2016 Election Night

A lot of Republicans thought the polls were “skewed” because there were more Republicans than Democrats in them. Well, if the preliminary exit poll is correct, more voters today were Democrats than Republicans. Democrats made up 37 percent of all voters, Republicans were 32 percent and independents were 31 percent.

Preliminary exit polls suggest that voters don’t feel great about the economy, but they feel a lot better than they did in either of the past two presidential elections. Some 62 percent of voters said the economy was “not good” or “poor,” down from 76 percent in 2012 and 93 percent in 2008. (Only 3 percent of voters consider the economy “excellent.”) Today’s voters aren’t as bullish as in 2004, when only a bit more than half of voters rated the economy negatively. Voters also feel a bit better about their personal financial situation. Thirty percent say their family’s finances have gotten better in the past year, while 27 percent say it’s gotten worse. In 2012, those numbers were 25 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

I’m seeing a lot of women posting photos of themselves wearing pantsuits as they go to the polls today to vote for Clinton. The Pantsuit Nation meme is a nod to the fact that as recently as 1993, wearing a pantsuit was an overt political act. That’s the year that Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) and Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kansas) committed the radical act of wearing pants to the Senate. “The Senate parliamentarian had looked at the rules to see if it was OK,” Mikulski told CNN. “You would have thought I was walking on the moon. It caused a big stir.” Clinton has spent much of her career fending off criticisms of her clothing and appearance. Her embrace of the pantsuit has become a symbol of her cool confidence and desire to get down to work. No wonder then that her pantsuits have inspired an Instagram account, a secret Facebook group for her fans and even a flashmob.