How would a Biden presidency have anything to do with these issues? (Not a rhetorical question.)
The short answer is that these efforts are funded by the same dark money forces that brought Trump into power. I’m not going to do a detailed post, although I’m working on a piece I’m going to post after Election Day in one form or the other, depending on how it goes.
But there are groups with innocuously reassuring names like The Fellowship Foundation and Family Research council that are dedicated to eroding the separation of church and state, often backed by money from sources like the Mercer, Prince and DeVos families. And they are at work not only at the national level but at the local level, and taking over the boards of schools and churches is one of many tactics.
Yes, we all know you’re a big fan of minority rule. Run along, the adults are speaking.
A small sigh of relief:
Washington Post paywall warnings apply. The headline:
Federal judge allows Texas’s Harris County to count ballots cast via drive-through voting
And some more good news
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/02/politics/nevada-las-vegas-signature-lawsuit/index.html
YESYESYES! 
It’s strange how the Republicans seem to be all about throwing votes out, restricting voting, limiting access to ballot boxes and generally trying to make it harder or even impossible to vote.
And by “strange”, I mean “typical”
Yeah, a win for Republicans is the prevention of voting and they don’t even pretend otherwise.
I actually do find it strange that they keep shouting at the top of their lungs “WE ARE LOSERS. ONLY A MINORITY AGREES WITH US. WE CANNOT WIN UNLESS WE CHEAT.”
Yeah, I’m feeling very anxious.
My read is that Biden will win, but it will not be a clear victory tomorrow because of the early and mail-in votes. I don’t expect Trump to claim victory tomorrow night (although at this point I wouldn’t be surprised), but I do expect him to file suit in each and every state to halt vote counting and throw out all mail-in ballots. Not just the blue states, not just swing states. Every state. Because they will lay the tiny fig leaf of conspiracy over every stinking pile of bullshit they file with the courts. And that will be enough excuse for Republicans to wring their hands in consternation and decry the sad state of affairs that have come to pass, but ultimately do what they do best, which is nothing. And if any of the bullshit challenges gets struck down by the courts, then they will continue to appeal and appeal until either the clock runs out for the electoral college, or it gets to the USSC, which was the plan all along. (I didn’t imagine Trump saying that, did I?)
And so yes, I’ve been prepping for over a week. Made sure we have foodstuffs, cleaning products, paper products, prescriptions, alcohol, and anything else we would need for two weeks. Because no matter which way this goes, there will be protests. Mayor Lightfoot is well into her public safety plans, and we can expect criminals to use any significant protest as cover for another round of violence and looting. On top of the huge COVID numbers, I don’t necessarily want to go out anytime soon.
Which brings me to my anxiety. If things go sideways in the USSC, and it appears that Trump is lining up to be crowned our first de-facto king, what am I going to do about it? Trouble is, I believe one of the core founding principles of this country, some 240 years ago, was the silly notion that no one is above the law, including our elected leaders. Well, if the USSC decides to use Bush v Gore as precedent and halt vote counting, we will have reached the point where inaction is affirmation. Evil only triumphs when good people do nothing, and all that. So if it comes to that point, where the results of the election are effectively thrown out, what am I personally prepared to do? That’s my anxiety - what am I going to have to do in order to live with myself? Because I will not be able to just sit and watch it on TV. No, that would be accepting that democracy doesn’t matter, and if that is true then we are no longer a nation under rule of law. Which I cannot accept. So I will have to take to the streets in protest for as long as it takes. That’s what I’m worried about.
Probably more worried than I should be. The more I hear about the Biden-over-Trump spread widening, the LESS confident I feel that Trump will lose. I’m really, really frightened that somehow, Trump will get re-elected.
I’ll stop by 48 hours from now and find out if I’m right.
Halt voting based on what? Vague accusations of fraud? As we’ve seen over and over again even right-wing judges have rejected the Trump campaigns unproven claims of fraud. The Supreme Court will uphold every state’s laws regarding how their elections are run. The justices disagree on how to rule when state or federal judges tries to modify those laws, but if the state law clearly states that mail-in ballots received and postmarked by a certain date are valid they will not overturn that law. Of course that law might disenfranchise voters who thought they had more time to mail in their ballot, but I think a majority of mail-in voters knew not to risk that.
I expect Trump to continue to claim victory in February 2021, as he’s tweeting furiously from Mar-a Lago, or his Dacha somewhere in Russia.
Minority rule has nothing to do with this. Constitutional rule does. The rules are written in clear English. Fixation on a fictional contest is irrelevant.
Yes. Accusations of fraud in poorly written legalese with no actual evidence presented.
The aim is not to win at the low level, the aim is to kick up enough dust to make it to the appeal level and eventually either (a) the USSC or (b) time runs out and results cannot be certified. The former is what Republicans (ie, Trump et al) have specifically and explicitly said is the reason why they railroaded Barrett’s confirmation, to the point where she appeared at a campaign event immediately after being sworn in. The latter would be the date required by law in (insert state name here) to certify results. Or December 8 (Federal deadline for resolution of election disputes). Or December 14 (date that the Electoral College votes). Or January 6 (date that the Senate convenes to count the Electoral votes). Take your pick.
I’m worried in that while Biden’s nationwide polling has been remarkably consistent from the moment he jumped in the race to now (whereas Clinton’s was far more volatile and narrowed by election day), I have 2016 anxiety over the state polling in the midwest.
Biden’s polling vs Trump is actually better than Obama’s polling vs Romney in the battleground states … yet there’s something that does make me nervous whereas I was pretty much convinced Obama had re-election in the bag. In fact looking back at the 2012 polls I was surprised the race was actually that close as it didn’t feel that way to me.
I can’t explain why I’m worried except that if it was the same numbers vs Generic GOP candidate then I’d get the champagne ready but because it is Donald Trump who knows what shenanigans he, his enablers and his rabid base will be up to.
I loved Karl Rove’s meltdown live on Fox News over Ohio being called for Obama in 2012 but a couple of years later a documentary came out about the Romney campaign in those final days and as a matter of fact on direction of Romney, Rove was called to calm down and let it go. Romney did not want to be a sore loser and planned to concede with dignity. We’re not going to get a concession even if it’s a blowout for Biden with this group of republicans.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha, woo, that’s a good one. Yes, the rules are written in the constitution and in federal statues and state law. Both sides have nominally agreed to those rules. I have no confidence that Trump will abide by those rules, and it is my opinion that Republicans in the Senate will angrily frown, tsk, harrumph, and otherwise make a lot of noise about how awful the whole situation is while purposely looking the other way.
And how has that been working for them so far? The answer is it hasn’t.
Judges across the country cast doubt on voter fraud claims pushed by Republicans and Trump campaign
Actually, I suspect that the Republicans as a whole are ready for that - and that all dirt is going to point right to Trump and his cronies. Then they can throw Trump under a bus if he fails to be re-elected, and then claim with a straight face that when they had the evidence, they ‘put country before party’ and work on their reset to claim voter groups Trump has alienated. Will it work . . . well, it won’t for me, but they may believe it will.
Thank you for that. I hope logic and good sense are still valued in the judiciary. Although I admit at this point I don’t expect it.