Trump and the outstate Midwest redraw the partisan lines

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Would any other Republican besides President-elect Trump have beaten Hillary Clinton and been elected the 45th president? It's an interesting question, not susceptible to a definitive answer, but one with consequences for politics going forward.

 

Last fall I shared the widespread view that Clinton was the only Democrat who could lose to Trump and Trump was the only Republican who could lose to Clinton. Given the fact that elections are a zero-sum game, in which one candidate must win, this view was more an expression of distaste rather than a prophecy.

 

But it was based also on polling conducted during the spring, before Trump eliminated his remaining Republican opponents in the Indiana primary May 3. National and some state polls showed Marco Rubio running stronger against Clinton than Trump, with John Kasich running even stronger and Ted Cruz a bit better.