Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

T R E 4 5 O N

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

This fight is for everything.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

We still have time to mess this up!

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / How Are We Holding Up?

Reader Interactions

209Comments

  10. 10.

    Jerzy Russian

    I am a nervous wreck.  However, looking at the AP map on my cell phone, Texas, Ohio and  Pennsylvania are leaning blue at the moment.  Can’t complain about that too much.

  17. 17.

    Cheryl Rofer

    I have muted “needle” on Twitter and am considering muting “Hillary” and “Clinton.” Too many people are comparing Biden’s numbers to Clinton’s. By and large, the comparisons are favorable, but I find it annoying.

  19. 19.

    HumboldtBlue

    Doing fantastic, the night is still in toddler phase numbers are going to start picking up.

    Feel good.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    @Betty Cracker: Saw this from an analyst:

     

    OK so what we’re looking at right now is probably a 5 or 6 point Biden swing outside of Florida, with Biden performing pretty close to expectations outside of the southwest.+ If we see an underperformance in FL + GA + NC but overperformance in TX, that’s a pretty fun poll error— G. Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) November 4, 2020

    If that holds up, it’s enough.

    (there was a followup Tweet: should be ‘southeast’)

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    Just woke up from a long napp

    • Endless screaming
    • Really stressed off the charts
    • WTF America
    • Endless screaming
    • Kill me now
  29. 29.

    Chetan Murthy

    Not good.  I’ve decided to not doomscroll.  So after posting this comment, I’ll close this window and go back to working on understanding this attribute-grammar evaluator generator paper that I’ve been grinding thru.

  31. 31.

    GoBlueInOak

    @Jerzy Russian: Biden losing Texas.  The blue areas are more fully reported at this point, and Biden is trailing Beto’s margins.

    Florida is gone.  And North Carolina is similar to TX – the bluer areas are more fully reported so far.

    We aren’t taking Arizona.

    This comes down to same 3 states as 2016 – PA, WI, and MI.  Everything else was fantasyland.   The country doesn’t change that much in 4 years – and the Democrats spent last 4 years making fun of Trump instead of taking him seriously.

  36. 36.

    mvr

    Well, distracted myself making calls in NE-2, and more recently by sending money to Alaska and MT.

    Still a bit shakey, but that will be over soon enough or too soon depending on how it goes.

  37. 37.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    What has struck me?  Comparing MSNBC and CNN.  CNN has it’s two weakest talking heads, two ageing white dudes and nothing but John King and Wolf Blitzer carrying the coverage.

    Then move over to MSNBC and the main desk has three women!  I’m no fan of Nicolle Wallace because of her background, she’s classic Republican Detachment Disorder, but the visual between the two networks is striking.  And the general chatter on MSNBC is more informative than CNN.

    I guess Anderson got the night off.

  40. 40.

    Shalimar

    Florida,  North Carolina and Georgia all look like narrow Trump victories, which, given how Republicans do everything they can to cheat at the margins, makes me wonder if the election has been fair.  I hate these assholes.

  46. 46.

    guachi

    @GoBlueInOak:

    Yeah. Hispanic voters and Black voters moving to Trump from 2016, it seems. At least from what we see in FL and TX for Hispanic voters and GA and NC for black voters.

    The margins just aren’t there.

  50. 50.

    Felanius Kootea

    @GoBlueInOak: Well, I have hope that he’ll win the three states that he needs (PA, WI and MI).  He doesn’t need more than that to win the election.

  51. 51.

    hueyplong

    Win the three that went so wrong last time and we’re good.

    My son, who is on his second election of being irritatingly correct about heartbreaking states going Trump, bet large sums of money on Trump in FL and GA but has Biden winning the election (with 279).

  52. 52.

    featheredsprite

    I really don’t think that Trump has a chance in hell. I think he knows that he’s losing. We’ll see.

  54. 54.

    ElwoodPDowd

    Sipping a lot of red wine.

    Playing solitaire on iPad.

    Not winning much, which figures.

    yikes

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    So we’re not gonna know final results in PA (slow mail count), GA (major delay in Fulton county/Atlanta) and maybe MI (according to what I think Rachel Maddow just said) until tomorrow?

  59. 59.

    GoBlueInOak

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Definitely.  I don’t think his campaign suffered from lack of attention to the Upper Midwest.   Remains a question this evening whether their strategy in those states was a good one or not.

    The rest – TX, GA, FL, NC, AZ – was all just fantasyland.  America is a shitty country and it gave no evidence to the contrary last 4 years.  I mean – whether Covid-19 is real and whether masks wearing works is an actual political argument in this country – which is totally INSANE.

