America faces tense, tumultuous, uncertain days ahead: President Trump says he won, even though he hasn't. Joe Biden says he's "on track" to win, even though it'll take days — or longer — to sort through a half-dozen nail-biters.

• Why it matters: Now, whatever the resolution, close to half the country is going to feel robbed. Many of them will be angry, and will refuse to accept the winner as the legit president of all the people.

⚡ The latest: The presidential race is too close to call, with six battlegrounds undecided: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.

• So many states are so tight that we could be facing multiple recounts and court challenges. And it could be days before we know the winner of Michigan, Pennsylvania or Nevada.

We got a great response to our Sunday piece, "A safe, sane way to navigate election night — and beyond." Unfortunately, we need a sequel.

• So here, from Axios CEO Jim VandeHei and me, are ways we can try to navigate the worrisome days ahead:

1. Buckle up and be patient. Remember that in some battlegrounds, a slight Trump lead this morning could still turn into a slight lead for Biden in the end.

• Just before Labor Day, we told you about the "red mirage" — the concept that early results might look more Republican than the ultimate outcome.
• The reason: Republicans are more likely to vote in person, and those are often the first votes tabulated.

2. Trust the system. There's nothing unusual about counting mail-in votes for days. That's how the system was designed. Trump can claim votes tallied after election night are invalid, but only the courts can reverse the rules.

3. Realize Republicans had a big night. It wasn’t a red wave, but it sure was a better result than virtually any GOP official imagined, especially for the House and Senate.

• Republicans are optimistic about holding their Senate majority.
• House Republicans may wind up gaining seats.

4. Recognize that we paid way too much attention to polls, which have even more limitations than we realized. It was a terrible night for polling. They were wrong, almost all of them, almost everywhere. Save yourself time and stop watching them so closely in elections. 

• Because we're still missing some crucial final results, we don't know exactly how far off they were. But nearly every battleground race is looking much tighter than the polls prepared us for.
• "The political polling profession is done," leading Republican pollster Frank Luntz told me just after 11 p.m. "It is devastating for my industry."

5. Have some humility about what you think you know about America. The media and Twitter don't understand America, writ large. Republicans resonate in ways — and with depth and breadth — neither understand. 

• Even if Biden winds up winning, the early returns suggest durable, enthusiastic support for Trump from big swaths of the country.

6. Understand that Trump’s appeal was broader than believed. He actually found new voters. Many of them were the working-class, white males who are the base of his base. But there were more of them.

• These results contradict the argument that his 2016 victory was a fluke or mainly a repudiation of Hillary Clinton — or that he’d be resoundingly rejected for his handling of the coronavirus.

7. Start obsessing about Hispanics. Something's happening here, but it's still not precisely clear. Biden never fully connected with Hispanics — and Republicans did better in several areas than expected. This is the fastest growing demographic, so dig into the details. 

• Back in August, former 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro warned Alexi McCammond in an interview for "Axios on HBO" that Democrats could win the presidency in November but lose support with Latino voters, which could "benefit the Republicans in the years to come."

8. We're going to re-up the points we made about social media. There'll be mountains of bad information. Don't waste time on it, and don't share it.

• Only pay attention to sources of information you trust and can validate with 100% certainty. Measure twice, tweet once (or, better yet, never).

We end with optimism: Be happy so many Americans voted, peacefully, amid a pandemic. 

Walking into the East Room at 2:21 a.m. to "Hail to the Chief," President Trump claimed he had already won the election — even though key states are uncalled.

• Why it matters: Trump is doing what we told you he was planning to do, based on the outcome we foreshadowed — a "red mirage" of in-person votes that skew more heavily Republican than the mail-in votes added later in some battlegrounds.

Remember this: Trump heads into the wild days ahead stronger than ever. He did way better than most expected and was a rare voice saying Republicans could win the House.

• Few Republican officials defied him before. It's hard to see many, if any, standing up to him now. 

Trump claimed that "a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise" his voters, "and we won't stand for it":

This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. [Cheers and applause.] ...

[W]e'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don't want them to find any ballots at 4 o'clock in the morning and add them to the list, OK? ... To me, this is a very sad moment. And we will win this. ... As far as I'm concerned, we already have won it.

On Fox News, Karl Rove said: "The bigger hand to play is to have confidence in the system."

• "Nobody is gonna be able to create large numbers of fake votes and somehow submit them into the system," Rove added.

On ABC, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) added: "[A]s a former U.S. attorney, there's just no basis to make that argument tonight."

• Video of Trump speaking.

Just before 12:45 a.m., Joe Biden went before supporters at a drive-in rally in Wilmington, Del., and said he was "on track to win this election," but stressed that "it ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted."

• Horns blared gleefully as Biden said he'll win Pennsylvania:

Look, we could know the results as early as tomorrow morning. But it may take a little longer, as I've said all along.

It's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare who's won this election. That's the decision of the American people. But I'm optimistic about this outcome.

Why it matters: Biden spoke about 90 minutes before President Trump. The fact that Biden went ahead with his plan to "address the nation" on election night — without waiting for Trump or final results — reflected his strategy, which we told you about yesterday, to strike an assertive post-election stance.

• Video of Biden speaking.

Dems picked up Senate seats in Colorado and Arizona, but Republicans won race after race — South Carolina, Iowa, Texas, Kansas and Montana. (Go deeper.)

After decades of trying, Republicans defeated 15-term House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, from a rural Minnesota district that backed President Trump in 2016 by 31 points, AP reports. Peterson was defeated by Republican Michelle Fischbach, the former lieutenant governor.

• Also losing were freshmen Democrats Donna Shalala (HHS secretary under President Clinton) and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, in adjacent South Florida districts where Trump consolidated support among Cuban voters.

A demonstrator waits for results in Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House.

Trump supporters rally in front of a polling place at Coral Gables Branch Public Library in Miami.

At 3:41 a.m., Karl Rove said on Fox News that in honor of the late Tim Russert's famous "Florida, Florida, Florida" whiteboard from 2000, the 2020 presidential race will be uncertain "until we can get a handle on":

Election night was a melee of massive market moves around the globe and whipsawing prices across asset classes, as just about every market was turned on its head and then upside down again, Dion Rabouin writes in Axios Markets.

Most of the jostling came in the early evening as betting markets flipped from favoring a victory by Joe Biden to President Trump at around 7 p.m. ET.

• Trump's path to victory became less clear at around 10 p.m., and those trades unwound with many assets returning to near Tuesday's close.

💰 Stock futures rose in volatile trading today as investors faced the prospect of a drawn-out and potentially contested election. (Reuters)

President Trump's 2017 announcement withdrawing America from the accord became official at midnight after a prolonged process required by the UN, Axios' Amy Harder reports.

At 5:02 a.m., ABC's George Stephanopoulos said:

• "I'm actually going to go home and take a shower now before 'Good Morning America.' ... I’ll see you in a couple of hours."