Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump barreled into the general election on Tuesday with a series of blistering attacks on each other’s character and fitness for the presidency.
The one-time friends and political allies escalated their rivalry as Clinton made history when she effectively won the Democratic primary by securing enough delegates to vanquish socialist Bernie Sanders and become the first woman to lead a major party into the general election.
Trump, who won the Republican primary in early May, unloaded on Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in a prepared speech that attempted to frame the November contest as a choice between an outsider change agent and a couple of corrupt establishment politicians.
Clinton landed roundhouses of her own. The Democrat contrasted an agenda she claimed would lift all Americans, even those who don’t vote for her, with a Trump she mocked as psychologically fragile, abusive and un-American, while ridiculing his policies as misleading and unrealistic.
In fact, both of these polarizing New Yorkers might be the most disliked pair of White House contenders ever. And, so the stage is set for a five-month slugfest for an electorate that is frustrated with Washington, economically insecure and fearful of foreign threats.
“Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander in chief. He’s not just trying to build a wall between America and Mexico, he’s trying to wall off Americans from each other,” Clinton told a cheering rally in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“When Donald trump says a distinguished judge, born in inidana, can’t do his job because of his Mexican heritage, or he mocks a reporter with disabilities or calls women pigs, it goes against everything we stand for.”
Trump, who revealed plans for a Monday speech detailing the Clintons’ transgressions, was equally aggressive during a valedictory speech delivered to supporters who gathered inside a ballroom at a golf course and country club he owns in Westchester County, N.Y.
“The Clintons have turned the politics of personal enrichment into an art form for themselves. They’ve made hundreds of millions of dollars selling access, selling favors, selling government contracts,” he said. “Hillary Clinton turned the State Department into her private hedge fund. The Russians, the Saudis, the Chinese all gave money to Bill and Hillary and got favorable treatment in return.”
The presidential primaries basically concluded Tuesday with voting in a half dozen states. Trump, absent any competition, ran the table. Clinton was declared the winner by media outlets in New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Sanders won North Dakota; Montana wasn’t yet called.
California was the biggest delegate prize for both parties, and votes were still being tallied late Tuesday. But the contest was anti-climactic. Trump wrapped up the GOP nomination on May 3 with a victory in Indiana; Clinton surpassed the delegate threshold for the Democratic nod on Monday, prior to Tuesday’s voting, according to calculations by the Associated Press.
Clinton and Trump, both uber-wealthy northeasterners, now turn their gaze to the upcoming nominating conventions and November. They begin the race even, with Clinton leading Trump by a statistically insignificant 2 percentage points, 44-42 percent according to the RealClearPolitics average.
How the race unfolds is hard to predict because it is so unusual.
Nominees in the past have begun the fall campaign still relatively unknown and with their images intact. Only as they come under relentless attack does their standing with voters tend to diminish. But Clinton and Trump are well known and unpopular at the outset.
Clinton, with 39 percent, rates among the most disliked politicians in the country. Trump, at 32 percent, is liked even less, according to Gallup.
That dynamic is sure to influence campaign strategies and voter behavior, as are the fact that the Democratic and Republican rivals are burdened by flaws that in past primary campaigns might have proven fatal, and still might on Election Day.
“With two unpopular choices, voters will be tempted to sit out this election. But I think many people will be compelled to vote by a fear of the alternative,” said Nathan Gonzales, publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Gonzales Political Report. “Normally, nominees battle for attention. But Trump and Clinton will probably prefer to focus on their opponent’s sins.”
Clinton is a former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state under President Obama.
In an election cycle when voters on both sides of the aisle are angry with establishment politicians and itching for change, Clinton’s lengthy resume and position as a 25-year fixture on the political scene are liabilities.
Clinton is weak on the stump, gets low marks for being honest and trustworthy and still has a possible federal indictment hanging over her head related to her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving at the State Department.
In Clinton’s favor is a battleground map that tilts toward the Democrats and, for the moment at least, her superior campaign organization. Democrats also expect Clinton to become more popular as her bruising primary with Sanders fades and his liberal supporters come home.
“One thing that Democrats should realize is that Trump could win, despite the obvious advantages that Hillary Clinton has,” said Bill Burton, a veteran of Obama’s administration and his campaigns. “There will be ups and downs to this race.”
Trump has his own problems — and opportunities.
The real estate mogul and reality television star has a penchant for stoking the kind of controversy that could derail his campaign in a competitive general election.
In recent days, Trump accused U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over a case involving one of his defunct companies, of having a conflict of interest because of his Mexican heritage.
Trump said the American born-and-raised jurist couldn’t rule fairly because he probably opposes his immigration policies. Fellow Republicans accused Trump of racism, and he eventually backtracked.
Behavior like that since announcing for president, and the attention it has received, has hardened minority voters against Trump. And with the percentage of white voters shrinking, that stands to jeopardize Trump’s prospects.
But with voters fed up with establishment politicians, Trump’s carefully cultivated status as a political outsider could pose a major challenge for Clinton, as could the Republican’s demonstrated ability to dominate free media.
Trump is a businessman who has instant credibility on the economy, the No. 1 issue voters care about, and he has tapped into Americans’ angst about trade and the perception that foreign countries are stealing American jobs.
Wes Anderson, a Republican pollster who previously advised one of Trump’s primary opponents, said that voters’ dissatisfaction with their choices should benefit Trump, who can better position himself as a change agent. But Anderson said that Trump’s antics could cost him with conservatives.
“There are core Republicans who haven’t yet decided if they can pull the lever for him,” he said.
