I agree with you here.
So, if you ask a reasonable question like that, without inference of voter fraud, how is the question viably put to rest? (and you are right, it could be asked both ways)
Basic critical thinking.
>Candidate is 47 year career politician that has done little or nothing other than be Obama's VP and a "nice guy".
This is an untrue glossing over of Biden's career. It ignores his work on arms treaties and all his sponsored legislation. A simple google search dispels this.
>Candidate called racist and out of touch by other candidates during debates and is panned by Dem public.
These were right-wing talking points, but polls indicate Biden was never harmed by the false allegations of racism, nor did the "Dem public" pan him.
>Candidate is not Dem's public first choice, and is about to drop out of the race until S Carolina. Is "ordained" by the DNC.
Biden was widely considered to be the Dem candidate. So much so that Russia's oppo nearly entirely focused on him, even when he trailed in early primaries.
>Picked running mate that is so unpopular she had to drop out before receiving a single vote during primaries.
Not winning a primary isn't an indication of popularity. Her reception since being named Biden's Veep shows that she's a well-respected politician. If she was so unpopular she'd have dragged down Biden's ticket, but he led trump from convention to election.
>Candidate appears to have some sort of mental decline issues, and is "quarantined" the majority of the year and hear nothing from him.
Biden quarantined because of the pandemic. That trump did not is indicative of how poorly he responded to the pandemic.
>Coverage of candidate campaign events show virtually no attendance and little to no interest.
Polls indicated Biden led trump the entire time. trump's rallies were comparatively poorly attended after the reality of the pandemic started hitting his followers.
Candidate then waffles on issues when questioned.
This would be a red flag if a person had never watched a single election play out. Anyone who's spent much time watching the American electoral process wouldn't be surprised by this at all.
>Covid issues and BLM protests raise strife all year to pit left against right
I suppose that's one way of looking at the events of 2020.
>Debate over use of and popularity of mail in ballots for first time in POTUS election.
The only reason there was a debate was one candidate tried to make it an issue once he realized his opponent's voters were going to utilize them. It was always a bogus issue - mail-in-ballots have been used forever, especially by the candidate who made the big stink about them.
>On first night of coverage, it is reported that Trump is doing better than 2016.
Elections aren't decided on Election Night. trump getting more votes than 2016 is irrelevant since his opponent received the most votes in the history of American presidential elections.
>Long delays with "ballot dumps" in critical States only.
This was a right-wing fabrication. If someone believes this happened, they're consuming the wrong news.
>Trump receives 10 million MORE votes than 2016 even with large number of R's defecting and not voting for Trump.
Yes. I'm not sure why this would be a reason to question the legitimacy of the election, especially from someone who paid attention to trump's antics the past four years. This would seem to be a pretty logical outcome of those antics.
>Week/10 day trends show virtually all late ballots for D candidate.
I presume "late ballots" refers to mail-in ballots which were counted after Election Day. Again, not a surprise to anyone who paid attention to where those ballots were coming from and the fact that we were in the midst of a pandemic which made in-person voting unpopular.
>Candidate receives more votes than any POTUS in history.
The motivation to vote against the worst candidate in history was pretty strong. Again, the past four years should mean this isn't a surprise at all.
>Critical States carry the EC.
Critical states carry the Electoral college every election.
>R's start to circulate claims of voter fraud and indiscretions.
A good reason not to listen to Republicans.
>Trump claims he won.
A good reason not to listen to trump.