Discuss the dynamics of the 2016 U.S. elections.

What will be an ideal response?

Answers will vary. The political battles of the twenty-first century have been intense. Public opinion polls report that increasing numbers of Republicans and Democrats consider the other party to be not merely misguided, but a danger to the country. The 2016 elections, therefore, were certain to be hard-fought. Voter turnout was higher than in the 2012 presidential election year, not to mention the midterm years 2010 and 2014. The Democrats did, in fact, post a net gain of two senators and eight members of the House, although this result did not come close to threatening Republican control of either chamber. In addition, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton won the national popular vote by a margin of 2.1 percent.?In the United States, however, presidential elections are not decided by the popular vote but by votes in the electoral college. The members of the college-electors-are chosen by the individual states, plus the District of Columbia. Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump carried the electoral college easily. Trump's victory was decided in the so-called heartland, the industrial Midwest plus Pennsylvania. His margins in states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were narrow, however. Clinton ran up unprecedented margins in states such as California, but that state was going to vote Democratic anyway. In effect, Clinton's extra votes in states such as California were wasted.