Sunday School 11/15/20

There was a lot of talk in the classrooms today about Georgia, and about the pandemic, and of course about the election.  I'll tackle some Georgia stuff today, and the pandemic stuff in tomorrow's Extra Credit. Sound good?

Martha Raddatz had Jon Ossoff, one of the two Dems who will be in the runoff elections for Georgia Senate seats come January, in the This Week classroom.  She mentioned that Joe Biden got 100K more votes than Ossoff did, and asked how he'd make up the gap between now and the primary.

Ossoff admitted there was some drop-off but said it was still the closest Senate race in the country, and said

And that really reflects the power of Black turnout here, the determination of Black voters in Georgia to make a change in this country.

He mentioned how hard-hit that community has been because of COVID, and how important affordable healthcare, civil rights legislation, and criminal justice reform are. 

After four years of division that's been corrosive to our national soul, we're seeing record-breaking turnout in Georgia from voters who are demanding change, who are demanding competent, honest leadership out of this crisis.

In response to her question about his opponent, Sen. David Perdue, getting 90K more votes, he said he wasn't worried. He's focused on "organizing and running the largest voter registration and turnout effort in American history," and taking aim at the folks who'll become eligible voters between now and the runoff on January 5th. He also said

The GOP at the national level has no leader, has no message and has no vision other than stopping Joe Biden. But we are in a crisis; we need leadership; we need to make sure that Joe Biden can govern and this administration is successful.

On the election being about an "aversion to Donald Trump or enthusiasm for Biden, Ossoff said there's a lot of enthusiasm for Papa Joe in Georgia, not to mention that his popular vote margin was the highest since Roosevelt beat Hoover in '32.

And that hope that I was just talking about, that feeling that we have the opportunity now to heal our nation's soul after four years of hatred and fear-mongering and division; to empower medical experts to lead us out of this pandemic; to invest in infrastructure and clean energy and economic recovery; and to enact a broader program, a new Civil Rights Act, establishing healthcare as a human right for all people in this country. This is where we're headed as a country. And Georgians are excited to be part of it.

Over in the CNN State of the Union classroom, Jake Tapper talked with Rev. Raphael Warnock, the other Dem heading to the January runoff. His opponent, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, was also invited to chat, but refused.

Tapper asked the same question Raddatz asked Ossoff: why the drop-off in votes from the presidential line to the senate line? Warnock noted he was a first-time candidate, one of ten Dems in a 21-person race. Listed alphabetically, Warnock was next to last in the list and still managed to finish first,

handily, and far ahead of a candidate who is the wealthiest member of Congress, who poured millions of dollars into this race. And we finished in a strong position.

He's confident that he'll prevail in January, "as Georgians hear about my commitment to access to affordable health care, the dignity of work," and Warnock's own work "standing up for ordinary people." 

Tapper wondered how Warnock was going to keep the message focused on Georgia, when folks like Sen. Chuck Schumer are nationalizing the race. 

The fact of the matter is, Jake, voters don't vote for politicians. It's - this race is not about me. And Chuck Schumer's name is certainly not on the ballot.

Tapper mentioned Loeffler's attack that Warnock was a fan of Fidel Castro; that stems from Castro's 1995 appearance at a NYC church where Warnock was a youth pastor. Tapper asked whether Warnock attended the event and whether he understood why people don't 'celebrate' Castro.

Warnock said he had nothing to do with the program, was not a decision-maker for it, and he never met nor is he connected with Castro, but didn't say whether he was there.  As to Loeffler's attacks?

And so, while she tries to tie me to these personalities that I don't know, and seeks the endorsement of a fifth-century warmonger named Attila the Hun, I will be focused on health care in Georgia.

Tapper pushed for a specific answer on Warnock's understanding on why Americans don't celebrate Castro. Warnock said, "Well, absolutely. And I never have." And, saying he was the "embodiment of" the American story, he added

I am not going to give in to the demagogues of division and distraction, people who have no vision, engage in division. I'm going to do the thing that I have been doing...bringing people together, so that we can push through this terrible pandemic and get our country going again. 

I had to check out the Attila the Hun reference. It seems Loeffler made more than one ad stating that she was "more conservative than" Attila. Here's one; here's another. And another. So, while she's not seeking his endorsement, I guess she thinks she deserves it, and would probably get it. And, in the interest of fair play, here's a fact-check on Warnock and Castro. 

See you around campus. Unless of course, if you're not wearing a mask, in which case I'll ignore you.