What a Republican victory in North Carolina means for 2020

UP CLOSE, POLITICAL enthusiasm is gloriously strange. At the rally held by President Donald Trump in Fayetteville on the eve of election night in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, the atmosphere was festive. “I haven’t been in a crowd like this since I saw Fleetwood Mac,” said a retired marine, who was unaware that the Democrat running in the district was also a retired marine. Before the president spoke there was discussion, among other things, of whether it was still OK to play Michael Jackson songs at such an occasion (“I hope he doesn’t come on stage to this, it’s a bit off”; “It’s probably just 80s Spotify”). A tall African-American man dressed head-to-toe in pyjamas with the president’s face all over them, capped with a Trump wig, lifted his top to reveal a T-shirt underneath with “Grab Her By The Pussy” written on it. A trans woman waved a banner that read “Women For Trump”. There were speeches from the president’s son and from the president’s son’s girlfriend, who said that the Trump family has sacrificed so much for America, because they love the people.