In an earlier blog post, I quoted the responses of prominent Democrats when I asked for their best guesses of Hillary Clinton’s percentage of the national vote in November. Here are some more responses from the convention floor.
Alex Sink, former Florida CFO and 2010 governor nominee. “Hillary will carry Florida. She’ll get 46 percent nationally — a win.”
Mark Green: “I’ve got an article on The Nation saying she’ll win by 8 percent.” On governing: “Is she Wellesley or Wall Street? Will she invest her mandate? The model is Reagan.”
Gray Davis, former governor of California. “Hillary will carry California. Nevada will be very close, she’ll carry it by 2-4 points. Nationally, she wins by 2 or 3 points.”
Bill Nelson, senator from Florida. “I think Hillary will carry Florida by 5 percent. Third-party candidates will get only 1 or 2 percent.”
Debbie Stabenow, senator from Michigan. “The more Donald Trump talks about how great Putin is, the more her [Clinton’s] numbers will go up. I think she gets 55 percent, and 55 percent in Michigan. But Michigan is always tough. It will take some work.”
Elijah Cummings, Congressman from the 7th district of Maryland. “Hillary will get 53 percent. In Maryland it’ll be 65 percent.”
Kevin Malecek, Democratic county chairman in Lake County, Ohio, suburbs north and northeast of Cleveland, a marginal county in general elections. He says Clinton “will get 43 percent, like in 1992,” the percentage Bill Clinton received in 1992 when Ross Perot got 19 percent of the vote. As I move on, he clarifies, “And she wins, like he did.”
James Clyburn, Congressman from the 6th district of South Carolina, and assistant House Democratic leader. “Oh, Lord, I don’t know. It’s going to be a close race. 52-48 Clinton.”
Donna Brazile, acting Democratic National Chairman. “Hillary Clinton will get 303 electoral votes.” She didn’t add, but could have, that that’s what she would get if she carried every state Barack Obama carried in 2012 except for Florida — and no others.
