Political news briefs

Analysis: For Clinton and Trump, first debate could be a last chance to sway voters. No pressure

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. _ Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump step onto the biggest shared stage of their presidential campaign Monday chasing the same goal: persuading voters to discard long-held and sharply negative views of them.

Trump faces the biggest task in this first presidential debate, to accomplish in one night what he has not been able to pull off in 15 months: demonstrating to voters beyond his core supporters that he would be a stable and credible occupant of the White House.

Clinton's task is just slightly less imperative, and only because of the narrow edge in most polls that she has held on to leading into the debate.

She needs to break through voters' perceptions of her as untrustworthy and convince them that her years of political experience are matched by a gut-level understanding of the fears and concerns of everyday Americans.

Two groups will be foremost in the candidates' sights: college-educated suburbanites who usually vote Republican but have been reluctant to side with Trump, and Democratic-leaning younger voters who threaten to spurn Clinton for minor-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, who will not be onstage.

_ Los Angeles Times