How would you imagine YOURSELF winning the Electoral College?

[John Dule]

John Dule (R-CA): 334
Chelsea Clinton (D-NY): 204

I won't be old enough to win the presidency for another fifteen years. This election would take place in a far-off future where the religious right's influence in the Republican Party has rapidly declined, and the party has become a more libertarian-leaning coalition between whites and conservative Hispanic immigrants. The GOP platform would include economic deregulation, a merit-based immigration system, gun rights, and decreasing government welfare spending. Things like gay marriage and marijuana legalization will be things of the past.

My Democratic opponent would hopefully be someone unpopular, and I would try to challenge the Democrats at a time when they hold the presidency. I would run a campaign tying urban blight and deterioration to Democratic policies, emphasizing my opposition to rent control, unreasonable minimum wage laws, and byzantine building codes. After several decades under one-party rule, the urban areas of California will be crumbling. I would try to reach out to these voters (who I am uniquely familiar with) to depress the Democratic margins in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, netting myself a win in my home state. By framing the issues of expensive housing, homelessness, and prevalent drug use as the products of Democratic policies, I would position myself as the candidate of change.

From there, all I'd have to do is pick off a few of the traditional swing states, including Florida, Nevada, and Colorado. Part of my platform would include decreasing the power of the executive branch and scaling back government spending. This, sadly, might not play well in states that are increasingly reliant on government subsidies and grants. I could see myself losing Iowa, but I would probably not fare well in the Rust Belt in general. Nevertheless, my wins in the west would offset my depleted margins in the Midwest, and I would win with a cushion of about three million votes if I played my cards right.

Of course, this is just a hypothetical. In reality I'd never run for office.