The majority of Americans who voted for Biden have more work ahead of them than just making sure Biden gets sworn in on January 20th, says Zeynep Tufekci of The Atlantic. They also have to be ready to thwart the "next attempt to steal an election," which "may involve a closer election and smarter lawsuits."
Our institutions do not operate via magic. They do not gain their power from names, buildings, desks, or even rules. Institutions rely on people collectively agreeing to act in a certain way. Human laws do not simply exert their power like the inexorable pull of gravity. Once people decide that the rules are different, the rules are different. The rules for electoral legitimacy have been under sustained assault, and they're changing right before our eyes.
We're being tested, and we're failing. The next attempt to steal an election may involve a closer election and smarter lawsuits. Imagine the same playbook executed with better decorum, a president exerting pressure that is less crass and issuing tweets that are more polite. If most Republican officials are failing to police this ham-handed attempt at a power grab, how many would resist a smoother, less grossly embarrassing effort?
