It’sfitting—scary,butfitting—thatthechaoticyearof 2020
wouldlurchtowarditsendwitha contestedpresidential
election.AtthecenterofthechaoswasPresidentTrump,
whodeclaredvictoryat2:30a.m.onelectionnightwithbal-
lotsinbattlegroundstatesstillbeingcounted,demandeda
stopto“allvoting,”eventhoughvotingwasalreadyover,and
thentweeted,“WeareupBIG,buttheyaretryingtoSTEAL
theElection.Wewillneverletthemdoit.”
Evenif Trumphadn’tallegedfraud,a longvotecount
intheswingstateswouldhavebeenstressful.Bush-Gorein
2000,whichcamedowntohangingchadsinFlorida,wasa
doozy.Butthattimebothcandidateshonoredtheprocess.
Thistime,thecombinationofthepresident’sconspiracy
theoriesanda protractedcountwaslikea hurricanethat
wouldn’tbudge,causingmoredamagetodemocraticinsti-
tutionsasthehourswentby.
WhileJoeBidenledinthevotecounting,theSenate
appearedlikelytostayinRepublicanhands.Democrats
pickedupseatsinColoradoandArizonabutlostonein
Alabama.Thatleftthemonlya smallchance,withseveral
racesstillundecided,togaincontroloftheupperchamber.
Soevenif Bidendoeswin,it willbehardforhimtoadvance
theDemocraticagenda.
TheStandard& Poor’s 500 indexrose2.2%andthetech-
heavyNasdaqCompositeIndexrose3.9%onNov.4 asinves-
torsappearedtobeta dividedgovernmentwouldn’trollback
theTrumptaxcutsthathaveboostedcorporateprofits.That
offsetconcernsthata politicalsplitbetweena Democratin
theWhiteHouseanda RepublicanmajorityintheSenate
wouldproducea smallercoronavirusreliefpackage.
Winorlose,Trumpshowedhehadmorestayingpower
thanmanypunditsgavehimcreditfor.Youcouldn’tmake
upthekindofyearhe’shad.HewastriedbytheSenate
onimpeachmentcharges.Hewasacquitted.Hebrushedoff
thevirus,thencaughtthevirus,thenwashospitalized,then
gotbetter.Hepresidedoverthesteepestdeclineinquar-
terlyeconomicgrowthonrecord,immediatelyfollowedby
thesteepestincrease.Heragedagainststreetprotests,even
peacefulones,ridiculedmask-wearing,andeggedonright-
wingsupporters.Hesankinthepollslikea puncturedparade
float,thenshockedthesupposedexpertsonElectionDay.
StokingthecynicismofhisbasemayhavehelpedTrump
politically,butit’scorrodeddemocracy.A GallupPollin
Septemberfoundthatfaithingovernmentinstitutionswas
lowandcoloredbypolitics.Therewasa record85-percent-
age-pointgapbetweenRepublicans’trustintheexecutive
branch(91%)andDemocrats’(6%).Just56%ofrespondents
expressedfaithin“theAmericanpeople,”tyingthe 2016 low.
KofiAnnan,theGhanaiandiplomatwhoservedasUnited
Nationssecretary-generalfrom 1997 to2006,workedon
electoralreformthroughtheKofiAnnanFoundationuntil
hisdeathtwoyearsago.“Legitimacyisthecrucialcur-
rencyofgovernmentinourdemocraticage,”hewrotein
a policybrief.“Victorywithoutlegitimacyisnovictoryat
all.”�PeterCoy
7
PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCY HEWETT FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
◼ ELECTION Bloomberg Businessweek November 9, 2020
SO, THAT HAPPENED
