Trump's New Math: Inside the Plan to Flip Blue States in 2020

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

When President Donald Trump steps on stage for a campaign rally in Rio Rancho, New Mexico next week, even his own campaign staffers know he will be facing long odds. A Republican candidate for President hasn’t won the state since 2004, when George W. Bush beat John Kerry there by a margin of just 5,988 votes. Trump himself lost the state by eight points to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and his disapproval rating among registered voters there is a crushing 57%, according to the Morning Consult voter tracking poll.

Nonetheless, Trump’s campaign is betting it can win in New Mexico. Flush with cash, the campaign is planning to announce a state director and additional ground staff there in the coming weeks, a campaign official tells TIME. Internal campaign data has convinced Trump’s political advisors they can energize a slice of the state’s Hispanic voters to vote for Trump in 2020 by emphasizing Trump’s handling of the economy, border security and his trade confrontation with China. According to U.S. Census data, 49.1 percent of New Mexico’s residents identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

The move is part of a series of bets Trump is making to win states that went for Clinton in 2016. Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner says that voter data has convinced the reelection effort to fund robust field operations in a much larger number of states than in 2016. “I can see us very aggressively playing in 18 swing states,” Jared Kushner tells TIME, adding that in his view, the 2016 Trump campaign “seriously played” in about 11 swing states.

The broader bets, made very early in the election cycle, signify some defining characteristics of Trump’s 2020 effort. To win, Trump probably needs to come up with a different set of states than those that garnered 304 electoral college votes and carried him to the White House: public polls show his disapproval ratings swamp his approval numbers by at least 9 percentage points in his 2016 blue-to-red trifecta of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-new-math-inside-the-plan-to-flip-blue-states-in-2020/ar-AAH1IzQ?li=BBnb7Kz

They're sniffing their own farts.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. New Mexico?

Anybody on the ground there that makes you think that Trump might have a chance of flipping it there? Any likelihood of Republican electoral shenanigans?

[struggle4progress]

2. "We counting on Vlad!"

[Stuart G]

3. This jerk will not get get any of these three, Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania

...Trump is a liar, cheat, and fool. His numbers will go down if he runs again. There was a certain feeling among some to give him a chance. Maybe a non politician like Donald Trump can do a better job.
...But Trump has done a worse job. He is a bigger liar, cheat and fool than he was thought of before. He has proved that nothing has changed. He still lies most of the time. The Alabama Line, proved that. I don't think he has apologized, has he? Trump has not improved, he still lies and lies some more. Most people are sick of his lies. I sure hope that Trump doesn't run again.

[DFW]

4. OK, so they're "flush with cash."

But.....they are Republicans. Plenty of that cash is going to disappear into their own pockets. It's what they do.

Wayne LaPierre wants the NRA to survive--NOT to put a gun in every holster, but so he and his wife can continue to have free McMansions, fancy cars, first class trips and designer clothes all paid for by the NRA as "legitimate" expenses incurred in his heading the organization.

So what if the Republicans are flush with cash? They've ALWAYS been flush with cash. If they start spending a majority of it on the election instead of on themselves, THEN we need to watch out.

[gratuitous]

5. All right, I read MSN's analysis

Missing completely from their story is any mention of what Trump plans to do to win over voters he didn't get in 2016. He has governed for no one but himself, he's spent the last 30 months calling names, whining, and being petulant, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.

[Takket]

6. Drumpf has a plan to win

And it sure as fuck has nothing to do with winning over voters. More likely they have found some weakness in the New Mexico election system that Russia can exploit for them and they need drumpf to campaign there to give the appearance he “got through to voters” to explain a “stunning upset” on Election Day.

NM should be on alert.