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2020 Election Results And Post-Election Day Discussion Part 2


GreyhoundFan

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Continued from here:

 

Well, folks, we still have hope, but far too many people signed up for four more years of insanity. There are lots of main-in ballots to be counted, so we might be waiting for quite some time.

Remember, we're in this together.

I've brought the raspberry orange mimosas

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And some chocolates:

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I feel a little better this morning. Biden is ahead in NV and WI, and he now has a narrow lead in MI. If he can hold these, he wins. The ballots still outstanding in these states are mail in, so they will likely favor Biden.

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Great satire here

Spoiler

 With the future and democratic reputation of the American republic hanging in the balance, this is not an occasion for bombast. Rather it is time to reach humbly in the darkness, seeking only to summon such measured words as convey the intense dignity of this moment. In short, I think we all feel the hand of history on our pussies.

Donald Trump, America’s howling id, has not lost this election. Then again, Joe Biden has not won it. Shortly before 6am UK time, Biden addressed a rally – never a better time for one, mate – and told the Delaware crowd he was “optimistic”. In split-screen Trump addressed his Twitter retinue, and told them of “a big WIN”, adding “they are trying to STEAL the election … votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed.” Expect him to invade Pole-land in the coming days.

Still, whatever happens now, no one can argue that a result this close was a repudiation of his way of doing business, so anyone expecting the gibberingly loyal Republican party to tack away from its current psychiatric space for the next couple of decades ought probably to get used to disappointment.

Shortly after 7am UK time, Trump addressed the nation with quasi-dictatorial fanfare, falsely claiming victory as well as electoral fraud, and seeking to disenfranchise voters in undeclared states. This at least had been predicted. There have long been signs that Trump would not be able to handle even potentially unfavourable election results. After all, just look how he handled male pattern baldness. Contrary to what a lot of people said over the past four years, Trump did eventually manage to build something described as an “unscalable” fence. Unfortunately, he only did it this week, and it now surrounds the White House.

Militia fears, a barricaded presidential compound, open calls to disenfranchise voters – it’s a mood very much borrowed from what Trump would call “shithole countries”. As the weeks unfold, please don’t rule out Donald’s two large adult sons – Uday and Schmuday – downing a Black Hawk within the White House autonomous zone. Already, expectations have been so profoundly commuted that if gun-toting convoys of Klansmen aren’t firing celebratory rounds into the sky from vehicle convoys by the time this article is published, it’ll be regarded as a positive.

So what in the name of terminal insanity does happen now? I’m encouraged to learn that pathways from here include everything from victory for the orange dopamine-pusher to the most illegitimate or disputed victory in history, with Biden’s likely best-case scenario a narrow win with a Republican senate, which would allow him to accomplish even less than he achieved during this campaign. Either way, lockdowns around the globe are sure to be enlivened by rolling coverage of the fallout, possibly in the country’s sarcastically admired court system. Were US lawyers part of the original breakout from Pandora’s box? If not, expect swarms of them to breach its defences in the coming days.

Should Biden edge a victory, thanks to the way the self-styled greatest democracy in the world works, we will have months of grimly incendiary Trump claims that it was stolen. Or, to put it in terms the rest of the planet would understand: this is like winning the World Cup in November, then having the losing captain use it as a toilet for three months before finally handing the brimming trophy over to you in late January.

Elsewhere, what a great night for pollsters and their polls, which seem to have been about as accurate as any Trump statements. Bazillions of dollars have been spent on polling this cycle. Definitely the business to get into when journalism – which did about as badly – goes tits-up.

According to the exit poll Trump outperformed his 2016 results with every race and gender – except for white men. In counties with high Covid death rates, Trump performed better this year than he did in 2016. I suppose we have to believe the arc of history bends towards justice, but it certainly takes some incredible hairpin detours.

Other assorted lowlights thus far include Lindsey Graham winning again, while some QAnon gorgon is now an actual Georgia congresswoman. The 25-year-old Republican Madison Cawthorn, whose bucket list included a visit to Hitler’s holiday home, is also going to Congress, and announced his victory just as Abraham Lincoln once did – in a tweet reading: “Cry more, lib.” Louisiana voters approved an amendment declaring abortion was not protected by the state’s constitution.

