Sen. Bernie Sanders has signaled his imminent departure from the nomination contest. His sooner-than-expected exit frees presumptive nominee Joe Biden to fire up his general election campaign to defeat President Trump in November.
Except that the coronavirus pandemic has put presidential politics in suspended animation, along with the economy and almost every other aspect of normal life. We don’t even know if the remaining primaries will happen, or whether it will be safe for delegates to assemble at a national convention this summer.
There will be a presidential election, however, and at this point it seems likely to unfold in only a handful of closely contested states: Florida, Ohio and the three rustbelt states that put Trump over the top in the Electoral College, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. New Hampshire, Arizona and North Carolina, also look to be in play.
With actual campaigning on hold, Biden strategists should be thinking geographically and crafting a message for winning where it matters.
Because of their pivotal status, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) recently commissioned an in-depth survey of voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which had been considered part of the Democrats’ “blue wall” until Trump flipped them. We also zeroed in on swing voters, especially those who backed Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2016.
Read the full piece here.