Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton in Electoral College votes: Who are his supporters?

Donald Trump captured crucial victories over Hillary Clinton Tuesday night in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, showing remarkable strength in three of the nation’s most fiercely fought battleground states in an unexpectedly tight race for the US presidency. Clinton carried Virginia and Colorado, as well as California, the nation’s largest prize. With a handful of other states still undecided, neither candidate had cleared the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. [caption id=“attachment_3095096” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Donald Trump. File photo. AP[/caption] Michigan and Wisconsin voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s, took on unexpected importance. Polls conducted for national media by Edison Research show Republican Donald Trump winning a majority of white voters. His support is strongest among whites without a college degree, according to AP. Explaining this phenomenon, Srinath Raghavan, strategic affairs specialist during Firstpost’s US Election coverage, End Game, says that while middle class workers in countries like China and India have benefited from globalisation, a section of the American electorate have been hit hard from offshoring of services and have experienced income stagnation. He explained that Trump channelised this “politics of resentment” seen among the non-college educated white American workers, particularly men. The subliminal racism in Trump’s rhetoric and among his supporters have been given expression this presidential election, he said. While Clinton has advocated in continuing with Barack Obama’s policies on globalisation, it rings hollow to the section of American white population who believe they are on the losing side of globalisation, explained Raghavan. Moreover, he explained that though the millennials and the Hispanic voters have been vocal about their voting preferences on social media, it might not translate into voter turnout, whereas Trump is counting on his supporters to come out and vote. Irrespective of who becomes the President, Raghavan explained that the next President of United States has to address the fact that a huge section of American population are feeling left behind and in what ways the healing process can begin. Watch Firstpost’s End Game: US Election 2016 here:

With inputs from AP