Still, let no one suggest a democracy contested by two men in their mid- to late-70s is in some ways beginning to look a little necrotic. Yes, it would have been nice to have had at least one candidate whom no one had accused of sexual assault – but you had to be deeply comforted that one of the candidates had been accused of literally dozens more sexual assaults than the other one.

Of course, the 2020 US presidential election situation is still very much developing, and by the time you read this, there could be a lot of hostages to fortune. Or even just hostages. Rule nothing out. Nothing, perhaps, except moral optimism. People used to say that irony died when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel peace prize, but the real victim was actually the Nobel peace prize. It’s hard not to think that something of this order of magnitude is now true of the US presidency, which for ever after this time will be seen as a job that a man of the character of Donald Trump was able to get. Maybe even twice – or as near as dammit.

 

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"The day that never ended"

Spoiler

Plywood capital of a screw-loose nation. Boarded up, braced for impact, zombie-eyed and pulse-crazy, bluer than blue but governed by a red menace with enduring appeal out there in the several states. There was supposed to be catharsis Tuesday night, or at least a preview of catharsis, but all Washington got was another round in the torture chamber of the U.S. electoral system, with the media as scourge, unable to escape or exclaim because of a pandemic (worsening once again) that’s put much of the nation under volunteer house arrest.

Election Day didn’t start out that way. It started with the usual clear contrasts. At 2:57 a.m. Tuesday, President Trump tweeted a video montage of his herky-jerky dancing to “YMCA.” A few hours later, when the sun was up, Joe Biden visited his childhood home in Scranton, Pa., and wrote in black Sharpie on the living room wall:

From This House

To The White House

With The Grace of God

Joe Biden

11.3.2020

God still hasn’t revealed any plans yet, only unending twilight. As the judgments commenced Tuesday, there were plenty of people in D.C. who believed that everything was going to be all right. Among Democrats there was a dance between the crouched trauma of 2016 and giddy anticipation that this might be the series finale of the Trump show. The president’s team was publicly confident, even as Trump himself seemed to betray a moment of reflection in the late morning, while visiting his campaign headquarters across the Potomac River in Arlington, Va.

“Winning is easy,” Trump said, sounding tired after a fierce rally blitz in the final 72 hours. “Losing is never easy. Not for me, it’s not.”

The District battened down the hatches, shielding the windows of its CVSes and banks and Washington Sports Clubs, and voted quietly as if nothing was amiss.

“It’s a pivotal moment for us,” said Chris Smith-Flood, a volunteer at precinct 9, which in 2016 gave Trump his best margin in the city (at a measly 15.41 percent). “To see businesses boarded up in Adams Morgan, U Street, up Georgia Avenue — regardless of who the winner is, someone is going to be unhappy.”

At a polling station on Calvert Street NW, voters got free chips and salsa from a food truck whose windshield was plastered with “Democracy is Delicious.”

“The only issue, as far as I was concerned, was getting rid of Trump and his enablers,” said Morton Lebow, a 94-year-old retired civil servant, outside the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Woodley Park. Lebow, who had already mailed in his ballot, characterized his vote for Joe Biden as nothing less than a vote for democracy itself. “We have an authoritarian person who is trying to win a second term. And if he won a second term I think it would be a disaster.”

Around 5 p.m. Cora Masters Barry walked out of the polling place for precinct 122 in Southeast D.C. wearing a plastic face shield and black sweatshirt that spelled out “NOW IS THE TIME” in red glittering letters. Only 41 people, or 1.76 percent of the precinct, voted for Trump in 2016, and Barry thought the current turnout and excitement rivaled her then-husband Marion’s comeback election for mayor, or Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign.

“Two hours ago, a calm came over me,” said Barry, on her way to drop off snacks at other polling places. “As a political scientist, I can’t deny the data. We’re going to be all right.”

On the top steps of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset, two couples from Springfield, Mo., enjoyed the mauve twilight settling around the Mall. They weren’t preoccupied by the election, or rushing back to their hotel to watch the news.

“I have peace about this because I believe God’s in control,” said Patricia Miller, a grandmother who voted for Trump before her road trip to the capital. “I thank the Lord there’s no riots yet. Because we have to walk back.”