  60. 60.

    PsiFighter37

    As mentioned, it will be PA/MI/WI. I think we are in danger of losing Arizona based on how the Latino vote is swinging. That said, given Biden’s overperformance with white suburban voters (and there are more of those than Latinos in Maricopa County), there’s still a shot.

    I am now thinking that Biden will end up being closer in OH and IA than he will in FL and some of the Sun Belt states. It certainly seems like he has a fair shot of winning Ohio at this point.

  61. 61.

    Quinerly

    @Cheryl Rofer: that’s the way I feel. I got yelled at for saying Trump doing better in Florida than 2016. That’s a fact. Startled me that he is… It seems to be all because of Miami Dade. Cubans, Venezuelans. I never thought we would win Florida though.

  64. 64.

    skerry

    Not well at all.

    My mother-in-law died today. Alone. Tested Covid19 positive last week on her 94th birthday.

  69. 69.

    Tenar Arha

    I’m actually following my plan to retain sanity, mostly. I’m amazed at myself.

    I phone banked earlier for Sara Gideon, had leftover Halloween candy as a snack, decided it was too cold to take my planned walk & napped instead. Woke up, prepared a crustless quiche & put it in the oven to bake while drinking Lillet. & I’ve now switched to Prosecco, while waiting for my dinner to finish cooking, while chilling watching the Higher Heights Election Night Watch Party & Spin Room. Higher Heights clip link

  70. 70.

    James E Powell

    @GoBlueInOak:

    the Democrats spent last 4 years making fun of Trump instead of taking him seriously.

    Not to be too contentious when spirits are running high, but this is bulllshit.

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @pat: That makes no fucking sense.  If the Dems take the Senate, McConnell will not be Majority Leader.  That is where the fucking power is.

  82. 82.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I like paraphrasing Jeremiah Wright at times like this:

    ”God Bless America?

    God Damn America!”

  83. 83.

    guachi

    @Omnes Omnibus: I hope (and still think) that enough Democrats win the Senate to get to 50 or 51 (and, of course, Biden wins the Presidency).

    I think the possibility of 52 or 53 seats is lower than it was earlier in the day.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @James E Powell: hard to argue with our cosplay friend of many costumes. Sometimes he’s a radical leftist sometimes a tough-talkin’ pragmatic centrist. For a while he was pretending to be a Sacramento power-broker who discussed strategery with “Jerry”

  91. 91.

    Cheryl Rofer

    FWIW –

  97. 97.

    John S.

    @Quinerly: I’m right there with you. I fully expected Biden to make up ground with white voters (he did) but am really surprised that Trump made up ground with minorities.

    Theres no rational explanation for that being the case which I have seen.

  98. 98.

    The Pale Scot

    Put on the respite shelf.

    JFC.. I can’t believe I never thought of this before. Search utube for “Live at Montreux” Gott Himmel. Ella, Nina, Prince….  Deep Purple

  101. 101.

    guachi

    @cokane: The thing about Florida is that… it’s Florida.

    At least there’s no Senate race or Gubernatorial race this cycle, like in 2018.

  102. 102.

    Aleta

    I feel like there’s cheating going on.  But some places aren’t counting absentee ballots yet, in some places not until after counting today’s vote, so maybe that’s it.

  104. 104.

    Adam L Silverman

  105. 105.

    guachi

    @John S.: I think males of all races respond to Trump’s fake macho image. They aren’t voting on policies. They are voting on personality.

  112. 112.

    Other Suzanne

    I jumped right to the bottom, so if I missed it, my bad; but what happened to the nearly 100M early votes????? Is this really happening?!?!

    I feel sick.

    ETA: What’s wrong with VA?!

  114. 114.

    James E Powell

    According to the NYT site, Biden’s lead in Ohio is down below 150K, but the three big blue counties are only reporting about half their ballots counted: Cuyahoga 47%, Franklin, 55%, Hamilton 49%.

    And in Mahoning County (Youngstown) where Hillary barely edged Trump in 2016, Biden is up 59-39 with 54% reporting.

  117. 117.

    pat

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Looked at my original comment and it was a bit unclear.

    Let us hope that dems take the senate and mitch is powerless, other wise we are looking at another 4 years of nothing getting done that has to go through the senate.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @guachi:

    They aren’t voting on policies. They are voting on personality.

    that’s true of a lot more than trump voters

    @Mike J: I’ll guess you were linking to this? (ETA: And I was wrong) Everybody breathe. (this is still valid)

    Tim Alberta @TimAlberta
    There is a lot to like for Joe Biden in Ohio right now.

