Trump’s Unconventional Campaign Strategy

The 2016 presidential election has been anything but textbook when it comes to candidates and campaign strategy. Republican nominee and real estate mogul, Donald Trump outlined his fifteen state strategy to win the general election on November 8th which includes focusing on Democrat leaning states such as Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Maine. The aforementioned places have proven to be tough terrain for Republicans who have lost these states in the last six presidential elections.

While Trump’s strategy continues to defy convention and at times, logic. Focusing in on the Rust Belt, may not be such a bad strategy after all. As it looks now, Trump is paving the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue through Interstate 75, 80, and 94. For a Republican nominee this an interesting strategy given the five key states that run through the rust belt, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin helped Obama win in 2008 and 2012. The result was largely due to Democrats fairing slightly better among working-class whites than Republicans in these states.

At first blush, this strategy seems a bit off, why waste time in states that have proven to be unfriendly to Republican presidential candidates in the past. However, Donald Trump as everyone knows by now, is not your run of the mill Republican presidential candidate. Trump’s appeal to voters transcends traditional party lines. From Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” and the ever present frustration felt by blue collar workers who view the economy as sluggish. The recession for these people is, in their minds, still in progress and showing little signs of letting up. In a nutshell, this average American in the Rust Belt are fed up with the same tired dog-eared playbook of politicians and their empty promises, they want a candidate who refuses to succumb to political correctness on the stump. They want Trump, the candidate who will stand up and “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States“. He is their guy and they believe Trump is the man who will shake up Washington and get things done.

The question remains to be answered if Trump’s 15 state focus will work in his favor on Election Day, and according to my magic 8ball, the outlook is hazy. Then again, my magic 8ball could not have predicted Trump would have gotten this far as a presidential candidate, but one thing is for certain, November is coming and win or lose, Trump’s campaign will go down as the outlier of presidential campaigns in the history of America. 

This article was originally posted Political Storm on July 11, 2016