Former George W. Bush administration official Karl Rove outlined Donald Trump’s path to victory on Election Day, during an interview on Fox News Friday evening.
With to months to go until voters make their selection, recent polls indicate the Republican nominee is now within striking distance of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Trump’s path to attaining enough electoral votes is playing defense, Rove explained.
“If you look at the RealClearPolitics averages of states, he’s narrowly ahead today in Arizona and Georgia, states that Romney carried comfortably, and narrowly behind in North Carolina. So the first thing he’s got to do is carry the 11 electoral votes in Arizona, 16 in Georgia, 15 in North Carolina. Otherwise, he’s going to start off in a deficit,” Rove told host Megyn Kelly.
“The next ones are the states that are close,” Rove said. “Florida is nearly tied. Ohio is almost tied. And Trump actually has a modest … lead in Iowa. If he were to win those states, that would get him to 259 [electoral votes].”
After defending Republican-leaning and toss-up states, Trump has to go after the Democrats’ stronghold. Rove listed Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Hampshire as examples. Bush carried Nevada in both his elections and New Hampshire once, indicating either one may be easier than the others.
“Let’s assume that she [Clinton] wins the 242 votes that they’ve won in each and every one of the last six presidential elections. All she needs to do is win Florida. Or if she loses Florida, win Ohio and North Carolina. Or, you know, Virginia and north Carolina. Or Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada. Or Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, New Hampshire, all of which would get her over 270,” Rove said. “So, look, I don’t think that it’s a foregone conclusion. That’s why we have elections, so that we can play this thing out and we have 60 more days, which is not a lot of time, but it may be enough time.”
