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Canada’s been hailed as the favorite post-election escape destination — its immigration site famously crashed as the results came in of a Donald Trump win — but for organizers galvanized to fight the racists and fascists out of the shadows, other moves might prove more fruitful for the next presidential election.
OPINION:
Why Trump Won—And What’s Next
The decision must be calculated and strategic: depending on your profile as an activist and vision for how to most affect change, your time is best spent in the following states:
If you’re playing the electoral college game and want to push states with a near tie your way:
Michigan, Arizona and New Hampshire were on the edge of voting either red or blue. Less than 12,000 votes made the difference between Trump and Clinton in Michigan, 85,000 in Arizona and little over 1,000 voters handed a victory to Clinton in New Hampshire.
If you want to to get acquainted with the enemy :
Go to Wyoming. No other state had over 70 percent of voters for Trump. It's white, rural, hidden racist, disgruntled middle-class demographics would give you a good lesson on who threw their support behind Trump and why.
If you’re eyeing the game-changing counties that could flip the weight of big-leaguers toward your candidate:
Consider Florida and Pennsylvania, states with enough electoral votes to decide the election but no consistent voting record. Key West in Monroe County and St. Petersburg in Pinellas County in Florida went from blue to red this year and could easily switch next election season. In Pennsylvania, Barack Obama easily won Erie County, which went for Trump with only 3,000 votes over Clinton. Monroe County in Pennsylvania chose Clinton with only 800 votes —over 9,000 less than went to Obama four years earlier.
ANALYSIS:
Blame White People for Donald Trump's Election Victory
If you want to convince blue-collar voters that Trump is not their friend and ride the Bernie Sanders wave:
Sanders won Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Indiana, which all preferred Trump to Clinton on Tuesday. Their large working-class populations, heavily affected by free trade agreements and other anti-farmer and anti-union policy, are friendly to organizing, but only for the right candidate.
If you’re a staunch third-partier dedicated to smashing the two-party monopoly:
Kansas, Oregon and Vermont are the place to be. Jill Stein passed the 2-percent threshold in all those states, the biggest turnout for her this year. You can capitalize on that enthusiasm for alternatives to build a bigger base of Greens— or others — and prop up the cause nationwide.
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