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ON POLITICS
2020 U.S. Presidential Campaign

For the Record: Don't vote for president, vote for pot

Brett McGinness
USA TODAY
Coming this November: Ballots and rolling papers.

Happy Bastille Day, FTR readers! The French Republic traces its origins to this day 223 years ago when Parisians stormed a prison and a guard kicked a pastry cook in the groin. Stateside, the 2016 election hasn't quite devolved into groin-kicking, but we still have a few months left and literally nothing would surprise us at this point. For all we know, Trump's VP hopefuls are polishing their wingtips and watching Sebastian Janikowski game footage right now.

In today's edition of FTR, we've got an eye on the suddenly tight races in several battleground states as we examine ballot measures that might bring conservatives and liberals alike to the polls this November.

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If you act now, we'll also throw in recreational marijuana, free!

State ballot measures are the Sports Illustrated sneaker phones of elections — if voters aren't quite sold on subscribing to a given candidate, throwing in a bonus feature might push them over the edge. Not terribly excited about voting for Clinton, Trump, Johnson or Stein? What if we told you we would legalize recreational marijuana, or enshrine right-to-work laws into the state constitution? In an election year with record levels of antipathy toward the top two contenders, we went to Ballotpedia to take a look at some of the swing-state ballot measures most likely to drive voters to the polls.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

ARIZONA (11 electoral votes, Clinton up +0.5):
Recreational marijuana, increased minimum wage

We're gonna call this upside for Clinton, Johnson and Stein, although neither measure is on the ballot just yet. Sure, opposition to marijuana might inspire some conservatives to head to the polls to vote no, but if your college roommate is any indication, more liberals and libertarians are going to be fired up (ha ha) to vote yes, and perhaps vote for Johnson and Stein as long as they're in the voting booth. Minimum wage increases, meanwhile, should have a similar positive effect for Clinton and Stein.

COLORADO (9 electoral votes, Clinton up 7.7%
Increased minimum wage, assisted suicide, state health care system, right to a healthy environment

Of the four, only the establishment of a state health care system is already on the ballot. All four are lefty causes, so all four should benefit both Hillary and Jill. For Gary, it's a mixed bag — but the assisted suicide measure may help his cause.

FLORIDA (29 electoral votes, Trump up 0.2%)
Medical marijuana
It's a wash. Trump has said he sees both sides of recreational marijuana legalization and Clinton is in favor of incremental changes (which is her signature move), but all four are in favor of medical marijuana.

MICHIGAN (16 electoral votes, Clinton up 4.0%)
Recreational and medical marijuana, death penalty for murdering police and correctional officers

Johnson and Stein will get bumps from marijuana legalization efforts, while Trump has specifically called for the death penalty for killing police officers. Clinton isn't all-in on medical marijuana, and she's the Schrodinger's cat of the death penalty: She'd be fine if it were abolished, but would like to have it around for heinous crimes and terrorists acts just the same.

NEVADA (6 electoral votes, Clinton up 4.0%)
Gun sale background checks, recreational marijuana

The background checks measure would require all gun sales between private parties to go through a licensed gun dealer, who would conduct a background check on the buyer. Nevada is one of six states with gun initiatives on the ballot this November; all six states are likely to be showdown sites between the NRA and Everytown for Gun Safety. As for what the overall effect will be — and which candidate will benefit — we can't even begin to guess. The recreational marijuana measure will give a boost to Johnson, who's sitting at 5% in the Silver State right now; Stein isn't on the ballot in Nevada ... yet.

VIRGINIA (13 electoral votes, Clinton up 4.0%)
"Right to Work" Amendment
Since 1947, Virginia has been a "right to work" state — one where employers are banned from requiring union membership. But to ensure that right-to-work laws can't be undone easily, the ballot measure would amend Article I of the Virginia Constitution to include the language. Advantage: Trump and Johnson, the two union skeptics in the race. Johnson currently enjoys 8% support in the commonwealth; Stein, still not on the ballot, is at 3%.

Trump veepstakes winner to be announced Friday

Barring any surprise picks, it looks like it's down to Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence and Jeff Sessions for Donald Trump's running mate. "I'm narrowing it down," Trump told Fox News. "I mean, I'm at three, potentially four. But in my own mind, I probably am thinking about two," he said, sounding more like a guy trying to figure out lunch at Cheesecake Factory. ("You know what, take everyone else's order first, then come back to me. Can I hear the specials again?")

All four have met with Trump, his staffers and/or his family members in the past few days for final vetting. Pence appeared at a rally alongside Trump on Tuesday, while Gingrich sang Trump's praises on Fox News. Chris Christie, once a fixture beside Trump at campaign events, seems to have fallen by the wayside. Where is he now? Our guess is back in New Jersey, listening to his Taylor Swift CDs.

More from the campaign trail

  • Trump to African-Americans: 'I know how it is, the system is rigged against white billionaire major-party nominees too' (USA TODAY)
  • Clinton donor says he'll give $5M to Trump's favorite veterans' charity, if Trump releases nine years of tax returns by Friday (USA TODAY OnPolitics)
  • Dead bodies and muggers were bad enough — now Pokemon Go players have to watch out for Clinton campaign staffers (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Oh right, we forgot about Martin O'Malley too

"Secretary Clinton, you are so untrustworthy that Beyonce is working on a concept album about you."

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