Almost two months ago, I wrote about how I sure picked one hell of a time to move to Georgia and how I could become a small part of American history. A very small part.
I had very strong misgivings about Raphael Warnock. Under normal circumstances I would not have voted for Warnock. But these are not normal circumstances. Since I first wrote about how this was a hell of a time to move to Georgia more than 120,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 (going from 232,000 to 353,000 deaths in just under 60 days).
So despite my very strong misgivings I made the decision to vote for Warnock (as well as Jon Ossoff) and wrote about it in The Forward. The article prompted an interview for an article which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor. I don't know if this will influence a single vote other my own, but I have made my stand.
While Republicans have agreed to modest COVID relief measures they fall far short of what is needed and it is clear that a Senate led by Mitch McConnell isn't going to deliver. All of which make Ossoff, Warnock and Democratic control of the Senate the only viable option. In this respect, I am far from alone at least in my neighborhood.
Midtown Atlanta is every bit as liberal and progressive as Jamaica Plain, Cambridge or the Upper West Side. But Massachusetts and New York are solidly Democratic states. The same cannot be said for Georgia at large.
At this hour, President Trump is holding a rally in Dalton, Georgia on behalf of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. It remains to be seen if Trump will sing in praise of Perdue and Loeffler or to condemn Georgia's Republican Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Voting System Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling particularly in light of the release of Trump's phone call with Raffensperger demanding he find 11,780 votes and Sterling's subsequent rebuke of Trump's claims.
Yet there is a large audience in this state which accepts Trump's view as the gospel truth. Dalton is part of newly elected QAnon supporting Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green's district a hop, skip and a jump from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
While Democrats will do very well in Atlanta, its suburbs and a few other cities like Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Athens and Augusta, Republicans rule the rest of the state. It is not inconceivable that they would prefer to vote for an empty chair and a Stepford wife over a Jew and an African-American.
I would like to think there are enough Republicans in Georgia that are pissed off enough with Trump for trying to push around honest public officials to vote for Ossoff and Warnock in protest, but it's probably wishful thinking although more than a few voted for Biden. If Georgia does turn Blue tomorrow night it will have been built upon a foundation of more than 76,000 registered voters on top of the work already done by Stacey Abrams and company. A few of those are brand new Georgia residents like myself. But I suspect a great many are voters under 30 and perhaps African-American, Hispanic or Asian.
It is also entirely possible we could have a split decision. Warnock could win but Ossoff loses. Or vice versa. Either way going 1 for 2 won't be enough. Democrats have to go 2 for 2 to win control of the Senate. Frankly, without control of the Senate the incoming Biden Administration will be hampered even more than they have already during the transition period.
This isn't to say that Biden won't find a way. I just hope it doesn't come to that in the midst of all the death and despair around us. To quote Laura Nyro can Georgia "save the country?" Can it lay down the devil who came to Georgia?
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