Here's Why We Called Election 2016 Wrong!

Donald Trump was a marked man to lose the election ... marked by a polling company that made one of the most shocking miscalculations in modern political history.

The Rolls-Royce of polling companies -- Moody's Analytics -- predicted Hillary would trounce Trump by a 332-206 margin, just one week before the election. The miscalculation is breathtaking.

Turns out ... M.A.'s polling sample was based in part on traditional "establishment candidates" and the voters they tend to attract. One of the honchos at M.A. tells TMZ they never factored in that Trump was an outlier, and the quintessential anti-establishment candidate.

The crazy thing ... Donald Trump made it clear from day 1 -- 17 months ago -- he was NOT an establishment candidate.

The M.A. official Chief Economist, Mark Zandi, said the model his company uses does not rely on the individual personalities of candidates. In this election ... that's just crazy.

The miscalculation may have created a domino effect, which ignored the groundswell in pockets of the Rust Belt that made a big difference.

The M.A. honcho said his company is reviewing the model for the next election. We're guessing they'll factor in what makes these candidates tick next time around.