The appeal is part of a broader strategy by Clinton's campaign to exploit what it says is a new opening in a state where she has long struggled to get a steady footing. According to a Clinton aide, her team thinks that after the presidential debates, Ohio — one of Trump's best states — is now winnable for her.

“Ohio is a state that I think a couple of weeks ago, we would acknowledge that we faced some headwinds here,” said Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon. “But Ohio is really a symbol of the progress that we’ve made in the last two weeks since the first debate.

AD

AD

“We feel that if the election happened today, we feel pretty good about the state of the race here in Ohio,” he added.

A recent Suffolk University poll showed the race in Ohio tied. And a CNN poll gave Trump a three-point lead, within the margin of error.

Clinton's stop at Cuyahoga Community College on Friday was just a taste of the renewed attention her campaign is giving to the state.

Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton's vice-presidential running mate, made two stops in Ohio on Wednesday. Vice President Biden is expected to make two stops Monday, and Chelsea Clinton will campaign in Ohio next week, making three appearances in the state.

Clinton's aides are also heartened by early-voting data from key counties that they say gives them confidence that turnout will be high and, in some cases, higher than for President Obama in 2012 in the two counties that are home to Columbus and Cincinnati.

AD

AD

“The five counties that represent the most requests that have come in through vote-by-mail are about 40 percent of the overall statewide requests for absentee ballots,” Fallon said. “That’s a good sign of us.”

Clinton has increasingly shifted her rhetoric to focus on the aftermath of the election, saying special attention will be needed to heal the country after a bruising campaign.

“We’ve got to come together,” Clinton said in an interview with Tampa radio station WBTP. “Maybe that’s a role that’s meant to be for my presidency, if I’m fortunate enough to be there.”

She did not, however, hold her fire on Trump.

She criticized him sharply for refusing to say at the debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday that he would abide by the results of the election.

AD

“By doing that, he is threatening our democracy,” Clinton said. “We know in our country the difference between leadership and dictatorship.

AD

“And the peaceful transition of power is one of the things that sets us apart,” she added.

But here in Ohio and in other Rust Belt states where economic matters, including trade and manufacturing, are major campaign issues, Clinton sharply criticized Trump for his reliance on foreign labor and foreign steel to support his businesses.

“Donald likes to say he’s on the side of American workers, but his actions tell a different story,” she said, ticking off the Trump-branded products that were made in countries including Mexico and Slovenia.

AD

But Clinton's campaign is keenly aware that simply campaigning against Trump may not be enough, especially in a state like Ohio, where she is hoping to dislodge support for the Republican nominee.