There's no question that even in defeat there is inspiration to be found. Lucy McBath's 50.5% to 49.5%, 3,264 vote win against Karen Handel in Georgia was a happy ending last month-- a tie in Fulton County and a bigger Democratic win in DeKalb than the GOP win in Cobb-- but people who watch politics closely were jumping out of their skin as Carolyn Bourdeaux closed in on Rob Woodall even if her massive win in Gwinnett County fell a tiny bit short of his even more massive win in Forsyth. Woodall may have won 50.1% to 49.9% (419 votes) but organizers are already working on GA-07, 2020 right now.2018 was a great Democratic Party year but among the heroes are candidates who didn't go all the way: Randy Bryce (who did manage to chase Paul Ryan out of Congress), Beto O'Rourke (who didn't beat Ted Cruz but still managed to transform himself from a New Dem backbencher with no accomplishments into a serious contender-- reborn a "progressive"-- for president. No one may ever think about Clarence Nelson II (3 term Senator Bill) again but Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum established himself as a much-admirered national political figure, despite losing narrowly to a neo-fascist Trump supporter.And, back to Georgia, we'll definitely be eager to hear from Stacey Abrams again. Cheated out of her win-- as Gillum was-- her 1,923,685 counted votes didn't quite go all the way compared to election fraudster Brian Kemp's 1,978,408. On the other hand, I was very nonplussed yesterday to read in the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Jon Ossoff wants to run for the U.S. Senate in 2020.Ossoff started his GA-06 congressional special election run-- the seat Lucy McBath just won-- with a roar, but then allowed the DCCC and their band of DC consultants-- who grew way fatter on the $30,431,025 that poured into his race (and that's without even counting the millions more spent by outside groups)-- to take over and ring out every ounce of anything that was ever worthwhile about his candidacy. (Note: McBath's winning campaign spent $2,352,375, about $28,0000,000 less than Ossoff's failed race.)Yesterday, reporter Greg Bluestein noted that Ossoff will strike a populist tone this time.Oh, yes... American voters are just craving someone who can strike a good populist pose. Ossoff's contemplating a run against Republican Senator David Purdue in 2020, hoping another big anti-red wave will sweep him into power-- his whiter shade of pale pose trumping Abrams' profound authenticity:Ossoff spoke at a library in Cornelia in deep red Habersham County, in rural northeast Georgia, this week. (In the 2016 presidential race, Habersham County went for Trump 13,184 (81.7%) to 2,483 (14.4%) His town hall, wrote Bluestein, "took on special significance as a chance to test his appeal to an unfamiliar crowd. And he unveiled an urgent, populist message railing against the corporate influence in politics and a national economy 'built on debt and consumption... There’s more and more cynical politics. Student debt is skyrocketing. We’re still maintaining this unfathomably large empire that costs trillions of dollars,' said Ossoff. 'We’re doing nothing for crumbling infrastructure at home. And we wonder why there’s so much anger.' He added: 'It’s because the people in charge are squandering the power and wealth entrusted in them to make our lives better.' The meeting drew about 100 people, many from a sweep of other deeply-conservative neighboring areas where Democrat Stacey Abrams struggled to crack 15 percent of the vote in November’s race for governor. Organizers said it was the most young people the county party had ever attracted."
Ossoff was dodgy about direct questions about his next step, saying he would “think really carefully” before making up his mind.But he said he expected Democrats to sharpen their criticism of President Donald Trump, consider new anti-trust regulations and push new campaign finance rules.He took particular aim at the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the 2010 decision that allows unlimited campaign contributions. He said Democrats must respond by banding together to reject corporate contributions.“It takes politicians who refuse corporate money and break that dependence to bring some balance back to the system,” he said.And he cast recent Democratic defeats in Georgia-- including his own-- as a temporary setback.“This is a long fight. There will be triumph and heartbreak, near-misses and wipeouts, and triumphant victories,” he said. “But it’s about every single battle, and not being demoralized-- and finding community among other people who share your values.”
The 2020 Senate map isn't as bad for the Democrats as the 2018 map was. But it isn't great. Democrats will want to go after Miss McConnell and there's chatter about sportscaster Matt Jones running for the seat. Susan Collins' time may finally be up-- or maybe not. Alabama is likely to throw out Doug Jones and replace him with a generic Republican. There's a special election in purple-trending Arizona but are Arizona voters ready for two Democrats representing them in the Senate? Joni Ernst could possibly be defeated by J.D. Scholten, who nearly finished off Steve King in the reddest part of Iowa. Is Thom Tillis really at risk? I doubt it... but the Democrats will try, possibly with former Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx, who served as Obama's Secretary of Transportation. The best target for for a red to blue flip is Colorado, where Cory Gardner is vulnerable. Georgia? Maybe. Sally Yates has already taken herself out of the running. My guess is that if Stacey Abrams runs, Ossoff will back off but that if she decides not to run, he will. Could he beat Perdue? Probably not... unless the anti-red wave is more massive than it was this year. And that's a reasonable expectation. Could Ossoff raise $30 million again? I don't think so. A lot of people will need a lot more than a pose to write him a check again.
