They drove for hours to see Donald Trump this past weekend, then lined up for hours more, wearing Trump caps and T-shirts, chanting Trump chants, jeering various Trump’s nemeses, and seething over an election they still insist was stolen from Trump.
The decisions made by this same group of Georgia voters over the next few weeks could shape the course of American politics for the next few years.
A pair of Jan. 5 elections in this state will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, with registration closing Monday, and advance voting beginning next week.
To hold the chamber, Republicans must win one of these two races; the outcome will affect future president Joe Biden’s ability to confirm judges, appoint cabinet members and sign legislation.
The concern for Republicans: Will these voters show up?
The party’s fortunes depend on turnout from what might be described as “Trump First” voters, those diehard supporters currently fuming at anybody they see as insufficiently loyal to the president.
What has party brass concerned: the possibility these voters might stay home after the presidential election, disillusioned by Republican officials’ refusal to help Trump overturn the result.
Pete Toole dislikes most politicians except Trump. He still intends to vote in the Senate runoffs. (Alexander Panetta/CBC)
The weekend rally in Georgia allowed for a timely temperature-taking of this powerful slice of the electorate.
Very few people had signs for Republican senators Kelly Loeffler or David Perdue at the event, even though their re-election campaign was ostensibly the reason Trump flew in for an airport runway rally.
When Loeffler and Perdue spoke, the crowd drowned them out with chants about the president like, “Stop the steal!” and, “Fight for Trump,” a chorus of thousands of people making clear what truly stirs their political passions.
Angry over Trump’s loss
Seated in the crowd, Pete Toole said he dislikes most politicians — that includes all Democrats and most Republicans.
The one Republican he truly adores is Trump. And what matters to him right now is getting the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the presidential election result.
He’s not sure how, or on the basis of what legal arguments or evidence any of that could happen, but the retired grocer from the small town of Uvalda, Ga., just can’t believe his man truly lost.
The current Senate breakdown is 50 Republican votes and 48 votes from Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. If Democrats win both in Georgia, the parties would be tied and future VP Kamala Harris would be the tie-breaking vote. (CBC News)
He thinks other Republicans should be doing more to help Trump stay in office, and his disdain extends to the two Republican Senate candidates who were on that stage.
“I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. I’m for Trump,” Toole said. “I don’t like [Republican senators Kelly] Loeffler or [David] Perdue.”
Loeffler and Perdue are seeking re-election against Raphael Warnock, who is a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. was co-pastor with his father, and Jon Ossoff, a former congressional staffer.
Toole sees his party’s candidates as weak and mealy-mouthed and said they need to be tough like Trump. When asked how, specifically, they should model their behaviour on the president’s, he replied: “On everything. They should have his personality. Speak their mind.”
So what’s the bottom line — will he turn out for the Senate runoffs or not? “I’m going to vote probably for Loeffler and Perdue.”
The reason: to stop the left from gaining power.
WATCH | Could Trump’s fraud claims could keep Georgia voters home for runoff?:
U.S. President Donald Trump spent some of the weekend trying to rally support for Republican Senate candidates in Georgia, but there are concerns his continued denouncement of the electoral system could convince voters to stay home. 2:03
Trump lawyers urge boycott
And that was the main takeaway from the vast majority of those interviewed at the rally by CBC News and other media during the weekend event.
Most said that even if the presidential race mattered most to them, and even if they’re unenthused by most Republicans, they would still turn out and cast ballots to help their party keep the Senate.
The Senate candidates in Georgia. Top from left: Republican incumbents David Perdue, and Kelly Loeffler. Bottom, from left: Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. (CBC)
There were exceptions.
Lauren Voyles, who made a five-hour drive from north of Atlanta for the event, said she has lost faith in the electoral system. She thinks the vote was rigged against the president, despite the lack of evidence of electoral fraud.
She singled out the so-called crooks, and the “fake-news media” and what she sees as the weak-kneed Republican establishment not fighting hard enough to keep Trump in the White House.
When asked if she’ll vote in the Senate race she said: “Not in the current system — why would I?”
That dismissive attitude was echoed by angry Republicans who at a recent event shouted down the party chair, and by pro-Trump lawyers who urged a boycott of Senate races as a protest against a party establishment they deride as disloyal to the president.
Stakes high for Democrats,too
Such talk is sweet music to Democrats’ ears.
One Democrat who lives several hours north raised her hands in pretend prayer when asked if she expected rifts on the right to depress Republican turnout.
Latresha Jackson, a volunteer with the Democratic Party near Atlanta, said her party badly wants those two seats, which would result in a 50-50 Senate tie and allow vice-president-elect Kamala Harris to cast tie-breaking votes.
“Democrats understand what’s on the line,” Jackson said, speaking at her home in Forsyth County.
