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Analysis: Trump's win a shock to the system
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A shockwave.

There's no other way to describe the massive change Americans voted for Tuesday.

In electing Donald Trump to the White House, Americans handed the reins to someone whose campaign was premised on an unrelenting challenge to the status quo, distrust in government and dismissal of the politicians from both parties. They chose a man who promised to channel their anger, as much as carry their hopes. He didn't merely promise change, he promised disruption.

The ramifications of the Trump presidency are difficult to measure. In his ugly, knock-down fight against Democrat Hillary Clinton, his personality was a draw more than his policies. The stump speeches that drew thousands to raucous rallies were laced with proposals but powered by his one word political philosophy: "Winning."

But it resonated in a way few expected with white, working-class America, across the Rust Belt and in rural communities, where the scars of the Great Recession endure and winning felt like a long-lost concept. He understood their anxiety about jobs moving overseas and immigrants moving in. He claimed to hate the liberal media as much as they did. He sounded like no politician ever.

This was their uprising, the elevation of a 70-year-old reality-TV and real estate mogul willing to speak their truth, rewrite rules and insult anyone along the way.

It is nothing short of whiplash — for Americans and people around the world who were alarmed by his harsh rhetoric about longtime allies and other cultures.

Trump's victory comes eight years after a coalition of blacks, Hispanics, women and young people elected the first black president and ushered in what many viewed as a new era of progressive dominance in presidential politics. Tuesday's results are a stunning, if confusing, indictment of the policies of President Barack Obama, who nevertheless remains popular.

"There's nothing like it in our lifetime," said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, who in the days leading up the election dubbed a Trump win a "social revolution" on par only with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's clubbing of Herbert Hoover for his handling of the Great Depression in 1932.

To many policy experts, economists, military brass, diplomats — the establishment, Trump would say — Trump's proposals are viewed as improbable, impossible, and at times unconstitutional. Democrats and Republicans in Washington recoiled from his proposed ban on Muslims from entering in the U.S. Few think his vow to force Mexico to pay for a wall along the border is workable, at best. And really only Trump knows if his promise to "bomb the s--t out out of" the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria seen is anything more than bluster.

There's mixed evidence on whether Trump's victory is an endorsement of such plans. Voters sent enough Republicans back to the Senate to give the GOP control of both chambers, a clear government mandate.

But for all the talk about immigration, exit polls showed it was a low priority for most voters. Just 1 in 10 voters said immigration was the most important issue facing the country. More than half of voters opposed Trump's plan for a "big, beautiful wall."

Clearly, what many voters opposed was Clinton.

The former secretary of state and veteran of two decades of political battles proved to be an exceedingly damaged candidate, distrusted both by her supporters and opponents alike. Her historic candidacy, to be the first female president, failed to rouse the enthusiasm or emotion that drove Obama's coalition to the polls. Her disconnect with white, working-class voters appears to have been her downfall.

Even Obama's dire warnings — "the fate of the Republic rests on your shoulders" — didn't do the trick.

It wasn't enough to scare people about a President Trump. Americans had fears about Clinton, too. Her penchant for secrecy was spun into scandal with brutal impact. Her use of a private email server as secretary of state not only dogged her for months — but returned at precisely the wrong moment in late October when FBI Director James Comey notified Congress he was reviewing new emails for evidence that she or her handlers mishandled classified information.

Comey cleared Clinton again Sunday, but in the nine intervening days, as a cloud of suspicion hovered over her, nearly 24 million people cast early ballots. That's a sizeable chunk of all the votes cast for president.

Trump's win made a mockery of all the usual political rules. He had virtually no ground game, his advertising on television didn't come close to matching his rival's. He largely ignored the practice of voter targeting and analytics, elevated to religion after Obama's two victories. Clinton's campaign raised $513 million — roughly double what Trump raised, including $66 million from his own pocket.

While pollsters and political professionals in both parties dismissed him, he declared he had galvanized long-alienated voters into a movement.

