Please clarify: are these leads for Trump vs. fellow Republicans in primary races or leads vs. HRC in a prospective general election?
I wouldn't quite agree that Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota "have been left for dead by GOP leaders." Michigan and Wisconsin currently have two-term GOP governors who have improved their states' economies since being in office.
Also, it wasn't exactly ancient history when Minnesota had a GOP governor (Pawlenty) and a GOP US Senator (Coleman) as well. In fact, Coleman would probably still be in office today had it not been for obvious 'Rat cheating in a vote recount in his race vs. Franken.
Sorry, I meant to include that it was fictional (at least for now), and takes place in Oct. 2016, so it’s for the general election.
I agree that left-for-dead is somewhat of an exaggeration...but on the other hand, even winning governorships in those states hasn’t helped us in presidential elections. When the Dems fire up their base every 4 years we go flat. I suspect we’ll pay lip service to those states in 2016 (as things stand today), but not really expect to win any of them. What I’m trying to point out is that winning states that consist of 80% plus white, conservative, voters shouldn’t be that hard - but we manage to lose them on a regular basis when it comes to the top job.