Election Overtime: Waiting on the Rust Belt

The presidency hangs in the balance. After a night of wild swings, close contests and slow counting of an unprecedented surge of mail-in ballots, we don’t yet know whether President Donald Trump or Joe Biden has won this epic race. Trump claimed victory after 2 a.m., baselessly saying the election was being stolen and announcing, “We’ll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Biden, meanwhile, urged patience for a lengthy count while saying, “We believe we’re on track to win this election.” Trump’s victories in Florida and Ohio defied Democratic hopes — and many pollsters’ expectations — of an easy night for Biden. But the former VP flipped Arizona to blue, and the race is tight in Georgia and North Carolina. The pivotal Rust Belt trio of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania will count their mail-in ballots over the coming days — and could decide the race. Vote on Twitter. 

2. What's Next?

As they continue to tally votes, key states will see court challenges. After punting before the election, the Supreme Court could again see a challenge on whether Pennsylvania is allowed to count ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3 but arrive in the days after. Republicans also sued Pennsylvania Tuesday for contacting voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected because of an error and allowing them to cast provisional ballots. Meanwhile, Democrats could sue on behalf of voters if their mail-in ballots arrive too late to be counted. The U.S. Postal Service did not meet a court-ordered deadline Tuesday to track down 300,000 missing ballots across the country. How are you dealing with the uncertainty this morning? Send your best coping mechanisms to politics@ozy.com and we may feature you in an OZY newsletter.

So China’s regulators have decided, forcing the suspension of what was to be the world’s largest-ever IPO at $34 billion. The move comes days after Ant Group co-founder Jack Ma accused regulators of stifling innovation. There was no stutter on Wall Street though, where stocks soared in anticipation of a Joe Biden win. (Sources: WSJ, FT)

2. Poland Won’t

The country has put off the implementation of a controversial ban on abortions that has sparked the largest protests the nation has seen in decades. (Sources: CBS, NYT)

3. Earwax Will

If you’re worried about your stress levels the answer might lie in your ear. Scientists in the U.K., Chile and Germany have developed an earwax test that can measure levels of the stress hormone cortisol. (Source: Guardian)

The former Telemundo anchor is well known to her Miami area district — from TV screens as well as a spirited 2018 congressional race covered by OZY — and her second try was the charm against Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala. Salazar’s win Tuesday night was part of an overall trend of success for Republicans among Latino-dominated South Florida: Trump’s better-than-expected performance in Miami-Dade County powered his statewide victory, defying polls.

2. WINNER: Kelly Loeffler

Appointed to a Georgia Senate seat (over President Donald Trump’s objections) in the hopes that she could appeal to moderate suburban women, the multimillionaire co-owner of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream ended up having to veer hard right in a “jungle primary” that saw her pitted against Republican Rep. Doug Collins to make it into the top two. She even campaigned with Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman-elect who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. It worked, with Loeffler besting Collins to finish second behind Raphael Warnock, the pastor of Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church in Atlanta. Loeffler now must tack back to the middle in a Jan. 5 runoff election that could well decide party control of the Senate, shelving the ads where she claimed she was “more conservative than Atilla the Hun.”

3. WINNER: Uber and Lyft

They weren’t on the ballot themselves — but they might just be the night’s biggest winners. California voters were poised to approve Proposition 22, which will treat gig economy drivers as contractors, not formal employees covered by state labor laws. It’s a setback for workers but the Silicon Valley giants will be preparing to pop the Champagne.

4. LOSER: Cal Cunningham

As of this morning, the North Carolina race has not yet been called by the Associated Press. But the fact remains that Cunningham, a Democratic star recruit who was a successful fundraiser and smooth on the stump, trails Republican Sen. Thom Tillis by nearly 100,000 votes. Why? A good deal of the blame can be laid on a sex scandal in which Cunningham admitted cheating on his wife with the wife of a military veteran. The Democrat was rarely seen on the campaign trail after the revelations, and lost much of his healthy polling lead. The sexts seen round the world may have cost the Democrats control of the Senate.

1. Kashmiri Kahwa

Its smell and look are almost as delicious as its taste. Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron and rose petals make this antioxidant-rich Kashmiri drink the perfect antidote to anxiety. Premixed potions are available, but there’s nothing like brewing it at home. For a moment, allow your mind to drift to the flower-filled valleys of Kashmir... 

2. Rooibos

A distinctive crimson color. A mildly pungent smell. And then... heaven. I’ll never forget my first taste of this South African herbal tea several years ago. Like kahwa, it’ll relax your nerves, but unknown to you, it’ll also work on your skin, making you look younger. Given how much we’ve all aged these past few weeks, we can all use that.

3. Mate

It’s the buddy you need right now (though it’s actually pronounced maa-te). Brewed from the leaves of the yerba mate plant in Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, this concoction has less caffeine than coffee but more than regular tea — a perfect balance if you need to focus but not panic. 

Voting may be the cornerstone of our democracy, but the reality of how voting works in the U.S. is not as fair or clear-cut as we like to tell ourselves. In a new limited series podcast,Turnout, OZY partner Katie Couric explores America’s voting record.Listen now.

Shavasana — which crudely translates in English as “corpse pose” — is what you typically do at the end of your yoga session: lying down, eyes closed, your mind relaxed. With yoga nidra, that’s what you do for the entire session. Read more.

2. Mindful Running

What if you’re the restless kind? Lying on a mat for 30 minutes just doesn’t work for you. Well, how does a marriage between running and meditation sound? Instead of your watch and music, focus on your body’s rhythms and feedback to your movements while running. It’s a fast-growing phenomenon. Run and catch up. Read more.

3. Forest Bathing

You don’t need a towel — just an open mind. The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, which involves consciously immersing yourself in nature, has been shown to improve sleep by 15 percent, cut levels of the stress hormone cortisol and generate more disease-fighting white blood cells. Ready for a game of hide-and-seek in the woods? Read more.