Now the contest goes to a straight up vote between Ossoff who got 49 percent and Karen Handel, the top GOPer, who came in second with 20 percent. Handel is something of a piece of work. In 2012, when she worked at the breast cancer group the Susan B. Komen Foundation, she was responsible for getting its board to end grants to Planned Parenthood. When that news leaked out, Komen lost 22 percent of its funding for the next year. Komen's base of women supporters rose up in outrage. Handel quickly resigned. It sure would be nice to see Jon Ossoff thwart her electoral ambitions.
For me, it means I'll be on the receiving end of a couple of additional months of Ossoff's fundraising emails. I know the guy needs the money, but whatever email consulting firm Ossoff is using sure is annoying.
But hey, email annoyance is a small price to pay for an additional, unexpected Democratic Congressional victory.
Resist and protect much.
He might do worse in the one on one against a woman where he has so little experience in anything but making documentaries (good for advertising). I read he got $8.3 million almost all from out of state and yet-- ran (also what I read) on many of the Republican ideas, which some said had to be lies for what he'd really do. The Repubs ran 11 or was it 12 and they attacked each other in the run-up.
ReplyDeleteThe longer this goes, the more I despise regular politicians and wonder-- is there an alternative? We came across 177 on TV the other day with a reminder how politics hasn't changed much-- short of not getting into fistfights-- that's saved for street demonstrations...
1776 for some reason I regularly hit 6 and it doesn't print.
ReplyDeleteHi Rain -- of course you are right that our idea that politics in the past were less raucous is mistaken. Current citizen engagement seems a good thing ... but where the fray goes matters.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could agree with you on your subject line. With gerrymandering still fully in effect, I think many seats are safe, even in this era of the Trump grift. I will be shocked if Ossoff even gets to 48.1% in the runoff. I hope I'm wrong, and the Republican candidate is deeply flawed (aren't they all?), but I think the right will coalesce around her.
ReplyDeleteDoing more reading this morning, I saw he did have the experience in politics-- not sure that makes for admirable ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Damon: Agree that the right will coalesce around Handel. But it is not a particularly good district for her -- highly educated, full of the kind of women who defend Planned Parenthood, even in Georgia.
ReplyDeleteBut as far as the headline goes: if Ossoff can do this well, it forces the GOP to defend everywhere, to expend money and energy everywhere. Meanwhile, this result encourages more and better Dems to run, everywhere. And that's much needed.