Until the last presidential election, I had never felt that a particular result would fundamentally shift the way people viewed the office of the presidency. Had McCain, Romney, Gore, Kerry, Dole, Perot or Dukakis won, it never occurred to me that the presidency itself would be much different. Sure, policies and priorities would shift, but I had no reason to suspect the office would function differently. Even after Bush v Gore I never thought that a candidate would refuse to concede after an obvious defeat.
In 2016 I was nervous about how each State's vote totals would unfold. HRC was ahead in national polling, but the race was close enough in enough states to make me feel uneasy on election night. My fear about a HRC loss was that it would be legitimate, divisive and ultimately put an individual (Trump) who didn't care about the role of the presidency in the White House. I was certain that Trump would be vindicitive, divisive and
in 2020 (and for the first time ever) I am concerned less with the vote totals and more with people's reactions afterward. I'm skeptical that either side will accept the results as legitimate, and I fear intimidation will continue through January 20th. Should Biden win (which seems likely), I don't think Democrats will avoid the temptation to continue to investigate and prosecute him and his administration as much as their power allows. That would bust yet another political norm in this country, and make it difficult to move on. Should Trump win another term I suspect he will be vindictive and leverage the government to do his bidding in ways far beyond what he's already done. His base will feel re-affirmed and conduct like what we've seen above may intensify.