The importance of Pennsylvania for Donald Trump in 2020 can’t be understated. If Trump wins in Pennsylvania, he could lose Wisconsin and Michigan and still win reelection if the rest of the map remains unchanged. So the Trump campaign got some great news from the latest Engagious/FPG focus group of Erie, Pennsylvania, swing voters who switched from Obama to Trump in 2016: They appear to be sticking with him again this election.
Alexi McCammond at Axios calls their loyalty to Trump “a wakeup call to all 2020 Democrats, but especially Joe Biden, since he’s banking heavily on his ability to win the state.”
You can watch the highlights of the focus group here:
Democrats clearly aren’t taking for granted swing states they have won regularly in the past, not just Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton’s failure to campaign aggressively in Wisconsin was one of many excuses given for her surprise defeat in 2016. The Democratic Party chose Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the location for their 2020 National Convention.
Recent polls of Pennsylvania show Trump underwater compared to most of his potential Democrat rivals, but, Hillary Clinton spent most of 2016 with healthy leads in Pennsylvania. It’s quite possible that Pennsylvania will be the main battleground state of a close election in 2020.
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Matt Margolis is the author of The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama and the bestselling The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. His new book, Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy, will be published in July 2019. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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