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Biden Wins Presidency, Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump

198 points| soupdiver | 5 years ago |nytimes.com

179 comments

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randyrand|5 years ago

If people agree it was tumultuous why was the race still so close?

I really think adding little adjectives like that undermines the respectedness of the NYT

dragonwriter|5 years ago

> If people agree it was tumultuous why was the race still so close?

It wasn't all that close. Of six elections (including this one) since 2000, at least 3 and possibly 4 (votes are still being counted) were closer in popular vote, and 3 were closer in electoral vote (based on what has been called so far, regardless of how the uncalled states go.

But it was particularly actively contested, with both high turnout and high passions on both sides, which is exactly what “tumultuous” means.

stjohnswarts|5 years ago

Because the only thing between him and chaos was Democratic House of Representatives. That's pretty tumultuous. Also the world hates us a lot more than when he started.

detaro|5 years ago

It was tumultuous because it was close.

CameronNemo|5 years ago

Was it close? Seems like it just took a long time to process mail in ballots because the administration tried its best to invalidate them and decrease their legitimacy.

Furthermore tumultuous does not equate to unpopular. Perhaps his supporters enjoy the chaos.

mytailorisrich|5 years ago

These are not mutually exclusive...

There is no doubt that Trump's presidency was tumultuous and there is no doubt that the race was indeed quite close.

aaomidi|5 years ago

A news agency doesn't have to cater to everyone.

Hamuko|5 years ago

It was "close" because the counting was so slow. If Pennsylvania was allowed to count early votes beforehand, it would've been obvious that Trump was not going to have a chance there.

threatofrain|5 years ago

It’s why voters are making the very rare move to unseat a modern president. Joe Biden is not an exciting president, so why are people so energized during a pandemic?

esoterica|5 years ago

It's not close at all! When California and NY and Illinois finally finish counting votes Biden is going to be up around 7 million or so votes. It's going to be the 2nd least close election since 1996 (behind the Obama 08 landslide).

sieste|5 years ago

Thank you HN for not being completely dominated by this topic over the last few days.

kemonocode|5 years ago

Feels more like closure rather than a true victory. It's going to be fun living in an utterly balkanized country the next four years.

cozuya|5 years ago

How united was the country the previous four years? Why do you think that is?

hintymad|5 years ago

And AOC openly calls for hunting down Trump supporters: "Is anyone archiving these Trump sycophants for when they try to downplay or deny their complicity in the future? ". So much for political freedom.

NewJazz|5 years ago

Were we not doing that for the past four years?

As anarchists march in Portland, Miamians are worried about socialism.

Secular policies dominate in California and New York, while religion is invoked by close to every Southern Senator.

gentleman11|5 years ago

This is getting flagged every 2 minutes. What is going on?

Hamuko|5 years ago

>Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.

bdcravens|5 years ago

Probably upset Trump supporters (if the election went the other way, it'd likely get flagged by Biden supporters) - HN is a diverse group.

The HN guidelines do say politics should be considered off-topic: "Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon."

There's a ton of duplicate (even if separate URLs) submissions.

lumberingjack|5 years ago

The title is an opinion it's an opinion piece

DoreenMichele|5 years ago

It's sort of premature to call this "decided." Georgia is likely to do a recount and three states seem to still be outstanding (when I checked moments ago).

That may be why.

entwife|5 years ago

I'll believe it when they are out of the White House at the end of January.

ihuman|5 years ago

This thread has more points, but the CNN thread is older and has more comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25015967

RealityVoid|5 years ago

And now they are both flagged. Ridiculous. I doubt the no politics rule on HN is fair at this point. I understand why it's present, but I feel it just silences waves of valid discussion about important topics.

I can not help but feel that Trump supporters are brigading these threads and actively trying to bury them. The fact that only old enough accounts can downvote means these are experienced HN contributors. Unsettling, really.

neves|5 years ago

Voter suppression. Voting in a working day. Need to register for voting. Legal battles. Inconsistent rules. A refusing to leave president.

Is this the model of government that the USA bomb other countries for?

mmastrac|5 years ago

Unfortunately the red team has been working to disenfranchise as many voters as possible. The country is far bluer than the electoral map would suggest, thanks to years of voter suppression.

the_only_law|5 years ago

No, they won't bomb you if you bow to their interests.

mdoms|5 years ago

Just take the L.

googthrowaway42|5 years ago

> A refusing to leave president.

