By Amie Parnes - 10/20/16 03:30 PM EDT
Hillary Clinton’s strategy at the last debate was to finish off Donald Trump.
Instead of playing it safe, with a big lead in polls, Clinton went for the kill, say surrogates for the Democratic presidential nominee.
She was aggressive throughout the 90-minute matchup, going after Trump on everything from his statements about women to immigration, the issue at the center of his campaign.
She ridiculed Trump for exporting jobs, mocked his use of Chinese steel in building projects, warned he would be a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and corrected him when he said he had not insulted the looks of women accusing him of sexual transgressions, using his own words against him.
It was a surprising performance from a politician routinely labeled as safe to a fault.
It comes as Clinton is making a concerted effort to win traditionally Republican states such as Arizona, Utah and Georgia, which are all in play thanks to Trump’s weak stretch on the campaign trail. Underscoring the effort, first lady Michelle Obama, arguably the campaign’s most powerful surrogate, will speak in Phoenix on Thursday for Clinton.
Sending the first lady to a red state a little more than two weeks from Election Day and coming out firing at Trump at the debate are part of the same plan, say Clinton allies and Democratic observers. She wants to win big.
“She wants a big mandate,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon, who is not connected to the Clinton campaign.
“She just doesn’t want to win, she wants to win big to establish a mandate. The more electoral and popular votes, the merrier.”
Many people expected Clinton to coast on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/302064-why-clinton-went-for-the-kill