Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. Two fine and qualified men to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. And if both are elected, the Senate will be tied 50-50 between the two parties, with Vice President Harris coming in to break any tie votes. Definitely an added bonus. From what I’ve read, Stacey Abrams is going all out to register young people who are just turning 18 and in time to vote in this election. Stacey is a registration phenom and, I believe, has discovered a way to combat chronic voter suppression efforts by the Republicans. This tactic of theirs is downright unAmerican and against the basic tenets of democracy. For honoring the right to vote is essential for a healthy democracy. Voting is guaranteed to every citizen of our country. Republicans think–and Trump admited–that they would lose every election if they couldn’t make it difficult or impossible for people to vote. That is not necessarily true. They would just have to get off their butts and work harder at registering more people as Stacey Abrams has done.
And she has done this with an organization that extends far beyond the borders of Georgia. Abrams, along with LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter, contributed considerably to the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by as large a margin as they did. With close elections, as these runoffs are predicted to be, it comes down to numbers. Voters have already chosen their party loyalty. It’s now come down to how many Democrats actually vote and how many Republicans. Elections in the U.S. generally have become such a numbers game. To his credit, Trump got four million more voters to come out or mail in votes than in 2016. But Biden got many more than that, and won back key states that Trump took in 2016.
This is how the Democrats will win these two seats in the Peach State. It’s now a state that went Blue for a Democrat in the Presidential election for the first time since southerner Bill Clinton. But they will also win these seats because of the quality of human beings Ossoff and Rev. Warnock are.
Jon is a centrist Democrat, with some progressive positions. He came in first in congressional elections of 2017 but lost in a runoff. He has a masters in economics and was an investigative reporter in London before entering politics. He served as a legislative aid to John Lewis who had endorsed him in the 2017 election. He is 33, Jewish, and his wife is a medical doctor. His opponent is incumbent Senator David Perdue, who voted four times to take away protections for pre-existing conditions, pulled out of his third debate with Ossoff, and is known in D.C as “Trump’s favorite Senator.”
In 2005, Rev. Warnock became senior pastor of the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where Martin Luther King Jr. served. He’s worked statewide to restore Medicaid funding and chaired a committee advocating for voting rights. He’s also a centrist Democrat. His opponent Kelly Loeffler was appointed to the Senate in 2017, and she was essentially a lockstep do-nothing Trump Republican who badmouthed Black Lives Matters during the campaign.
Millions are being poured into these runoff races on both sides, so I don’t think money is the issue, but more will certainly help the Democrats’ cause. Again, it will be a numbers game. The Republicans have a couple of coconuts for candidates, so their only strategy is to convince their voters of the need to prevent complete Democratic control of Congress. On the other hand, that sounds like a good reason to elect a couple of sweet Georgia Democrat peaches. Please do what you can to make that happen.
I have contributed and thanks to those hard workers for getting out the vote! What a difference this will make when they win.
Your contribution will help win those seats, Richard, and help Biden do what needs to be done to get this country back on its feet after the beating we, and the world, took with Trump.
Thanks. This post, btw, was written at your suggestion and urging. Together, maybe two people can help change the world!
Have a wonderful day, my friend.
Stephen
Read and appreciated
Thanks, Elisa. Critical stuff, this runoff.