It's been three weeks since the election, and only now has President Donald Trump gotten over himself long enough to allow his successor. President-elect Joe Biden, to begin the transition in earnest prior to his inauguration on January 20. The General Services Administration gave the go-ahead on Monday. Biden and his transition team can finally look over all the correspondence and briefings he needs to know about.
But don't think for one moment Trump has abandoned his increasingly quixotic quest to regain the Presidency, in spite of evidence to the contrary. He has yet to concede the election to Biden, even though the former vice-president has amassed 80 million votes to Trump's 73 million--more than any other candidate in history. Biden also leads in the Electoral College vote 306 to 232.
Claiming voter fraud and other irregularities, Trump and his gang of fools (also known as his attorneys) have been striking out in the courtrooms of battleground states, leaving behind hollow reassurances to the President's base at every parking lot and strip mall they could find. They haven't looked good doing so, not even with Rudy Giuliani's hair dye.
It's not as though Trump is all that eager to do his job these days. There's a pandemic going on with 12 million cases of Covid-19, a quarter of a million dead, and people ignoring pleas to mask up and stay home this Thanksgiving--even with vaccines on the horizon. You've heard of the phrase "when the going gets tough, the tough get going"? With this President, when the going gets tough, the tough tweets, watches Fox News, then goes golfing.
Meanwhile, Biden has been busy putting together his new staff during the delay, while at the same time reassuring the country that help is on its way. The President-elect announced his national security cabinet, which includes familiar names such as Janet Yellin for Secretary of the Treasury and former Senator and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry as climate advisor. Most of the rest of the nominees (pending Senate approval) are diverse and experienced in government affairs, unlike the revolving door of unqualified yes-people and family members who served during Trump's administration.
It looks like the Democratic "blue wave" in Congress never materialized, which makes Biden's efforts to get things done a lot more complicated. The Democrats still have the House of Representatives by a 220-208 margin. But the GOP is still holding on to the Senate 50-46, pending the outcomes of two runoff races in Georgia, meaning Biden might still have Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to deal with.
One reason Trump is taking desperate measures to keep his job is that once he leaves office, he faces numerous federal and state charges against him for everything from financial fraud to sexual assault. It is more likely, however, that Trump will be filing for bankruptcy rather than see a day behind bars. He's already on his way to letting his cronies go scot-free, having pardoned Roger Stone and Michael Flynn. Maybe he'll do the same thing for himself and his family.
So whether Trump finally throws in the towel and concedes, or waits for the Electoral College to to decide his fate, his spectre for the next few weeks will be hanging over the White House like an unwanted house guest who's stayed too long. Because if he can't move on, neither can the country.
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