We don't get to replay election night next week, but it would look considerably different with final vote totals rather than the haphazard release of results yesterday caused in part by the pandemic. These public optics of election night matter. /1

But the other thing that matters is when the networks call a presidential race. The decision desks have been appropriately cautious given the odd patterns by which vote totals are revealed thanks to the pandemic. /2

If the networks and media companies say tomorrow or Friday that Biden has enough votes to be President, it will be very hard for Trump to keep up his small bore lawsuits and keep fighting. It's a powerful thing to see a presidential race called. Just ask Al Gore. /3

And this I think explains the flurry of Trump lawsuits, some of them barely sensible or comprehensible, seeking to slow down the ballot count. They are flailing for a strategy to avoid Biden being declared as having at least 270 electoral college votes. /4

The problem is that virtually none of the lawsuits has even the potential to stop the counting, and once the counting is done, decision desks will do their thing. Then the public dynamic changes a lot. /5

Trump may never concede in a traditional way, but the question is if he grumbles his way out of the White House claiming rigging or does something more extreme. And a lot will depend on other Republican leaders. /6