Republicans - what is your plan for staying competitive in the following states

[Non Swing Voter]

in about 12-16 years:

1) Virginia - assume (as the census does) that about 40% of the voting age population will reside in what is generally considered NOVA.  Also assume that minorities will jump from about 30% of voters to about 36-38% of voters as seems likely based on census projections.  Also assume that the southwestern portion of the state, which votes Republican in the greatest numbers, will continue to lose population.

2) Nevada - (I can't write a description like above because I simply don't know enough about the state, but lets assume Hispanics continue to grow as a percentage of the population and it gets more transplants from California - I think that's a fair assumption)

3) Colorado - (similar to Nevada)

4) Florida - (assume panhandle keeps trending Republican while the I-4 corridor continues to trend democrat)

ALTERNATIVELY:

If you cannot stay competitive in at least 3 of these states (which basically means you can't win under current electoral math) - what is your strategy for making up these votes?

BONUS QUESTION:

Which is a better strategy (if you can only pick one):

A) Stay competitive in all of these states

B) Ditch these states and try to readjust the map somewhere else... perhaps Minnesota + Iowa + Wisconsin + Michigan...

[Non Swing Voter]

I love how so far there is only three really serious answers to this question.  And funnily enough, two of them happen to be Republicans!

Why is it funny that most of the serious answers are from Republicans?  The question was directed to Republicans... the rest of us probably don't really care, we just enjoy watching the GOP go down in flames in the most entertaining of ways.

[Non Swing Voter]

Everyone seems to expect Florida to stay slightly to the right but the census suggests otherwise. Many of those northern FL counties were about 80% white and 72-76% Romney. I can't see where the GOP has to go unless they get more black votes. As the GOP maxes out in that part of Florida, Dems will continue to gain in Orlando/Tampa and probably get to 65-70% in Dade as older Cubans die off. In addition, Obama was a fairly poor candidate for Palm Beach, Volusia, Flagler counties.

Agreed.  The problem for the GOP is that they are trying to maximize their vote share among declining segments of the population, whereas Democrats are trying to maximize their vote share among increasing segments of the population.

Florida is a perfect example of this.  GOP maximizing the panhandle can only produce so many votes as they have maxed out the white vote which is not expanding, nor is the panhandle region expanding as a portion of the state.

In contrast, Democrats have been trying for years to maximize their vote share in Orlando and Tampa, two rapidly growing areas of the state with burgeoning minority populations. 

[Non Swing Voter]

I could see a 50/50 national election looking something along these lines:

I could see all of that happening except Pennsylvania...  Democrats simply get too big a margin in Philly and the inner burbs.  I don't see how that changes anytime soon.

[Non Swing Voter]

This is another strategy: rig the electoral college.

What is wrong with you?

Aren't there numerous articles and stories written about how Republicans are selectively targeting states that Democrats win to change the electoral college rules.  I think Pennsylvania is one of them... it's kind of telling what the GOP thinks of its own prospects there...

[Non Swing Voter]

Forgot to mention.  To even have A CHANCE at PA, the GOP will need to nominate Christie.

This and the post above are spot on.  It is also demonstrative of the GOP's bigger problem.  How do they win upper Midwest states while staying competitive in the new battlegrounds like Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, etc...?

To win Michigan for instance, they will have to drive up social conservative rhetoric to bring up their margins in the rural areas while hoping it doesn't impact them among moderates... I'm sure they assume they'll lose blacks no matter what but saying they are anti gay marriage shouldn't make the black vote any more democrat in their minds.

At the same time, how do they hold onto a state like Colorado which is getting really liberal when they take those kinds of positions.

The problem for Republicans is the map is shifting in the Democrat's favor so they have to win combinations of states that have really different electorates, whereas Democrats only have to win a few of these states. 

Additionally, democrats have proven much better at coalition building.

[Non Swing Voter]

The GOP in its current form  faces a national crisis when a younger, better educated (yet less financially secure), and less white group of voters really starts voting en masse.

I like this post.  It is the best one sentence summary of the GOP's impending train wreck I've seen.