Well, I may be flat out wrong with how I’ve read all the data, but wrong for the wrong reason.
What we are seeing in Georgia right now is that the GOP voters are not showing up and the Democrat voters are. The GOP reliably got over 50% of the vote in the combined legislative races for congress, state house, and state senate in November. Those voters are not showing up.
Over three-quarters of Republicans who voted said they think the November election was stolen. The President’s campaign actually went on the air in Georgia in the last few days to tell Republicans that November was stolen. The Georgia Republican Party Chairman has been all over TV and the internet telling voters the November election was stolen.
Turns out Republican voters took it all seriously, which I could not conceive would be so. And yet…
It is 9pm and the GOP can still win. But if they win, it will be far, far closer than it should be and frankly, at 9pm, it just looks bad for them.
Democrats are turning up close to their November numbers.
Republicans are turning up way less than November.
The Republican leaders, from the party to the president, have convinced their base there is no point in voting and the voters have believed it.
It is simply amazing.
Again, though, it is 9pm and North Georgia Republicans can pull it out for the GOP. It just is looking less likely at this point.
My own children were impacted by the fraud rhetoric even though I emphatically shared the reality with them. They did not vote in the run off thought they showed for the general.
Also, I was looking at Cobb’s data where I live. To be honest, I have heard a fair amount of republican friends state that they were flat out annoyed and no longer wanted to vote after being harassed nonstop by email, texts, calls, and doorknocks. I was aggravated myself by the incessant intrusions. Some days we received 3-4 visits to our door - from both sides of the aisle. I have never felt so harassed. I do wonder if this also impacted voter turnout negatively.
I typically spend 10 to 15 minutes in line to vote - time it in the middle of the day. Today, it took 35 minutes to vote. When I left my polling place, the line was 1 1/2 times the size that it was when I originally got in line. I do not know of one person that indicated that they were not voting in this election. If anything people seem to be more determined. Not challenging Erik - this is just counter-intuitive to what I have been experiencing.