The fate of the Senate and the direction of the nation are in Trump’s hands
Trump has finally aroused himself to what's at stake.
It is only fitting I suppose, in a year as rotten as 2020, that the fates of the Senate and the nation are in the hands of the man who lost his own bid for re-election last month. In Georgia on January 5th, Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler will square off against Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Sen. David Perdue will face Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff. Georgia mandates a runoff election when two candidates fail to get fifty percent of the vote in the regular election.
While the state went for Biden in the presidential election, Georgia is still largely center right politically and Republicans would comfortably be expected to win a runoff election. Republican officials, however, are less certain these days.
The Trump campaign’s constant claims of electoral fraud could discourage Republicans from going to the polls on January 5th, ensuring both Warnock and Ossoff are elected and giving the Senate a 50-50 tie between the two parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes as President of the Senate. There would be little the Republicans could do to put the brakes on some of the Democrat’s more radical policies.
Trump attorney Lin Wood, at a pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rally in Georgia on December 2nd, told the crowd “They have not earned your vote,” referring to Senators Kelly and Perdue. “Don't you give it to them. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election, for God's sake! Fix it! You gotta fix it!"
Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell has made similar allegations and Trump himself has been one of the foremost promoters of conspiracy theories about massive voter fraud and rigged Dominion voting machines. Republican officials fear this may serve to discourage Republicans from voting, suppressing the vote enough to tilt the election into the Democrat column. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called Powell’s and Wood’s assertions “totally destructive.”
President Trump will travel to Georgia tomorrow, December 5th, for a hangar rally that may be a double-edged sword for the two Republican candidates. The fates of both candidates and the direction of the country may hinge on which Trump shows up.
If he talks up candidates Loeffler and Perdue and explains to voters why their re-elections are so critical, this will be a big boost to getting the faithful out on Election Day. If Trump, ever the narcissist, chooses to make the rally about himself and continues to promote voter fraud conspiracies and attack Republican officials, then he may drag down both candidates and the nation. His legacy will be in further tatters, as will the country when the Democrats are through with it.