Donald Trump’s Fragile Hold on America

… On Wednesday, Hillary Clinton’s popular-vote lead over Trump crossed 2 million; several analysts tracking the remaining votes—which are mostly in California—believe her final advantage will near 2.5 million. Clinton will win the popular vote by more than John F. Kennedy in 1960 or Jimmy Carter in 1976, and could even approach George W. Bush’s margin in his 2004 reelection. Trump will win a smaller percentage of the popular vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012.

That doesn’t invalidate his victory. But it’s a fragile beachhead from which to reverse the public’s consistent reluctance over the past generation to grant either party a lasting hold on power. Except for 1988, when George H.W. Bush prevailed after two terms of Ronald Reagan, neither side has held the White House for more than eight consecutive years since 1952. CONT.

Ronald Brownstein, The Atlantic

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.