TRUMP WINS WHITE HOUSE
By Divine Design
In a stunning political upset, reality television show host and real estate mogul, Donald J. Trump, became the 45th president of the United States early Wednesday morning by defeating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, winning in many states thought to be securely in the former first lady’s corner.
Trump’s victory sent millions of Americans into shock and resulted in global financial markets taking a nose dive. The effort to make a woman America’s first commander –in-chief was rebuffed by voters in usually reliable democratic states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan where pre-election polls showed Clinton tied or in the lead.
Despite the backing of national political leaders such as President Obama, First Lady Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton only received 216 of the 270 electoral votes that she needed to win the presidency. Trump received 276 electoral votes even though the vote totals Wednesday morning showed him losing the popular vote by less than 100,000 to Clinton.
Clinton received 88 percent of the African American vote, while Trump received only ten percent. Four years earlier, President Obama received 93 percent of the African American vote. Voters younger than 30 gave Clinton 54 percent of their votes, six percentage points less than what the president received during the last election. If she had performed better with African Americans and younger voters, she would have won, some political observers said.
Clinton phoned Trump after the electoral count was posted, but did not appear before a large gathering in New York where she had intended to give a victory speech. Instead, her campaign manager appeared and told her supporters that they should go home.
Trump’s victory was similar to the election of Harry S. Truman in l948 when most polls showed New York governor, Thomas E. Dewey, defeating the incumbent president Harry S. Truman who won on Election Day.
Trump carried the south, including Texas and Arkansas, the state where Clinton served as first lady while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, served as governor.
Nationally, minority voters turned out in strong numbers for Clinton, but it was not enough to curtail the stampede of non-minority voters, some of them evangelical Christians, who stormed the voting booths to vote for Trump. Many of them said that they disapproved of Trump’s personal conduct and personality but despised Clinton even more than they disliked Trump.
During his victory speech Trump was unusually kind to Clinton, saying that the nation owed her a major debt of gratitude for her service to the country.
“It is now time for us to come together as one united people,” Trump said during his remarks. “I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans. I am reaching out for guidance and help so that we can work together.”
