The Biden Bump

If Democrats had nominated any candidate apart from Joe Biden, President Trump could nicely have gained re-election.

It’s unimaginable to know for positive, after all. However Biden gained the states that determined the election narrowly — by two proportion factors or much less in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, present vote counts counsel. And there’s good purpose to imagine different Democrats might need misplaced these states. Contemplate:

• In Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, the Democrats nominated a Bernie Sanders-style candidate — Kara Eastman, who backs “Medicare for all” and was endorsed by progressive teams just like the Justice Democrats — for a Home seat. She misplaced her race by virtually 5 proportion factors, whereas Biden gained the district by virtually seven factors.

Why does this matter? For the previous 4 years, Trump has dominated American politics. At occasions, he has appeared to own magical political powers, profitable the presidency regardless of rejecting the standard guidelines of politics and sustaining a roughly regular approval ranking whilst he was impeached and presided over a horrible pandemic.

In the long run, although, Trump didn’t have magical powers. He as a substitute turned solely the fourth elected president up to now century to lose re-election, after Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. That’s the excellent news for Democrats.

However there’s additionally a big dose of unhealthy information for Democrats. Regardless of Trump’s defeat, the Republican Get together has retained its reputation in a lot of the nation. A small however essential section of People selected to vote for each Mr. Biden and Republican congressional candidates.

This mix implies that neither occasion has an apparent path ahead. Democrats are virtually definitely fooling themselves in the event that they conclude that America has was a left-leaning nation that’s able to get rid of private health insurance, defund the police, abolish immigration enforcement and vote out Republicans as a result of they’re filling the courts with anti-abortion judges. Many working-class voters — white, Hispanic, Black and Asian-American — disagree with progressive activists on a number of of these points.

However the notion that Democrats ought to merely transfer to the middle on each concern additionally appears fallacious. A giant improve within the minimal wage passed in Florida final week with 61 % of the vote. A number of drug-decriminalization measures additionally handed. Expansions of Medicaid, a health-insurance program largely for low-income folks, have additionally handed in purple states.

Republicans have a special set of issues. They’ve misplaced the favored vote in seven of the final eight presidential elections. They now seem headed towards a messy battle over who their new nationwide leaders can be — or whether or not Trump himself will proceed to dominate the occasion.

For extra: Congressional Democrats are arguing over the occasion’s subsequent steps, Michael Shear and Maggie Astor of The Times report. And Ross Douthat, an Op-Ed columnist, seems at how Republicans can develop into a majority occasion after Trump.

• Tropical Storm Eta made landfall on the central part of the Florida Keys yesterday, bringing robust winds and heavy rains.

• The Supreme Court docket will hear arguments tomorrow in a case that seeks to eliminate the Affordable Care Act. If the regulation is struck down, thousands and thousands of individuals would lose medical health insurance and folks with pre-existing circumstances would battle to purchase insurance coverage.

• Fighting continued between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the weekend within the disputed border area of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan — desirous to reclaim the area that’s managed by Armenian forces and largely populated by Armenians — mentioned its navy captured a key city, which Armenian officers denied.

Morning Reads

The Media Equation: For the previous 4 years, The Occasions’s Maggie Haberman has been the supply of a lot of what we find out about Trump’s White Home. The top of his presidency means the end of her wild ride, Ben Smith writes.

Lives Lived: Marguerite Littman, a honey-voiced Louisianian and literary muse, taught Hollywood to talk Southern. However her most enduring legacy was as an early drive within the battle towards AIDS. She died at 90.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

A ‘Jeopardy!’ icon

Alex Trebek started internet hosting “Jeopardy!” in 1984, sporting a thick mustache and a pale pink pocket sq. on his first episode. He acquired the job partly as a result of Lucille Ball, of “I Love Lucy” fame, had inspired the present’s producer to rent him. He went on to host greater than eight,000 episodes, breaking a document set by Bob Barker of “The Value is Proper” for internet hosting essentially the most episodes of a single recreation present.

On Sunday, Trebek died at 80, greater than a 12 months after asserting he had Stage four pancreatic most cancers. His demise led to an outpouring of tributes from followers who noticed him as a gentle — and witty — presence of their properties.

In dwelling rooms throughout the nation, 5 nights per week, viewers might rely on “an sincere, no-frills take a look at of data” guided by Trebek, as a 2002 Times article put it. “We’re comfy, like an previous pair of sneakers,” Trebek mentioned. “We don’t come on with a splash.” Pre-pandemic, Trebek would host 5 episodes a day, two days per week, from July to April. He would go over the 305 clues for that day’s exhibits at 7:30 a.m., making notes. If a clue appeared too troublesome, he would inform the writers to take away it.

A part of his attraction was his honesty, which prolonged to his battle with most cancers. He spoke about it publicly, saying his ache would generally shoot “from a 3 to an 11” throughout tapings.

“Along with his cerebral bearing and aura of quiet, neutral authority, he embodies beliefs that really feel endangered: the pursuit of data, and the inherent worth of details,” Alexandra Alter wrote in a profile this year. And his honesty included flashes of restrained disappointment when contestants missed a simple query. His tone, he once told New York magazine, tried to convey: “How are you going to not get this? This isn’t rocket science.”

Nonetheless, many contestants adored him. Some have been moved to tears upon assembly him. In a single episode that aired final week, a contestant — an Indian immigrant named Burt Thakur — mentioned that he had learned to speak English by watching Trebek as a toddler, sitting on his grandfather’s lap.

Episodes of the present hosted by Trebek will air by way of Dec. 25.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT, LISTEN

What to Cook dinner

This gratin is a fresh way to make use of roasted cauliflower. Tossed with tomato sauce, sautéed purple onions and goat cheese, it’s scrumptious.

Go Sightseeing

Yearly, thousands and thousands of pilgrims descend on the central Iraqi metropolis of Karbala to commemorate the non secular vacation of Arbaeen. Take a tour of the festivities last year.

The pangram from Friday’s Spelling Bee was conditioning. Right now’s puzzle is above — or you may play online you probably have a Video games subscription.

Right here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Browser window (three letters).

Thanks for spending a part of your morning with The Occasions. See you tomorrow. — David

A correction: Friday’s e-newsletter incorrectly acknowledged that the variety of votes forged in Georgia was three million; it was practically 5 million.

P.S. From The Onion: “Media Condemns Biden For Baseless Declare That Nation Will Come Collectively As soon as Election Over.”