In swing state suburbs, white women are skeptical of Trump

Yet the 52-year-old from the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, is struggling with the idea of voting for her party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Emery's negative impression of Trump was shared by most of the dozens of white, suburban women from politically important states who were interviewed by The Associated Press this spring.

While white voters continue to abandon the Democratic Party, small gains with white women could help put likely nominee Clinton over the top if the November election is close.

Democrats believe these women could open up opportunities for Clinton in North Carolina, where President Barack Obama struggled with white voters in his narrow loss in the state 2012, and even in Georgia, a Republican stronghold that Democrats hope to make competitive.

The businessman also has previewed an argument focused on national security, with echoes of the pitch that President George W. Bush successfully made to white suburban women during his 2004 re-election.

Throughout the primary, Clinton has talked about policies meant to appeal to women: equal pay, expanded child care, paid family and medical leave and more.

A super political action committee backing Clinton has released its first television advertisements featuring Trump's contentious statements about women.

Trump's best opening is that Clinton, who is on the cusp of clinching her party's nomination, would enter the November race with a majority of Americans taking a dim view of her candidacy.

While Obama won the support of women overall in his two White House campaigns, white women have increasingly been shifting toward the Republican Party in recent elections.

Clinton's hopes will largely hinge on replicating Obama's coalition of blacks, Hispanics and young people.