Ancient peoples believed comets were a cosmic sign of imminent doom. So do modern Democrats, it seems, whenever they think of our latest political phenomenon, Donald Trump.

To my eyes, the 78-year-old former president who just became the future president is an equally amazing political comet. After all the crap aimed at him for years — lawfare, impeachment, hoaxes, bullets — he's back stronger than ever. We’ve never experienced one like this before, and it’ll be a very long time before another like him reappears.  

What Trump has pulled off in the nine-year arc of his national political existence is amazing. Controversial, you bet. Also, tumultuous. But amazing nonetheless. 

And not just returning to the White House now in powerful triumph from a four-year exile, if a private palace in Florida can be considered exile.

Because Kamala Harris’ big selling point was “I’m not Joe” and “Trump bad” worked in 2020, she made this campaign about him. Turns out, given the last four costly, clumsy years of Biden-Harris, the prosperity of Trump’s giggle-free term looked pretty good.

Now, starting in just 71 days, the country that just enthusiastically and overwhelmingly re-chose him faces another 1,440 more days of a Trump presidency. Under the stable guidance of the first woman ever as presidential chief of staff.

And all this after deceitful media and deceptive polling consistently augured a razor-thin Nov. 5 outcome, unless – hold your breath — the ever-so-powerful vibes of Kamala Harris and her comedic sidekick produced a landslide victory. (See the now-discredited Iowa poll.)

Although conniving media tried to ignore it, Gallup reported repeatedly that all the factors that historically matter in presidential selections – economy, outlook, favorability, party ID — were aligned in the GOP’s favor this year.

This election’s results produced far too much to detail comprehensively. We’ll be analyzing more of that in coming days. Check here to be impressed by my colleagues' coverage so far.

But here are some highlights that put the scale of Trump’s victory in context:

• For the first time in his three elections, Trump took a majority of the popular vote, more than 74 million. His totals increased across the board in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, capturing 90 percent of the more than 3,200 counties.
• In his hometown of New York City, Trump got more votes than any Republican since Ronald Reagan.
• In the Electoral College, Trump captured 26 states for an estimated final total of 312 votes. 
• The seven crucial swing states that decide most national elections have 93 electoral votes. Trump got 93.
• As tradition holds, Trump’s winning Electoral College vote total is scheduled to be certified in January by the vice president he just defeated.
• In 2020, Trump narrowly won the male vote, 49 to 48. This time, he took 55 percent. 

• In 2020, Trump received 43 percent of the female vote. This time, running against a female emphasizing issues like abortion, Trump received 45 percent.
• Trump gained support this time among usually Republican groups like evangelicals. But he also received increased support from traditionally Democrat groups such as young and Latino voters.
• Florida’s Democrat stronghold of Miami-Dade County went 53 percent for Joe Biden four years ago. This year Trump took 55 percent of the vote, the first Republican to win there in 36 years.
• Trump, the billionaire, received half the vote of people earning under $50,000.
• Trump produced the best showing among black voters in a half-century. He had the best results among voters 18-29 in 20 years. The longest political coattails in the House popular vote in 96 years. And 49 states swung in his direction, the most since 1992.
• Trump did the best among Latino men of any Republican since exit polling began 50 years ago. And topped Harris by 10 points.

There are numerous reasons for this Trump success. I would say it shows the power of authenticity. Some might not prefer Trump’s blunt, even at times crude style, but no one could honestly say that the billionaire sounds or looks fake. Or addled. Or lost. 

Stacked against an opponent who read everything off teleprompters and dodged questions completely or with incomprehensible word salads punctuated by defensive giggles, the familiar executive seemed safer.

Trump also had his own record as proof of accomplishment – strong economy and job growth, enhanced defense posture, reduced taxes, and energy independence, among others.

The Harris campaign organization, which was actually the Biden campaign with a few Harris cronies grafted on, was saddled with the administration’s record of incompetence – inflation, poor job growth, the globally mortifying Afghan exit, and creating, allowing, and even facilitating the open southern border with 10 million-plus illegal-crossers.

She also placed far too much trust in the abortion issue, which she ironically called reproductive rights. Trump easily defused that by pointing out, accurately, that’s now a state issue.

