The Unconventional Conventions Tee Up a Conventional Race

Published July 30, 2016 3:54pm ET



Hillary Clinton had an opportunity Thursday night to make the electoral map a mad scramble. For months, we’ve heard about Donald Trump’s Rust Belt strategy, by which he would parlay a blue-collar coalition into blue-state pickups like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. For three days this week, Hillary Clinton’s party ditched occupying Wall Street in favor of staking out a spot at Joint Base Democrat, sounding patriotic notes that seemed made for the Bush-era GOP. This was setting up to be the split: to Trump, a revived bloc of Reagan Democrats, and to Hillary, a new group of—hold your cookies—Clinton Republicans.

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