5 Lessons From The 2020 Election

The tumultuous Trump presidency is coming to an end, even if the president hasn't conceded [Joe Biden]( Andrew Harnik/Pool/Getty Images Spotlight: Trump May Never Concede And Other Takeaways The tumultuous and chaotic Trump presidency is coming to an end — even if Trump himself [hasn't accepted it]( yet and may never do so. There are lots of lessons to learn from this election. Here are five: 1. The popular vote wasn't that close, but Democrats continue to have an electoral map problem: Joe Biden won the most votes of any candidate in history, and could win the popular vote by 5 or 6 million in the end. Still, the races in key states were too close for comfort for Democrats, who are clustered in cities and on the coasts. 2. President Trump still hasn't accepted the outcome — and he may never: Trump became the first president in the modern TV era [not to concede]( after the outcome of the presidential election was clear. It's part of an American president's job to uphold the thing that separates the U.S. from corrupt countries — free and fair elections — not to stoke baseless conspiracies because he can't accept losing. 3. The suburbs helped Biden to the presidency: The polls were way off in lots of ways, but they continuously showed suburban voters straying from Trump. And that played out, especially outside Philadelphia and Atlanta. That has to worry the GOP. 4. Biden rebuilt the "Blue Wall," but the Sun Belt is the future: Biden was able to win back Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but narrowly. And it is no longer a reliably Democratic area because of demography. The Sun Belt, on the other hand, is growing and diversifying and appears more open to Democrats' message. 5. Given the down-ballot outcomes, governing is going to prove difficult for Biden: Beating Trump was Democrats' top priority, but the election results were good for Republicans not named Trump. Because of that, governing may prove difficult for Biden, whose legislative skill is about to be tested, as the country faces public health, economic and racial crises. — Domenico Montanaro, NPR’s senior political editor/correspondent [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [President Trump]( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Deep Dive: 2020 Was Not 2016, As Trump Had Hoped In the hours before President Trump began to realize that he may not get to "Make America Great Again, Again," the former reality television star who stunned the world in 2016 with his improbable leap to the White House allowed for a moment of candor. "You know, winning is easy. Losing is never easy. Not for me, it's not," Trump told reporters on Election Day, his voice hoarse from an unforgiving three-week marathon of rallies. Now, the world is seeing just how difficult it is for a man who built his brand on winning to lose. Trump has so far rejected the idea of conceding defeat to his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, who on Saturday became president-elect, having secured enough votes to win the Electoral College. It's a drawn-out and potentially ignominious end to a campaign modeled closely on Trump's 2016 win. — The NPR White House team [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [nprpolitics@npr.org](mailto:nprpolitics@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Daily News, Code Switch, Health and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Politics emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( [NPR logo]