Us politics

When, in September, Mrs Clinton consigned ‘half’ of Mr Trump’s supporters to what she called the ‘basket of deplorables’, I reminded readers of how some people grab an insult from their opponent with pride (see Notes, 24 September). The ‘Iron Lady’ is a classic example — intended by Red Star newspaper to mock Margaret Thatcher. I mentioned the Vermin Club. This was a response to Aneurin Bevan’s claim that the Tories were ‘lower than vermin’, and quickly attracted a large membership among Conservatives in the late 1940s. A kind reader, Mr Philip Lewis, has just sent me the club’s badge. It is a handsome metal square, depicting a fat, recumbent rat with a long, well-curled tail, and the single word ‘VERMIN’.

Life, like they say, comes at you fast. Just a week ago the reality-based world worried that the American people might send a con-man to the White House. Now serious people intoning serious thoughts implore us to think it’s a good thing that Donald Trump is a con-man. This is the peg from which hope hangs, at any rate: Trump is a liar and a fraud and a man who doesn’t have any core convictions, so, you know, perhaps everything will be fine. Or not as bad as you thought. We can put away all that stuff we heard on the campaign trail because, like, he doesn’t - or can’t - really mean it. As upsides go, this seems one with a hefty downside.

The news that Donald Trump has appointed Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee Chairman, as his Chief of Staff is shocking -- shockingly conventional. In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Trump made it clear that he felt he owed Priebus a lot for his campaign's success. 'Reince is really a star,' he said. 'And he is the hardest-working guy.' So arguably the appointment is not a surprise. As usual, however, Trump seems to be playing a cleverer game than his opponents realise. His administration team seemed happy to let the media believe that he was going to give the Chief of Staff job to Steve Bannon, his campaign manager and the head of Breitbart news. This would have been a much more Trumpist, less Republican, choice.

Even before Donald Trump takes the oath of office on 20 January next year, he has already made the history books. In the 240 years of our Republic, not one person has ever been elected to the presidency without having served in public office or as a general of the Army. On election day, the American people picked one of the best-known businessmen in the nation to become its 45th president. This news completely flummoxed the media and political establishment. On election night at about 5pm Eastern time, I received a call from one of the top political guns in the country. He told me the exit poll data and other tracking numbers were showing a Hillary win of 320 to 330 electoral votes. Practically every pollster in the nation had a similar opinion. They were almost all wrong.

Hillary Clinton may have been a woeful candidate, but she just delivered a classy defeat speech. She did what everybody thought Donald Trump wouldn't do -- accept defeat graciously. 'Donald Trump is going to be our president,' she said. 'We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.' 'Our responsibility as citizens is to keep doing our part to build that better, stronger, fairer America we seek. And I know you will.' She thanked her running mate Tim Kaine and her team, and even threw in a few good jokes. Her voice cracked at certain points, but she retained her dignity. 'Never stop believing that fighting for what's right is worth it.' 'We have still have not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling', she added, her metaphor for oppression of womankind.

Today’s reports about the confident noises coming from Hillary Clinton’s camp made me think about the reports I picked up about how confident David Cameron was about the EU referendum on voting day. We later found out, his pollster Andrew Cooper had research from his firm, Populus, predicting a ten-point victory. The MPs I spoke to, who had been out campaigning in the field, seemed to agree: after all this fuss, Brexit would all blow over. By lunchtime on polling day, the bookmakers put the odds of Leave at 15pc; they would later sink to 7pc. The noises that I picked up – that noises pretty much everyone in my trade were picking up – hummed the same tune. Just like today. Who, out there, is predicting that Donald Trump will win?

Since 1996, federal law has prevented non-citizen US residents, like myself, from voting in elections. We pay taxes, hold down jobs and own property, but don’t get a say in the leadership of the nation. This isn’t uncommon: in the UK, only Irish and Commonwealth citizens get to vote in the general election, on top of those already qualifying as British. But in the US, the discourse is polarised between citizens and illegal immigrants, with little discussion spared for the people caught somewhere in the middle. And with just a day left in the race, President Obama has created another small furore – in certain circles – with his ambiguous statements about non-citizen voting.