Obvs it's a problem that Rs are actively and aggressively seeking to overturn the results of a legitimate election, but I think it's a mistake to calibrate your freakout according to how likely you believe they are to succeed.

The damage here is not a function of the attacks multiplied by their likelihood of success. (For my part, I don't think they are likely to succeed.) The damage is the complete destruction of fundamental democratic norms. That is a done deal at this point.

How do we walk back from here, a place where many people are pressing for electoral results to hinge on the exercise of an unbridled will to power?

If we focus on "OMG here is a crazy way x, y, z could lead to electoral votes being awarded to Trump rather than Biden," the temptation, when that doesn't happen, will be to conclude that the system worked,

democracy has been restored. But that would be a dangerous and wrong conclusion to draw. We are already here. This is the crisis.