First Read: What We Got Wrong

From: NBC News

If you believe in learning from your mistakes, here is everything we and plenty others seemed to get wrong in the general election:

That the poll numbers showing Donald Trump's percentage in the high 30s and low 40s couldn't grow;

That a seemingly stable race -- with Hillary Clinton holding a consistent lead -- wouldn't change at the end;

That the votes out of Urban America and its suburbs would overwhelm the votes out of Rural America;

That Clinton was the one expanding the political map versus Trump doing it;

That changing demographics assured Democratic success in presidential contests, unless the GOP made an explicit appeal to minority voters;

That the Obama coalition could be transferred to another Democrat;

That Trump couldn't win if he got a lower percentage of white voters than Mitt Romney did four years ago;

That the party's that's more united has the advantage in a presidential contest over the more divide party;

That the conventions and presidential debates actually mattered;

That a small band of partisans couldn't get away with trying to delegitimize the media;

And that a presidential candidate who demolished so many norms (not releasing tax returns, talking about jailing an opponent, threatening not to respect the election's outcome) would pay a price for them in the end.