Well, he didn't win the popular vote so you cannot say the Democratic ideas were rejected by a majority of the people. But he did win the Electoral College by winning about 100,000 votes across some key states.
Yes, he coalesced the Alt-Right in all its variations but they haven't voted for a Democrat in a good number of years. So that is not the reason 100,000 people who used to vote for a Democrat voted for Trump.
I think the reason is these people (i) could not afford gridlock in Washington anymore and (ii) they are so cut off from their traditional points of education (unions, union shops, factory floors, mines) that they swallowed Trump's anti-immigrant anti-free trade economic policies even though the ideas they bought will never be implemented; although Trump will do his best to create the aura that he is doing something along those lines.
There isn't much the Democrats can do to restore the traditional points of education, but neither can the Republicans do that. So the Democrats have to find a way to end gridlock while protecting the economic interests of the middle class. I know it is ironic and heartbreaking to reward Mitch McConnell's "Just Say No" policy, but the Democrats have to become the party that has policies and Congressional action that gives these 100,000 people hope. Because it was 100,000 people this year, it could be 500,000 or 1,000,000 people in a few more years. Economic interests are not unique to white voters.
The Democrats must find a way to be competitive in most of the 50 states without giving up protections for every individual and the environment.
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