The Trump campaign is in full retreat in Virginia, effectively giving the state’s 13 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton. Instead, the Trump campaign is shifting resources to support Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio (via NBC News):
The decision was made at Trump’s New York headquarters and announced during a conference call tardy Wednesday night, surprising some GOP officials in the state. Two GOP staffers directly involved in Virginia’s campaign confirmed the decision.
The decision to drop out of Virginia shows that Trump is “basically campaigning in four states,” with attention now shifting to battleground states crucial to his chances in November: Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio, a source with knowledge of the decision told NBC News.
Wall Street Journal also announced the withdrawal, quoting former Virginia campaign manager Corey Stewart, who was fired from the campaign after organizing a protest in which he called the Republican National Committee “establishment vomit.”
By WSJ:
The RNC was not very affable and withdrew resources,” Mr. Stewart said. “They starved the Trump campaign in Virginia, even though it was necessary to win the state. If we lose that state, it will be because the RNC did not keep its promise to adequately fund the state’s advertising program and ground operations.”
The RNC did not respond to a request for comment about the Virginia campaign.
Stewart’s firing and the “vomit” comment came after a 2005 Access Hollywood tape leaked last weekend showing Trump making indecent comments about women, most notably a graphic remark about grabbing their genitals, that plunged the party into crisis. Some politicians withdrew their support for Trump, while others suggested he would step down, although some clarified their comments and got back on board the Trump train after his robust performance in the second debate. Make no mistake; these were very bad days for Trump. At the time the scorching mics were released, his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence, reportedly told Trump he would be on his own for the next 48 hours. There were also rumors that the RNC might divert Trump’s funds to lower-level positions, which were denied when Priebus confirmed Monday that the party was endorsing Trump.
Regardless, Katie wrote about a recent Fox News poll that so far paints a very bleak picture. Clinton leads Trump by seven points, and his support among Republicans is down 11 points. The poll also shows Clinton leading suburban women by 24 points. That pretty much rules out Pennsylvania. Daron Shaw, who runs one of the polling firms that conducted the poll, noted on The O’Reilly Factor last night that the collapse of that scale for undecided voters rules Trump out of contention in places like Bucks County, Pennsylvania, or other counties around Philadelphia that are full of moderate, undecided voters who decide the outcome of the election.
At the same time, I’m not sure Virginia is winnable this cycle. In August, Guy suggested the state was lost — and that Trump should set up camp in Florida and Pennsylvania. Now, Pennsylvania looks like it’s going to do what it usually does to every Republican running for the White House: fail.