The head of the Democratic Party in that same county, Melissa Clink, said the party that retains the Senate doesn’t just win more votes — its leadership controls the chamber agenda and decides which bills come up for a vote.
Melissa Clink, the chair of a Democratic county branch near Atlanta, says these races will determine what gets discussed in the Senate. (Alexander Panetta)
All of which holds potential consequences on issues such as health care, climate change, infrastructure and immigration policy.
“Two years of gridlock” is how Clink described a Senate led by Mitch McConnell. “Right now, [McConnell is] the gatekeeper of what we even speak about on the floor.”
Her county branch began dropping off promotional flyers last weekend for the Jan. 5 vote, and progressive groups have mailed out applications for absentee ballots.
Democrats must win both seats
Democrats, however, have a taller hill to climb.
While some recent polling gives Democrats an edge in what will likely be two close races, history and math are on the Republican side.
For starters, Republicans only need to win one race to retain the advantage; Democrats need both. In addition, Republicans have a history of stronger turnout in runoff elections like these ones, which in Georgia are held after a general election when there are multiple candidates and nobody surpasses 50 per cent.
In the last such runoff, in 2018, the Republican candidate for secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, expanded his wafer-thin general-election lead by more than 3 percentage points in the runoff.
That’s the same Brad Raffensperger who is now receiving death threats because he’s in charge of running Georgia’s elections, and he’s refusing to help Trump overturn the result.
The answer to the Democrat voter fraud is not to stay at home – that’s what Pelosi and Schumer want you to do. If you want revenge on the Democrats for their efforts to steal the Presidential election, where we are fighting hard, you have to show up and vote in RECORD numbers! <a href=”https://t.co/XAJ0F2JmeL”>pic.twitter.com/XAJ0F2JmeL</a>
Republican strategy: keep Trump in the conversation
After the weekend Trump rally, it’s now crystal-clear what the Republican strategy is in its effort to ensure turnout from Trump supporters.
They’re keeping Trump in the conversation.
Several speakers at the weekend rally cast this Senate vote as a chance to cement the president’s legacy and protect it from Democrats who would undo his tax, energy, climate, and other policies.
“Don’t let them take [that legacy] away,” said Sonny Perdue, a former Georgia governor, current Trump cabinet member, and cousin to one Republican candidate, Sen. David Perdue.
At a rally in Valdosta, Ga., Trump mostly talked about his own achievements and grievances, but also urged Georgians to vote. (Alexander Panetta)
Trump, for his part, delivered a long speech with three basic themes.
First, he encouraged Republicans to turn out. He called this vote the most important congressional runoff in history, and lauded the two Senate candidates.
Second, he trashed other Georgia Republicans. The bulk of Trump’s speech consisted of grievances about the election, and complaints about the governor, who has refused to help him overturn the result.
Finally, he also gave what sounded like a valedictory address. Trump concluded the speech by listing things his presidency achieved, from tax cuts to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
Trump urged Georgians to cement that legacy by turning out for the Perdue and Loeffler: “These seats are the last line of defence to save America and protect all that we have accomplished.”
Not that Trump will ever admit defeat.
Bob Kunst (Alexander Panetta/CBC)
Heated rhetoric
Nor will his supporters. They aren’t just grumbling about an election loss; a large number appear to deeply believe he was robbed, based on a litany of unproven or disputed allegations now repeatedly dismissed in court.
They’re livid at the media for reporting he lost. A few screamed at a Fox News crew, while several shouted epithets at the media bus leaving the rally.
Bob Kunst, who drove up from Miami for what he said was his 201st Trump-related event, said Republicans plan to unseat, in future primaries, anyone who fails to help Trump hold onto power.
Some of the rhetoric, he said, is getting even more heated.
“This is like civil-war time,” he said. “I am the most mild-mannered person. But I am way angry. … I’ve had people here tell me they’re armed to the teeth.”
Erick Erickson, a Georgia-based talk-show host, (Submitted by Erick Erickson)
Yet he still cares about the Senate and wants Republicans to win. “They have to,” Kunst said.
Erick Erickson, a Georgia-based conservative radio show host who’s been lukewarm on Trump — initially opposing him, then backing him, and often criticizing him — says he expects the party to unite for the Senate races.
Erickson said a number of Republicans do care first and foremost about Trump but that there’s also been a swift backlash to the talk about a boycott, and he expects Republicans will show up.
He said history has also shown Georgia Republicans do turn out in non-presidential races, as they did in the 2018 midterm year.
“I think the GOP goes two for two [in the Senate races],” Erickson said in an interview outside his Atlanta studio.
“But it’s gonna be a slugfest. Those of us in TV and radio — we’re gonna come out the winners in this. … It’s going to be close. Maybe closer than it should be.”
NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
