2020 Watch: Will loser of the election accept the result?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential politics move fast. What we’re watching heading into the final week of the 2020 campaign:
Days to general election: 1
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The narrative
It’s almost over. By this time next week, and hopefully much sooner, we’ll likely know who will occupy the Oval Office for the next four years.
The ghosts of 2016 are keeping Democrats on edge, but they are hopeful that voters will make President Donald Trump the first incumbent to lose reelection since George H.W. Bush in 1992. Democrat Joe Biden is running significantly ahead of where Hillary Clinton was in most polls the day before the election.
Some Republicans are pointing to a shift on the ground in Florida in particular that portends good news for Trump. The problem for Republicans is that Trump must win Florida — and several more battleground states — if he’s going to have any chance to keep his job.
Can Trump pull an inside straight again? Anxious Democrats will be the first to tell you it’s possible. But veteran Republican strategists will also tell you it isn’t likely. There are fewer undecided voters this time, and no strong third-party candidates to siphon votes.
Democrats had an advantage in early voting, but Trump’s vaunted ground game is well-positioned to turn out its voters en masse on Tuesday.
What makes this election different from those in the past are the swirling questions about voter intimidation, lawsuits and counting delays related to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump has already indicated he may reject the result of the election if he loses.
Buckle up. This could get messy.
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The big questions
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The final thought
This is probably our last dispatch for a while. We want to thank you for following along over this past year. We’ve tried our best to take you behind the curtain to see the 2020 presidential contest from an insider’s perspective.
And while we’ll all need a break once this election is settled, recent history suggests that the jockeying for the next presidential election will begin almost immediately; 2024 Watch may be just around the corner.
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