Hillary defeat confounds establishment

NEW YORK, Nov 10: Going against nearly all opinion polls and projections and despite criticism from the Democratic leadership and intellectuals and the reluctance of senior Republicans to endorse him, Donald Trump, an outsider from the business world and inexperienced in politics,  claimed victory in the presidential election here on Tuesday.

Republican candidate Trump has already secured 279 Electoral College votes to win the presidential race while Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton has secured 218 votes so far.

Out of the total of 538 Electoral College votes, 270 is the magic figure for winning.

Running against former secretary of state and first lady Hillary Clinton, Trump was not given full support by senior Republican leaders like former president George W Bush and his family, Senator Marco Rubio, House Speaker Paul Ryan and many Republican candidates for the House of Representatives and governorships.

By contrast, Clinton had a huge group of surrogates, including President Barrack Obama, First Lady Michael Obama, her own husband and former president Bill Clinton, firebrand Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran against her in the primaries.

Election polls and projections, except for a couple of them, had shown Clinton winning the race. Trump had a difficult path to victory. He had to win all the battleground states and secure at least one Democratic-dominated state in his favor. 

Trump stuck to his plan. His promise of betterment for the working classes, more jobs and making America safe and secure ultimately swayed the election.

He won the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina, Utah and Ohio. He also secured victories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are generally known as blue states with Democrat majorities.

"Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people," Trump said in his victory speech in New York.

"It's time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be President for all Americans, and this is so important to me," added Trump, who had been much criticized for his divisive speeches during the election campaign.

Trump, who had hit out at Hillary with terms such as 'crooked' and 'nasty woman' during the campaigning, praised her in his victory speech, which is said to have been a well-crafted one.

"I have just received a call from Secretary Clinton. She congratulated us - it's about us - on our victory, and I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she fought very hard," said Trump, addressing his supporters.

"Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country. I mean that very sincerely," he added.

By the time of filing this story, Clinton was said to be giving her concession speech by Wednesday noon.

The Republican Party has also hung on to its majority in the US Congress. Republicans have already won the required number of seats for a majority in the Senate. In the 100-member Senate, Republicans have reached the majority number of 51.

Likewise, Republicans have also won  in the Houseof Representatives. In the 435-member House, the Republicans have secured 236 seats so far.