The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA.
[Here’s a great list of reasons to care about Georgia. It’s from an email from Billy Wimsatt, head of Movement Voter Project, so it’s also a plug for giving to their Georgia Fund, but read it all, especially if you know people who think this runoff isn’t important any more. – Michael]
(1) Save the Senate from the 50-50 power sharing arrangement – This is wonky but important. With 51 votes, Dems will have a one-vote advantage on every Senate committee. This will allow for a faster, less cumbersome process for confirming judges, cabinet members, and passing legislation. In the Senate calendar, wasted time has a huge cost.
(2) Manchin and Sinema – If we lose Georgia, we’ll be dependent on Manchin and Sinema to pass anything. Remember that? On a positive note, with the House in the balance, there’s a real chance we may be able to pass actual good legislation that is inclusive and helpful to the American people.
(3) The 2024 Senate map is VERY tough for Democrats – A Warnock victory means we are in a better position for 2024 when the last three remaining red state Democratic senators are up for re-election: Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Jon Tester in Montana, and Manchin in West Virginia. These will be tough seats to hold. That’s why we need to go into 2024 with as much cushion as possible. The Senate map is biased towards Republicans – more than most people realize. We could easily lose the Senate for a decade – and then we’ll never replace the Supreme Court. Unfortunately now we need to fight for every Senate seat like it’s a presidential swing state.
(4) In case anyone gets sick – Right now we have zero room for error. New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan had a stroke last year. Fetterman had one this year. We live in dangerous times, and if even one Democratic senator is incapacitated for any reason, we would lose the majority. It’s a miracle we survived the past two years without a Senate catastrophe. We need Georgia to keep our majority in the Senate safe!
(5) Rafael Warnock is awesome – He’s not just any ol’ Senator. He is one of only two Black Democrats in the Senate. He is a champion for voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, clean energy, and basically everything we care about. Supporting Warnock and other progressive leaders of color is crucial to our vision of a racially-just and functioning democracy. Warnock is a rising star and a decent human being. We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t work hard to support him. And it’s not just Warnock. It’s about the many incredible largely BIPOC women leaders who are leading behind-the-scenes to transform Georgia.
(6) Herschel Walker is horrible – Enough said. The last thing we need is one more MAGA clone in the Senate propping up Trumpism. But beyond the specific candidates, Georgia’s runoff system in itself is a product of a racist Jim Crow legacy, along with so many discriminatory policies and practices designed to disenfranchise Black voters and others from BIPOC backgrounds. Winning Georgia is a matter of racial and social justice.
(7) Georgia organizers are awesome – We’ve been working closely with Georgia organizers and boy, are they awesome. They’re sophisticated, strategic, serious about winning, organized and inspiringly collaborative. They’re doing an incredible job managing a high stakes operation to deploy tens of millions of dollars to reach six million Georgia voters in a few weeks. We could not be more impressed. They’ve been preparing for months. Unlike TV ads, every investment in Georgia organizers grows their power to transform their communities over the long-term.
(8) You can’t invest too much in Georgia organizers – Best case scenario, we’re extremely successful and send more money to Georgia organizers than they can spend before December 6th. The worst thing that would happen is that they would go into the 2024 cycle with money in the bank. Oh wait – that’s a good thing. They’re going to need to fight lots of bad legislation in 2023 (including anti-voting legislation) and win both the senate and presidential race again in 2024, which apparently is likely to begin later today…
(9) And now that Trump has announced – It’s even more important to send a message that his dystopian brand of politics doesn’t work (whether Trump or DeSantis or someone else is the candidate). There’s a lot more to say about this. Luckily, our local partners are building an inclusive and winning progressive coalition in their communities every day, which we will need as a bulwark against right-wing organizing. The antidote to right-wing manipulation and disinformation is investing deeply in organizing to win hearts and local communities.
(10) Winning is awesome – It has been so wonderful to win so many elections this past week. Our local partners’ success will create massive meaningful change in millions of people’s lives. And winning helps build momentum for more winning. Let’s keep investing so we can keep winning!
The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA.