Tower Heist

Donald Trump's election campaign was just the same as the Brexit Leavers except without the decorum that just about remains in British politics.

The Leavers branded the other side "Project Fear", accused their opponents of talking down to the electorate and misleading them. Trump did the same, but with the volume turned way up.

Hillary Clinton was "the worst", a "nasty woman". His challengers for the Republican ticket "lying Ted" and "little Marco", they all got a 'brand' from Trump, and that brand was pushed at every opportunity.

'The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.' Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf.

Benghazi, emails, Bill Clinton's infidelity, the system being rigged. Again, and again, and again. You may be a terrible candidate, but you must make your opponent appear to be much, much worse.

And that's ultimately what did it. Usually only one or two million people vote for the third party candidates like the Libertarians or Greens. Yesterday, six million did. In far too many swing states the margin between Trump and Clinton was far less than the third party votes. 130,000 votes split the pair in Florida, with nearly 300,000 voting for another option. That alone could have swung the election another way.

People weren't put off voting, they were just put off voting for the mainstream candidates. Trump has been elected with the lowest percentage of the vote of any Presidential Election since Richard Nixon, when an independent candidate - with far-right backing and appealing to alienated white voters - picked up 13% of the vote.

Despite being a tax-dodging abusive sex pest that had his own Twitter account taken from him to stop him doing more damage to the campaign, Trump is here for four years.

If you have nothing to lose you will probably enjoy the pantomime.