I will admit, last night’s vote in Georgia stunned me. I wanted the GOP to win those. It is not that I passionately pro-GOP these days, but I am unenthused about the idea of the Democrats having unfettered control of government for the next couple of years. They can implement some policies that will be difficult to undo. I know little about Perdue or Loeffler. I know nothing about Ossoff. What I know about Warnock is not good. Fundamentally, I believe in the old adage, that government governs best which governs least. If the GOP could have pulled off at least one win in Georgia, and it should have been able to do so, then we’d have had a divided government over the next two years and little would have gotten done. I’d have liked that.
What went wrong? I watched returns and opinions and analysis last night and have formed some opinions of my own. I am not a political scientist. These are just one guy’s strong opinions.
My thesis is simple:
Donald Trump’s self-absorption destroyed the Republican’s chances in Georgia. He spent the last two months leveling patently false charges about “stolen elections” which turned off GOP voters in Georgia and enthused Democrats. He only cared about himself and his fantasies of remaining in power, and so instead of conceding and working to help the party, he selfishly turned the country over to the Democrats by his false accusations.
Points to Ponder
1. If you say, “Election fraud has been proven,” you are only reading or watching the right-wing fake news sites. Georgia and Arizona are largely GOP controlled states right now. The GOP infrastructure would not have gone along with a grift as big as this. “Affidavits” and “videos” proving stolen elections all evaporated when taken to court and put under the glare of evidentiary analysis. Mostly Republican-appointed judges and justices laughed the false allegations out of court because the evidence was so flimsy. NO ONE believes there was election fraud except for people who drink the poisoned water of right-wing news sites, and fake-news social media. It did not happen. There has been no credible proof that could stand analysis outside right-wing media sites.
2. Donald Trump spent 2 months accusing (primarily) REPUBLICANS in Georgia (and other states) of being involved in corruption to prevent him from being elected – Republican governor, Secretary of State, election officials. He made false accusations against people who had supported him but would not sacrifice their integrity to join in his false accusations of stolen elections. He engaged in what was once called “the politics of personal destruction” and destroyed the GOP in the process.
3. There was exit-polling analysis I watched last night that said that while Democrats turned out in high numbers for the runoff, Republican turnout was disappointing. Why? The prevailing belief is that after 2 months of Trump talking about rigged elections and corruption, Republican voters either did not believe in the system or were so disgusted with the GOP they did not care to support it.
Donald Trump dragged down the GOP in this election with two months of false accusations against the Georgia GOP. If you spent the last two months spreading false reports of stolen elections, you helped to turn over the Senate to Biden and the Democrats.
4. Unfortunately, the Evangelical church compromised itself so badly over the last 5 years that it is hard to see how we still stand prophetically for truth in this culture. So many of our leaders subverted principle for power and for White House access. We put party loyalty ahead of gospel truth. Evangelicalism has always been poorly defined but too many of our leaders have now equated it with voting GOP. We are no longer just in the world, we are of the world.
I know that many will be enraged by what I am saying, but this Senate outcome that did not have to happen. If Donald Trump had conceded, had graciously accepted the will of the American people, and had played the statesman, campaigning for these candidates instead of pursuing this quest to steal votes and overturn Joe Biden’s win, I am convinced the outcome would have been different.
If you are upset that the Democrats are in full control, at least put the blame where it belongs. The president and anyone who supported his false accusations of a stolen election were the allies of Warnock, Ossoff, Biden, Harris, Pelosi, and all the Democrats in the runoff election.
