Donald Trump now leads in two of his three must-win states — but the path forward is grim
Donald Trump has to win Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
He has to do a lot of other things, too: He has to hold Arizona and Texas and he has to win Iowa, for example. He has to keep Utah's electoral votes in his pocket. But we'll give him all of those states, for the sake of argument. To have a shot at the presidency, Trump needs to win Florida, North Carolina and Ohio — and if he does, and if the other must-wins above hold, he will pull to 259 electoral votes.
We've spent a lot of time talking about Florida recently because it has the most electoral votes of Trump's must-wins and because it has been the closest race of the three. If Trump loses Florida? Done. Over. President Clinton, once again. But if Trump wins Florida? It doesn't mean President Trump.
In RealClearPolitics' most recent polling averages in the state, Trump has a slight lead in Florida. Over the past two weeks, Hillary Clinton's once-decent-size lead in the state has collapsed. At the same time, Trump has grown stronger in Ohio and the national picture has tightened. But North Carolina hasn't really budged.....
