Report: Clinton campaign memo lays out path to winning 270 electoral votes
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook on Monday sent out a private memo Monday to supporters, donors and top surrogates that laid out how the Democratic presidential nominee could win on Election Day, according to Politico.
Mook wrote that Clinton has “many paths to 270 electoral votes” while Donald Trump “has very few,” according to the report. He explained that if Clinton wins 16 traditionally blue states and Washington, D.C., she will have already won 191 electoral votes. He said if she wins five more states, she would then only need 10 more electoral votes.
“If we add the five states that FiveThirtyEight.com gives Hillary a 70% or greater chance of winning (Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin), Hillary only needs 10 more electoral votes,” Mook added.
Clinton could win the remaining 10 electoral votes by winning just one or two battleground states, depending on how many electoral votes they have, Mook said. For example, Mook said she could just win Florida, Ohio or North Carolina and win the White House.
“Put a different way, of these battleground states, Hillary can win just one (Florida, Ohio, or North Carolina) and win the presidency, which means the six additional states would only add more electoral votes to her total,” Mook said. “Donald Trump, on the other hand, must win six of these seven states, including Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio — none of which he can lose.”
Mook warned to accept polls with “a grain of salt” ahead of Election Day. His memo came one week before the two nominees face off in their first debate next Monday night.