Donald Trump seems to have held onto all of the states carried by Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 and managed to win several states that Mr. Romney was unable to carry – Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania – and he is ahead in Michigan and New Hampshire and may carry one or both of them as well, but even if Mrs. Clinton wins both, Mr. Trump still has enough electoral votes to win. Although neither candidate had a majority of the popular vote nationwide, Mrs. Clinton has pulled into the lead and likely will outpoll the winner.
It is interesting that the evangelical voters – many of whom sat at home during the 2012 and 2008 elections – overwhelmingly supported Mr. Trump. It is probable that this was less a reflection of support for him than it was a revulsion at the prospects of a Hillary Clinton presidency. The most divisive member of her husband’s presidential administration, she has done little since then to counteract that perception or to broaden her appeal. Apparently Mrs. Clinton was stunned by the results – so much so that she went home early (a relative term to be sure, given the length of time it took to arrive at a decision) and made no public statement, although she did phone Mr. Trump to concede and to congratulate him.
The Republicans suffered some losses in the House and lost at least one Senate seat (in Illinois), but still maintained majorities in both branches. Considering that the Republicans were defending 24 Senate seats to the Democrats’ 10, the loss of only one or two could be called historic.
Two former Democrat Senators who were trying to regain their seats, Evan Bayh in Indiana and Russ Feingold in Wisconsin, both of whom were heavily favored just a few weeks ago, lost by substantial margins, and supposedly-endangered Republican Senators in Missouri, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio all won. The Democrats retained Senate seats in Nevada, Maryland and California where “thirty year” incumbents of their party retired, and perhaps the new Senators will be free of some of the partisan baggage of their predecessors, making the Senate a more pleasant place.
What does it all mean? Well, Mr. Trump campaigned on making conservative nominees to the Supreme Court. He campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamacare and on approving the Keystone Pipeline. He campaigned on reforming the Veterans Administration and the IRS and on cutting taxes. He campaigned on revoking President Obama’s executive orders and on undoing many of the regulations his administration imposed. He campaigned to end "sanctuary cities" and to deport criminal illegal aliens. Hillary Clinton, the classic “business-as-usual” candidate, would have done none of those things. It also means that the elites - of both parties, of Hollywood, of the major news media, of Wall Street, of Big Business, of Academia – have been proven wrong. There are many Trump voters who probably are happier over that than over Mr. Trump’s win itself.