Quote (Black XistenZ @ Nov 3 2020 07:20pm)
The CW was that Biden would lead among the early votes, then Trump surges ahead with his large lead on election day votes, and then late-arriving mail and absentee ballots lean Democratic again, shrinking the R lead a bit in the end.
Giving Trump NC, FL and GA (and TX) doesnt mean that he's hugely favored in and off itself. But his winning margins in GA and FL are on track to outperform even optimistic expectations. We're not in a world where he hung on to these states by the skin of his teeth with 0.2% margins or something like that, he'll win them by 3+. And that, in turn, has ramifications for the entire model. Conditional on Trump winning these two states by 3 each, his chances at winning the EC are definitely higher than 50/50.
Given that this election is close, even if Biden wins, there's no way that the GOP moves on from Trump. He would be the presumptive nominee in 2024 (health permitting).