The Split Ticket
I ended my post-election commentary by speculating, "It's almost as if the American people are capable of doing what NeverTrumpers asked them to do: sort through the evidence of Trump's failure and unfitness and reject him for it, without endorsing the left's agenda and backing all of the craziest Democratic politicians down the line."
This was my preliminary impression, but the evidence keeps pouring in to back it up.
First, an update on the election results. It looks like Joe Biden's win will not be quite so narrow in the Electoral College. I warned readers a few weeks ago about the "red mirage." More Trump supporters vote in person on Election Day, and more Biden supporters vote by mail--this has a lot do with how seriously the two groups take the pandemic; more on that later--and some states have the perverse policy of counting mail-in ballots last. Thus, the preliminary vote count reflects the in-person vote, which gives Trump a lead--which then evaporates over a period of days as the mail-in votes are counted.
This is exactly what happened in Pennsylvania and Georgia, which now look like they are tipping toward Biden. [Update: As this goes out, the AP has called Pennsylvania and the whole presidential contest for Biden. Biden has even delivered a victory speech, though Trump has not yet conceded.]
This creates an opportunity for Trump to jump in with unhinged claims that the election is being stolen because local officials are--well, because they're actually counting all of the votes. It's an argument that is not going over well in court, and now even his own sycophants are trying to talk him into a "gracious" concession.
Like I said, the final results in these states will give Biden a more decisive margin in the Electoral College, but the margin of victory in each state is going to be so thin that he cannot claim any kind of mandate.
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