Joe Biden Takes the Lead

<p>By the end of election night, the results in six key states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — were still to be called.</p><p>On Wednesday, as mail-in ballots were totaled up, Joe Biden gained ground, taking Michigan and Wisconsin and placing him within striking distance of the Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.</p><p>The count is still in progress in many places. Mr. Biden is leading by a decent margin in Arizona and slightly in Nevada, while President Trump’s advantage in Georgia and Pennsylvania has been narrowing.</p><p>As the former vice president formed paths to victory, Mr. Trump continued to raise the specter of litigation and escalated his baseless attacks on the legitimacy of the vote.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/alexander-burns?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank"><strong>Alexander Burns,</strong></a><strong> </strong>a national political correspondent, speaks to us about the latest on an unfinished election. </p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" target="_blank">nytimes.com/thedaily </a></p><p><br /></p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Mr. Biden may be closing in on victory, but the “blue wave” that some hoped would sweep the Democrats to shore<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/biden-democrats-narrower-path.html" target="_blank"> never materialized</a>.</li><li>We have<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/11/04/us/trump-biden-election" target="_blank"> live updates</a> on the progress of the count, and you can follow the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-president.html" target="_blank"> election results here</a>.</li></ul>