TRUMP IS REDRAWING THE ELECTION MAP, TO REPUBLICANS’ PERIL

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Trump might turn red states blue.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was boasting he could make states that traditionally vote Democratic, like California and New York, competitive in the 2016 presidential election. “We're going to play heavy, as an example, in California,” Trump told a crowd in Billings, Montana, on May 26. “Now no other Republican—they wouldn't even go to dinner in California. They wouldn't do it.”

Three months later, it’s not these so-called blue states where Trump is “playing heavy”—it’s rock-ribbed Republican states. The real estate tycoon raised eyebrows this week by making stops in Mississippi and Texas, both of which Mitt Romney, the GOP’s 2012 nominee, won by double digits that year. And new polling out of two other GOP-leaning states, Missouri and South Carolina, show Democrat Hillary Clinton unexpectedly within striking distance in the presidential contest.

While it’s still difficult to see Clinton winning in any of those places—as Republican consultant David Woodard, a Clemson University political science professor, says of South Carolina, “This is a state that’s so red it’s sunburned”—even being competitive there, as a Democrat, is startling. And it could force Trump and the Republicans to divert money and resources to defend their strongholds, rather than spending money in places long considered to be battlegrounds, like Virginia and Colorado. Recent polls in those two states show they may be slipping out of reach for Trump, absent a dramatic reversal.

[John Miller 761]

Trump might turn red states blue.

Well, at least he seems to be doing something worthwhile. Kudos to The Donald!

Can nobody say that I don't have a first bit of praise for the man. I give credit where credit is due.