Clinton supporters stunned by Trump surge

In the end, the Pant Suit Nation wasn't enough.

Ardent Hillary Clinton supporters at the Michigan Democratic Party’s election viewing party Tuesday at the MGM Grand casino in Detroit were stunned as GOP nominee Donald Trump appeared headed toward victory, defying national polls.

Thousands of women across the country — eager to elect the nation’s first female president — wore pant suits to the polls Tuesday to honor Clinton. Others wore white in honor of the suffragettes who helped women win the right to vote nearly 100 years ago.

“I am stunned,” said Anne Doyle, a longtime Clinton supporter from Auburn Hills who spent days canvassing for her candidate. She had even bought a ticket to a possible inauguration in January.

Sandy North, of Dearborn, wore a “A Woman’s Place is in the Oval Office” T-shirt to the viewing party at the MGM Grand, ready to celebrate history. But the mood turned somber as Trump appeared headed toward an upset.

“I feel like I’m in a reality show instead of an election,” North said. “The first woman president is secondary to what this means. I have two grandkids. What does it mean to them and the whole world? What does its mean to clean air and environmental issues?”

Some women cried in the bathroom at the Democrats’ party.

Electing the nation’s first female president is “something that needs to happen, and it boggles my mind that the rest of the nation doesn’t see it that way,” said Emily Madden, 15, of Trenton, who wasn’t old enough to vote but campaigned for Clinton.

Leslie Herrick, of Dearborn, worries about the example Trump will set for children and the impact his presidency would have on the nation.

“I’m concerned he’s going to set the country back 50 years or more,” Herrick said.

mfeighan@detroitnews.com

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