But in retrospect, it presaged the Trump insurgency, both there – Trump looks likely to have won the state for the Republicans for the first time since 1988 – and across the US, and the attendant cracks in the so-called Democratic firewall.īut if the Clinton campaign’s major weakness was in Michigan, the odds pointed to a similar trend in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (Democratic since 1992) and the rest of the midwest too, where the campaign – and most of the pollsters and pundits – underestimated the large number of white voters who would flock to the Republican nominee. The Clinton campaign remained bullish about its chances in Michigan, insisting that its decision to make a last-minute trip to the state, and dispatch President Obama there too, was merely the product of taking no votes for granted. Somewhat lost at that moment was the fact that the conversation was taking place in Michigan, where Clinton held a rally for 4,600 supporters at a basketball gymnasium in Grand Rapids. Timing of announcements for a potential transition team was unclear, but the aide was willing to indulge an exhausted press corps and speculate on when they might finally be safe taking a break from a grueling schedule that for some had spanned more than two years trailing Clinton. The official even quietly entertained what a President-elect Clinton’s itinerary might look like after Tuesday, telling reporters she would need some downtime before probably flying to Washington on Thursday to meet with Barack Obama. Only New Hampshire and Nevada would eventually be won. Standing near a barricade separating the press from the crowd at one of Clinton’s final rallies on Monday, a senior campaign official predicted wins in Nevada, Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, deeming only North Carolina a tossup. Shifting from her routine stump speech, the Democratic nominee had begun to look beyond the 8 November election, the first time many reporters had witnessed her allowing herself to do that in 18 months of covering her campaign. Her language at the polling station echoed the cautiously optimistic tone that had dominated the final two weeks of her campaign. To have a woman on the ballot as the nominee of a major party was a first in America’s 240-year history – and Clinton said she had thought about her mother when she cast her ballot. “It is the most humbling feeling,” she told CNN when asked how it felt to vote for herself, “because I know how much responsibility goes with this and so many people are counting on the outcome of this election, what it means for our country, and I will do the very best I can if I’m fortunate enough to win today.”
About four hours later, at least 100 well-wishers assembled at the Douglas G Griffin elementary school in Clinton’s adopted hometown of Chappaqua to watch her cast her vote.
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