There could be a constitutional fight over which states have “valid” election results. In states where republicans hold power (Florida and Ohio, for instance), you could have republicans playing extreme political hardball and contesting the legitimacy of elections, possibly even proposing their own slate of electors. The goal of Trump’s staunchest allies wouldn’t necessarily be to win the electoral college outright, just to deny Biden from reaching 270 electors. If they can do that, the election would go to the House of Representatives, where contrary to common belief, Republicans would still hold the advantage because of their number of state delegations.
And, if all elections are postponed (Senate, House, Gubernatorial, etc.), the terms of all of the Representatives end on January 3, 2021. So there won’t be a House of Representatives. And 1/3 of the Senate will be vacant as well.
I have to wonder, Repubs can ignore refrigerated trailers full of overflow bodies of ordinary Americans who died from Covid, but how many more high-profile Repubs will get sick or die before the denialism that it’s a hoax or largely harmless virus (just the sniffles!) becomes too ridiculous to sustain?
It will NEVER be too ridiculous to sustain for the brain dead Trump faithful. They will just concoct a theory that Pelosi, in league with Soros and the Shape shifting Lizard People are secretly killing people by injecting them with venom in the basement of Wallmart. And they’ll believe it.
I don’t know if all elections would necessarily be postponed. If Trump knows he’s going to lose a free and fair election, then he has to find another way to stay in power, which in this case is convincing enough of the right people that the election wasn’t conducted in a free and fair manner. Trump doesn’t have to convince people that he won the vote; he just has to cast doubt on the process itself. That’s all that’s really required. If he achieves that, it’s just a matter of whether or not he can convince enough of his own party and his own voters to go along with this game, and more importantly, how many people stand in open opposition to the loss of democracy.
I said it a long time ago back when people thought I was nuts for claiming that the end of American democracy was at hand: the end of American democracy won’t come when a majority of people support authoritarianism; it will come when not enough people care enough or do enough to stop it.
A saving grace is that Trump has shit all over the military.
I don’t think that the military would back a Trump coup.
They have to follow him, as he is the constitutionally appointed head, and to be honest, the only thing that worries me more than the military listening to Trump is the military not listening to the president.
My kid is currently active service. There is a surprising amount of support for Trump among the rank and file enlisted. Mostly they support his decision to pardon the Marine accused of killing a civilian. Mostly they blame the now defunct Sec of Navy for removing the commander of the carrier over the Covid-19 fiasco aboard his ship.
I think the senior command is the one that will oppose any actions by Trump that would be a threat to democracy.
50 states, 50 rules. I don’t think there’s a mechanism in any of them for an incumbent to automatically keep their seat in the absence of an election, however. As of now, the House doesn’t acknowledge a representative without an election, so an election (general or special) would have to be held eventually.
On the other hand, the elections are run by the states. I’m not sure any state wants to give up its representation in Congress to avoid the Presidential part of the election. They’d be leaving themselves at the mercy of states that do hold elections. I suspect most states would hold elections for that reason alone.
And if somehow, the certification process was hijacked, it wouldn’t matter - at that point, our democracy is already toast. I suspect this won’t happen, but it’s 2020, so who knows?
