We have to come to grips with these realities, and try to figure out what kind of coalition we need to hold the existing red states.
The GOP already can write off the NE States. Pennsylavania seems blue for good now and Ohio is a biggie.
We've continued to lose California for awhile now.. That is a bunch of electoral votes that we seem to have no chance at, while the democrats seem to have struck on a strategy to peel off some of these western and midwestern voters.
This may be a tough nut for the next RNC chair to crack.
I will say this, even though I don't wish it to happen:
If there is some kind of big terrorist attack in a major population center, all this goes out the window, and almost every state comes into play if the security issue gets back to the top, and people reflect on who tried to stop it, and who tried to ignore it.
If it doesn't happen within 12-15 mos. prior to an election it will probably be written off and forgotten by the electorate unless it's nuclear or ongoing like suicide bombers.