Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:09 pm
Republicans are giving up on three battleground states that total 26 Electoral College votes because they appear to unwinnable for Donald Trump.
Interviews with more than two dozen Republican operatives, state party officials and elected leaders suggest three of the 11 battleground states identified by POLITICO — Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia — are tilting so heavily toward Hillary Clinton that they’re close to unwinnable for the GOP presidential nominee. But Trump remains within striking distance in the remaining eight states, including electoral giants Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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The increasing likelihood that Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia are out of reach heightens the urgency for the Republican nominee to win those still-competitive states — and to recapture steam in Pennsylvania, where he once looked formidable but now trails by 10 points, according to POLITICO’s Battleground States polling average.
The years that Clinton has spent building a ground game in the swing states have allowed her to put Colorado, Virginia, and New Hampshire out of reach for Trump. If Clinton maintains her solid leads in Michigan and Pennsylvania, Republicans won’t have a path to winning the White House in November.
Poll leads aren’t the same as votes on Election Day, but unlike the Trump campaign, Clinton has a sophisticated data operation that is targeting key voters and engaging with them in swing states. While Donald Trump has hats, Hillary Clinton has built a mechanism that will convert supporters into voters.
A party never wants to be writing off swing states before the first presidential debate. The situation for Republicans is dire.
The GOP needed a cutting edge candidate to lead them into the future. Instead, what they got was a dinosaur who is lumbering bluster is built on a return to the past.
There may not be enough softball Matt Lauer style interviews available between now and November to prevent the defeat of Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
