How is our rosebud from yesterday doing? It’s hopeful but unsure. Perhaps tomorrow will bring more clarity.

Here’s the coronavirus death toll through November 3. The raw data from Johns Hopkins is here.

I am very disappointed in my country this morning.

It still looks like Joe Biden is going to win once all the votes are counted, but it’s sure not going to be a landslide. Our pollster community really has some explaining to do.

Hum de hum:

Voters encountered a growing number of obstacles as the day progressed, including a snow squall in Manchester, N.H., and problems with machines and voter check-in systems in cities such as Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia. But so far, the hiccups have been minor and resolved quickly, and election officials and voters for the most part described smooth proceedings.

Smooth sailing so far. In what should be a surprise to no one, Donald Trump’s “army” of poll watchers was just his usual hot air.

While we wait around for election results, David Cay Johnston provides us with a tidbit about how the rich are faring under Donald Trump:

Let’s start with IRS audits of the 23,400 richest American households, average income $30 million each. In 2018 the Trump administration audited seven. You read that right—seven. That’s an audit rate of 0.03%.

….This is a dramatic shift from the recent past. Under Obama in 2015, America’s richest households were 270 times more likely to be audited than under Trump, my analysis of IRS Data Book tables data shows. That year 8.16% of these households had their tax returns audited, not 0.03%.

It’s good to be rich, isn’t it? But perhaps their free ride comes to an end today. Part of it, anyway.

This is a beautiful little rosebud, peeking out to see the world for the first time. What will happen to it next? Will it wither and die or will it blossom into a perfect rose? Come by tomorrow to find out.

I put up a picture of a Trump flag yesterday, so it's only fair that I put up a Biden sign today.Kevin Drum

Hum de hum:

With absentee ballots flooding election offices nationwide, the officials processing them are tentatively reporting some surprising news: The share of ballots being rejected because of flawed signatures and other errors appears lower — sometimes much lower — than in the past.

Should that trend hold, it could prove significant in an election in which the bulk of absentee voters has been Democratic, and Republicans have fought furiously, in court and on the stump, to discard mail ballots as fraudulent.

Despite all the huffing and puffing from Donald Trump, along with the fear of Republican judges tossing out votes by the bushel basket, guess what? All of the work from Democratic activists, lawyers, and campaign staffers has paid off. Over 100 million people have managed to vote early—a huge record breaker—and mail-in ballots are being accepted at high rates. What’s more, judges are ordering the postal service to prioritize the delivery of ballots over all other first-class mail.

So democracy is working OK for now, and all of our votes to toss Trump on the ash heap of history are being counted. And they’ll continue to be counted until there are no ballots left, no matter how loudly Trump bellows about it. Every last one of them.

Here’s the coronavirus death toll through November 2. The raw data from Johns Hopkins is here.

This is all so horrific looking, and it’s only the beginning of November. It’s going to be a very rough winter.

Tick tick tick. . .

Election Day is finally here. If you haven’t already voted, get out there and do it!