Georgia was the site of an intraparty battle for the Republican Party, thanks to former President Donald Trump wanting the state to rig the election in his favor. It turns out that, unsurprisingly, that battle is helping to push Georgia even further in favor of Democrats to start what otherwise should be a favorable election cycle for the GOP.
A poll from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows the effects of the more than three months of some Republicans supporting Trump’s temper tantrum in Georgia. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s approval rating is 9 points underwater, sitting at 51% disapproval, including a thumbs down from 36% of Republicans.
Kemp is now vulnerable to a primary challenge. Should a Trumpian candidate take him down before the general election in 2022, there would still need to be a reckoning, given that Trump’s net approval is -17. Stacey Abrams, who will try to avenge her 2018 loss in 2022, sits at 51% approval, while President Biden is at 52%.
Meanwhile, newly elected Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are also enjoying an approval-rating bounce after Republicans gifted them their seats. Ossoff sits at 50% approval and Warnock, who must defend his seat in 2022, is at 54%, with a net approval of +17. You can be sure Warnock will tie whoever his opponent is to Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the conspiracy theorist that Democrats hope to turn into their GOP foil.
The GOP’s inability to separate Trump’s policy achievements from unqualified, nonmutual loyalty to the man himself is sinking their electoral chances in Georgia. No matter how often he cries that the election was rigged, the fact is that Trump lost to Biden in Georgia. Trump then sank former Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler by starting this intraparty battle and forcing them to tie themselves to him and his ego trip.
Republicans lost control of the Senate thanks to the Trump-promoted shenanigans in Georgia. It will be difficult to take back the upper chamber in 2022 without winning back Warnock’s seat, but it never should have been lost in the first place. Now, Warnock sits in as good a position as can be expected for a Democrat in a once-red state, with an Abrams governorship also on the horizon.
Republicans can’t simply rely on the expected backlash to Biden to carry them to victories in 2022, especially in a state as crucial as Georgia. The GOP has sabotaged itself enough with Trump’s hysterics, and it will continue to hand more victories to Democrats if it doesn’t correct its course.
