Hillary Clinton does not think Pennsylvania is a battleground state

Throughout her presidential campaign Clinton’s strategies may have proven to be fruitful thus far, but as it is her first time as the presumptive nominee, the general election poses new challenges. She’ll need to carry all of the diehard blue states, which shouldn’t be too difficult, but she’ll also need to win a few swing states. All of this she needs to do while defending herself against the attacks from Donald Trump.

Now, let’s talk battleground states. There’s Florida, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Colorado. Possibly Michigan and Minnesota, as well. Am I forgetting a state on that list? According to the Clinton campaign, no. However, according to almost every political analyst, Pennsylvania should undoubtedly be on that list. Trump has even said that he plans on winning the Keystone State by targeting members of the white working class.

And it gets even more interesting. Pennsylvania is turning Republican. In fact, in all but seven counties, the voter registration share has favored Republicans since 2008. In 2012, it was President Obama’s fourth-closest win. This year, in Pennsylvania alone, 73,543 registered Democrats switched over to the GOP, and it can be assumed that most of those votes went towards Trump. Although the state hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, a Trump win in Pennsylvania isn’t (entirely) out of the question.

So, with all that in mind, I can’t help but wonder why no money has been spent by the Clinton campaign on Pennsylvania. She has shelled out $23 million in the past month on advertisements in eight battleground states: Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, and Florida. Pennsylvania did not make the cut.

Even though Obama won by a larger margin in New Hampshire, Iowa, and Nevada, and even though Pennsylvania has more electoral votes than those three states combined, a recent report by FiveThirtyEight, showed it received $0 in ad spending in June. Even though every other state on that list is becoming increasingly Democratic with regards to voter registration, ad spending for Pennsylvania was not deemed necessary.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-clinton-campaign-seems-to-think-pennsylvania-is-in-the-bag/

But, if you’re a Clinton fan, never fear. Trump’s “free media” scheme may not be working anymore. In past months, he has been able to rely on free press coverage as a result of his outlandish actions and proposals. That worked for the Republican nomination, but it may not work for the general election. So far, he has spent no money whatsoever attacking Clinton, and $23 million has been used to attack him. The results of Trump’s lack of media spending may be one of the causes of his recent plummet in the polls. The RCP Polling Average finds Clinton with a 6.8% lead over Trump in polls conducted from June 10 to June 23. Perhaps spending money on Pennsylvania may not be so necessary after all.