The incumbent vice president attempted to frame herself as an agent of change. But then, on national TV, she was asked what she would have changed in Biden policies. Clueless, she paused, then said nothing came to mind.

In 2020, American voters fell for Joe Biden’s claim to be a return to normalcy and a transition to youth after Trump tumult. Biden, who turns 82 this month, became, in fact, a far-left progressive, even as his mental faculties and then physical health failed for anyone willing to see.

Harris was tagged as a key actor in the deceitful Democrat coverup of that, something she never admitted. 

Biden’s dithering on a second-term decision was fueled by a wishful misreading of the less-than-disastrous 2022 midterm results. 

That and party leadership’s cooperation rigging primaries for him cursed their own ultimate candidate, even after they turned on him and forced his withdrawal.

At first, Harris’ political career appeared to benefit from Biden’s disastrous debate performance when Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer engineered the coup that ousted their longtime colleague.

A burst of initial party enthusiasm for Harris that was actually relief over Biden’s departure faded quickly. Like Republicans after their 1964 drubbing by Lyndon Johnson, Democrats are calling now for a thorough campaign autopsy. 

Trouble is, the would-be party coroners were all complicit in causing the campaign’s terminal condition.

Republicans need to be wary, though, of over-confidence. Nothing is permanent in U.S. politics. Only four years after Democrats’ decisive 1964 landslide, they lost four of the next five White House elections.

Revealing of the Biden character, besides his chronic lying, is the quiet but obvious undermining of his replacement’s campaign by inserting himself all fall, as if his discarded persona could help.

Joe and Jill can now claim until their deaths that they would have done better on Nov. 5, should anyone care. The good news from such pettiness is we are now forever free politically of both Bidens and Harris. 

We will no doubt hear soon how the Harris-Walz ticket was seriously handicapped by the brief 107-day campaign. That’s their own fault, caused by acquiescing to Biden’s delusional desire for another term and then his stubborn reluctance to give it up.

I would argue the brief campaign was actually good for the second-string ticket. The longer that pair pranced about with vague vibes, trying to ignore the country’s 70 percent Wrong Track polling, the worse they did.

In contrast, Trump was his usual indefatigable self, enthusiastically entering enemy territories like the South Bronx and Harlem. And circumventing hostile legacy media through direct-to-consumer media like the Joe Rogan show. 

That conversational format suits Trump. The 78-year-old spent three hours talking to Rogan’s vast, young, heavily male audience that averages nearly 15 million on the Spotify platform alone. And Rogan then publicly endorsed him.

When Hurricane Helene devasted broad areas of the Southeast, the former president flew his plane to Georgia, sympathizing with victims and trucking in water and relief supplies, all on his own dime.

Then, he showed up enthusiastically in the kitchen of a Pennsylvania McDonald’s as the fry cook before handing orders out the drive-up window, also on his own dime. “I could do this all day,” he said.

Photo ops, to be sure, but Everyman photo ops with citizen-service substance, not just standing near rusting bridges seeking to spend more taxpayer monies.

During the hurricane, the current president was on another vacation at the beach, having donated millions more taxpayer dollars to pay off the student loans of others in defiance of the Supreme Court.

I think after nine years, Trump’s positive achievements, and sometimes dubious behavior, are baked into his political persona. Voters remembered more the assertive leadership and strong, peacetime economy pre-COVID. And the truth is, once someone wears the mantel of a commander in chief, it’s hard not to see him that way.

The next four years will be interesting, probably tumultuous again, maybe fascinating, hopefully peaceful. Trump will surely say some outrageous things. As journalist Salena Zito has so accurately said of Trump, “The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.”

Practically speaking, Trump has only two years to pursue his agenda – the tax cuts, a Cabinet and thousands of appointments, tariffs, military reforms, conservative judicial nominations, energy developments. Who knows, maybe another Supreme Court appointment or two?

It might go smoothly given a GOP Congress, especially since many members now owe their position to Trump’s support. One caveat: Thanks to Trump, Republicans now have a larger tent, but the party of Lincoln has shown a past proclivity for internal feuds.

By 2026, even Donald Trump will become a lame duck as 2028 ignites the ambitions of younger Republican wannabes such as Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and others.

We’re unlikely to see another phenomenon like Donald Trump streak through our lives like this anytime soon. But for now, it’s hopeful and fascinating.