"The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer," Trump declared.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Kathleen Hennessey covers the White House and national politics for The Associated Press.

Raging wildfires in South force evacuations in Tennessee
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Fires blaze on the hills above Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Tuesday morning. Bruce McCamish Photography | The Covington News

ATLANTA (AP) — Raging wildfires fueled by high winds forced the evacuation of thousands of people and damaged hundreds of buildings in a popular resort town on the border of the Smoky Mountains National Park as National Guard troops arrived early Tuesday to help overwhelmed firefighters.

Rain had begun to fall in some areas, but experts predicted it would not be enough to end the relentless drought that has spread across several Southern states and provided fuel for fires now burning for weeks in states including Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.

The storms appeared to be taking aim at the nearly 28,000-acre Rough Ridge Fire in north Georgia and the nearly 25,000-acre Rock Mountain Fire that began in Georgia and then spread deep into North Carolina.

In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, officials said hundreds of homes and other buildings, including a 16-story hotel, were damaged or destroyed by flames. And preliminary surveys indicated that Westgate Resorts, with more than 100 buildings, and Ober Gatlinburg were both likely destroyed, according to a news release Tuesday morning.

Emergency officials ordered evacuations in downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and in other areas of Sevier County near the Smoky Mountains while crews continue to battle the blaze, which also had crept to the edge of the Dollywood theme park. About 14,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from Gatlinburg alone, officials said.

No deaths have been reported, though several people were hospitalized with burns, emergency officials said in the news release.

Officials say there are about 1,200 people sheltering at the Gatlinburg Community Center and the Rocky Top Sports Park. Several other shelters have opened to house those forced from their homes. TV broadcasts showed residents streaming out of town just as rain started to wet roads.

Workers at an aquarium evacuated because of the wildfires were concerned about the thousands of animals housed there. Ryan DeSears, general manager of Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, told WBIR-TV the building was still standing and all workers had been evacuated late Monday. However, he said workers were anxious to return to check on the well-being of the 10,518 animals.

The rain forecast "puts the bull's-eye of the greatest amounts right at the bull's-eye of where we've been having our greatest activity," said Dave Martin, deputy director of operations for fire and aviation management with the southern region of the U.S. Forest Service.

The projected rainfall amounts "really lines up with where we need it," Martin said Monday. "We're all knocking on wood."

After weeks of punishing drought, any rain that falls should be soaked up quickly, forecasters said. It will provide some relief but won't end the drought — or the fire threat, they said.

Drought conditions will likely persist, authorities said. The problem is that rainfall amounts have been 10 to 15 inches below normal during the past three months in many parts of the South, authorities said.

"I think we racked up deficits that are going to be too much to overcome with just one storm system," said Mark Svoboda, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

"I would say it's way too early to say 'Yes, this drought is over,'" Svoboda said. "Does it put a dent in it? Yes, but we have a long ways to go."

The rain also brings danger because strong winds at the leading edge of the storms can topple trees and limbs that can kill and injure firefighters, he said.

In Mississippi, trees were reported downed Monday in nearly 20 counties across the state. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts of more than 50 mph were reported and more than 2 inches of rain fell in some areas.

Power outages peaked at more than 23,000 statewide in Mississippi. Powerlines downed by winds sparked grass fires in four counties, said Greg Flynn, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The storms moved across Alabama on Monday night and fell on Georgia during the overnight hours. High wind warnings were issued for mountainous areas in northern parts of Georgia.

In South Carolina, the stormy forecast was giving hope to firefighters battling a blaze in the northwest corner of the state. The South Carolina Forestry Commission hopes to contain the Pinnacle Mountain fire by the middle of next week.
More rain was expected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
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Fuller reported from New Orleans. Associated Press writers Rebecca Yonker in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Amy in Jackson, Mississippi; Beth Campbell in Louisville, Kentucky; and Jack Jones in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.