Jessie Balmert

The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Fresh off a presidential debate with the Republican presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton sought to appeal to young voters.

But her pitches for free in-state tuition for families with incomes of less than $125,000 and to Ohio's blue-collar workforce with her opposition to the same trade deals that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke against in the Democratic primary weren't hitting many millennials' ears in her campaign stop here.

“Your generation, the young people of America, are the most tolerant, open and generous generation in American history,” she told a group of several thousand gathered at Ohio State University’s football stadium Monday night — a crowd that did include college students.

Numbering more than 10,000 with several thousand more reportedly outside, the crowd was one of Clinton's largest this campaign season. But the group that gathered early and crowded in close was significantly smaller and older than the about 35,000 people who packed Ohio State's Oval in 2010 for a President Barack Obama appearance.

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Clinton has struggled to attract younger members of the coalition that elected Obama to the White House. But that division might mean more if Trump wasn't the alternative for president.

On Friday, a video was leaked to The Washington Post depicting Trump bragging about groping women and kissing them without consent.

Before those comments, the race in Ohio was tight. Recent polls had showed Clinton with a slight edge, but most were taken before Friday's lewd comments were released.

Then the fallout started. Republicans, including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, dropped their endorsements of Trump. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges remains uncertain about his pick for president.

Ohioans start voting Wednesday.

Clinton came out swinging Monday, prepared with her own recap of Sunday's debate: "Donald Trump spent his time last night attacking me when he should have been apologizing,” she told the crowd.

66.5 million people watched Sunday's Trump-Clinton debate

"To paraphrase (First Lady Michelle Obama), one of us went low and one of us went high," she said. “He is an equal-opportunity insulter if there ever was one."

She also tailored some of her message to working-class voters, accusing Trump of shipping manufacturing jobs overseas rather than keeping them in states like Ohio. She praised the state's blue-collar workers, calling for a "manufacturing renaissance."

In March, Clinton had flubbed a statement about putting mine workers out of work in favor of higher paying clean-energy jobs. But many in the industry haven't forgotten the mistake.

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The release of Trump's video last week largely overshadowed WikiLeaks' Friday release of campaign-related emails about paid speeches Clinton made, many to Wall Street firms. In one excerpt, she reportedly discussed having a private and public position on certain issues — a comment a Virginia voter called "two-faced" during Sunday's town hall-style debate.

But the hacks, along with State Department emails Clinton stored on a private server and later deleted, were not concerns to Clinton supporters gathered in Columbus. They see Trump as a much bigger threat.

"I think that kind of thing happens," Columbus resident Anita Janssen said of the removed emails. "I lose emails all the time."

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These supporters were more upset about Trump's lewd video and comments during the campaign. Janssen said she doesn't watch the debates with her 14-year-old daughter, Sophie. They make Janssen too angry.

"Disgusting," said Alex Cofield of Hilliard, Ohio, who was wearing a yellow "Never Trump" button with a picture of Monopoly's mascot, "Rich Uncle Pennybags."

And Trump's explanation that such talk is simply locker room banter? "No. Not all men do this," she said.

Her friend, Tracy Gaines, chimed in: "They knew that he was a pig when they put him there."

Follow Jessie Balmert on Twitter: @jbalmert