We found out today, November 7, 2020, that Former Vice President Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States.
I am glad that Biden won. While his record is not perfect (far from it), I believed that out of all of the candidates for this position, he was the one most capable of leading the country justly through these difficult times.[1] While I know I have written on here about issues with Biden’s past record, I do wish that his presidency is a successful one. To take from the words George H.W. Bush wrote to Bill Clinton upon Clinton becoming President, his success is now our country’s success.
I also know there is a strong possibility of Republicans holding on to the United States Senate. If that is indeed the case (depending on how the runoff elections in Georgia go[2]), I recognize that I will need to be realistic with what Biden is able to address, given the partisan environment with American politics at the moment. But, I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself either, as there will be two runoff elections in Georgia to help determine control of the Senate.
Election results aside, I think that there are a few thank yous that a lot of us, myself included, owe in light of the election that recently happened.
First and foremost, thank you to we, the American people, for turning out in such high numbers! Reports seem to be indicating that the turnout for this election is the highest it has been in generations. Hopefully, this level of engagement with our elections will continue well beyond 2020.
A thank you must also go to people who’ve worked the polls and counted the ballots. Without the work of these people, it would not be possible to have an election.
I thank those involved in overseeing the operations of this election. Many Secretaries of State (regardless of political affiliation) as well as local Boards of Elections have operated this election, in the middle of a pandemic, about as smoothly as one could reasonably expect. Furthermore, in light of baseless claims of election fraud from President Trump, many involved in overseeing this election have gone to great pains to be transparent about the election process (even to the point of doing things like having livestreams of places where votes are being counted). I hope this transparency will increase the faith some of us have in American democracy—a faith that seemed to be on shaky ground heading into this election.
My final thank you goes to all of the people outside the United States who have expressed thoughts for, and in the case of people of faith, prayers for, us as we go through this election. These have been tense times, so I appreciate the thoughts, well-wishes, and prayers.
Speaking of thoughts and prayers, I will end this post by requesting that people hope for (and, if you’re the praying type, pray for) a smooth transition of power from President Trump to President-elect Biden. I am sadly not confident that the transition will be smooth or that Trump will even accept the fact he lost this election, but given the challenges this country currently faces, a smooth transition of power is desperately needed.
Author’s Note: I am aware that the Trump campaign has made numerous legal challenges regarding the election results. I am also aware that Trump himself has not conceded as of the time of my writing this. However, what I hear from legal experts (which I am not) is that the legal challenges from the Trump campaign are highly unlikely to change the result of this election (even if said challenges succeed, and the overwhelming majority of challenges are not succeeding from what I hear).
Second Author’s Note: I will not publish a post next week as Veterans Day is next week.
Third Author’s Note: This post was written recently, so I apologize for any typos that may appear here.
[1] If you’re wondering why I believe this, please refer to the blog post where I explain why I support Biden: https://blindinjusticeblog.com/2020/10/26/how-issues-of-injustice-influenced-my-presidential-pick/
[2] Currently, Democrats have 48 seats (a tally that includes two independents who caucus with the Democrats). The elections for both United States Senate races in Georgia are going to a runoff. If Democrats win both races, their 50 seats will be enough to control the Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris serves as the tiebreaking vote.
Blind Injustice 
What is a run off?
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Thanks for asking.
In some states, races for statewide office (but not national office) require a runoff if the first place candidate does not get above a certain percentage of the vote. In Georgia, their election laws require a runoff if the first place candidate did not get more than 50% of the vote. Neither Senate race in Georgia had a candidate get above 50% of the vote; therefore, both Senate races are going to runoff elections.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
In the case of Georgia, there were two Senate races (one regular election and one special election triggered by the fact that a previous holder of the seat had to resign for health reasons). Georgia requires a candidate to get above 50% to allow for a runoff. In both cases, the top vote-getter did not get above 50%.
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Wonderful written Brendan. I especially like the important thank you’s. I believe we have a rocky road ahead of us, but Biden is known for being able to work with Republicans like Mitch McConnell, so hopefully we can see some bipartisanship at some point.
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I hope for the same, Kim. The thank yous are important–we went into this election with a lot of people lacking faith in our democracy, I hope all of this restored some faith.
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Great post, Brendan. Like Kim, I especially like that you took the time to thank so many who worked tirelessly during a pandemic and under stressful conditions to ensure the integrity of this election. Now to just survive the next 73 days.
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You’re welcome. And as I said to Kim, I’m hoping that the great work done in this election will have restored the faith some people lost in our democracy.
One comforting thing I heard from a person on the George W. Bush transition team is that most parts of the transition actually involve career government people and not the outgoing POTUS. If that is indeed the case (and I can see how that’s the case, as Biden has already been getting briefings on everything from national security to COVID), then Trump might not be graceful, but he can’t do a lot to make the transition to Biden rocky.
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Yes, I heard the same … that the transition will largely take place without much input from him. And … another good thing … Biden already knows his way around the White House, so if Trump refuses to give him the official tour — no matter!
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You raise a good point about Biden knowing his way around the White House.
And another thing: given how long he’s been in public service (including as VP and as a person chairing influential committees such as Foreign Relations and Judiciary), he probably already has a lot of contacts in different parts of our government.
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I have no doubt that is true. He has friends in high places and no doubt has called in some markers.
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I think it’s positive that Biden and Harris don’t agree on everything. A spirit of compromise is good for democracy. Mitch McConnell being obstructionist, on the other hand, is not good for democracy, but we shall see.
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Yeah, we shall see with McConnell. I’m holding out hope that the Dems win the two Georgia Senate runoff races (I’m about to explain in one of the other comments what a runoff is), but if not I’m hoping that Biden’s longtime relationship with McConnell will be helpful.
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The knot in my stomach that has been there for almost 4 years is slowly going away. Civility and dignity is back. I too am hoping the transition will be smooth. President Trump will put up his challenges as is his right, but then I hope we can get back to working on our problems of which there are many.
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I feel much the same way about the knot in my stomach. Even with the transition, it sounds like most of the process will not involve Trump (or any sitting President), so even if Trump never accepts his loss, lots of things will transition smoothly regardless.
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The Pandemic is raging and we have over 70 days left of him and he is doing nothing.
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Yep–that part is terrifying. He’s playing golf, for goodness sakes.
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Seriously, it is terrifying.
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A most interesting post, Brendan, for a non-American like me. I am glad your election process has gone relatively smoothly so far.
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It’s going about as smoothly as it could, for a President of the United States who is unwilling to concede defeat. It is quite striking though how many police forces prepared for the possibility of riots, yet instead we are seeing celebrations.
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It is a really good thing.
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Beautifully said — thanks so much.
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You’re welcome, Maren.
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Agreed. I think he’s literally going to have to be dragged out of the White House ;-/
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I hope you will be wrong, but fear that you will be right.
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Just to clarify, the reason I hope you’re wrong is just because it would mean things are going more peacefully then we thought. So hopefully it’s more peaceful than you fear, and than I fear.
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Well, as of last week, he wasn’t including Biden on any briefings or giving any information. He’s also instructed aides and media not to refer to him as president-elect lol but not funny. Things are not going peacefully. We’re just not hearing all of the things.
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