VANCE VICTOR

Trump won. Kamala lost. And the winner is Vance. 

The MAGA tribe clicked with the Trump/Vance anti-immigrant stance and felt comfortable in the civil war which rages between the coast and the "fly-over" rest. The former Republican Party is dead...for now.

Kamala Harris was too abstract, too "French" maybe, to break through the imagined frustrations that still rule many hearts and minds in the heartland. The regular American male is impervious to sophistication and largely suspicious of metaphysics or abortion. The vice-president ended up being seen as an urban, elitist candidate with too little understanding of mostly the common male Angst.

Trump was "entertaining", personal, incoherent but forgiven for the non-stop lies and transgressions that made him male- friendly. Kamala won over educated women and men, straight and gay. Probably she was too often seen as a "one issue" candidate and ended up alienating a large chunk of the traditional Democrat electorate. Her choice for vice-president backfired. Waltz is a true loyal gentleman but hardly a match for his unscrupulous Republican opponent. The governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, would have been the better option.

Trump has every reason to move fast. Biden's last months in office will be bittersweet. His own party is unkind. This man of another age already shows nevertheless more class than others, inviting the president-elect to the White House and going to the inauguration of a man he must loathe, rightly so.

The world will have to adapt to this new administration which may excel in chaos or bluff. Already the new vice-president, who is far more slick and slippery than his boss, receives more attention than other vice-presidents, even before inauguration. But he might have to protect his turf from Elon Musk, another vulture that Trump will let loose in a divide et impera mode. His entourage had better be on notice.

The culture war will only get nastier.