"I'm not getting in that car."
The coup was all about delay. They figured that if they could disrupt the electoral vote count (the certification process), and keep it from happening for long enough, then they could make the case that the decision had to go back to the states where they had already softened up enough elections officials to get "alternate electors" in 4 or 5 or 6 states assigned. Which was a move they didn't have to make stick - it could've been undone in the courts, the same as all the other bullshit schemes had been thwarted and undone, but that wasn't really the point.
They didn't have to swing the electoral count in Trump's favor - all they had to do was cast doubt over the voting results at the state level, which they hoped would force the decision into the House, where each state has one vote instead of having several votes according to the total number of congress critters from each state. And since Republicans own majorities in those states, the vote "electing" the president would've been something like 26-24 in Trump's favor.
It's not clear that it would've worked the way they wanted it to work, but the delay itself may have been enough. If Biden's win isn't certified, he doesn't get sworn in as POTUS and we've got us a Jim Fuckin' Dandy full-blown constitutional crisis.
The key was getting Pence to step outside the rules just enough to put sand in the gears, or to get him and others to leave the building so certification couldn't happen at all.
It's a really good thing Pence finally had the guts to stand up to it, but I'm still never going to see Mike Pence as some kinda hero.
Never.
Ever.
Chris Hayes last night:
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