There would be no riots. There would only be a slow slide into anxiety and weirdness, with snowplows and salt trucks blocking off the roads around the White House. Much of downtown D.C. was 9/11 silent, apart from Black Lives Matter Plaza, the block party of resistance on Trump’s doorstep. The president has indeed built a wall, though it’s financed by U.S. taxpayers and surrounds his temporary residence. The black barricades have been turned by citizens into a wall of witness to the death of Black people at the hands of police, and a bulletin board of curses directed at Trump.

On Tuesday night there, the antifascists argued with the “Jesus Saves” people. A potpourri of weed, spray paint and grilled cheese wafted on the chilly air. Chuck Todd was projected on the plywood covering the Motion Picture Association of America, at 16th and I streets NW. People danced to Luther Vandross and Prince. They sat in McPherson Square and stared dumbly at a big-screen projection of muted CNN coverage as go-go music clattered.

The mild crowd began to thin at 11 p.m. There was nothing yet to celebrate or rage at. A group of Biden campaign aides watched returns on a D.C. rooftop, where the mood was anxious until the alcohol began to kick in. “I can’t say that anything right now is shocking to us,” one aide said, even as a great deal of Twitter seemed to be shocked by the polls being off yet again.

The partisans were certain, though.

“We’re going to win,” tweeted Rufus Gifford, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, at 11:51 p.m.

“We are going to win!” tweeted Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign. Ellis was beyond the barricades in the East Room of the White House with a few hundred of the president’s closest friends, dining on beef sliders, mini fish fillets, and bouquets of french fries in cardboard cups emblazoned with the presidential seal. The room was all gold-rimmed china and flatscreens featuring Fox News. When Fox called Florida for Trump, you could hear the cheers elsewhere in the mansion.

And then the small agonies began. Fox called Arizona for Biden, then retracted it. The New York Times’s devil needle for Georgia began to thrum toward Biden, as the former vice president lost Ohio and Texas. There was much ado about a single electoral vote in Nebraska. Everyone on social media told each other to wait, to go to bed, to not wallow in the excruciating progression of our process.

“It’s nerve-racking,” said a Georgetown University student named Jeff at 12:30 a.m. at the now-sleepy plaza by the White House. “We’ve been talking about it all day. We were just talking about how bummed we are that we aren’t gonna know tonight.”

From his home just south of D.C., in Maryland, Ian Walters was monitoring five screens in front of him, admiring all the Republican voters that pollsters had yet again missed. Yes, it was a late night. Yes, the process wasn’t tidy. But how could it be?

“Life is cumbersome and occasionally agonizing, right?” said Walters, communications director for the American Conservative Union. “This is just a reflection of what it means to be a fulfilled human, as absurd as it sounds. Life is not cut-and-dried. Life is often complicated and nuanced and confusing, and requires work, time and effort to determine what is what, and how to move forward.”

As the capital became even quieter, the candidates began to issue their statements — another round of contrast and confusion in a nation starved for consequence.

“We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election,” Trump tweeted. Twitter marked it as “disputed” and potentially “misleading” about this quadrennial process we put ourselves through.

“Keep the faith, guys,” Biden tweeted minutes later from Wilmington, Del. “We’re gonna win this.” Also misleading, perhaps, but Twitter didn’t make a note of it.

 

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If Biden wins without the Senate tho...it's good on the international stage (we can't wait for the nuke button to be passed on) but still bad for Americans thanks to the handmaiden and the alcoholic member of SCOTUS. 

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I cannot even start to imagine how anxious you guys must feel. I really didn't expect that many people voting for him again, I just can't comprehend how someone would say: yes, four more years of.. that?!

I have to say, I feel a lot more positive now than I did 6 hours ago, though.. Go Michigan, go!

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3 minutes ago, SeekingAdventure said:

I cannot even start to imagine how anxious you guys must feel. I really didn't expect that many people voting for him again, I just can't comprehend how someone would say: yes, four more years of.. that?!

This is the most horrifying part to me. Just, how? How can any reasonable person want four more years of what we just experienced?

 

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Just another sign of how fucked up things have become. I can't imagine such a meeting being required before the Toxic Orange Megacolon invaded:

 

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FWIW, the betting odds for a Biden win are at an all time high of 78.4%.  I'll take good news any way I can get it!

I'm disappointed in the Senate race, and Biden will not have and easy time of it if he wins.  He's an old fashioned "work across the aisle" type of politician, and sadly I think that's part of a simpler time.

 

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So it‘s likely the Trumpsters get the Senate? This means you guys get a decent President while the GOP can keep fucking around and further destabilize the democratic institutions? If so, a democratic president means exactly nothing, correct?

