The Commentary
When the Georgia Senate runoffs are being discussed, keep in mind that everyone is lying when they tell you they know what’s going on.
There are very few polls, and nobody believes the polls anyway after some truly legendary misses on Nov. 3. The Rev. Raphael Warnock has preached so many sermons, given so many lectures and written so many books, essays and every other form of writing that the oppo is a waterfall. Jon Ossoff remains the spectral “not David Perdue” he was in the general election, and Sen. Kelly Loeffler is still a first-time candidate making first-time-candidate errors. Only Sen. David Perdue is running a campaign that says “you can tell that I’m comfortably ahead in my internal polls.”
The noise around the campaign from news media covering President Trump’s anger at Georgia’s governor and secretary of state just bounces off the Republican electorate. As former secretary of state Hillary Clinton once told me on air, “You can hold two thoughts.” Georgia conservatives can be upset with their state’s vote in November and also be completely, wholly committed to voting a Perdue/Loeffler ballot and retaining a Republican Senate led by Mitch McConnell as a check on President-elect Joe Biden. There just isn’t a “split” within the ranks, and only the fringiest of the fringe is boycotting the election — though it’s smart politics for the Democrats to talk as if it were and standard-issue media bias for national outlets to focus on that chimera rather than, for instance, what Warnock has said from the pulpit.
The only givens: Everyone knows voting is already underway. Everyone knows the last day of voting is Jan. 5. And every vote will be carefully counted and closely observed while that happens. A true test of Georgia being red or, as Democrats hope, purple is coming quickly.
— Hugh Hewitt
The Ranking
Don’t forget to click on the chart’s yellow highlighted text to see the rest of the Ranking Committee’s annotations.
Position | Candidate |
|---|---|
1. | Sen. David Perdue (R) |
2. | Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) |
3. | Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) |
4. | Jon Ossoff (D) |
From the Annotations
She reinvented herself from mainstream Republican to MAGA devotee, and for what? President Trump’s attacks on his own party in Georgia are now forcing her to walk the line between alienating the country-clubbers she was supposed to appeal to in the first place and alienating the extremists she has spent the past months courting.— Molly Roberts, on Kelly Loeffler
His ads have masterfully positioned him as an upbeat, positive and (disappointingly still necessary for a Black man) nonthreatening candidate in an election season where many voters are feeling tired of relentless negativity. … And who can resist that beagle?— Christine Emba, on Raphael Warnock
Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments. And remember: No matter what happens, we’ll always have Descante.
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