A year before Trump ever came down his golden escalator, polls showed that not only did voters disapprove of sending troops to Iraq, even 70 percent of active military didn’t want to send more troops to the nation they liberated a decade earlier. While McCain was advocating increases to immigration, a plurality and at times a majority of voters were demanding that Washington curb legal immigration and get tough on illegal border crossings. On free trade and globalization, even McCain’s most loyal ally, Lindsey Graham, was able to see that the center had moved and many Americans wanted more protectionist policies.

McCain and his allies in Washington proved unable to see that tens of millions of Americans were fed up with politics as usual. This created a vacuum that Trump filled, as Bernie Sanders filled a similar opening on the left.

As images surfaced this weekend showing Hillary Clinton consoling Dick Cheney, the media reminisced about the political ruling class they once knew. Meanwhile, millions of voters were reminded of the out-of-touch elitism they rejected.