If over the past few weeks your only source of news was CNN or MSNBC, you might think that Donald Trump’s presidency is in a shambles and that even Republicans are revolting against him. You might imagine that Republicans were going to send him a message by sending a Democrat to Congress through a special election in the solidly Republican 6th Congressional District of Georgia.
The problem for CNN and MSNBC is that they actually believe their own narrative because they are blinded by their hatred for Trump and have lost all objectivity. To call either of those outlets “news” organizations is pulling the pasta pretty thin.
align=”left” Ironically, it will be the hard-left of the Democratic party that is going to inadvertently help Republicans going into the 2018 mid-terms.
But the networks, and nearly all Democrats, were convinced that the special election to replace United States Representative Tom Price, now the secretary of the Health and Human Services, was going to deliver a Democrat in a reliably Republican district. This was supposed to be the first referendum on Trump’s presidency.
Hollywood jumped into the mix as well. Actress Alyssa Milano was in Georgia driving voters to early voting locations and tweeted about the race more than 100 times. In one tweet the day before the election, she claimed there were 8,000 volunteers working on the ground for the Democratic candidate. A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) memo circulated about a week before the election reported more than 2,000 volunteers and more than 70 paid staffers.
There are 8k volunteers working for @ossoff on the ground. This is their movement. This is their time. #FlipThe6th pic.twitter.com/bCdc7PAnzf
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) April 18, 2017
Additionally, donors large and small jumped into the race in a big way. The Democratic candidate raised an eye-popping $8 million.
With so much money and so many volunteers on the ground, it was a Herculean effort—only made possible by the staunch belief they had a chance.
As polls closed and early voting numbers were released, the liberal chattering class was more convinced than ever that their golden boy, Jon Ossoff, was going to deliver the upset of the year. After the first round of early vote totals were released, showing Ossoff with a commanding 70 percent of the vote, the chest beating reached a fever pitch. #GA06 began to trend on Twitter. #TheResistance and #FlipTheSixth became a battle cry for the Left.
But as the night wore on, reality began to take hold.
The 70 percent became 62 percent, then 58 percent…54 percent…53 percent…51 percent. It hovered for a while at 50.3 percent before finally settling at 48.1 percent. Cue the balloon drop… or the balloon pop.
Ultimately, when you combine the vote totals of the 11 (yes 11!) Republican candidates in the “jungle primary,” the GOP vote total was 51 percent. This does not bode well for the Democrats in the June 20 run off.
If you follow the commentary from the Left on Twitter and on cable news, however, they are certain—nay, convinced!—that Ossoff can prevail. But the Democratic establishment thinks that playing hard in the run-off is a waste of time and valuable resources.
To put it mildly, the Democratic party is in disarray.
As Alex Burns from the New York Times reported:
A debate has been raging among Democratic strategists and activists over how aggressively to compete in right-leaning districts where Republicans are defending vacant congressional seats. The national party has favored caution in places like Kansas, Montana and South Carolina, while the base has clamored for all-out war.
For the Democrats who want to fight Republicans everywhere, whatever the cost in dollars and hours of work, Mr. Ossoff’s near-win in Georgia could be like a red flag waved in front of a bull. Every time Democrats fare well (or even just better than usual) in conservative areas, it may become harder for party strategists to argue that the toughest races are still out of reach.
Ironically, it will be the hard-left of the Democratic party that is going to inadvertently help Republicans going into the 2018 mid-terms. Their insistence on fighting every single district would lead to a huge drain of resources into districts in which they have very little chance of winning.
Yes, Republicans shouldn’t gloat too much. But if the hard Left gets its way, 2018 is going to be a really good year for the GOP.
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