Happy New Year
I know; I’m late. It’s January 6th, and I’m wishing folks a “Happy New Year”. But from a political standpoint, the unfinished business of the dreaded year 2020 still hung in the air on New Year’s Day. It took until this week for that business to be resolved. And, as a Democrat looking forward to the new day of the Biden Presidential Administration, the Tuesday was good: so Happy New Year!!!
Deliverance
As a long time Democrat it still amazes me that Democratic “deliverance” was delivered by the state of Georgia. Not California, not New York, not even Virginia or Michigan – it’s Georgia that’s “on my mind” and delivered Senate control to Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party. It was only two years ago that voter suppression in that state prevented Stacy Abrams from gaining the Governorship. Her opponent, current Governor Brian Kemp used all the procedural powers of his previous job, Secretary of State, to make sure black people found it hard to vote.
Mr. Kemp woke a sleeping giant. Abrams and others have worked incessantly to make Georgia a state where everyone votes. And “everyone” voting, including people of color, isn’t good news for a Republican Party that lashed itself to an aging white voting population. The results of Abrams’ efforts are clear: a Democrat, Joe Biden, narrowly won Georgia for the Presidency, the first time since 1992.
Georgia was important in Biden’s victory, but the “stars aligned” to make Georgia even more significant to Biden’s actual Presidency. Through happenstance, Georgia had both Senate seats open for election in November. And that was because of Georgia’s 50% rule.
Historic Racism
In 1962 Georgia instituted a law requiring officeholders to win 50% of the popular vote. If they failed in the “general election” to get a majority, then the top two candidates would compete in a “runoff” election several weeks later. While this “runoff” system may seem harmless, it actually was designed to reduce the power of minority voting blocks in the electoral process. In plain terms – it was about keeping black votes from counting. And make no mistake; it was segregationist Democrats that wrote Georgia law.
But Republicans co-opted the segregationist Democrats in the late 1960’s, and have benefitted from that racist position for decades. Meanwhile Democrats became the Party of minority participation and advancement.
If Georgia didn’t have the runoff system – then in November incumbent Republican David Perdue would have won a six year term, and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock would have defeated Kelly Loffler, and served the remaining two years of that term.
But neither Perdue nor Warnock received 50% of the vote. So both competed in a runoff election, Perdue against Democrat Jon Ossoff, and Warnock against serving Senator Loffler. And as a result of November’s election in the rest of the nation, those two Senate seats determine which political party will control the US Senate. If Republicans won one of those seats, then they would have a 51-49 majority in the Senate. If Democrats won both, then it would be a 50-50 tie, with the new Vice President, Democrat Kamala Harris, breaking ties in the Democrats’ favor.
What Goes Around
In Tuesday’s runoff, Democrat Warnock gained 50.6% of the vote over Loffler’s 49.4%, defeating her by over 55,000 votes. The runoff between Ossoff and Perdue was closer. As of writing this essay, Democrat Ossoff has 50.2% of the vote to Perdue’s 49.8%, and a lead of over 17,000 votes. While those results aren’t finalized – it is clear that two Democrats will represent Georgia for the next two years. And that will give the Democrats control of the United States Senate.
It’s not just Biden’s cabinet selections or judicial picks that can now be approved. Democratic control guarantees a hearing for the Democratic agenda. Any single Democratic Senator will have control over those decisions (Joe Manchin). But what it does mean is that the death lock that Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has kept on legislation just even being discussed is now over. Proposals will go “to the floor”. They will be debated, compromised, voted up or down. But the business of the Congress will now move forward, and not be left in a heap on the Majority Leader’s desk.
The 1962 runoff law designed to disenfranchise minorities, elected the first Black Senator from the State of Georgia. And the Party of disenfranchisement and voter suppression, the Republican Party, lost control of the Senate.
Comes Around
And meanwhile the President of the United States invited a mob to Washington to defend him. He is encouraging that mob to storm the Capitol Building, where the Congress is going through the process of certifying the election. I am watching the crowd storm the Capitol steps, the Vice President evacuating the Senate Chamber, and the protestors enter the Capitol Building.
And it strikes me: if this were a Black Lives Matters protest instead of a Trump protest, would a protestor with a gas mask be gaily wandering through Statuary Hall? Or would the tear gas and pepper spray and more have been deployed long before they entered the building? Need a definition of white privilege – here it is.
We still have a long way to go.
