COLUMBUS – Hillary Clinton is targeting Ohio and other swing states in an opening salvo in her general election showdown with Donald Trump.
UPDATE: This article has been edited to change the day of Clinton’s Columbus appearanced
Meanwhile, Ohio’s Republican governor is still not willing to endorse his former rival for the GOP nomination.
Clinton (left), the likely Democratic presidential nominee unleashed an eight-figure, six-week television ad campaign in Ohio and seven other states, including swing states Florida and Virginia, that her campaign says will contrast her career of “fighting for families and children” and her presumptive Republican opponent, “who has always put himself first.”
The ads, entitled “Always” and “Quiet Moments,” (above) highlight Clinton’s work at the Children’s Defense and as First Lady in the 1990s.
Clinton also plans to make a campaign stop in Columbus next Tuesday as part of a three-state trip which will take her to Virginia and North Carolina.
Clinton was in Cleveland earlier this week, where she delivered a national security address.
She had planned to appear later that same day at a private fundraiser at the home of Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, but it was postponed out of respect to the victims of the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (right), meanwhile, said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he’s still not ready to endorse Trump as the Republican Party presidential nominee.
“I’m not making any final decision yet but at this point I just can’t do it,” he said, conceding that he’s feeling pressure in some circles for him to embrace the New York billionaire.
Kasich finished well behind Trump in the delegate hunt.
He said there are people “who pound on me” but added that “I’m not prepared to do it.” He said Trump is “going to have to change.”
He said, “It’s difficult. … There’s this thing called Republican loyalty.”
Kasich declined to speculate on any moves by GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, saying “they don’t care what I think.”