United States presidential election, 2016(Fall of the GOP)

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 57th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Democratic nominee, former Secretary of State Barack Obama, and her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine, defeated the Republican nominee, businessman and reality television personality Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence

In the primaries, Clinton faced grassroots opposition against Senator Bernie Sanders. The Republican Party was more fractured; Donald Trump was consistently competitive in the polls, but faced challenges from a number of more conservative contenders whose popularity each fluctuated. Trump effectively secured the nomination on May 3, 2016 after winning the Indiana primary. The campaign was marked by a large dislike of the mainstream politicians in Washington, as shown by the rise of the Sanders of Trump campaigns. The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues: debate centered largely around economic recovery and job creation. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social insurance programs, and the Affordable Care Act. Foreign policy was also discussed including the a response to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the size of and spending on the military, preventing terrorism both at home and in foreign countries, and appropriate counteractions to the Russian Federation's rapid rise under Vladimir Putin

After the conventions, Clinton held a six percent lead over the inexperienced Trump. Her lead expanded after Trump's poor showing in the presidential debates, and ended up winning by the biggest margins since Geroge HW Bush won 426 electoral votes over Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale by eighteen percent of the popular vote in 1988

The historic dislike of both candidates, as well as an all but guaranteed Clinton victory by November 8th allowed Libertarian Party nominee former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and his running mate former Massachusetts governor William Weld to grab ten percent of the vote, the best showing by a third party since Ross Perot won nineteen percent in 1992. However, they failed to win a single electoral vote due to the winner take all rules of the Electoral College.

Clinton defeated Trump, winning both the popular vote and the electoral college, with 385 electoral votes to Trump's 153. She became the first woman ever elected to the office of President of the United States. Clinton carried all states and districts (among states that allocate electoral votes by district) that her predecessor, President Barack Obama had won in the 2012 presidential election, adding North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. As such, the Democratic party's margin of victory increased from 2012

( based off: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012)