Trump has been dominating this race from the beginning. So, what's the plan, folks?
In two out of the last six presidential elections, the Democrat won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College. Remember in 2016 when Donald Trump won 45.9% of the popular vote, Hillary Clinton won 48.0%, but Trump became the president anyway? What a wild ride.
By Mike Reid | May 2024
Without bold and immediate action now, Donald Trump has an extremely straightforward path to winning in November, making him president again from January 2025 until January 2029.
Let's dive into some Electoral College math to understand why.
First, remember that you need 270 Electoral College votes to win.
Well, Donald Trump is going to win 219 of those easily.
219 Electoral Votes:
Idaho. Montana. Wyoming. Utah. Nebraska. North Dakota. South Dakota. Iowa. Kansas. Missouri. Oklahoma. Arkansas. Louisiana. Mississippi. Alabama. Tennessee. Kentucky. Indiana. Ohio. West Virginia. South Carolina. Texas. Florida. And Alaska.
All red states.
But, here's some better news: The blue states give us 226 votes!
226 Electoral Votes:
Vermont. Maine. New Hampshire. Massachusetts. Rhode Island.
Connecticut. New York. New Jersey. Delaware. Maryland. Illinois. Minnesota. Colorado. New Mexico. Washington. Oregon. Hawaii.
California. All still blue. Unless things totally fall apart.
Even Virginia is a blue state these days. (Biden won Virginia by 10.1% in 2020.)
DC even gets to participate in the Electoral College — thanks to the 23rd Amendment passed in 1961 — with three blue votes.
Opinion of Joe Biden:
And yes, technically Maine will likely give one vote to Trump and Nebraska will likely give one vote to Biden because those states give votes based on congressional districts. So that'll be a wash.
Anyway, what's left?
Just seven states!
Five of the seven Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
93 Electoral Votes:
Add in North Carolina, which Joe Biden got close to winning in 2020 and has indicated they're going on offense here in 2024.
Add Nevada too. Trump lost the state in both 2016 and 2020, but just barely both times.
Ok. To recap. In America it matters not one bit which candidate wins the popular vote. What matters is the Electoral College.
And you need 270 votes in the Electoral College to win.
Donald Trump has 219 votes on lockdown.
Joe Biden has 226 votes on lockdown.
Therefore, the election outcome will be determined by just seven states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina.
All of these states were EXTREMELY close in both 2016 and 2020.
And if 2024 is a repeat of 2020, but the dynamics of the election are even slightly more favorable to Donald Trump, Trump will win, returning as president from January 2025 - January 2029.
So what are the dynamics? Well, right now, America is in exactly the kind of sour mood that's extremely bad news for incumbents.
Just 28% of Americans are satisfied with the economy.
Just 14% of Americans feel like things in the country are under control, with 73% saying things in America feel out of control.
You do remember what happened the last time Democrats weren't fired up and ready to go, right?
And just 18% of voters ages 18-29 want Joe Biden to be running for reelection, which is already making it extremely difficult for Democrats to hire campaign staff.
So, I do think this is all a pretty big problem. I mean, don't you?