See, I just look at the 2016 map, and I don't see any states that Trump loses in 2020 that he won in 2016. The only maybes to me are Pennsylvania and Florida. Florida I think Trump has because the Hispanic vote right now HATES Democratic progressiveness as they see the same things Castro was calling for. Pennsylvania could swing, but I just don't see it personally.
I think if anything, Trump gains electoral votes in places like Minnesota.
I err more in the side caution when it comes to the Upper Rust Belt States and Pennsylvania myself. Voter fraud will be a thing and Trump can't afford to be complacent. Especially Arizona and Michigan - the latter just had the possibility of duplicate mail-in ballots be a thing and Michigan has a governor who loathes Trump and won't hold voting fraud accountable if it means owning the Orange Man Bad. If Trump has a really good election, he could potentially expand his electoral votes by grabbing Minnesota and New Hampshire but all the stars have to align for him to have over 300 electoral votes.
That said, I agree that Minnesota has a solid shot of turning red. I keep hearing about New Hampshire and why Richard Baris (of People's Pundit) predicts a possible flip there, but I'd to see where he explained it. He talked about it in yesterday's live stream but it was not nearly enough for me to chew on.
Pennsylvania perhaps, but Trump and I believe Pence too have been stopping around there often during the summer. Joe can't win it because of his "home-field advantage" there.
Trump's triple in Nevada is still a "Huh?" to me, but at least Pence's worker rallies always keep the general populist side of things intact.
I thought about Nevada earlier today and I was wracking my head on why he would go for a triple rally when it's a state he is likely to lose. I came up with three things, his war with voting fraud, proof of improved Hispanic turnout, and being his normal egotistical self.
Nevada is a state where there are seemingly no deadlines for mail-in ballots. You could still hypothetical cast your ballot a month after Election Day, which makes an already hard state to grab even more difficult. If Trump wins the state, he will also win Arizona and that would mean in his mind that no amount of election fraud can skew a fair election. Being a devil's advocate, the Democrats would have never pushed for their insane mail-in ballot rules if they didn't think it could potentially flip.
It's also a state with a high Hispanic population, with almost 30% of the population. Trump's campaign has bragged about reaching over 40% of the Hispanic vote before all is said and done. My speculation is that he wants that much because he knows that the number he needs to get to not only keep Arizona, but also turn Nevada red again.
Nevada voted for Clinton 60-29 (
archive). If he narrows the margin - electoral fraud factored into it - by double digits, improves his turn out among blacks by modest numbers (above 15%), and keep the white percentage to offset the loss in Asian vote that's coming, he can flip the state. Winning Nevada will prove that Hispanics are willing to vote Republican and could potentially highlight a shift towards them becoming a swing voter.
Finally there's Trump's inflated ego. He loves a challenge and he didn't back off of Nevada after news came out that hurt his chance there. Instead, he wants to once again redraw the map, only this time not only keep the Rust Belt but also make the Southwest and Northeast electable for Republicans again. It's why he went to New Hampshire last month, because he believes he can flip that state, and to be honest, he probably has a better shot there than Nevada and should visit there at least one more time. I think Trump has made Nevada personal to him.
If he makes another stop next month, that means he is going all in to win it. I really don't think this is a smart play though. Given what a
Biden Harris administration implicates, it concerns me he's not giving Minnesota, a far easier flip, the same attention.