The Current

What Trump's historic victory says about America today

It was also a long, drawn-out election night, and a result only Trump's pollsters had predicted. The Current looks at the numbers that indicate Trump supporters cut a wider swath through the American electorate than anticipated. How did this happen?

Donald Trump thanks Clinton, calls for unity

8 years ago
Duration 2:12
President-elect strikes conciliatory tone during acceptance speech

Read story transcript

"To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people."

After a campaign that stood out for its divisiveness, Donald Trump vowed to be inclusive in his leadership during his victory speech Tuesday night, elected as the 45th president of the United States.

For weeks, polls put Clinton ahead and predicted a Democrat win right up until the results started coming in. 

So what happened?

According to Republican pollster and strategist Ed Goeas, the results weren't that shocking.

"We knew it was going to be close," he tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.

"But I think when all the dust settles on this you are going to see, not only how big this was for Donald Trump but how big it was for the Republican party."

To his supporters who had embraced his 'make America great again' slogan, Trump's win is a mandate for change and a strong rebuke to the system and the so-called establishment. (Jae S. Lee/Dallas Morning News/Associated Press)

Goeas says that when looking at middle-class voters, there was much anger, frustration and fear.

"They felt the American dream was getting further and further from their reach."

"The middle class felt like the economy was teetering and not improving enough to help them from the recession they have come out of," says Goeas.

Erica Seifert, an in-house pollster for the National Education Association, a large labour union in the U.S., doesn't think "there was a huge polling miss."

"If you look at the national polls, a lot of them over the weekend, and yesterday, and on Monday, had Hillary Clinton up, you know had Hillary Clinton up by, you know, around three points, right? And a lot of those have a margin of error of around three points," Seifert tells Tremonti.

"So I don't actually think this is a disaster for American polling." 

Clinton concedes in humble speech

8 years ago
Duration 0:59
Calls for unity, support for Trump presidency

Seifert says that one thing that has plagued Democrats — that they see as a strength — has been an economic determinism. 

"That an increasingly diverse and young country is going to deliver national electoral outcomes for them, and without actually having to work hard for those voters."

She points to the early vote totals in Florida when Latino votes were going up and Democrats assuming they would vote against Trump because of his deportation rhetoric.

"Democrats don't win Cuban voters, and this is a demographic they did really need to go after."

Listen to the full segment.

This segment was produced by The Current's Shannon Higgins.