| | | | Trump is the president-elect. Now what? | | Donald Trump will become the 45th president of the United States after a romp in Rust Belt states that Hillary Clinton left largely undefended -- assuming they'd remain blue despite her losses to Bernie Sanders in some Democratic primaries in the white, working-class region.
Now, Americans begin unpacking what that means.
As a starting point: Trump will have a chance to remake the nation by nominating a conservative for a swing seat on the Supreme Court. He'll also have a Republican House and Senate. So we'll soon see how serious Trump is about the animating policy proposals of his campaign, such as building a wall along the Mexican border.
Demographic breakdown: Why Trump won and Clinton lost: He did much, much better with white voters than previous GOP nominees. Overall, white voters backed Trump 58% to Clinton's 37%. He won white college graduates by 4 points. And here's the big one: Trump won whites without college degrees by 39 points. Meanwhile, Trump's offensive remarks about Latinos and African-Americans failed to send enough voters in these groups into the arms of Clinton -- who got smaller shares with those voters than President Barack Obama -- exit polls show. Here's my look at last night's five biggest surprises. | | Clinton pushes unity in a late-morning concession speech | | Hillary Clinton's exit came in New York City late this morning with the simple words: "I'm sorry we did not win." Clinton offered a graceful message, admitting defeat and attempting to bring the country together. "Last night, I congratulated Donald Trump and offered to work with him on behalf of our country. I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans," she said. "Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
A tweet from Trump senior communications adviser Jason Miller: | | President Barack Obama said this afternoon he'd directed his staff to help with a smooth transition, following the lead of George W. Bush's White House eight years ago. "We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading our country," Obama said of Trump.
More Obama: "Everybody is sad when their side loses an election. But the day after, we have to remember we're all actually on one team. This is all an intramural scrimmage. We are not Democrats first or Republicans first -- we are Americans first. We're patriots first. We all want what's best for this country." | | "This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it." -- Hillary Clinton's message to young girls today. | | | Donald Trump won the Electoral College. But Hillary Clinton is ahead in the popular vote.
The story of the election: With most of the votes counted, turnout was down and fewer Democrats voted -- particularly in the Rust Belt. President Barack Obama won in 2012 with 65.9 million votes to Mitt Romney's 60.9. Clinton won the popular vote, 59.5 million to 59.3 million. That's a much bigger drop for Democrats than it was for Republicans. | | Democrats are staring into the abyss | | It's difficult to overstate the darkness the Democratic Party faces now that the party has lost the White House.
Consider this scorecard: Republicans control both chambers of Congress and have such a favorable Senate map in 2018 that they could wind up with a filibuster-proof, 60-seat supermajority there. The GOP also holds 33 of the nation's 50 governor's offices and the vast majority of state legislatures, which are in charge of redistricting, early voting rules and voter ID laws -- and therefore have the power to make things even more difficult for Democrats.
Three questions Democrats have to begin asking themselves:
1. Who will lead the way back? Many eyes will turn to Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as President Barack Obama, whose post-presidency just got much more important, and Tim Kaine, now with a national profile. The party elected three women of color to the Senate on Tuesday night: California's Kamala Harris, Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto and Illinois' Tammy Duckworth. All three will be important. So will Senate Democratic leader-in-waiting Chuck Schumer.
2. What's the path to the presidency -- the Rust Belt or the Sun Belt? Hillary Clinton came within 6 percentage points in Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia, and won Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. Are those rapidly diversifying, increasingly educated states their best bets in future presidential races -- necessitating a move toward the Obama-Clinton base? Or do Democrats need to tilt back toward the Bill Clinton-era "Blue Dog" conservative Democratic positions in a bid to put Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania and, potentially, Minnesota back in the Democratic column?
3. Where does the work start? Democrats won minimum wage hikes, and local battles for a Supreme Court seat in North Carolina and prosecutor's offices in Houston and Tampa, and they ousted Phoenix's controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. Those policy victories could be a starting point. The party is also in desperate need of rebuilding its bench and infusing talent into its ranks at the governor, House and Senate levels. | | Transition planning begins immediately | | | CNN's Sara Murray on Donald Trump's transition planning: Neither Trump nor his family members played a hands-on role in the nitty-gritty details of transition planning in the run-up to Election Day, multiple sources told CNN. Trump wanted to focus on the task at hand -- winning the election -- and didn't want to jinx himself. But sources on the transition team say they are fully prepared to hit the ground running. Last week, 22 department heads submitted their transition plans to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for approval. Each of these departments has a "landing team" set to parachute into government agencies, get the lay of the land, begin the transition process and get Trump's 100-day plan rolling. | | Pelosi proposes working with Trump on infrastructure | | House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, laid out a path to cooperation Wednesday between congressional Democrats and Donald Trump. "As President-elect Trump indicated last night, investing in infrastructure is an important priority of his. We can work together to quickly pass a robust infrastructure jobs bill," Pelosi said in a statement.
A bit of cold water: Capitol Hill Republicans are no fans of the price tag of the infrastructure plan Trump is proposing. This could be a fascinating early clash to watch. | | Both former Bush presidents call Trump | | | Former President George H.W. Bush phoned President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate the Republican nominee on his win, Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said. The two spoke for about five minutes, McGrath told CNN's Jamie Gangel, and the 41st president wished Trump "good luck on your new challenge." Later, former President George W. Bush released a statement saying he, too, had spoken with Trump. | | | Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his victory. ... House Speaker Paul Ryan also congratulated Trump for a historic win. ... Democrat Maggie Hassan is declaring victory over Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, in the nation's tightest Senate race. | | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media brought to you by Brian Stelter. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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