Portman finally accepts Biden's win

We would like to welcome U.S. Sen. Rob Portman back to reality. On Monday, the Cincinnati Republican finally got around to acknowledging what had been obvious to reasonable folks for some time now: Joe Biden won the presidential election. It shouldn't have taken that long. Portman is smart enough to have done the math weeks ago and realized that Biden won the popular vote and the Electoral College, which formalized his victory Monday. Instead of doing the right thing and publicly accepting the results, Portman instead indulged President Donald Trump's delusions that the election was somehow stolen from him. In doing so, Portman helped poison many Americans' faith in democracy. Far too many of Trump's supporters have bought into his false narrative. When people like Portman, who fancies himself a reasonable politician, lend their support to that idea or fail to discredit it, they shore up the belief in some corners of the Republican Party that Democrats can only win through chicanery. That in turn helped justify the steps Trump and his allies took to overturn the election. Trump pressured officials in swing states to help him stage what would have amounted to a coup. Several states ramped up security measures for the Electoral College vote, and there were threats of violence. That might have worked out for Trump, who is desperate to stay in the spotlight and maintain power, but it was terrible for a democracy that prides itself on the peaceful transfer of power. Even as Portman acknowledged Biden's win, he was still helping to prop up the fraud myth, saying that the Trump campaign "had every right to pursue recounts and legal challenges." That was only true if those challenges had merit. They didn't. Portman continued: "That has now happened over the past six weeks, and although there were instances of fraud and irregularities, it has not been shown to be widespread enough to change the result of the election." Trump's lawyers made a big show of claiming there was fraud in deranged media appearances, but they never backed their allegations with evidence in court. They lost case after case after case. Elections officials across the nation have said the election was secure, free and fair. In fairness, Portman wasn't the worst offender among elected Republicans. For instance, he called for the transition to begin while Trump's legal fight continued. He also didn't back the state of Texas in its effort to invalidate millions of votes in four swing states and hand the election to Trump, a legal challenge to which U.S. Reps. Bob Gibbs, R-Lakeville, and Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, who represent portions of Lorain County, eagerly added their names. The U.S. Supreme Court rightly dismissed that case, which Trump had called "the big one," last week because Texas doesn't have the legal standing to dictate how other states run their elections. Portman wasn't the only Republican belatedly bowing to reality. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., finally got around to recognizing Biden's win during a floor speech Tuesday. McConnell also pressed GOP senators not to contest the election when Congress counts the Electoral College votes in January. Doing so is yet another of the increasingly desperate ploys Trump and his allies have advocated in the name of keeping him in power. It, too, has no chance of success. We suspect that Portman's own fortunes, not any real belief that the presidential election was stolen, compelled him to keep insisting that Trump should be allowed to pursue his appeals, even as his legal team floundered. Portman will be up for reelection in 2022, and he's going to need Trump supporters to keep his seat. By entertaining Trump's ludicrous claims, he increased his chances of avoiding a primary challenge from the right. Republicans quicker to recognize Biden's win have already felt Trump's wrath. After Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine did so a few weeks back, Trump mused on Twitter that he would face a primary challenge in two years. Indeed, Trump hardliners already have begun discussing potential challengers for DeWine, whose orders to stem the pandemic also have made him a target. Among the names floated are Jordan and former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth. Portman doesn't want that sort of headache.