The simple answer is NO!
It was NO from day one... I tried to explain this... and few wanted to listen.
Trump won this election because he did what NO OTHER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE WOULD DO...
TOSS GLOBALISM OVERBOARD! Attack “free trade”, and tell the folks in the rust belt, I hear you! You are getting screwed, We all know it.. time to stop the nonsense.
NO OTHER R CANDIDATE WAS GOING TO DO THAT, AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHY NO OTHER R CANDIDATE COULD HAVE WON.
Trump had a plan from day one and it was obvious and brilliant, and the fact so few, across the political spectrum recognized the power behind was he was doing shows you how blinded most folks are.
Trump was the catalyst to realign the working class voter in the upper midwest/Rust belt... and that’s exactly and precisely how he won.... make no mistake about it.
Hillary got D’s to turn out... Even if R’s had manage to take FL and NC... they weren’t going to take PA, MI, WI.... And without at least one of those 3 going with you... you lose...
Why the hell do you think the left was so bloody arrogant all cycle? They never in a million years even contemplated that they would lose one, let alone all 3 of these states! Elites knew, even if they lost FL, OH and IA R’s couldn’t win...They truly had no clue even though Trump broadcast it from day one!
Just like ONLY NIXON COULD GO TO CHINA... ONLY TRUMP WAS TAKING 2016.
Trump did more than that: he won over Democrats while GOP Inc can’t even win over enough independents.
You nailed it, Jay. Nicely stated.