# Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618 "2020-11-03T05:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 201
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4010 "2020-11-07T02:41:49Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > One idea that I’ve seen floated is that, under the Constitution, the President may be able to force the Senate into an adjournment. Is this what Obama tried with appointing Cordray to the CFPB? SCOTUS struck down that appointment, but I’m not an expert on what the actual facts were there. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4011 "2020-11-07T02:44:27Z")
Biden’s lead in PA just increased to 27,000 and change. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4012 "2020-11-07T02:44:49Z")
First, excellent new avatar. I recognized the image right away. Second, what station are you watching? We’re finding MSNBC to do a good job, with both numbers and calming explanations. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4013 "2020-11-07T02:46:00Z")
I posted this earlier, but it’s a fast moving thread. News outlets calls are important because it is norm reinforcing. There is benefit in Biden not just declaring himself the winner. There is an existing norm, even if there’s nothing official about it, that independent news outlets make calls that are an accepted way of everyone knowing that the contest is over, even if the official steps haven’t been completed yet. Once it’s down to the parts that won’t make a real difference anymore, news outlet experts can call it. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4014 "2020-11-07T02:46:05Z")
Obama argued that the Senate, which was holding pro forma sessions every three days, was not really “in session” and so he could make a recess appointment. He never tried to assert his constitutional authority to adjourn the Congress. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4015 "2020-11-07T02:47:15Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > No problem, but before you pack that bowl double check your map, it shows Apache, at least going for Biden. Still, I can’t even…might as well light up. > > I’ve been baked since Tuesday myself, I thought I was going for a sprint not a marathon but I don’t want to sober up until this is done. Take a break now and then, for the sake of your lungs and liver. You’re far too valuable a Doper for us to lose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4016 "2020-11-07T02:48:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > She. > > That is all. Sorry I got it wrong (really…I actually do think about this stuff when replying). I thought of that and decided to follow the pronoun in the post I was replying to. English is sadly lacking in gender neutral pronouns. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4017 "2020-11-07T02:49:04Z")
Right. If you are watching John King on CNN, stop. Not that he is doing a bad job, but just go with MSNBC and Kornacki. Like this latest result from AZ. CNN and King just reported it and said it narrowly reduced Biden’s lead. MSNBC and Kornacki went into how the percentage of the in favor of Trump was not enough, if it continues to hold for the remaining votes, Trump can’t catch Biden. And, as Ann Hedonia pointed out, King keeps talking about the 3 paths Trump has and the 9 paths Biden has. And I hope to God I never have to hear the phrase “Paths to election” again ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4018 "2020-11-07T02:49:26Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I know the networks’ calls aren’t official. I know it’s important to do this right. But way too much rides on this for me not to be chomping at the bit. The fact said chomping doesn’t hurry anything is beside the point. I need for this to be over. Unofficially over will do until it’s officially done. Thanks (to you and everyone else) for articulating this better than I could. I also didn’t realize how much this is affecting me until you and other people have described it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4019 "2020-11-07T02:51:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Apparently, a few of the rats have been convinced to not flee the ship quite yet. > > > [@](#): > > > > After Trump’s sons and others in the president’s immediate orbit complained that not enough Republicans were speaking out in defense of the president’s unsubstantiated claims of election corruption, several prominent Republicans publicly echoed Trump’s rhetoric. > > > > When Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who won reelection, was mentioned on Twitter by name for staying silent about the results, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted back, “No one is surprised.” > > > > Several hours later, Graham was on Fox News with Sean Hannity, where he falsely claimed that the election had been rigged. The senator, one of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, said he would be donating $500,000 to Trump’s legal fund, prompting Eric Trump to tweet: “Thank you for having a spine! Fight this fraud!” > > > > Graham also told Hannity that he was open to the idea of the GOP-controlled Pennsylvania legislature choosing its own electors, overriding the will of the voters. > > > > After Graham’s segment, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) appeared with Hannity and accused the Democrats of trying to steal the election from Trump. > > > > Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville, who defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), made similar allegations, tweeting the same conspiracy theory that the legal counting of mail-in ballots for Biden is proof of corruption. > > > > “The election results are out of control. It’s like the whistle has blown, the game is over and the players have gone home, but the referees are suddenly adding touchdowns to the other team’s side of the scoreboard,” the former football coach said. > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/05/trump-biden-election-live-updates/#link-6HGNLHMXEZGURAMI7JQI2RZEM4](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/05/trump-biden-election-live-updates/#link-6HGNLHMXEZGURAMI7JQI2RZEM4) Heh. Does he think if we had rigged the election we’d have left HIS worthless ass in place? