At last! Joe Biden takes Pennsylvania to secure his place as the next President of the United States

Joe Biden is president-elect, at last. After days of ballots slowly trickling in and with his lead slowly growing, the big US news networks have called Pennsylvania for Biden, putting him over the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. In a striking coincidence, he has secured his election victory 48 years to the day that he first entered the US Senate, in 1972. A victory speech is expected this evening.

This is not to say the process is entirely over. In many states votes are still being tallied even if mathematical projections show they will not shift the needle. States also need to officially certify the results which will happen early December. Biden will not be formally sworn in as president until 20 January.

In the mean time, the usual symbolic gesture that confirms one candidate’s victory – whereby one candidate calls the other to concede before giving a public concession speech – does not seem to be on the cards. Trump has continued his inflammatory talk of a “stolen election”, and is still claiming he has won. He has indicated his intention to fight on demanding recounts and throwing legal challenges up in key. However, there is little likelihood these will affect the results.

Meanwhile, Trump’s party also seems to be abandoning him. Since yesterday – as Biden’s imminent victory became more apparent – a growing number of senior Republicans seem to be distancing themselves from Trump and his wild claims. Behind the scenes a growing number of figures have apparently been urging him to accept his defeat.

As for the other camp Biden’s coming victory speech should hopefully give some indication of what to expect next. A great deal of it will of course simply be more talk of unity and decency, rhetoric we are already very familiar with from the campaign trail. However, buried amid this may be some indications of whether Biden feels he has a strong mandate for change – based on an ultimately clear electoral college and popular majority – or a limited one – given that Republicans likely still hold the Senate and made inroads in the House.

The other vital thing to watch for will be any announcements by the Biden team on who plans to choose to crew his administration. Every president comes to office with thousands of appointments to make to key parts of the federal civil service. Who Biden chooses to run key bodies like the State Department and the Treasury, will be a strong signal of his policy priorities. When choosing Biden will have to walk a tightrope in balancing the various political interests of his party, and choosing nominees that can gain approval from potential Republican Senate majorities.

For those who have been glued to the news since Tuesday the process might seem never ending. For Biden, however, who won his first senate race 48 years ago to the day and who has two unsuccessful presidential campaigns under his belt one suspects feels the moment arrived just in time.

Joseph Rachman is reporting from Washington D.C.