Road to 270: Donald Trump faces tough 2016 electoral map
Trump, who shook the last of his rivals weeks before Clinton locked up her nomination, has made the GOP's uphill path to the White House more treacherous by failing to seize on that head start in the race for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
[...] it's narrow, given the map's opening tilt toward the Democratic Party, and hinges on Trump's ability to continue to defy political norms.
[...] it's at odds with many Republican leaders, who believe the party's White House prospects hinge on appealing to the growing number of black and Hispanic voters.
"If the election were held today, there'd be a significant number of blue collar, whites — males particularly, but some females — who are registered Democratic and would vote for Trump," said former Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.
Trump begins the general election campaign trailing badly among female voters, putting him at a disadvantage in numerous states.
When 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney lost to President Barack Obama, GOP leaders quickly identified a glaring problem:
Trump has gone much further, declaring that some Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals, calling for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and pledging to throw out all people living in the U.S. illegally before allowing "the good ones" back in.
The comments were widely condemned as racist, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., publicly worried that Trump could push Hispanics from the GOP as Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee in 1964, did blacks in that election.
Both Trump and Clinton are seeking a holy grail of presidential politics: winning states that long have voted for the opposing party.