A Perfect Demographic Mix for Clinton?

Ron Brownstein notes the “two demo­graph­ic trends that may most af­fect the polit­ic­al land­scape in the 11 states that both parties now treat as de­cis­ive swing con­tests. As the charts show, all of these states are sim­ul­tan­eously grow­ing more ra­cially di­verse and older. But these twin trans­form­a­tions are op­er­at­ing at very dif­fer­ent rates in the states likely to de­cide the next pres­id­en­tial elec­tion. While di­versity is the key dy­nam­ic in the swing states across the Sun Belt, aging is the de­fin­ing char­ac­ter­ist­ic of the Rust Belt battle­grounds.”

“The dy­nam­ics of these 11 swing states could be com­plex in 2016. In Hil­lary Clin­ton, a white wo­man who will be 69 years old by next Novem­ber, the Demo­crats could pick a can­did­ate who is well po­si­tioned to min­im­ize their dis­ad­vant­ages in the aging Rust Belt states, but chal­lenged to fully turn out the minor­ity and youth co­ali­tion the party re­lies upon upon in the grow­ing Sun Belt states.”