Monday, November 21, 2016

Juggling the Third Party Votes

What if all the Green voters had chosen Hillary instead?  What if the Never Trumpers hadn't supported the spoiler candidacy of Evan McMullin?  What would that look like?

Let's start with the Greens.  If all the Green votes had gone to Hillary, she would have won both Michigan and Wisconsin, getting her an additional 26 electoral votes.  However, that still leaves her short of 270 needed for the win.  In that case, a recount would surely have been called in the closet other state; Bush-Gore redux!

On the other hand, if all the Evan McMullin votes had gone to Trump, he would have picked up Minnesota and increased his electoral victory to 316 to 222.
 
Combining the two scenarios, it is mostly a wash though Hillary comes out better with 248 electoral votes to Trump's 290.  Of course, Jill Stein received 1.36 million votes while Evan McMullin only garnered 545K.
 
The Libertarian Party took votes from each candidate and it is hard to decide where they might have gone.  If they had gone to Hillary, she would have had a smashing victory, giving her Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and the 2nd District of Nebraska.  In that scenario, she has 319 electoral votes to Trump's 219.  However, if they went to Trump, he would have picked up Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and Minnesota for a total of 36 more electoral votes, providing an electoral win of 342 to 196.
 
It is a certainty that both parties are looking at these scenarios to see if they can absorb these voters.  As the Republicans will have the benefit of incumbency, the Democrats should vigorously seek to reach these voters.

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