I do think the author has a point in that this will largely be decided over which candidate offers a more credible big-government solution to “fix” the Rust Belt.
Which is another reason why traditional Conservatives are apoplectic about this election.
Of course there are larger issues....global terror and the Clinton’s bottomless bucket of sleaze.
The biggest issue is that if the media ha sway over voters, Trump would have lost in the primaries. They don’t. Manufacturing polls where dems are 50%+ of the sample does nothing. The debates are coming, and they are unspinnable if Clinton cracks. This may be what happens.
Lots of things about this election cycle are different than the past. How much that’ll effect the outcome is yet to be seen.