By Amie Parnes - 10/18/16 06:00 AM EDT
Hillary Clinton has a simple strategy for Wednesday’s presidential debate: Do no harm.
Like a football team up by double digits with time running out, Clinton doesn’t want to do anything that would let her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, back into the game.
“The strategy is to just get through it,” said a top Democrat close to the Clinton campaign who is familiar with its prep sessions.
Clinton has a comfortable lead over Trump in national polls just three weeks before Election Day.
In the battle for 270 electoral college votes, Clinton is in an even better position.
Trump either trails her or is running neck-and-neck in every key battleground state, leaving him needing to sweep the table to defeat her.
Clinton is signaling confidence. One of her strongest surrogates, Michelle Obama, will give a speech in Phoenix this week as the Democratic nominee looks to make a play for Arizona.
Georgia and Utah, two other states that usually are in the GOP column in presidential elections, are also on the Clinton watch-list.
Given those realities, campaign aides and allies expect that the Democratic nominee will aim to stay above the fray in the final debate on Wednesday night.
Her goal, one longtime confidant said, is to “be presidential and walk the line between disdain and despair at the cesspool that Trump has made of the race.
“Steady and ready,” the confidant added.
Clinton also wants to give voters a reason to support her as she looks to make her closing arguments.
Clinton “needs to keep focused on her own vision for America's future, and give people reason to cast a positive vote for her, not just a negative vote against him,” one longtime adviser recommended.
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http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/301437-clinton-expected-to-play-it-safe-at-final-debate