Donald Trump Hits Familiar Chords Before First General Election Debate

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/us/politics/donald-trump-campaign.html

Version 0 of 1.

With less than a week until the first general election debate, Donald J. Trump has used his recent rallies to sharpen the nationalist message he has embraced throughout the campaign.

The three debates will be Mr. Trump’s best chance to halt his opponent, Hillary Clinton, who has a clearer path to the nomination even as the race tightens. And with the race most likely to be decided by more than 100 million voters who did not cast ballots in either party primary, some voters will be getting their first hard look at Mr. Trump.

In a typical campaign, nominees of both parties modulate positions to appeal to independent voters. In Mrs. Clinton’s case, she has not budged on her economic proposals, which were drafted while she was still battling Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic nomination. On issues like national security, however, she has more to offer moderate voters.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has done little to adjust the underpinnings of his message. He has heightened his incendiary comments in recent days, striking notes of nationalism as he continues to call for drastic changes to the immigration system. In North Carolina on Tuesday, he said he wanted to see the immigration policies of the nation changed to reflect “American values.”

Mr. Trump’s calls for large-scale deportations are opposed by a majority of national voters. And his comments are more familiar to a brand of nationalism seen in France, by figures like Marine Le Pen.

His proposals have a harder edge than anything the American public has seen from a candidate on a general election debate stage in decades. But Mr. Trump has been determined to stick with the message that helped him vault through the primaries.