Not sure. It's pretty bold, especially for this particular campaign. Like, it should go without saying that all of this was pretty clearly premeditated. Let's not forget that this is Hillary Clinton.
Her """"""backtrack"""""" is only for that minor "half" detail. "Okay I didn't mean that literally half of Trump's supporters are terrible people, but now that you're listening let me pontificate for a moment."
Plus, "basket of deplorables" is such a strange turn of phrase; she wants this to be remembered. Not exactly trying to whisper this in secret to her donors. My guess is she's trying a few things at once here: galvanize the base, test this line of attack with undecideds and the more ambiguous "educated whites" section of her support, and make it more likely she gets asked about this type of thing at the debates, where she has the opportunity to more consequentially make her point. It is risky for sure though.
This is the best comment I've read about the whole issue. "Deplorables" targets educated Republicans who don't like Trump because of his extremist views, and simultaneously fires up the Democratic base. Has the potential to be a win-win situation. This isn't aimed at all Republicans, or all voters. This is carefully targeted.
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