Thread by @jenmercieca

"Trump may win or lose, but he will never concede. Not under any circumstance. Not during the Interregnum & not afterward. If compelled in the end to vacate his office, Trump will insist from exile, as long as he draws breath, that the contest was rigged." theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

Must read ^^

Also, this is one of the scenarios discussed:

https://twitter.com/jenmercieca/status/1248430849395052545

Trump can't lose. He's defiant. We don't know what he'll do exactly, but we know that he won't accept losing. It's like when I said in November 2016 that he wouldn't let himself be impeached.

Or, when I knew in November 2018 that Dem control of the House wouldn't change anything.

https://twitter.com/jenmercieca/status/1060019653521616896

I'm not sure what we should be bracing for exactly, but I know that we should absolutely not expect for Trump to concede.

This is exactly the problem of putting an unaccountable leader into a position of power. You'd like to think that the constitution & norms would constrain him, but he will find a way to be unaccountable. That's who he is.

And, you could tell all along by the way that he talked.

Read the article, to be prepared so you know the signs of what's happening. You are not helpless. Do not give up in advance.

+Make sure you're registered to vote
+Volunteer to work the polls
+Vote & bring a friend
+Follow news about the vote count
+Be prepared to march/protest

The point of stasis (stopping, or the central issue of the debate) will be over whether or not to "count every vote."

Counting every vote will likely hurt Trump (what they call a "blue shift" over time as more votes are counted).
#CountEveryVote

Will reporters be allowed to witness the vote counts? In the 90s I was an @AP election night stringer. I sat in my county office and watched them count the votes & reported updated tallies. Does the AP still have in-person election night (and after) observers? Do parties?

Perhaps no news at all should be released about the contents of the vote count until all of the votes are counted?

Is that possible?

"Take agency. An election cannot be stolen unless the American people, at some level, acquiesce."

There's been a lot of reporting that the vote will take a long time. That's good.

This article is a must read because it explains what will happen behind the scenes to subvert the democratic process & how & why the laws are open for manipulation.

Know what to expect.

Trump still violating democratic norms, won't promise a peaceful transition. Still using conspiracy rhetoric to frame legitimate votes. Remember, conspiracy is "self sealing"--it cannot be proven or disproven, so it makes him powerful.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1308895705860321283

Every time he accuses the election of being rigged or refuses to say whether he will accept the results of the election if he loses or leaves doubt about a peaceful transferal of power that is evidence of the #TrumpCoupPlot. Presidents don't threaten democratic norms like that.

I've said this before, but it might be worth repeating here: it doesn't matter if Trump is actually an authoritarian or if he is pretending to be one to control the news cycle. The effect is the same.

Pretending to be authoritarian is authoritarian.

And, if you don't know the poli sci work on "democratic erosion" or "democratic backsliding"--the process by which nations lose their democracy, it's a real thing. Here is @BrightLineWatch's latest expert survey about the state of our democracy: brightlinewatch.org/bright-line-wa…

Indicators of democratic stability/backsliding.