What We're Learning About The Electorate That Made 2020 So Close

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🗓️ 5 November 2020

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Early on election night, when it seemed clear that Joe Biden was underperforming with a specific group of Latino voters in the Miami-Dade County, a narrative began to take hold: the Democratic Party had failed to energize the Latino vote.

But as more results came in from across Florida, they told a different story. Biden would have lost the state even if he had performed better in Miami-Dade, because of President Trump's popularity with white voters.

NPR's Leila Fadel reports on Democratic head-scratching about the Latino vote, and Gene Demby of NPR's Code Switch podcast talks about the enduring power of the white vote in the American electorate.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	7 a.m. in the east and this is election night slash morning in America.
0:05.6	Continue by Thursday morning. It looked real close. Still too close to call so close this morning in those all important states.
0:13.6	A nation on edge as the vote count rolls on and tensions rise. The big states to watch Pennsylvania.
0:20.8	Malin ballots are trending heavily in Joe Biden's favor. Georgia. A razor thin lead in this Georgia race.
0:28.4	Nevada. It is incredibly, incredibly close here and depending on who you ask. Arizona 11 electoral votes 84% of the estimated vote is in.
0:38.8	Now since election night news organizations have been evaluating Arizona in different ways. Some including the associated press, which NPR relies on, called the state for Biden. Others held off.
0:50.2	In the latest couple of batches of returns Trump has done better comparatively over Biden.
0:58.0	Depending on the combination one or two states could make all the difference. Every time we get new votes the president's lead is going down.
1:06.2	And so again 100,000.
1:08.6	And as of right now 3 p.m. on Thursday we still don't know the results. But we are learning a little about the coalition of voters in a few key states who made this race so close.
1:20.6	It's considered this from NPR. I'm Audie Cornish. It's Thursday, November 5th.
1:29.4	This message comes from NPR sponsor BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers licensed professional counselors who specialize in issues such as isolation, depression, stress, anxiety, and more.
1:40.8	Connect with your professional counselor in a safe and private online environment when you need professional help.
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1:55.4	Visit BetterHelp.com slash consider to learn more and get 10% off your first month.
2:02.0	After months of campaigning we are finally on the cusp of knowing what happens next in the White House and in the halls of Congress.
2:11.2	The NPR politics podcast will be there with you every day with the latest results and will tell you what you need to know in these uncertain times.
2:19.2	It's considered this from NPR.
2:25.2	29 year old Amanda Sandevol had never voted until this year.
2:31.2	I woke up early. I arranged for my mom to take my kids to school and I got there half an hour early and I waited in line and I voted.
2:39.2	Sandevol lives in Nevada depending on how the electoral map shakes out. That state could be pivotal. Her vote went to President Trump.
2:47.2	So did her husband's. Now they're self-described conservative Mexican Americans who chose the president because as devout Christians they oppose abortion.
	...

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