The Longest Tuesday in American History

By any sane measure, Election Day should last one day. The 2020 presidential election laughed at that concept and stretched itself across four of the most agonizing days in modern political history. Tuesday night brought no resolution — just a map full of red and a reminder that mail-in ballots take time to count, a fact that became either a procedural reality or a conspiracy depending on which channel you were watching. The phrase "too early to call" became a lifestyle. John King touched his screen so many times CNN should have given it hazard pay. Arizona was called, then un-called, then re-called. Georgia turned into the most closely watched state since Sherman marched through it. Philadelphia's convention center became the center of American democracy while a man in a landscaping company's parking lot held a press conference nearby. Saturday morning, the networks finally called it for Joe Biden, and half the country banged pots and pans while the other half prepared to never accept the result. Both sides were correct that nothing would be the same again. They just disagreed spectacularly about why.