I've read 15 books about the 2020 election...Ask me anything!

[South Dakota Democrat]

At first I thought, no way you've read that many.  But then I read your list and realized I've read the vast majority of those as well.

[South Dakota Democrat]

Was Minnesota won by a bigger margin than expected?  How did the Biden and Trump campaigns feel about Minnesota?

Trump hoped to win Minnesota in the 2017-2019 period, since it was so close in 2020. Same with New Hampshire. But after Biden won the nomination, it was considered out of reach. I think the margin of victory was fairly close to expected. Perhaps slightly more. Neither campaign thought MN was a close state. The Biden campaign did spend money to be safe. Trump never bothered, even pulled out of Michigan.

Not entirely true.  One of the books, can't remember which one, indicated that Trump's campaign thought they could win Minnesota.

[South Dakota Democrat]

How did Trump feel about Virginia?

Was never seriously contested. At the end, the Trump campaign plan was to aggressively fight for Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They expected to win Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. They wrote off Michigan and Arizona. Nevada was a toss up.

They did not write off Arizona.

[South Dakota Democrat]

At first I thought, no way you've read that many.  But then I read your list and realized I've read the vast majority of those as well.

Yeah. I wasn't trying to read all of them. I just love political books. Whenever I see a new one on Amazon, I buy it.

Was Minnesota won by a bigger margin than expected?  How did the Biden and Trump campaigns feel about Minnesota?

Trump hoped to win Minnesota in the 2017-2019 period, since it was so close in 2020. Same with New Hampshire. But after Biden won the nomination, it was considered out of reach. I think the margin of victory was fairly close to expected. Perhaps slightly more. Neither campaign thought MN was a close state. The Biden campaign did spend money to be safe. Trump never bothered, even pulled out of Michigan.

Not entirely true.  One of the books, can't remember which one, indicated that Trump's campaign thought they could win Minnesota.

Pre-COVID, Trump himself thought he would win his 2016 map plus NV, NH and MN. Maybe even VA. By Summer and George Floyde, they wrote MN off completely

How did Trump feel about Virginia?

Was never seriously contested. At the end, the Trump campaign plan was to aggressively fight for Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They expected to win Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. They wrote off Michigan and Arizona. Nevada was a toss up.

They did not write off Arizona.

They pulled funding in the Summer and early Fall. Same with Michigan. They did campaign and invest in the late Fall. But the Trump campaign saw its easiest path to victory by winning FL, WI and PA. They moved funds towards the latter two.

Interesting.  It's possible the books I didn't read on your list go into that in more depth.  There are so many books about this election, and I love reading books that are inside scoops on elections from the perspective of the campaigns, but it's hard to find even one book like that on most elections.  For 2020, there are several.

[South Dakota Democrat]

1. Did Biden consider dropping out after Iowa or New Hampshire?

2. Who did Obama secretly support? What where his true thoughts on Biden running?

3. This may have been asked before but did Trump genuinely believe there was fraud? Or was this a shtick to get attention?

1. No, Biden himself was adamant that he stay until SC. This was shared with his wife and sister. Some lower campaign officials did start looking for new jobs.

2. Obama didn't support anyone. He did have a soft spot for Cory Booker and hoped he'd win. Back when Biden was considering running in 2016, Obama made it clear that Booker needed to be VP. Obama did not want Biden to run in 2020, fearing he would lose and tarnish his repuation.

3. Unknown. Most likely knew their was no fraud. Most likely knew he was not going to stay in office but wanted to lay the groundwork for 2024.

None of the books i read said that Obama had a soft spot for Booker.  Which book indicated this?