Trumpled (Alternative Leading)

[Mav]

Don’t you think the irony is the way Guiliani has been whining about being the victim of a fabrication? It’s like a professional thief bitching about a pickpocket taking his wallet.

[Lods]

Probably all the hard work's been done on the question of "Should Trump be re-elected?"
The decision on that is pretty clear (but arguably that depends on your own personal point of view.    ;D )
But...
We're not voting.
Most of us anyway.
It's up to the American people.
The more interesting question now becomes "Will Trump be re-elected?"

I suspect many Americans have now reached the point (of divisive exhaustion) we're they're looking for an end to chaos.

A Trump victory won't work in that respect.
Neither will a narrow Biden victory.
If they want it over, the only real opportunity for that to happen  is a decisive Biden victory.
Even then it will need a lot of hard work, and a bit of time for the healing to occur.
It will make the early days of any Biden victory pretty edgy.

Despite poll results a lot of Democrats are still a bit wary after what happened last election, and what seems to be a bit of "shadowy support" where folks actually don't declare for Trump but still vote for him.

But it looks pretty grim for Trump.
Any attempt at a smoking gun is just coming up against a bit of a brick wall.
Much like things have bounced off Trump in the past, that particular effect seems to be working in a similar fashion for his opponents this time....probably because the accusations lack any real substance, and folks have become pretty cynical about those attacks anyway.
I'd suggest with only a few days to go, and a lot of voters having already cast their vote, that it is all over.
The really interesting period is the shenanigans likely to occur between polling day and inauguration.

[Mav]

It’s a clean sweep for Biden! Dixville Notch NH has recorded 5 votes to Biden and none for Trump. We can put down the glasses right now 

Damn, Millsville NH has recorded 5 for Biden and 16 for Trump. It’s a roller coaster out there 

[ElwoodBlues1]

https://au.yahoo.com/news/trump-closing-...36238.html

[cookie2]

I don't have inside info and it could be pure scuttlebutt  but was reading that there are a lot of big money bets going on  Trump to win. Haven't seen anything similar re Biden but who knows.

[Lods]

Beer and Popcorn ready for a big day at the Circus.
Can't wait to see the 'clowns.'

The thing is it's not that funny.
We don't have a say in the result
It may seem far away but...
While the chaos and division continues in the States...and the virus runs rampant, it will end up affecting all of us in some way.

Whether we like it or not, whether he's our choice or not...There is really only one result that can at least set the USA on the path to a healing process.
That's for Biden to win and win well.

[cookie2]

https://au.yahoo.com/news/trump-closing-...36238.html

I think an absolute landslide win would be required by either candidate if there is to be any hope of avoiding serious civil strife .

[tonyo]

I think an absolute landslide win would be required by either candidate if there is to be any hope of avoiding serious civil strife .

Apparently, if Trump has a lead in swing states like Wisconsin or Pennsylvania on the evening of the election, he can 'declare' victory then and there before most of the millions of postal votes can be counted.  If the electoral officials in the state are happy with the call (and amazingly enough electoral officials in the US are partisan), they can ratify the win and hand the electoral college votes to Trump.

This next few days/weeks/months could get very ugly.......

[Mav]

One candidate declaring victory has no legal impact. The losing candidate can concede defeat but again that has no legal effect (and candidates have withdrawn concessions when vote counts become more interesting).

AFAIK, States complete their vote counts in accordance with the rules in each State anyway. Remember that the ballot includes contests for House and Senate contests as well as those for the state legislatures and perhaps legislative initiatives, so no state is going to be able to save much time or money if it stops counting votes in the Presidential election. The most important impact of a concession is that it means the conceding candidate is closing the door on potential court challenges to overturn the vote count or requests for recounts (though, again, a candidate can withdraw the concession and challenge the result if s/he wishes).

Where it might create an issue is if the Supreme Court gets the opportunity to suppress the vote. If Trump gets an early lead and is able to incite rioting against further vote counting, pressure would go onto Biden to “do the right thing” for the country by accepting defeat and the Supreme Court might come up with some fiction to allow it to shut down counting to bring an end to the violence. Or a mob might storm a vote count to disrupt further counting and destroy ballots that are yet to be counted.

More importantly, Trump railing against the vote in places like Pennsylvania may give cover to the Republican legislature there to send a slate of Trump electors to the Electoral College competing with those won by Biden if Biden wins in that State. That might throw it back to Congress and could create an opening to steal the election.

PS: If it seems paranoid to suggest the Pennsylvania legislature might act in this way, consider that a month ago it tried to set up a standing commission with subpoena powers into voting fraud at the upcoming election. That caused an outcry from critics who thought it was laying the groundwork to reject the vote. The legislature was shocked, SHOCKED, that it’s laudable concern for election security had been misconstrued and deferred the issue until after the election.

[LP]

It looks like the US media has got what it wants.

A knife edge vote and all the resulting anarchy which delivers heaps of cheap media content!

I've no idea where politics goes from here, regardless of ideology it seems far too easy to manipulate social media and by reference then the associated mainstream media.

Even China's authoritarian system can't really survive long term, the early roots of it's demise is seen in Hong Kong.