Because I’m a chickeshit, I won’t make a final prediction until a day or two before the election. 
But I can see it going in this general direction.
Around 7 p.m. Eastern, the first polls close. It’s already been dark outside for over an hour. BTW, is it just me, or does it seem like it is always rainy, damp, cloudy, and chilly on election night? I can’t remember the last time there was a beautiful day or moonlit night on election night.
Yeah so anyway, people begin to start tuning in. People don’t usually follow politics could be either elated or alarmed by the first few states that come in, which will show Trump jumping out to an early lead, having scored early victories in Indiana, Kentucky, and South Carolina. Vermont will likely be a quick pickup for Biden. So by the time dinner is finished, Trump will be leading 28-3. Georgia, Florida, and Virginia will be closing but with the results not known for another couple of hours.
Around a half hour later, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Ohio begin closing it up. Early results may show Trump potentially expanding his lead. And as we approach 8 p.m., Trump might be leading 33-3, having added West Virginia in the win column.
As we move past 8 p.m., multiple states begin closing polls,with both campaigns picking up some quick victories. I’m guessing that sometime between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Biden will either get (or obviously close to getting) his first string of victories in CT, DE, ME*, IL, MA, NH, NJ, RI, and DC. By 9 or shortly thereafter, Biden might either have or be closing in on 83 projected electoral votes. Trump will probably have picked up AL, AR, KS, MS, and TN. He will probably also be well on his way to picking up MO, though it might not be called at that point. Other states either won’t be completely closed or will remain undetermined for a while. So maybe by 9 or 9:15 p.m., as people are beginning to really settle in on the East Coast (for a long night of some hard drinking) and as people are getting dinner on the table out West, Biden will probably be close to pushing past Trump with a projected EC tally of 83-71. Of course the states that everyone’s watching will be either not yet closed or still too close or recently closed to call. *Worth noting that quirky Maine splits its electors and awards one delegate to the winner of their congressional district, which leans red. This may not be completely called right away.
It’s now around 9:30 to 10 p.m. Do you know where your MAGA friend or crazy uncle is? Huffing and puffing on Facebook? Typing in all caps VOTE FRAUD! GIT READY FER CIVAL WAR, FREAKIN LIBS!!! Yeah mine, too.
Trump wins some layup victories in Oklahoma, Nebraska**, the Dakotas and in Louisiana, potentially giving him the lead for the moment. Missouri has also been called for Trump. Progressives start to sweat, maybe go back to the refrigerator for another craft brew or to their backpack for another spliff (in Colorado only, of course). **Nebraska, like Maine, splits off some electors, and this year, one of these might actually go blue. Trump will carry one less elector than he did in 2016.
Virginia is now officially called for Joe, and he also picks up New York as we get closer to 10 p.m. Trump tweets about how will fire all government employees who live in Northern Virginia to make Northern Virginia red (great) again, and how New York is a failed state and that he’s glad he left. As we get close to 10 p.m. Biden is probably winning 124-95, but the battleground states - the ones we really care about - haven’t been called and may not be for a while. The campaigns will have to sweat it out for a while longer, and so will the rest of us.
It’s now 10:30 to 11 p.m. The official results are beginning to show some depressing news for Trump’s campaign. Election returns in Florida and North Carolina are not going as well as they had hoped. And by 11 p.m., networks make it official: that state’s 29 electors will be going to Joe Biden. Close aides, politicos, and advisers are now sullen. The news in nearby North Carolina isn’t good either. Worst of all, states that should have been slam dunk wins - GA, TX, and IA - are horrifyingly close and remain uncalled. A few other states that were probably going to Biden anyway - MN, CO, and NM - make it official. Trump picks up…Wyoming. It’s about 10:45 or 11 p.m. Biden is winning 179-109 and has landed his first major punch by winning Florida.
Sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m., Trump and Republicans get more sobering news: Georgia is probably going to Joe Biden. After years of trying to rig the vote, after stealing the governor’s mansion from Staci Abrams, voters of all different backgrounds and white female voters in suburban Atlanta overwhelm efforts to stop them. Moments later, the networks announce that Biden will win North Carolina as well. Biden now has a projected 210 electoral votes, and the networks are now watching the results come in out West. Trump picks up ID and UT, and it looks like he might be able to keep TX, IA, and OH red after all. But Biden now picks up more states out West. The chances for Trump’s re-election at the ballot box are almost non-existent. Moreover, the official results simultaneously show Trump losing in PA, WI, and MI, though it’s still too close to call and PA and WI may not be called for days. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. As we get closer to 11:30, the West states go to Biden, one by one. The first to make it official is Kamala Harris’ home state of CA, throwing 55 EVs to Biden-Harris. They’re now just a state short of victory a little before midnight. And then, Washington makes it official, as Biden-Harris pick up 12 more electoral votes. The networks declare Biden-Harris the winners, as MAGA world claims that it’s not over and that Dems must have rigged the elections.
Now it’s after midnight. A surreal scene in which networks declare a winner but the obvious loser refuses to concede. Intrigue abounds about how this will unfold. Right wing pundits are already sending mixed signals. Some who’ve perhaps wanted to come out of the closet and say more all along finally feel it’s their opportunity to challenge Trump and MAGAbots, and finally come on to networks as guests and say conciliatory things. Others, however, double down on claims of voter fraud and how they’ll refuse to work with Biden and the Dems.
Right around midnight (maybe a little before), Oregon and Nevada go to Biden. And then not long after midnight on November 4, Michigan finally goes to Biden. It’s the first of the blue wall to go back to the Democrats. Biden is now dominating the election: 306-184. Your crazy FB friends are freaking out, telling ‘alla yous’ that they’re going to leave the country now that it’s sure to be ‘taken over by illegals and thugs.’
Later in the early morning hours, PA becomes the second blue wall state to switch back to Biden: Predictably, Trump has picked up AK and Biden HI. It’s now 330-187 by the time you start turning on the coffee maker. WI and AZ may not be called for another day or two.
That’s what I potentially see now. But who knows…
