The United States is heading for a post-election crisis. Here are three ways to avoid it.

[Mme. Defarge]

Oct. 20, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. PDT
For the past decade, I’ve studied how contentious elections create crises and, sometimes, violence. I never dreamed that my research in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe would be applicable to the United States. But now I see many of the same red flags that precede post-election crises elsewhere existing in the United States. President Trump has already made it clear that he’s willing to damage institutions, stir up chaos and abuse his powers if it will help him stay in office.

The Trump campaign has called on an “army of supporters” to observe the polls — emboldening far-right groups who feel called upon to take action. Trump has argued that Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett must be urgently confirmed so that she can rule on legal challenges around the election (presumably in his favor). And he has refused to commit to a “peaceful transfer of power.” All of this makes the risk of a constitutional crisis in the aftermath of the election — perhaps involving political violence — greater than at any moment in modern American history.
Thankfully, there is still time to avoid that dangerous scenario. But doing so starts with clear, direct messaging from Democrats, the press and any remaining principled Republicans who are willing to put country before party.

There are three urgent tasks.
First, responsible politicians and journalists should manage expectations of when decisive results will be known. This isn’t just because of the unprecedented rise in mail-in and absentee ballots due to the pandemic. In 2018, many press outlets mischaracterized the midterm election as a “split decision” rather than a “blue wave.” A few days later, as results were finalized, it became clear that Democrats had won their biggest election victory since 1974. That initial misperception could have been avoided with a little patience.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/20/united-states-is-heading-post-election-crisis-here-are-three-ways-avoid-it/

[FoxNewsSucks]

1. One thing,

the corporate media is also part of the problem

"In 2018, many press outlets mischaracterized the midterm election as a “split decision” rather than a “blue wave.” A few days later, as results were finalized, it became clear that Democrats had won their biggest election victory since 1974. That initial misperception could have been avoided with a little patience."

That was not a mistake. Had it been the other way around, the media would have called it everything from a "red wave" to a "mandate".

Also, it's not likely that any "prominent republicons" will do the right thing. They never have, I don't expect they'll start now.

[appalachiablue]

2. K/R, US media consolidation needs reform, priority