The Georgia Runoff:
(image credit: CNN)
Just about a week ago, Democrats Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeated incumbent Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Georgia's two Senate runoffs. The highly profiled elections will go on to put Democrats in control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Democratic Majority in the Senate is incredibly slim and I'd argue that it wouldn't be fair to call it a majority considering the fact that the current number of Democratic and Republican seats is equal in number. Their majority comes from the tie-breaking vote Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris would be expected to cast in the event of a deadlock. Bipartisanship can and will become an issue of the Senate. Democrats are going to have to work with Republican leadership to pass some of their more ambitious legislation. Otherwise, they're going to have to make sure that every member tows the party line. These are the only two realistic paths forward for the Senate Democrats.
As for the House Democrats, they lost several seats this year, which is indicative of their current rocky majority. They'll need to pay attention to that going into the 2022 Congressional Elections. We have this before in the Trump-era. In 2016, the Republicans gained control of the House and the Senate. While the Republicans managed to reverse many Obama-era policies, they failed to accomplish as much as they could have due to party bickering and congressional deadlock. I'm waiting to see how the Democrats will handle their new positions.
Consequently, this new majority gives President-elect Joe Biden the opportunity to pass his legislative agenda which includes an ambitious tax plan, infrastructural investments, student loan debt relief, and a $1.2 trillion COVID relief package that includes more stimulus checks and federal aid. These headliners are just some of the many policy positions the Biden administration has committed to in his first 100 days. Much of President-elect Joe Biden's first efforts will be concerned with reversing many of the Trump era executive orders and policies that don't fit into his agenda.
In Democrat Jon Ossoff's own words his first days in office will be spent, "working with the new administration to ensure that it has all authority necessary to empower public health and medical experts to lead on pandemic response, immediately pushing for direct relief for working families and small businesses who are in financial distress due to the ongoing economic crisis resulting from this pandemic. Beginning work with my colleagues on a historic infrastructure and clean energy bill to invest in transit and transportation, research and development, rural broadband, clean energy, and public health clinics, and get tens of thousands of Georgians back to work. And co-sponsoring a constitutional amendment to overturn the corrupt Citizens United decision, which allows secret unlimited corporate spending in politics." Additionally, Ossoff has promised to promote legislation to legalize marijuana at the federal level as well as numerous other environmental policy plans. Personally, I think that while Ossoff means well, he might be a bit ambitious for a freshman senator.
As for Rev. Raphael Warnock, he made history in one of Georgia's two Senate runoffs last Tuesday when he became the first Black person to be elected to the Senate from the state and the first Black Democratic senator from the South. Warnock has promised to prioritize bipartisanship and effective leadership in his senate seat. Additionally, Warnock has also promised to fight for affordable healthcare in Georgia and at the Federal level. At the runoff debate, Warnock said, "I've been fighting for access to affordable healthcare, I've been fighting for voting rights, I've been fighting for essential workers, ordinary people, because I know what it's like to be an ordinary person." Warnock will be a valuable asset to not just the Democratic Party but to President-elect Joe Biden who has been pushing to expand/overhaul the Medicare and affordable healthcare programs in this country.
The Georgia Runoff was a huge blow to the Republican party as a whole. I'd argue that their loss is a direct consequence of President Donald Trump's Election fraud claims and his general mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. Going forward, the Republican party would do well to distance themselves from Trump and focus on the mainstream conservatism that's brought their party success in the past. The Republicans need to rethink their message and electoral tactics. They also need to prioritize a move away from more radical policy positions to moderate ones. At the end of the day, I don't think the events of the Georgia runoff and the storming of the Capitol building are a sign that the Republican Party is coming to an end. I think it really spells out that the party is evolving and maturing in a sense. The members who take more radical stances and positions will obviously be filtered among those who take more moderate stances and positions. The Georgia runoff is just the beginning of the Biden administration and its future. It's also beginning the next exciting chapter in American history. I, for one, am interested to see the Biden administration in action. At the end of the day, what the country needs to do is to prioritize bipartisanship and common sense politics/legislation. There is a path forward for this country and I believe that we are on it.