This may be a case where the Electoral College actually saves us.

[Sogo]

I'm no legal nor constitutional expert, BUT

the election process is laid out in the constitution that the winner of the EC is the winner of the election. EC votes aren't awarded until a given state finishes counting, and the SOS certifies their vote. If the orange gasbag declares himself the "winner" before he's won the required number of EC votes, he's essentially declaring that he's QUITTING THE PROCESS. There's no such thing as him being "ahead." We don't go by the popular vote, remember? Presidential candidates either win (with 270) or they lose. There's nothing to declare before that happens.

...my two cents (which may be all it's worth).

[RGTIndy]

1. That assumes good faith on the part of Republican Secretaries of State and state legislatures

I'm not ready to assume that; and I am a lawyer, for what it's worth.

[TwilightZone]

2. Unless Trump concedes, he's not quitting anything.

Declaring himself the winner is a meaningless exercise. It has no legal standing or basis.

[Sogo]

3. Yes. That's the point....

[TwilightZone]

6. Doesn't seem like the point.

You said that by declaring himself the winner, he's quitting the process. It's really nothing of the sort.

[The Magistrate]

4. There Is Something To That, Sir

As the saying goes, 'It ain't over till it's over', and running your mouth while the ball is in play puts nothing up on the scoreboard.

[Big Blue Marble]

5. We would not need to be saved

if we did not have to run the gauntlet of the EV; we would win going away.

[ancianita]

7. All vote total certifications are to be submitted by December 14.

CA has the latest certification date, December 12.

https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results_certification_dates,_2020

[empedocles]

8. I recall G. Will writing recently, other points in which the EC could benefit the

Dems in this Election.

[relayerbob]

9. No, because if CA and NY votes counted equally

as compared to North Dakota or Wyoming votes, it wouldn't even be a close race at this time. Let's assume it ends like the polls suggest, 53-44. That's a 14+ million vote difference (in 2016 terms). I suspect it will be larger than that in the final popular vote.

[Whiskeytide]

10. He's not going to demand that counting votes ...

... just cease at some point. He’s going to pick a time when he’s ahead in EC votes, and then claim that any rebound by Biden is the result of the fraudulent ballots he’s been whistling about for the last few months.

He just wants something - anything - to challenge.

I’m beginning to join the camp that he only wants to be able to mount some kind of chaos situation so he can attempt to negotiate a deal with Biden to avoid prosecution for himself and his family. “Let me off the hook and I’ll go away” kind of thing. It fits with his perception of himself as a deal-maker and con-man.

[better]

14. Dems had BETTER not let him off the hook, no matter what.

If they do, it is officially time for full scale revolution.

[lame54]

11. The popular vote is CLEARLY ours...

The EC is the cause of our anxiety and the only path to Trump's theft

[awesomerwb1]

12. So what if some EC voters are MAGAts

and decide to go rogue and vote for Dump in a state Joe won? Is it possible?

[Ms. Toad]

13. Not really.

It would be highly unlikely for Trump to be ahead in the popular vote. So any call he makes will be based on presumptive electoral votes.

So it isn't the electoral college saving us, it is the electoral college that he intends to use to make an early call despite being behind in the popular vote.