RE: 2020 Odds: Trump favored
Basically Trump's plan....
1) Hang on to Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, and Florida.
2) He has to have a third party candidate in order to give country club, suburban voters a way to 'not vote for Trump, and not vote for the Democrat'
3) Demonize whomever the Dems nominate and so if they can sucker them into not voting for the Dem again.
4) Try and maximize his turnout and minimize that of the Dems
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Here's how things look in the critical states
1) Ohio. Trump started out with actually a pretty big lead here from 2016. 8 point win for Trump and he got 51 percent. In a head to head race, the GOP appears to be losing supporters to the Dems, specifically suburban voters. He appears to be retaining the blue collar white vote in those states. There's actually a pretty good proxy race going on for Governor in Ohio in 2018, where a liberal Dem is facing off against a Trumpian GOPer in an open race. If the Dems win it, it will portend very bad news for the GOP in Ohio. Even if Rinacci wins, look at the margin. Also, Trump is going to park himself there campaigning for Rinacci. It will be interesting to see if Trump can get his voters out in large numbers.
2) Michigan. Trump barely won here and got less than 50 percent. In order to win, he's going to have to keep minority voting as low as in 2016, prevent any losses to the Dems from country clubbers, and probably find some new voters/converts to him as well. I think Trump is in trouble here, especially in a race with no real third party in the race that has traction.
3) Florida. Trump won by 2 percent and had less than 50 percent. In Florida, it actually does appear that the GOP has done a pretty good job hanging on to a margin (Rick Scott is doing reasonably well in his Senate Campaign). That being said, there have been a couple of spectacular losses for the GOP in special elections.
4) North Carolina. Trump won by 3.5 and was held under 50 percent. This is looking ugly for Trump. Demographics are moving away from the GOP.
5) Arizona. Trump won by 4 percent and was held under 50 percent. I think this gets ugly for Trump too. The population is changing, with more minorities, more transplants from California, and documented movement to the Dems among nominally Republican voters. A Democrat could win a Senate seat in AZ in 2018 and they have an outside shot at the Governor's mansion. This is looking like a battleground.
6) Wisconsin. Trump won by 20,000 votes and was held well under 50 percent. The Dems appear to be more energized and they'll actually compete there.
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In a head to head, I could conceivably see Trump winning Ohio and Florida. I don't see Trump winning PA, WI, MI, NC, or AZ in a head to head.
So we're looking at Trump and his team of domestic and foreign supporters simultaneously trying to attack the Dem and boost the independent candidate that will surely be posited. The Dems job...make this all about Trump and make the case that voting for an independent or third party is the same as voting for Trump.
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