    … and, I would add, a lot to like *because of* Ohio. i.e. even if he doesn’t win, these huge gains in the suburbs of the industrial midwest bode very well for MI/WI/PA

  122. 122.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    If we lose, I’m all in for killing off Medicare  and Social Security. Wreck ‘em – let seniors live in the laissez faire world they’ve been voting for over the past 40 years.

    Fuck ‘em all. Let granny eat cat food. Don’t give a fuck.

  123. 123.

    Zzyzx

    Something I wonder about sometimes is what the US would be like if the Florida panhandle were part of Alabama. I bet we’d be a ton more liberal.

  124. 124.

    dmsilev

    @Mike J: Some counties in PA started counting their early votes this morning, so that might be factored in to the current results.

  127. 127.

    PsiFighter37

    Madison Cawthorn won in NC-11. A fucking 25 year-old neo-Nazi college dropout who has done literally nothing in his life. Disgusting.

  128. 128.

    RedDirtGirl

    I’m watching an Icelandic cop show on Amazon. I’m completely blocking out the election.

  130. 130.

    Walker

    I am feeling what I felt going into the day. Still looks like Biden will pull it off, but I do not think Senate majority is happening.

  135. 135.

    guachi

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Absolutely people vote on personality. I think that Trump and Obama had personalities that appealed to men in a way that Biden doesn’t. Or, at least, Biden doesn’t appeal to a traditional version of masculinity.

    I think I saw some large poll a few days ago that had Biden about 5 better among white voters and Trump 5 better among Black and Hispanic voters.

  139. 139.

    Geminid

    I’m listening to election coverage on WBT 1110AM Charlotte. They’re not near to calling the Senate or the Presidential race. I’ll switch to WRVA out of Richmond in a minute and see how Cameron Webb is doing in the VA5th, and Abigail Spanberger in the 7th. I think Elaine Luria has got the 2nd district, down in Tidewater.

  141. 141.

    John S.

    @Zzyzx: Florida would definitely be reliably blue without the panhandle, but only for national elections. The state legislature would still skew slightly conservative. There are just too many red counties here — even without the Redneck Riviera.

  145. 145.

    lurker

    @skerry: very sorry to hear that.  while we have all lost someone to this thing (even those who may not realize it), it is hardest in the immediate aftermath and with someone so close, so my heart aches all the more for you.  Hang in there and keep in mind that the dawn of tomorrow brings a day with possibilities you cannot know now.

  146. 146.

    raven

    @Jess:

    RICHMOND — Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in Virginia in the race for president Tuesday.

    Biden took the state’s 13 Electoral College votes. It is still too early to call the overall presidential contest, as well as three competitive U.S. House races in Virginia.

  149. 149.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Adam L Silverman: I posted something earlier in the day saying that Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee estimated that Milwaukee would have 89% turnout.  She knows her district.

  150. 150.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jess: Northern Virginia is always slow to come in. It’s also has a huge Democratic majority. So just sit tight.

  153. 153.

    planetjanet

    @Other Suzanne: Virginia has massive absentee voting which may not get reported until 11:00.  Turnout at the polls today was very light, which was reported first.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    On the food-o-meter, I am on my second piece of homemade bread with the best ever apricot jam.  Not a good sign.  If I bake some of the chocolate chip cookie dough, that will be a step in the wrong direction.

    The potato chips are break-glass-in-case -of-emergency level.  I am trying to hold the anxiety at bay.  Starting to do some work for a client as a way to do that.

    Not the energizing, hopeful night I started anticipating yesterday.  Deep breaths.  Off to work for awhile.

  157. 157.

    OGLiberal

    To answer John’s original question, not good.  Both of my kids have pre-existing conditions and while they are covered (for now) under my work plan they are not getting any younger and they’ll be on their own in the not so distant future. (and I’m not getting any younger either and I’m a layoff away from not having that health insurance)  So, yeah, I’m not in a happy place right now.  And, yes, I know it’s not over.

  159. 159.

    Ella in New Mexico

    So I live in Albuquerque for my new job, while hubby lives down south, which means we’re not together tonight. He’s alone in our old house, with a ton of vodka and some sort of “PUD” he says he ate for dinner.

    Our family has like a a 20+ member group text and it’s on fire tonight, between election commentary and food porn.

    I just threatened to ban my husband from our messaging thread because he’s lamenting every loss as if they all had equal opportunity.