No legal process has taken place that has declared Biden the winner.

s9w|5 years ago

I dig the HN fanfiction these days. refusing to leave? He's the president. The next one has not been decided.

rayiner|5 years ago

We just had an election with widespread mail in voting with extended deadlines and historic turnout. And if anything Trump’s support among non-white voters went up. What does that suggest re: the scale of voter suppression?

throwaway_dcnt|5 years ago

Your comment about the first president to not start or accelerate a war since last 6 or 7 terms, at least, is too rich in irony. Trump had many issues but bombing wedding parties to extinction was more of an Obama thing.

krapp|5 years ago

Funny enough, the US usually supports a more European model of government when it does nation building.

hourislate|5 years ago

My expectations no matter what the outcome.....

Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss

-The Who

googthrowaway42|5 years ago

Headline is false. Biden is projected by the media to defeat Trump.

Biden is not President-elect. The President is elected in mid December by the electoral college.

Tens of millions of people are about to get a crash course in civics.

rvz|5 years ago

Don't forget that this is coming from the Twitter ACAB folks celebrating a cop as vice president and potentially taking over the presidency.

Guess they're also blind to that one aren't they?

systemvoltage|5 years ago

[deleted]

pjc50|5 years ago

Hitler did rise because of the people, and the Nazi party won 37% of the vote allowing them to lead the governing coalition in 1932.

Fascism is very popular among people who don't expect to be its victims.

Edit: -2 for historical facts?

metalliqaz|5 years ago

he's not even done yet. he has two months now to smash things up. he is absolutely the kind of asshole that would sabotage the whole country to make Biden look bad.

grecy|5 years ago

[deleted]

rvz|5 years ago

[deleted]

alangibson|5 years ago

Note to all: it looks like all parts calling Biden the winner are getting flagged.

BlueTemplar|5 years ago

With a lead of only 34k votes in Pennsylvania, and 135k ballots still left to count, considering the tensions in the country, IMHO the Associated Press should have waited a bit more before declaring Biden as a winner…

stu2b50|5 years ago

Everyone with the numbers called it back on Wednesday when Trump technically still had a lead. It's a double whammy: all of the votes left are not only in overwhelmingly blue areas, they're also mail in ballots. They're blue at >80% rate.

alangibson|5 years ago

> Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump

Not a true statement I'm afraid. Look at the number of votes he got. Trumpism isn't going away any time soon.

nobody9999|5 years ago

>> Ending Four Tumultuous Years Under Trump

>Not a true statement I'm afraid. Look at the number of votes he got. Trumpism isn't going away any time soon.

Tumult(n.)[0]:

"1. violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar: The tumult reached its height during the premier's speech.

2. a general outbreak, riot, uprising, or other disorder: The tumult moved toward the embassy.

3. highly distressing agitation of mind or feeling; turbulent mental or emotional disturbance: His placid facade failed to conceal the tumult of his mind."

I imagine that many on every side would agree with that statement.

rsynnott|5 years ago

I think this very much remains to be seen. There’s a history of movements like this, essentially based around one figure and lacking a coherent ideology, crumbling once Dear Leader is perceived as a loser. It’s not inevitable that that will happen in this case, but it’s certainly plausible.

I would assume that most of his bluster about actually winning is aimed more at casting doubt on this in the minds of his followers than any realistic hope of overturning the process.

blantonl|5 years ago

First thing I am going to do is submit my resume for open tech leadership and policy positions in the new administration.

If you are in a position with experience and financial comfort to serve your country with regards to science and technology, the Biden administration will almost certainly be a great place to land. Look for policy and leadership positions in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

I'll be submitting my resume and cover letter just as soon as the transition team site opens.

adamnemecek|5 years ago

What's more surprising is how close this was given the past four years.

malnourish|5 years ago

Close in the Electoral College, where it matters; quite distant in the popular vote. The gap is estimated to be about 4 million more votes for Biden at this time, it is also the most votes for a president in US history.

e: I will concede that it is not "quite distant", though it may not end up close in the EC when it's all said and done either.

rv-de|5 years ago

As if 50% of the US population is going through some kind of collective psychosis. Just looking at how a significant portion of his fans act and look on those rallies. Dressing up with jumpsuits having flags and his face allover or wearing stupidly huge hats with a motto printed on it. As if they are on some comic con where Trump is some sort of super hero. Carrying assault rifles like they can't wait to save the world from imagined threats, dressing up like Romans with shields and helmets. Totally delusional. This level of celebrated infantilism I've never seen anywhere else so far. There are nuts everywhere but that many?

Udik|5 years ago

That's because, despite all the "it's Russia's fault" hysteria, Trump more or less represents about 50% of Americans- as these elections have just shown. The scary part (to me, as a European) is that this means that a good chunk of the other 50%, while certainly despising Trump, cannot be ideologically that distant- they live in the same country and immersed in the same culture after all.

throwaway829|5 years ago

Yeah, no new wars in the middle east and troops are coming home. How can a president win reelection with that kind of record? Luckily CNN will save democrazy.