Warnock wins Georgia senate runoff

IIRC, he’s stated that he’s going to retire once his current term is over in 2026.

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I see this sentiment a few times in this thread and it’s not terribly accurate. The final tally shows a 2.8% Warnock lead. In any competitive election, that’s a whoopin’. Considering that Warnock and Ossof flipped not one, but two seats in a state that wasn’t even considered competitive before 2020’s results, I think it counts as a double whoopin’. It also indicates that the base feels empowered in a way they haven’t since… shit, I don’t know when. They have now shown up with decisive numbers in four elections, half of them runoffs, which almost always see a precipitous drop off in vote totals, especially for Dems.

I’m seeing this term “New South” being bandied about and I am here for it. Southern politics has been dominated by regressive goons due to gerrymandering, voter suppression and outright terrorism for a long damn time. Now a sleeping giant has been awoken and the results are decisive. Nobody wants to go out and fight for Hershel Walker. But this guy?

Warnock GIF by Election 2020

Come on! That’s a leader people will stick with.

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Watch for the trumpiest of trumpy assholes to be the new WV senator. I keep telling you guys, Manchin may be shit, but if not for his name, he would be way too far left for WV. I remeber as a young voter being horrified when a convicted, imprisoned felon nearly defeated Obama in the primary there, for mysterious reasons.

I see someone who will give Mike Lee a run for his money as the most racist, stupidest senator in history. I hope I am wrong, but I am from there, and still have connections there. It ain’t looking good.

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Yeah, it’s a lot more useful to think of him as a “sometimes ally” than anything like a normal Democrat. And given that WV was the 2nd Trumpiest state (giving Trump over 68% of the vote both times!) that’s about the best we could hope for from that state.

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Yup. Manchin’s mere existence as a Democratic senator is a minor miracle, irrespective of how poor his voting record is. Nobody more liberal is likely to be elected in WV without decades of work. The fact that he votes procedurally with the Dems more than justifies the cost of keeping him on board.

Sinema could be easily replaced by dozens of better Democrats. And should be, come her next primary season. No excuses for shitness there.

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What’s the point of having an Olympic swimming pool full of oil industry cash if you can’t swim in it!?!

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Another example of why this addition to the Dem Senate was so important:

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I interpret that data a bit differently. What I think that indicates is that WV is open to electing a populist outsider. In 2016, that meant Trump. But a charismatic populist progressive also has a shot.

It wasn’t that long ago that WV had the highest support for unions of all states.

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I never understood how some of the people supported Bernie pivoted to Trump when Hillary won the primary. They’re both “outsiders,” yes—but they are also polar opposites on nearly every single issue. What kind of idiot votes like that?

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One whose whole political viewpoint comes down to “no chicks”? Just as a guess.

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People who voted to differentiate themselves from an undesired other I guess?

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People who are unaware of and don’t give a shit about issues? Also known as, 70% of the US electorate?

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Day Today GIF

People said the same about GA and then people put in the work (and continue to do so). the work is how change is made.

Because they’re misogynists and would never vote for a woman. :woman_shrugging:

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Oh, absolutely. But given a choice between doing the organising work while having Manchin as senator for the time being and doing the work while having some arbitrary Republican, I’m on team Manchin.

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Doesn’t mean we can’t complain about him, as that’s how you get politicians to make changes in their own behavior…

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Limited perspective but I was around a lot of sanders supporters in a pseudo-bastion of liberalism and they were raging misogynists especially the women who were of course not like other girls.

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Despite the attempts to downplay that group, they did exist and were very real. They flipped to Trump primarily because all they care about is disruption.

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So, so happy about the outcome here! And I donated as much as I could to help!

But it does boggle the mind that a candidate so very, very bad by every possible metric got so many votes. That’s… concerning.

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we’ve already passed the point where we’re a blue country.

shrub ( the first time ) and ■■■■■ won the electoral college not the popular vote. similarly the republicans have power in the senate because land does vote, and the 60 vote threshold gives hugely undemocratic powers to depopulated states

just as bad, in the house, republicans have control because of maps that were ruled to be illegal(*). and, of course, elections like ga’s are close because of disenfranchisement and barriers to voting that target poc ( and particularly black voters )

that the gop has a stake in federal government is structural not demographic. unfortunately.

eta: *) and the way the house numbers are apportioned. and the ■■■■■ census. etc

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It’s scary to me that so many people chose to vote for Walker. They put some ideology before any need to have a capable government. That Walker was ever even a candidate is scary.

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