The GOP’s Avoidable Defeat in Georgia

 

The GOP’s Avoidable Defeat in Georgia

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/the-gops-avoidable-defeat-in-georgia/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202021-01-06&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart

Excerpt: When George H. W. Bush lost in 1992, NR commented that his graciousness in taking full responsibility for defeat should not be permitted to obscure the fact that what he said was entirely correct. President Trump has not taken any responsibility for the Republican loss of the Senate, or even acknowledged his own defeat. But what he has not said is entirely correct in this case, too. When Bill Clinton beat Bush, Democratic voters were celebratory and Republicans (and independents) concerned, and the Republicans won the Senate runoff in Georgia a few weeks later. This normal partisan dynamic should have been enough to carry even two mediocre candidates, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, to victory. Trump did everything in his power to keep it from setting in. He encouraged Republican voters to believe that his presidency would continue and that their votes would not count if they showed up. He gave a megaphone to Lin Wood — who seems either to be mentally ill or imitating the condition — who told voters to punish Republicans for not doing enough to indulge the fantasy of keeping Trump in office. And at the same time he alarmed Democratic voters that he would use extraconstitutional methods to retain power.