feel very good about where we are right now going into the general election,” Carr said. “Now it’s just formalizing the relationship with the Trump campaign, getting their volunteers involved in all the things that we’ve been working on.”

Conventions are good for morale, but they’re not an endgame.

When Clark County Republicans met several days after the convention, the post-convention difference was noticeable, said Jordan Ross, a Nevada delegate and state whip of the Nevada Republican Party.

“People were definitely on a high,” Ross said. “There’s no question about that. Everybody was in an enormously good mood.”

He compared it to a successful sports team returning home.

“The season’s not over, but we just had a big win,” Ross said.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com. Find @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.