Hillary Clinton launches Arizona TV blitz in hope Donald Trump has blown his chance with Hispanics

Democrats believe traditionally Republican state is up for grabs

Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in Ohio where she is expecting an easy win (AP)

Spurred in part by the harm she thinks Donald Trump has done to his bid to attract Hispanic voters, Hillary Clinton is to make a push in Arizona, normally a reliable win for the Republicans.

The Clinton campaign confirmed that Arizona will join the eight other swing states where she has been running television ads to try to push the bellicose New Yorker aside.

Mr Trump delivered a bile-and-brimstone speech in Phoenix on Wednesday night laying out his plans to crack down on illegal immigration into the US and chase out as many of those who are already in the country as he can.

Democrats believe Mr Trump stepped on his own efforts to woo Hispanics by declining, as some had expected. to soften his tone on the issue, even if he dropped his most debated proposal – to launch a “deportation force” to eject all the 11 million undocumented residents.

A first sign came yesterday when some among a small band of Hispanic leaders who had previously offered support to Mr Trump said they were reconsidering after the Phoenix event.

Even before this week, however, polling showed a tight race in Arizona. Along with Georgia, another state that in a normal year would be expected to lean Republican, the Clinton campaign responded first by expanding field-organising efforts in the state.

That she is serious about adding it to her column was confirmed by the decision to begin blitzing it with her TV spots. The campaign said it had paid six figures to screen an ad that is already familiar to many voters in the other swing states, showing small children sitting cross-legged as they listen to a top 10 of Mr Trump’s most offensive statements.

Those states that Ms Clinton is already targeting in hopes of securing an easy electoral college margin on 8 November are Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. She is also broadcasting ads in parts of Nebraska, one of two states where congressional districts contribute to the electoral college tally rather than the state as a whole.

Four years ago, Mitt Romney, the then Republican nominee, shellacked Barack Obama in Arizona, taking the state 53 to 44 per cent. Indeed the only time it has voted Democrat in a presidential contest since 1952 was in 1996, when Bill Clinton swept aside Bob Dole to win a second presidential term.

A loss for Mr Trump in Arizona will only come to pass if Hispanic voters flee from him en masse. If that indeed happens and is replicated in other swing states with important Hispanic constituents, such as Florida, his path to victory in November will be all but obliterated.

Nowhere is the battle more fierce than in Ohio, which remains entirely up for grabs. The Clinton campaign fancies its chances in the Buckeye State and no Republican as been president without winning it. However, Mr Trump’s America First message of tightened immigration control and tough talk on trade appeals to many of its disaffected, blue-collar residents. Mr Trump was due in Ohio on Thursday and Ms Clinton will be in Cleveland during the Labour Day long weekend.

Equally knife-edge could be Florida, where a Florida Atlantic University poll has Mr Trump up by two points, within the margin of error. But again, to keep a grip on Florida, the Republican can ill afford any more reversals in appealing to Hispanics.