Despite promises, Trump isn't putting New York, California, Michigan, or anything else in play

Those were heady days for Republicans during the primary and even pre-convention when Donald Trump assured everyone his crossover appeal would completely upend the electoral map. Anything was possible, his aides said: Democratic strongholds like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Oregon; Rust Belt states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; even Massachusetts. 

Heck, why not California, as long as we're throwing out wish-list states. Oh wait:

The candidate himself set the stage for these kinds of wild promises. According to CNN, Trump said in January, “We are going to win New Jersey.” In May, he asserted, “We are going to focus on New York.” He also promised, “We’re going to play heavy as an example in California,” along with, “I put so many states in play: Michigan being one. Illinois.”

Right. Well, that was fun. Now back to reality. Stuart Rothenberg writes:

With Trump performing poorly in both Colorado and Virginia and not yet making large Rust Belt states competitive, it is hard to see the Republican nominee being able to put together enough electoral votes to win the White House. Even adding Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Nevada to Romney’s 2012 vote would leave Trump short of the 270 electoral votes he would need for victory.

A solid Clinton electoral-vote victory looks to be the most likely outcome, with her floor probably somewhere near Obama’s 332-electoral-vote total against Romney.