PATIENCE

Twelve years ago, I was at the Tarrant County Democratic Party watch party being a witness to history. When the 10PM hour struck, it was announced that Obama had won.

In 2012, I was at my home in Denton, TX watching the returns come in. Ohio was announced for Obama 12 minutes after 10PM thus securing his re-election.

I remember where I was in 2016, and the slow agony among those in a Denver hotel room of watching Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. I was so distraught that I could not drive, and I remember calling my sister to apologize to my niece for not doing enough to prevent the nightmare from happening.

There was some anxiety going into 2018, but there was relief when it was announced that the Democrats had flipped the House thus providing a necessary check on Trump’s recklessness.

In each of those instances, we knew the results.

In this election, the key word is patience. I know that is something that Americans normally do not have, and we all want the instant gratification. Myself included.

But it is needed right now due to the conditions that this election was conducted under as well as that every national election is a series of 51 concurrent elections with rules that differ from each jurisdiction happening where the attention on who will be president turns on a handful of states.

A summary of the national results so far

Based on various reports from the Associated Press and other credible outlets, Joe Biden leads the electoral vote 264-214 and the non-binding popular vote 51%-48%. Several news agencies have yet to call Arizona for Biden but the Associated Press and Fox News (yes, I am as shocked as you) have projected that the Democratic nominee will carry that state and are sticking with their call. There is still a lot of outstanding vote in Maricopa County and that is probably why other news decision desks are being cautious with calling that state.

Biden has all but held one state from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 map. The only state that went to Clinton four years ago that hasn’t been called yet is Nevada. Per the New York Times, Biden is leading Nevada 49.3-48.7, and we are awaiting vote totals from the heavily populated counties of Clark and Washoe where Biden is leading. It is expected that there will be a report sometime mid-morning.

The states that Biden has flipped from Trump so far: Michigan, Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, and Wisconsin.

Besides Arizona and Nevada, the focus is also on Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Trump is leading in those states but there is still a lot of outstanding votes in those states – mainly in the large metropolitan areas. Georgia and Pennsylvania are continuing on with their counts while North Carolina is waiting for the arrival of mail-in ballots.

At this moment, the Senate is still a tossup with four outstanding races. Alaska will likely be a Republican hold but it is classified as too early to call. It will take time to determine who has won that seat. The path for the Democrats to flip the senate is a very narrow path with winning seats in North Carolina and the two races in Georgia. North Carolina and the regularly scheduled Georgia senate races are still too close call with Thom Tillis and David Purdue leading their respective races. The other Georgia senate race is headed to a runoff between Reverend Raphael Warnock and Senator Kelly Loeffler. Like that race, Purdue in the other senate election is trying to avoid a runoff by staying above 50%. It is possible that control of the Senate could come down to a runoff on 5 January 2021 in Georgia.

The House is likely to remain in Democratic control albeit a smaller majority. The final makeup will not be known until all the votes are counted later this month.

I know a lot of people are disappointed with that the election is not resulting in a large repudiation of Trump and his Republican enablers and what they stand for. As I stated in my last post before the election, Trump is a malignant growth that must be cut out of the body politic. It will be painful and will probably lead to some fraying, even the severing of relationships as I have done so in my own family for the sake of my conscious and mental health.

For now, there must be patience as we wait for every vote to be counted.