For local Democrats, the game isn’t about winning Charlotte County in November’s presidential election. It’s all about losing small. Over on the Republican side, winning is a given. Winning big is the real prize.

Politics is ultimately a math problem with a thousand different solutions. And, as your college transcript likely says, it’s also a science. Minus the Bunsen burners and beakers. While shaking babies and kissing hands still matter, in today’s technological political landscape the guy with the most data crammed into the most iPhones gets to dance around the ring. In other words, numbers.