Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping that states like Arizona and Utah, which have reliably voted Republican in recent presidential elections, might flip in the upcoming election as a result of anti-Trump sentiment. Those hopes might be far-fetched, and there is no guarantee that Democrats will win in red states during the general election. But if they do, the party will more easily be able to capitalize on anti-Trump pushback if the campaign has invested in campaign infrastructure in every state. “If Clinton is able to win in red states because Trump turns out to be a disaster, and the campaign is willing to commit resources to those states to build up party infrastructure, that could accelerate party-building,” Galvin said.

Howard Dean, a Clinton supporter who advocated a 50-state strategy when he served as chair of the Democratic National Committee, expressed optimism in a CNN op-ed praising the plan of attack. “Clinton is aiming to rewrite the electoral map entirely,” he wrote. “She recognizes that you can’t win if you don’t play—and that, in a year when Donald Trump is on the ticket, anything is possible.”

Even if Clinton wins the White House, it will be difficult for Democrats to pass anything in Congress if Republicans control both the U.S. House and Senate. Investing in the Democratic Party in every state across the country could lay the groundwork for Democratic candidates to rise up the ranks starting at the state level and eventually making their way into Congress. Building up party infrastructure across the country could also help to advance a Democratic agenda at the state level, even if the strategy takes years to payoff.

Then there’s Bernie Sanders. The Vermont senator is technically still in the presidential race, despite the fact that he is no longer seriously contesting the nomination. He is, however, fighting for concessions from the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party, and he explicitly called for a 50-state strategy in a speech outlining what he wants to see next. The sooner the Clinton campaign appeases Sanders, the sooner he is likely to endorse the presumptive nominee. Clinton’s plan to invest in a 50-state strategy, which was first reported by The Huffington Post over the weekend, is a way to show she is taking his concerns seriously.

The question of whether political parties should invest in all 50 states has long been a source of debate. One argument against pursing such a strategy is that in doing so the Democratic Party could spread itself too thin, and end up losing in battleground states and competitive races it might otherwise be able to win. It boils down to a debate over how best to use of limited resources. Should partisans spend all their time and money attempting to sway tight elections? Or should they invest in places where they have little chance of winning in the hope of creating a foundation upon which they can build?