    “OMG, Indiana, REALLY?”

    WTF, CORNYN?”

    “Goddamn it fucking Mitch McConnell the Walking Dead do Live!!!”

    “What the HELL is wrong with South Dakota? 70% Trump? ”

    “TOM THE FUCKING PENCIL NECK COTTON IS GOING BACK TO THE SENATE!!!! WTF?”

    He’s a pretty smart guy but man, he’s had way too much to drink tonight. ;-)

    I think I’m going to go finish the last episode of The Good Place or maybe the Haunting of Hill House and just hit the hay with a podcast about horrific unsolved murders or maybe The Dearly Departed Podcast which I was saving for later but maybe I’ll indulge. I really don’t have the energy to do this fucking blow by blow “Steve Kornacki dramatically circles every county and announces every precinct ‘s hourly tallies in Florida’s ” shit.

    I’ll just figure out how to get my passport ASAP and what countries really need Nurse Practitioners to emigrate there tomorrow.

  160. 160.

    David ?Booooooo!? Koch

    @TimAlberta

    reminder: the sequence of vote-counting in MI/WI/PA is going to be the reverse of Florida, i.e., same-day votes are tallied first (likely pushing Trump into the lead), followed by mail ballots (likely cutting into / possibly overtaking that lead)

  161. 161.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: If I bake some of the chocolate chip cookie dough, that will be a step in the wrong direction.

    So just chow down on the dough. :)

  162. 162.

    Emma from FL

    Biden is leading 131 to 92 in Electoral College votes. There are at 9 states where the count hasn’t even started and a further four leaning blue. Why are y’all defenestrating yourselves?

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    Not one for public predictions* but the dominos are falling as I expected so far, still favoring Biden crossing 270.

    Never did put any stock into the wild expressions of 350 or 400 EVs.

    *although privately I have a number, with a plus or minus five as a part of it, which placed in a sealed envelope a week ago.

  168. 168.

    Amir Khalid

    I see from CNN’s electoral college tracker that Biden is up 89-54. That seems a good position.

  170. 170.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Emma from FL:   I think Biden will pull it out.  However, it still depresses me that Trump got more than one vote (his own) and that he was not in jail long ago.

  173. 173.

    Damned_at_Random

    Wisconsin and Michigan are driving me crazy right now – deja vu. And of all the people to have a personality cult – DONALD TRUMP??? What am I missing? I still don’t get it

  177. 177.

    Emma from FL

    @Jerzy Russian: Well, yes, but that’s not in the cards in the real world, is it? We don’t live in TBogg’s lollipop land (does anyone remember that righteous rant?). We live among assholes, greedheads, and the occasional real monster. In other words, the natural composition of the human race.

  178. 178.

    Tim Posh-looking in a mask

    Alfredo. Beer. Star Trek. Little Debby. Not hanging on the horse race tonight. Gonna walk the dog again before passing out. I did my part. I voted. No rule says I have to dangle on hooks all night. You don’t find peace. You make it. God save the Republic.

  179. 179.

    Steve in the ATL

    Last time I drank Mad Dog 202 I ended up passed out naked in the backyard of a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland.

    @HumboldtBlue:

      this would be an awesome story if you started drinking somewhere west of the Mississippi!

  181. 181.

    SWMBO

    @skerry: Condolences. In the last week my mother and brother have tested positive for the plague. So far, they are at home and still getting through it.

  183. 183.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Believe it or not it was my first met-a-girl-and-had-a-summer-fling-for-five-days. Beautiful young woman, recent graduate from Baltimore and me from Dover. She and her friends had rented a house and me and a buddy were working for the summer.

    It was awesome.

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Indeed. Good to see your name again.

  185. 185.

    Subsole

    @Emma from FL: 2016 flashback trauma for me.

    But then, I am a cishet white dude.

    Other folks are facing much, much more direct and existential pressures. I think they’re allowed a freakout or three…

     

    Incidentally, your comment is the best news I have had all night.

  187. 187.

    Emma from FL

    @Subsole: NPR. Also have checked The Guardian. They aren’t quite in sync but seem to go through similar shifts as states report in.

  200. 200.

    The Thin Black Duke

    It both amazes and bums me out to no end that so many idiots in this country would rather be dead than admit they were wrong.

  202. 202.

    JMG

    @The Thin Black Duke: That’s a big part of it. But the other parts are equally the desire for white minority rule in perpetuity among many (not all obviously) white people and the freedom to be an asshole that Trump gives his followers.

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