The New York primary may have dragged Hillary Clinton into a bruising battle against her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, but the former secretary of state has not taken her eyes off the general election.
Both Democratic candidates have released new political ads, Clinton’s targeting Donald Trump specifically but both concentrating on next week’s New York primary.
Clinton’s ad, released on Monday, makes the case that she is the only candidate “tough enough” to defeat Trump in a general election match-up, should the billionaire win the Republican nomination.
The ad, which will run in New York ahead of next Tuesday’s vote, calls out Trump for saying recently – in a comment he later retracted – that women who have abortions should be “punished”.
The ad also lambasts Trump for labeling Mexicans as “rapists” and calling for a ban on Muslims seeking to enter the US.
“Donald Trump says we can solve America’s problems by turning against each other,” Clinton says in the ad, titled Stronger Together. “It’s wrong and it goes against everything New York and America stands for.”
Bernie Sanders also has a new ad, entitled Bolder. Though it does not attack Trump, instead focusing on the candidate’s own approach, the ad does include a reference to Ted Cruz’s infamous and somewhat counterproductive sneer at Trump about the millionaire’s “New York values”.
Sanders, the ad says, is the “Brooklyn-born, native son” candidate who embodies “values, forged in New York”.
Sanders has argued that polls consistently show him defeating Trump in a potential general election match-up by a more decisive margin than Clinton, although some polling experts have said its too early yet to determine how open potential primary voters would be to electing a Democratic socialist.
A growing number of Republicans are joining the “Stop Trump” movement, fearing a crushing defeat in November should the New York real estate developer appear at the top of the ticket.
The third Republican in the race, Ohio governor John Kasich, insists meanwhile that he is the only GOP nominee who could beat Clinton in the general election.
Clinton and Sanders have been locked in a rough-and-tumble fight in New York, which has taken on an unusual importance after the Vermont senator’s string of victories in recent weeks – Sanders has won seven states in a row.
In her adopted home state, Clinton, who still has a healthy delegate lead and the backing of most party superdelegates, is hoping to win by a decisive margin and lay to rest any doubts that she can be stopped.
Sanders, who was born in Brooklyn, is hoping to turn his winning streak in a series of small-delegate states into a consequential victory.
In the new ad, Clinton challenges both New Yorkers in the race.
The ad ends: “With so much at stake, she’s the one tough enough to stop Trump.”