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4020 "2020-11-07T02:53:49Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Then you keep marching down the employee list till you get to the mailroom person who has been there for 40 years, call him and and tell him he gets to be the acting head as long as he does as directed. He’ll get a nice pay increase and pension and a small mention in the history books. > > My point being, there is almost certainly an end-run. Trump has shown us that. As I understand it, the person needs to have both been an employee/officer of the federal gov’t, _and_ have be holding down a Senate confirmed position. The long-timerer in the mailroom doesn’t meet the second requirement. As for consequences if the acting agency head stays there longer than permitted by the temporary offices statute, the question of legal authority to act comes up, as **Robby** mentioned. I read an article last summer that pointed out that the acting secretary of homeland security had been in that position past the time limit, which raised the concern that all of his actions under statutory powers, like appointing officers below the level of presidential appointments may be invalid, and therefore those officers were acting without legal authority, and so on. So it wouldn’t be the Senate that would be raising the issue in court, but some person who had been arrested or detained and was challenging the legality of the detention and should be set free, because the detaining officer didn’t have legal authority to detain. The author pointed out the irony that Trump’s penchant for avoiding confirmation fights and relying on “acting” appointments could have the effect of giving immigrants a “get-out-of-ICE” card … ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4021 "2020-11-07T03:03:02Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > It’s like every night this week has been Christmas Eve, with the added twist of a small chance that Santa will take a dump on your hearth and kill your dog instead of leaving presents. Described perfectly. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I’m guessing they are planning his exit strategy to get out of the country before January 20 and what lousy things he can do in the next two months (staring with pardons). > > I am not kidding. I cannot imagine Trump wanting to stay in the US after he is out of office. There are a slew of legal actions waiting for him. I would not be at all surprised if DJT got on his Huffy bike and left town **long** before mid-January. I can see him walking/flying/sailing away from the job, the White House, D.C., the USA, and everything else. That’s his style. He doesn’t like something, he just walks out and leaves a mess for others to deal with. There’s some country that will let him in. Maybe Slovenia. He’s not gonna stick around and put up with humiliation. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4022 "2020-11-07T03:04:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > As I understand it, the person needs to have both been an employee/officer of the federal gov’t, _and_ have be holding down a Senate confirmed position. The long-timerer in the mailroom doesn’t meet the second requirement. Then, in Trumpian fashion, you appoint him and let someone sue and then stonewall and drag it out for four years and then let the courts be in the position to try to unwind the last four years. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4023 "2020-11-07T03:04:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Described perfectly. Thanks for quoting that, I missed that one. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4024 "2020-11-07T03:05:34Z")
Yes, I agree. Because, despite trump’s constant blathering about “fake news”, the free press, composed of a number of rational adults who make a call based on a preponderance of evidence, still matters. Matters more than ever, actually. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4025 "2020-11-07T03:10:20Z")
I have conspiracy theorist acquaintance in my Facebook feed and she just posted a list of dead people that apparently voted. Damn, it’s that easy to cheat? Too bad Trump didn’t think of it first. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4026 "2020-11-07T03:18:49Z")
Put another way; what are the options? No one runs an agency (so…do they literally stop or…what?) or the current president absolutely has to keep the previous president’s guys? It is madness. This is the long term damage Trump and McConnell have wrought. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4027 "2020-11-07T03:25:16Z")
So I flipped over to Fox News at 10PM - sometimes it’s fun to check them out when things aren’t going well. I think I someone got to Laura Ingraham, she sounded halfway sane. Only halfway, she did go on and on about the election system in this country that took the election from Trump and how it needed to be fixed (because its cheating when you make it too easy to vote, I guess\*), but she also talked about accepting defeat and learning for your mistakes and how the liberals were talking about how Trump was crazy and would refuse to leave and he should make them eat their words by stepping down gracefully when the time came. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Looks like someone got to her. I can’t wait to check Twitter to see how that landed with the base, I bet they pour some real hate on her. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Colossus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.colossus/32/9423_2.png) [@Dr.Colossus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Colossus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4028 "2020-11-07T03:25:51Z")
I’ve been working until right now o’clock and I’m 8 hours behind on this thread. I’ll never catch up, so I’m just going to ask: I see Biden went from ~48k lead in AZ to **glances at CNN** only ~29k in AZ. Is this something to be alarmed by or is there plenty of cushion? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/4029 "2020-11-07T03:26:59Z")
Ingraham has occasional moments of lucidity. Then someone reminds her who signs her fat paychecks and she toe’s the line again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=202)