Clinton campaign boosts outreach to Republican defectors

WASHINGTON — A Hillary Clinton campaign operation to target prominent Republicans who may be primed to defect and support the Democratic nominee is accelerating in the wake of Donald Trump’s repeated missteps and continued intraparty feuding.

Clinton and campaign chairman John Podesta already have been directly involved in reaching out to potential Republican recruits, as has Leslie Dach, a former Wal-Mart executive who held positions in the last two Democratic administrations and also is involved in contacting business leaders.

The prospects for a meaningful Republicans for Hillary movement have exploded in the past week as Trump refused to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and other veteran Republican lawmakers facing primaries, suggested he might recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and tangled with a respected retired Marine Corps general and the Muslim-American parents of a fallen war hero who spoke at the Democratic convention.

Whitman was the Republican nominee for California governor in 2010 and is a longtime party fundraiser who was finance co-chair of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s bid for the presidential nomination earlier this year.