So as my shock subsides, and I begin to take a look at WTF just happened, I had a "Yeah, I see now" moment.

This is 2000 all over again.

No, no, no. Ignore the whole recount and SCOTUS debacle. Look at what really lead to that: low turnout and a "meh" candidate.

I have seen a lot of "Trump energized middle-class white voters", but this is simply not the case. He is going to finish with total votes than Romney in 2012 and McCain in 2008. In fact, he will probably be closer to Kerry in 2004 than either of the previous 2 I mentioned.

He will lose the popular vote.

This is not a mandate election. I challenge to even call this a true change election. This is the exact same thing we have seen from the RNC since they lost the 2008 general election badly. They have done a very efficient job of getting White, suburban and rural voters to the polls. In my opinion, Donald Trump was in the right place at the right time. You could sub in any other of his Primary challengers, and I would bet that the result would be the same. Look at most of the down-ballot races won by Republicans last night; the establishment is firmly in control of the government.