Joe Biden, by historic margins, is going to be the next President of the United States. Ironically, he will win by the same electoral margin that his predecessor did in 2016. What is different about 2020, is that Biden did not win by razor thin margins in a small number of states like Trump did in 2016. For example, in 2016, Trump won PA by about 44,000 votes. In 2020, Biden won PA by 81,000 votes, almost doubling up Trump’s margin. In 2016, Trump won Michigan by about 10,000 votes. In 2020, Biden won Michigan by over 150,000 votes.
Not only did Biden flip “the blue wall” (PA, MI, WI) that Hillary Clinton lost, he flipped traditionally republican voting states Arizona and Georgia. Additionally, Biden outperformed Hillary’s margins in every single state except for CA, IL, UT, FL, AR and HI. He ended up being a great candidate to run against Trump, even if he was not your (or my) first choice to challenge Trump. He was a challenger that actually beat an incumbent President, something that has not happened since I was 1 year old (1992). Even considering how unpopular Trump is (-8% net approval on election day) the Biden victory is a historic landslide. Here’s how:
- Joe Biden is the first presidential candidate since 1964 to win a plurality of all registered voters, meaning, he’s the first one to out perform “the percentage of people who did not vote,” winning 34% of all eligible voters. More people voted for Joe Biden than stayed home.
- Joe Biden had the highest percentage of votes an incumbent challenger since FDR beat Herbert Hoover in 1932
- Joe Biden won by a larger popular vote margin than Barack Obama in 2012 and George Bush in 2004. (Of course larger than Trump in 2016 and Bush in 2000 because they both did not win the popular vote in those years.
Not only was Joe Biden’s victory historic, it was necessary for the survival of democracy. Since the week of the election, President Trump, his compromised Russian asset Lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Republicans in congress, and state GOP organizations have done untold damage at sowing distrust in our democracy. From Tweeting stupid things (mostly our outgoing commander and chief and useful idiots in congress like Marco Rubio) to actual death threats to election officials , the GOP is emptying the tank at trying to overturn the will of the large majority of American people.
The Anti-Democratic party
Simply put, what Trump and his loyalists in the Republican party are doing, is against the values of our country and an insult to everyone who has ever sacrificed anything for American democracy. First, the lawsuits Trump’s lawyers have been bringing into court, only to have thrown out for lack of evidence, alleging voter fraud, are giving people this false impression and hope, that Trump could still somehow win the election. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a statement on November 12 stating that “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. “ The director of this agency, Chris Krebs, was fired by Trump for having his agency release this statement.
By filing these frivolous lawsuits, Trump has mislead the public into thinking he has the election stolen from him. This is leading to death threats towards election officials in swing states like Arizona. Normally, there would be a bipartisan rebuke of this type of behavior and rhetoric, but congressional republicans are more interested in using this to fund raise for Trump and the party. Worst of all, 126 Republican members of the house of representatives signed on support of 17 Attorney Generals from states Trump won in this election who are suing the swing states that Biden won in hopes to invalidate the 62 electoral votes he won from PA, WI, MI, and GA.
Of course, the Supreme Court should not even give this the time of day, and the undersigned on this lawsuit, the congresspeople and AGs, deserve to be treated like the traitors they are. None deserve to hold elected office in this country ever again. Ironically, some of the GOP signers are trying to get votes invalidated in their own states. This court filing is a dark moment in American history. This is not about legal procedures. States have already certified their results, and recounts have been completed. There was no fraud and any “news” outlet or politician that cannot say that to their constituents is an undeserving, treasonous, coward.
Solutions
The behavior of Trump and the GOP has left us with more work to do with preserving our democracy. It is clear that the guardrails and checks and balances on executive power are barely enough. This Op-Ed from a Columbia Law professor argues that morality of the military and state officials were the only thing that saved our Republic this time around. SCOTUS is not likely to overturn or invalidate any votes anywhere, let alone enough to flip the result of the election, but what if it were closer. What if, hypothetically speaking, it were down around 500 votes in a swing state, like Florida, that would change the outcome of an election. Theoretically of course, the Supreme Court could make a decision that stops a recount and hands the presidency that shares a political outlook similar to themselves. Here’s what we need to do regardless of our political persuasion, in order to secure our democracy from future, smarter, despots and ensure replays of 2000 never happen again.
- Pressure your elected officials to condemn the actions of these Congressional Republicans. It’s the least they could do. Nobody should worry about personally offending anyone who is willing to subvert free and fair American Elections. One congressman has already filed a motion, invoking the 14th amendment, to not seat the House Republicans who participated in the Texas lawsuit. This is a good first step.
- Phone/Text bank for John Ossoff and Rev. Warnock to help them and Democrats take the Senate majority away from Mitch McConnell. This is really important because Mitch McConnell hates democracy and refuses to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act which would make voting more accessible and secure.
- Pressure the incoming AG and DoJ to prosecute Trump, his family and any GOP loyalists to ensure everyone undermining democracy is held accountable. Ford, pardoning Nixon for Watergate and Bush 41 pardoning the Iran-Contra perpetrators, is how we got a president like Trump who feels like laws and norms don’t apply to him. It’s time someone other than historians held Republican office abusers accountable for their crimes committed against the American people. It will be the easiest way to ensure that future authoritarians do not rise to power here in American and send a signal to any executive office holder that Laws matter.
Moving forward, I will be writing about what Biden needs to do to keep America safe from all enemies foreign and domestic (mostly domestic) as well as make a case for progressive policies that are overwhelming popular in this country but for some reason (mostly the failures of the Democratic Party) cannot gain steam in congress. I look forward to a brighter America despite how the fascists in the GOP are operating.
She's Worth It 