Contributor Post Created with Sketch. Where the Count Stands Now

 

At 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT, we do not have a winner of the presidential contest. Early Tuesday night, it appeared that Donald Trump was on track to achieve the impossible a second time. But as the late evening (and early morning) wore on, Biden moved within striking range.

Various media organizations have different numbers and projections, but according to the New York Times, Biden has 227 electoral votes to Trump’s 213. The winning candidate needs 270.

The Times has called every state except for eight: Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Put together, those states have 98 electoral votes.

Biden is currently leading in Arizona (by 5), Nevada (by 0.6%), and Wisconsin (by 0.7%).

Trump is currently leading in Alaska (by 27%), Georgia (2.2%), Michigan (0.5%), North Carolina (1.4%), and Pennsylvania (11.5%).

If all these states hold, Trump wins with 284 electoral votes. But that’s a big “if.”

Trump was leading in Wisconsin until a tranche of urban votes rolled in at about 3 a.m. local time. The race flipped to Biden by a hair. The same could happen in Michigan and elsewhere.

Trump was utterly dominating Pennsylvania when the counters called a lid, saying they wouldn’t count the Philly-centric votes until 11 a.m. Wednesday. There is zero excuse for PA and other states to abruptly stop a vote count in a high-pressure, low-trust election like 2020. It’s no surprise that Trump warned of shenanigans and possibly stealing the election.

Bluechecks on Twitter were shocked™ and appalled® at Trump’s intemperate remarks, while Trump fans blasted the lazy vote counters. The whole world is watching Pennsylvania and the Keystone State Cops decided to take a nap. Inexcusable.

As it stands now, Biden has the advantage. It may take several days for the final counts to shake out.

In brighter news, it appears that the GOP will gain seats in the House and retain the majority in the Senate. This is the opposite of what the polls predicted; they were also wrong about Biden winning in a walk.

If Biden wins in a squeaker with a GOP-led Senate, radical ideas like packing the courts, creating new states, and the Green New Deal are off the table. It will be two years of gridlock, followed by a stronger GOP Senate and possibly a GOP-led House.

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  1. Duane Oyen Member
    Duane OyenJoined in the first year of Ricochet Ricochet Charter Member

    Jeff Hawkins (View Comment):

    Duane Oyen (View Comment):

    I think we need too hold Jon Gabriel personally responsible for the deterioration of Arizona from the proud freedom-loving home of Goldwater and Doug Ducey into a place where there are two idiot senators and a presidential preference for Slow Joe. Just the influx of Californians into Phoenix eager to a) avoid the consequences of California politics, and b) turn Arizona politics into California is not quite enough ti explain the apostasy. Maybe it is John McCain’s fault.

    Cindy McCain wanted John’s seat to go to Ben Domenech (her son in law), there’s been infighting ever since between the GOP and the machine McCain built.

    I still think AZ and PA go to Trump, but we should stop scoreboard watching. Michigan and Wisconsin definitely have to go to court after the actions of this morning. Outliers happen, but not to that extent.

    Actually, Ben would have been fine in that role; he has not been a mindless reflexive neverTrumper and has generally sound conservative instincts, much better than John’s. I doubt that he would have beaten Kelly, though, and Cindy’s support for Biden was not forgiveable.

    • #301
    • November 6, 2020, at 8:43 PM PST
    • 1 like