Progress is a snail
Yes, actually, they still count.
And hour by hour the race comes to a head.
It all depends on four states:
Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada
.
Icon: enlarge
A Republican election observer at a Pennsylvania vote count
Photo: Mary Altaffer / AP
In Arizona (11 votes in the electoral college) and Nevada (6)
Joe Biden is just ahead
, in Georgia (16) and Pennsylvania (20) he has caught up over the last few hours,
the lead of the president is melting
(Pennsylvania) or has
already
melted together
(Georgia).
Biden (so far 253 votes out of 270 certain) now has
several paths to success
, Donald Trump (214)
only one
.
And that leads through
Pennsylvania
.
There they have counted the night, are nearing the end and Trump's previous 10 percentage point lead has fallen to below one percentage point.
Trump's legal attacks on the continuation of the count
have so far remained without consequences
.
The count continues.
Status of the counts: So it is in the key states
The bizarre president, part 2
While you were sleeping, Donald Trump spoke up in the White House after two days of abstinence from cameras.
It was
the continuation of his weird, anti-democratic appearance on election night
.
"If you count the legal votes, I won easily," he said.
And more nonsense.
Icon: enlarge
President Trump
Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
This time, Trump was lying more dull than two days ago, tired and exhausted.
It was the words of an autocrat, but the sound of a loser
.
Presidential niece Mary Trump, who published an exposé book about her uncle prior to the election, commented, "This is what it looks like when a loser loses."
Biden, on the other hand, tried a few hours beforehand with his runner-up Kamala Harris to make a presidential appearance as possible.
Democracy is sometimes a bit chaotic, said Biden,
"sometimes it takes a little patience"
.
But this patience has been rewarded in a good 240 years of the USA "with a system of government that attracts the envy of the world".
Well, not like that in the end.
But we stay tuned.
US election: Trump again makes baseless allegations of fraud
How do you react to the anti-democrats?
Even the lying appearance of Trump on election night remained
without a major response from the Chancellery
.
It can be assumed that this will remain the case with his appearance from last night.
Two days ago, Angela Merkel had announced through her government spokesman Steffen Seibert alone that the federal government had confidence "in America's democratic tradition and the rule of law".
As long as there is no end result, the government is following
"everything closely
" but does not comment on it.
The Chancellor will probably remain silent until the winner has been determined.
Why get involved in skirmishes beforehand.
Yes why not?
Icon: enlarge
Ex-Foreign Minister Gabriel
Photo: M. Popow / imago images / Metodi Popow
Criticism is now igniting the German reluctance.
Former SPD leader and ex-foreign minister
Sigmar Gabriel
demands that the federal government take a clear position on the US election: "We should make it clear that the legitimacy of governments for us depends on their
acceptance of the basic principles of democracy
, and that is a majority and minority, "he told SPIEGEL.
The federal government is allowed to express itself publicly.
"You don't have to associate that with attacks on Donald Trump," said Gabriel, who is now head of the Atlantic Bridge, "but that we assume that all democracies feel bound by these principles
is an appropriate remark
."
US election: Sigmar Gabriel demands a clear positioning of the federal government
Christian-Digital Union
In the Christian Union they would like to finally elect their new party leader.
But, firstly, because the country is already
firmly in the grip of the corona pandemic again
and, secondly, the CDU
has not had it so far
with
digitization
, improvisation must now be
done
.
After all, a candidate for chancellor is needed soon.
And how nicely should the CDU go into negotiations with the CSU if it doesn't even have a new chairman?
My colleagues Florian Gathmann and Veit Medick are writing today about the latest idea of the CDU: The delegates are to
meet
virtually for the
digital party congress
in January
and
elect
the party leader and the rest of the board
online
.
In the end, all election results would then
have to be confirmed again
in a
written final vote
, i.e. by postal vote.
Icon: enlarge
Candidates Röttgen, Merz.
Lash
Photo: Adam Berry / Getty Images
But now the crucial question:
Would that be legally secure?
After all, this is not about, shall we say, the FDP chairmanship.
But about a position that could promote the holder to the Chancellery.
The Union parliamentary group has asked the Interior Ministry for an assessment - and according to SPIEGEL information, the matter is already there.
We keep our fingers crossed.
By the way:
The three CDU presidency candidates have a full program today
.
Friedrich Merz presents his
book on the election campaign
(virtually!) At a Zoom conference
: "New times. New responsibility".
It will be presented by Christian Lindner (sorry, FDP leader is of course an important position).
In the afternoon, Merz and rival Armin Laschet meet at the congress of the local political association of CDU and CSU (again virtually!), Whose motto can match Merz's book title: "Shaping structural change."
The CDU day ends with a round of introductions by
Merz, Laschet and competitor Norbert Röttgen at the Saxon Union
in Chemnitz - the party base can ask questions (of course: virtually).
Digital party congress: CDU wants clarification from the Interior Ministry for their election as chairman
Winner of the day ...
... is
Mike Mohring
.
The 48-year-old, who was replaced as Thuringian CDU leader after the election debacle in 2019 and the no less debaculous consequences, has
a second political chance
.
Icon: enlarge
CDU politician Mohring (in March)
Photo: Martin Schutt / DPA
His CDU nominated him as a
candidate for the Bundestag
in one of the eight Thuringian constituencies, including Jena.
Mohring beat the previous member of the Bundestag Johannes Selle with 23 to 15 votes.
According to SPIEGEL information, however, there are now considerations in the Selle camp to contest the election.
Looks familiar these days.
The latest news from the night
More than 70 dead from tropical storm "Eta":
Extremely high levels of precipitation caused landslides and floods in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Dozens of people have already died and the number of victims could continue to rise
Fingerprint compulsory on identity cards is coming:
Two fingerprints, digital photos, an "X" on the passport for people who do not assign themselves to any gender: the Bundestag has decided to change identity cards and passports
Barricaded in the ministry:
Because of a corona contact, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer went into quarantine at the beginning of the week.
But instead of isolating herself at home, the defense minister sits in her ministry.
Can she do that?
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
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Computer simulations: In the future, weather forecasts should also provide advice
Parents' column: Finally time for me.
And now?
Say what is.
DER SPIEGEL podcast: Bushido's fight against the clan chief
I wish you a good start to the day.
Your Sebastian Fischer