2016 Postmortem

Practically? I think we were blindsided, and had the mentality that "surely they wouldn't ever try again what they did in 2000 and 2004?" Oh, yes they would, and conceivably did. But if that is the case, you had better believe they were/are prepared to be found out and will fight with every means at their disposal, including direct violence, to prevent their "victory" from being overturned.

As for Trump, from his bevavior since the election, I'd bet that right up until Election Day, he hadn't the foggiest clue that he could possibly "win" this. It would have been engineered by people with a far greater understanding of how this country works than Trump ever had, or will have--people who are not billionaires, but now see their way clear to becoming billionaires.