Trump campaign strategy shifts from getting votes to filing lawsuits

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Trump Administration and campaign's strategy has changed from vote getting to lawsuit filing, with little success so far.

Filing lawsuits is one thing: winning them, quite another.

Very early Wednesday morning, the President claimed victory twice, but then said "We'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop."

The filing of lawsuits in four states by pro-Trump forces appears now to be the primary way the President, even if he loses state lawsuits, actually is laying the groundwork for appeals all the way to the Supreme Court.

"It's very sad for America. It's disappointing, not surprising, especially being an African American because our right to vote has always been challenged," said Alameda County voter Shawne Hightower.

"Not at all what I grew up with, I'm concerned about morals, values, virtue." said another voter who would not give her name. 

But, all is far from lost with the Trump lawsuits.

"You need to have evidence to support your allegations. You just can't file a lawsuit," said David Weinstein, a criminal defense lawyer, former state attorney and former assistant U.S. attorney in Florida where the Supreme Court decided the Gore v. Bush election 20 years ago.

"It would seem in every election since that time when some sort of a doubt is cast on the counting of the ballots, you go to the courts to have them enforce your decision," said Weinstein.

Today, a Michigan judge dismissed a Trump campaign lawsuit to halt voting claiming GOP challengers and observers were not allowed close enough to observe absentee ballot handling.  

In Georgia, a judge threw out a Trump lawsuit that claimed that ineligible ballots were mixed in with eligible ones.

In Pennsylvania, the President, in multiple lawsuits, is pursuing several legal theories from challenging ballots on timeliness to voter identification procedures.

In Nevada, Trump claims some 10,000 votes came from former residents who no longer live there or bear false signatures.

"It seems to me that this overall approach is a sort of 'we're not really sure what we're unhappy about so we're gonna throw as much up against the wall and see what sticks,' just because you lose at the lower court level doesn't mean you're automatically going to be recognized in the court of appeals," said Weinstein.

Potentially, more lawsuits could come as the counts wind down. And courts, even conservative ones, do not favor overturning elections.