Should Democrats Focus on the Rust Belt or Sun Belt?

Ron Brownstein: “Though the 2018 election opened intriguing opportunities in the Sun Belt, new data suggest the shortest path back to the White House for Democrats may be through the three Rust Belt swing states that President Trump dislodged from the ‘blue wall’ two years ago.”

“The party will have to choose — with its nominee, its resources and its message — whether it wants to focus most on rebuilding that wall — or on expanding its opportunities in a new set of emerging battleground states across the Sun Belt.”

“As both parties pick through the results of this month’s midterm for clues about possible shifts in the 2020 presidential map, previously unpublished results from the Election Day exit poll show that Trump faced pointed erosion in approval of his job performance from a wide range of critical groups in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the three states that keyed his victory in 2016.”