11-13-2020, 12:04 PM
Not sure that 2000 is the right standard to use, since back then there was legitimate uncertainty over who the next president would be. Should Clinton have given transition funds to both Bush and Gore?
The uncertainty in this election is comparable to the uncertainty in 2016. Biden is on track to win the exact same number of electoral votes as Trump won in 2016. In order to change the results, Trump would have to flip three of the contested states (which is how many states Hillary would have had to flip to become president). The margin (as it stands now) in terms of votes is:
Arizona: 11,434
Georgia: 14,150
Wisconsin: 20,546
(note this would bring Biden back to 269 electoral votes, so it would be an EC tie)
The margins are comparable to the closest states in 2016:
Michigan: 10,704
Wisconsin: 22,748
Pennsylvania: 44,292
Trump was given transition funding in 2016 and given presidential briefings. He was invited to meet with Obama on November 10th, two days after the election. A short delay this year, while not optimal, was ok, given that Biden hadn't become the projected winner until Saturday. But Biden won the Presidential election, and pretending like the outcome is still in doubt is, as Biden would put it, malarkey. The funds should be released and Biden should be briefed. If Trump wants to continue to challenge the results in court, I think it's unhealthy, but he is within his rights. But that shouldn't interfere with planning for a smooth transition, which is going to be challenging enough under the current pandemic, and will impair our response.
BC
The uncertainty in this election is comparable to the uncertainty in 2016. Biden is on track to win the exact same number of electoral votes as Trump won in 2016. In order to change the results, Trump would have to flip three of the contested states (which is how many states Hillary would have had to flip to become president). The margin (as it stands now) in terms of votes is:
Arizona: 11,434
Georgia: 14,150
Wisconsin: 20,546
(note this would bring Biden back to 269 electoral votes, so it would be an EC tie)
The margins are comparable to the closest states in 2016:
Michigan: 10,704
Wisconsin: 22,748
Pennsylvania: 44,292
Trump was given transition funding in 2016 and given presidential briefings. He was invited to meet with Obama on November 10th, two days after the election. A short delay this year, while not optimal, was ok, given that Biden hadn't become the projected winner until Saturday. But Biden won the Presidential election, and pretending like the outcome is still in doubt is, as Biden would put it, malarkey. The funds should be released and Biden should be briefed. If Trump wants to continue to challenge the results in court, I think it's unhealthy, but he is within his rights. But that shouldn't interfere with planning for a smooth transition, which is going to be challenging enough under the current pandemic, and will impair our response.
BC