Mitt Romney was flying back to DC from Atlanta when he was accosted by the Republican Party's lizard fighters on their way to the Trump rally. Watch.
The Georgia Secession Convention met in Milledgeville (Baldwin County) from January 16 to March 23, 1861 and led Georgia into treason. Last night Baldwin County gave Warnock 52% of its vote and Ossoff 51.8%. And today the great state of Georgia is fully back in the Union. All the outstanding votes are in Democratic strongholds but this morning 98% were counted and, as you can see, the two Democrats won, handing control of the Senate back to the Democrats. (We'll talk about the Manchin-Sinema factor in future days; let's just savor the moment.) And that moment includes Republicans reassessing their relationship with a Queens County hustler who pulled the wool over their eyes for 4 years.
A classic loser, he certainly didn't give a damn whether the GOP kept the Senate or not after he lost the White House. Politico this morning: "With control of the Senate at stake in the state’s two races, the president chose to spend weeks peddling baseless claims that Georgia’s electoral system was rigged, fueling an online movement to boycott Tuesday’s election. He demonized the state’s Republican leaders and fractured the local GOP. He ignored calls from his allies to rally in the state sooner. His support for Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue mainly came in the form of the occasional tweet and two rallies, including one on Monday. He blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for not heeding his calls for boosted stimulus checks." Now he's being blamed by Republicans who suddenly seem as eager for damnatio memoriae as the rest of America is.
The immediate recrimination is emblematic of the complicated GOP dynamics that have emerged after Trump’s loss in the November election. Fissures are forming as Republicans decide whether it's useful to cling to Trump-- even as he tries to subvert an election-- or to distance themselves. And if the Georgia races are any indication, it appears Republicans are willing to turn on Trump if he can’t reliably turn out the vote for candidates in the months and years ahead.
When asked why Republicans didn’t prevail on Tuesday, a senior Senate Republican aide simply said: “Donald J. Trump.”
The frustration stems from the days after the Nov. 3 election. While Republicans tried to reset in Georgia and prepare for the two runoff races, the president set off a civil war within his own party as he launched a divisive campaign to overturn the 2020 election.
...The behavior left Republicans shaking their heads Tuesday night, incensed that it might have cost them two critical races.
They ticked off a variety of reasons why Trump was to blame, even offering conflicting theories. For instance, while some Republicans wished Trump had been more involved in the races, others argued he should have actually excised himself from the situation.
“He is the Dems’ best base animator,” said one GOP strategist involved in the Georgia races. “Look at how high turnout was on their side compared to historical trends. Look at how much their candidates raised. He steps back after Election Day and denies them that oxygen. He didn’t.”
The GOP blame game has expanded beyond Trump to some of his party acolytes. One party official suggested RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel-- Trump’s hand-picked party leader-- should step down, only a day ahead of the Republican National Committee’s annual Winter Meeting in Amelia Island, Florida.
“I think the blame will be spread around, but a party chairman losing a presidential election and losing the Senate majority should, out of honor, offer her resignation even if the committee doesn’t accept it,” the Republican official said.
Trump dead-enders like Lin Wood and Sidney Powell actually encouraged a boycott on the election, a boycott Trump seemed to deplore but... he also seemed to want to bring down the whole edifice so he didn't look like a loser all by himself.
The "strategy" destroyed the GOP in the once dependably Republican suburbs. But while many Republicans are blaming Trump, Trump's inner circle is blaming everyone else-- especially former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked the $2,000 survival checks, the Democrats were campaigning on. Instead, Bernie is now the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. There goes the Space Force!