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This uncertainty is stressful. Might Trump win? Is that even possible?

And I’m wondering if he accepts his defeat in case he loses. It’s a very tight race so he might scream manipulation and use the SC to stay in power. Crazy... 

10 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Just another sign of how fucked up things have become. I can't imagine such a meeting being required before the Toxic Orange Megacolon invaded:

 

UNBELIEVABLE!

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35 minutes ago, Snarkasarus Rex said:

I feel a little better this morning. Biden is ahead in NV and WI, and he now has a narrow lead in MI. If he can hold these, he wins. The ballots still outstanding in these states are mail in, so they will likely favor Biden.

This is good news. 

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7 minutes ago, Smash! said:

So it‘s likely the Trumpsters get the Senate? This means you guys get a decent President while the GOP can keep fucking around and further destabilize the democratic institutions? If so, a democratic president means exactly nothing, correct?

We may not know the final senate makeup until January, following the GA special election run-off, since nobody cracked 50%. If the senate ends up tied and Biden is president, Kamala will be the tiebreaker in the senate, so it doesn't mean nothing. It's just not the clear majority we had sought.

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6 minutes ago, Smash! said:

So it‘s likely the Trumpsters get the Senate? This means you guys get a decent President while the GOP can keep fucking around and further destabilize the democratic institutions? If so, a democratic president means exactly nothing, correct?

Not nothing exactly. Biden would still have veto power and the senate would then have to pass things with a larger majority to override the veto. If the senate is close to even, they'd have a hard time doing that. 

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10 minutes ago, Smash! said:

So it‘s likely the Trumpsters get the Senate? This means you guys get a decent President while the GOP can keep fucking around and further destabilize the democratic institutions? If so, a democratic president means exactly nothing, correct?

Well, it means that he won't threaten war on twitter, or insult foreign leaders at summits, so at this point I'll take it. 

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I’m overwhelmed this morning. Even if Biden wins, the amount of people who voted for Trump is an absolute disgrace. 

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1 minute ago, Giraffe said:

I’m overwhelmed this morning. Even if Biden wins, the amount of people who voted for Trump is an absolute disgrace. 

I feel the same way.

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16 minutes ago, Smash! said:

So it‘s likely the Trumpsters get the Senate? This means you guys get a decent President while the GOP can keep fucking around and further destabilize the democratic institutions? If so, a democratic president means exactly nothing, correct?

No, All legislation has to pass both houses of Congress before it reaches the president's desk. Once it reaches his or her desk, he or she can veto it, and in order to overturn that veto, both houses of Congress (House and Senate), would have to pass it again with a two-thirds majority.

Edited by Cartmann99
Clarity, I no write good.
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@tabitha2 being a trolling little gremlin? Shocking. 

Anyway, I can't believe what is happening. A part of me really thought Biden would sweep it. This has been a lot closer than I imagined it would be. Thinking of you Americans, really hope 2020 delivers some good news today for you guys. 

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46 minutes ago, Snarkasarus Rex said:

I feel a little better this morning. Biden is ahead in NV and WI, and he now has a narrow lead in MI. If he can hold these, he wins. The ballots still outstanding in these states are mail in, so they will likely favor Biden.

Nevada is what worries me. It’s a very narrow lead. 

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This dude never even hit the 50% approval rating. I’m so sick of the voting majority being held to the whims of the balance. Democratic republic my ass. I am sick of people voting to the detriment of our country, planet and at times, even themselves.

1 minute ago, picklepizzas said:

Nevada is what worries me. It’s a very narrow lead. 

 Heard that the votes pending are mail- in vote from Clark County (Vegas), which skews heavily D. It’s why Trump wanted the courts to suppress vote counting  in that county.

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10 minutes ago, Destiny said:

Well, it means that he won't threaten war on twitter, or insult foreign leaders at summits, so at this point I'll take it. 

Agreed. In my understanding the GOP majority of the senate failed completely in domestic politics because McTurtle (I refuse to call him by his name) was sitting on the bills and refused to put them forward. So while it‘s good a democratic president won‘t start another war domestic policies are as important for you guys. I’m relieved to read here that it seems the GOP in the Senate can’t go on like in the last four years and block everything except confirming new judges.

Edited by Smash!
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