#BTColumn – Georgia on the mind

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

Having witnessed Boris Johnson crash Britain out of Europe in order to satisfy his ambition to access 10 Downing Street, the reaction of President Trump to the presidential election outcome doesn’t surprise me.

Politics has little relation to morals; it’s the competition of private interests masquerading as a public contest of principles.

Ronald Reagan noted, “Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

What is happening with the US presidential elections is not a coup, nor a hijacking of the election, nor a threat to democracy. The bumpy transition of power to President-elect Biden has less to do with Trump’s right to challenge election results and more with his characteristic unconventional behaviour.

He is captive to a binary world that you either dominate or submit to, you either win or you lose, and insists, ‘I am not a loser.’ This fictitious world is not his habitation alone but a large percentage of the near 74 million voters who supported him recently, and whose support he’s likely to garner should he seek the presidency in 2024.

However, the posturing and more importantly, the seeming acquiescence of Republicans to these postelection shenanigans are linked to the impending Senate runoffs in Georgia, specifically the need for further fundraising from an electorally and financially fatigued populace.

Georgia’s elections require runoffs when no candidate secures 50 per cent of votes in the general election. Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are challenging Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

On January 5,2021, Georgia voters not only choose their senators but also determine which party controls the US Senate and by extension, whether Biden has a tranquil or tumultuous start to his presidency.

Republicans won 50 Senate seats, while Democrats have 48 seats. Should Democrats win both Georgia races, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tie-breaking vote, giving the Democrats control of the White House and both organs of the Legislative Branch. Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, albeit with a much-reduced margin.

Although Georgia has not elected a Democratic senator since 1996, the runoff occurs in the shadow of Biden’s landmark win in Georgia’s presidential race. It was the first time for Georgia to turn blue since 1992.

However, to repeat Biden’s feat in the Senate runoffs, the Democrats will have to combat the entire weight of the Republican Party descending on the state –organisers, operatives and hundreds of millions of dollars.

2008 was the last time there was a Georgia Senate runoff; Republican Saxby Chambliss defeated Democrat Jim Martin by 15 percentage points.

This was just weeks after Martin barely lost the Obama-charged November election by three points.

Both parties are mobilising for the two-month race that will focus the political world on Georgia. Runoffs are more about turnout that about changing people’s minds, and this time around Democrats have a few things going for them.

Republicans hope that the threat of Democrats’ complete control of Washington will mobilise their supporters. However, they are constrained, due to a fear of severe repercussions, to discuss Biden’s victory publicly. They will also have to manage without Donald Trump on the ballot to motivate their base.

Democrats, on the other hand, have indicated they identified thousands of potential new voters ahead of the 7 December registration deadline. Further, they have access to a much improved ground game coordinated by former 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. She literally wrote the playbook for Georgia Democrats – “The Strategy and Path to Victory in 2020”.

Significantly, Biden made huge gains among affluent, college-educated and older voters in the major suburbs. The relatively lower Black voter turnout compared to other demographic groups means Democrats have the potential for a better showing in the January runoffs if the Black community is mobilised. Black votes matter.

Winston Churchill noted, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” He also appreciated its challenges, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

Democracy is not a spectator sport. History has shown that democracy can die, rarely in darkness, more often in broad daylight. Some 2,000 years ago, Plato was dismissive of this Greek invention – the power of the people – predicting that it would end in despotism. On occasions, we seem to come close and so it is essential for each and every citizen to do their duty and prove him wrong.

Dominic Hewitt is pursuing graduate and professional studies in law in London. Passionate about politics, he aspires to be a political commentator. Arlington Kenneth is trained in political sociology.