As Trump rises in battleground states, Clinton moves to block his path to 270

It is too early to know whether the episode will be a turning point that reverses gains for him in many of the battleground states. Clinton has fundamental advantages in an electoral map that is tilted generally in favor of Democrats because of changing demographics, giving her more mathematical permutations than Trump to win.

State by state, Clinton’s advisers have a sober assessment of where the race now stands. But they say that, if they can turn out their votes — especially young people, a critical Democratic constituency that has registered soft support for Clinton — they have ample ways to block Trump from winning the necessary 270 electoral votes despite clear deterioration in several states.

“We expected this to tighten. We expect it to tighten even further,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said. “That’s why we built a robust campaign in all 50 states, but especially in the battleground states. It’s going to come down to small margins. . . . We’re spending a lot of time making sure of our vote.”