As Pennsylvania was called for Trump, the wails of the woke could be heard across not just the USA, but the UK as well.
Pennsylvania was THE battleground state, the one everyone was watching. The one many leftists and pundits swore blind would reject Republican’s views on abortion and whose minority communities would surely rush to vote Democrat in big numbers.
Yet shortly after polls closed, it became clear Trump had taken Pennsylvania convincingly, alongside a sweep of wins across other battleground states.
Trump’s win was not a quirk of the US electoral college or getting just enough votes in a couple of key states. He won resoundingly, including taking the symbolic win on the popular vote which eluded him in 2016.
Trump’s performance was strong enough to see Ohio and West Virginia’s Democratic US Senate seats quickly called as Republican gains, effectively guaranteeing a Republican Majority in the US Senate as well.
There will be lots of analysis to come once all votes are counted, yet what conclusions can we draw straight away?
The Democrats leaving Joe Biden to stumble on was a massive mistake, ensuring his administration’s poor record was front and centre, especially with his Vice-President being the candidate.
Making an issue like abortion an election dividing line was also foolhardy, it is a conscience vote for many good reasons.
Voters were more interested in who was going to do something about rising gas prices and grocery bills, whilst delivering good quality jobs and securing the southern border, than the identity politics of the left.
Trump won the US election following a tight battle with Kamala Harris for the PresidencyREUTERSYet the biggest mistake of all for the Democrats? Thinking they could win simply by attacking Donald Trump and convincing people he was the bad man they thought he was.
All the court cases, slurs and exaggerated comparisons with the dictators of the past were simply seen as a wall of noise to distract from more pressing day to day issues they had no answers for.
The final desperate attempts to big up a comedian’s remark about Puerto Rico and “garbage”, backfiring due to an epic campaign gaffe by Joe Biden describing Trump’s supporters as it. Now Trump will be taking out the Democrats’ trash in Washington.
Yet the election result was not simply the Democrats failing. Trump won.
His focus on issues affecting day to day life for Americans, speaking to people’s concernsaspirations for their community, unashamed patriotism, tackling head on issues like illegal migration, dismissing wokery, being prepared to call out China and accepting no excuses for the crime which blights too many lives in America’s big cities.
The photoshoot at McDonalds, riding a garbage truck, meeting voters not Hollywood stars, all aimed to show he was one of the people, not the elite.
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In response to the comment, Trump donned an orange high-vis jacket and got behind the wheel of a waste disposal truckREUTERSThere will be some clear lessons for our politics as well, not just the foolishness in thinking Americans view their nation as many UK media pundits do.
A clear conservative agenda, argued for relentlessly and with unabashed pride in the nation won over the electorate. Points for many to muse on here as the Conservative party seeks to rebuild.
Similarly, Rachel Reeves could only watch as the stock markets surged following Trump’s victory. Global investors giving a very different response to the one they gave her recent tax and spend budget. A growing USA will benefit the UK economy.
For all the wails of the woke, the discomfort of David Lammy and the denials of selective democrats who only respect the result of a democratic vote when it delivers their preferred result, the UK will have a friend in the White House: President Trump.