And for now, it seems to be working--no less than 251 electoral votes since 1988.
To be honest, this country is too polarized anymore to let a candidate win more than 400 electoral votes anymore. Since after the 1980s, the most states carried by a presidential winner was with Bill Clinton in 1992. The 42nd president won 32 states (plus District of Columbia).
I noted, on another thread, that after the 1980s, the Republicans have averaged between 7 and 9 electoral votes per carried state. The Democrats have averaged between 11 and 13 electoral votes per carried state.
If a Democrat were to win election with 32 states (plus District of Columbia), it's possible to get that electoral-vote score to reach 400. Take the 28 states Barack Obama carried in 2008 (with Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District) and one starts with 359 electoral votes. Give these three to a winning Democrat: Georgia (16), Arizona (11), and Missouri (10). That's 396 electoral votes. Give another state to the Democrat: South Carolina (9), with percentage margins lately close to Georgia's, or Texas (38), depending on if it really is reachable, and there you have it.
