The Electoral College met on Dec. 14 and delivered the 270 electors Joe Biden required to become commander in chief on Jan. 20, 2021. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The Electoral College has spoken,” and he congratulated Biden for his victory over President Trump.
All eyes now shift to Georgia.
Democrats expected to win several Senate seats in November, enough for Biden to start his tenure with a majority in both congressional chambers. Instead, the best he can hope for after Jan. 5 is a 50-50 tie with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker.
It won’t be easy.
Republican Sen. David Perdue equaled Trump’s vote output, but Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff underperformed Biden by 100,000 votes. In a three-way race for the other seat, Sen. Kelly Loeffler split her votes with Rep. Doug Collins. Democrat Raphael Warnock’s vote total didn’t come close to Biden’s.
Runoff races typically have a lower turnout than general election races, and that typically favors Republicans. The issue is whether it’s different this time around, with control of the Senate hanging in the balance. Spending continues to grow at a colossal pace. According to Ad Age, expenditures for the runoff races reached $440 million on Dec. 10.
All four campaigns stress the critical necessity of winning, with the Republicans saying they must win to prevent socialism from running amok. Democrats argue their win is necessary to keep Republicans from blocking Biden’s agenda.
A potential wild card for the Republican candidates is an idea floated by a few activists to boycott the election. Some, including attorney Lin Wood, are convinced (with an assist from Trump, who insists the election was rigged) that the fix is in after the “theft” of the presidential election.
“Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?” Wood asked a crowd at a recent rally. His rhetoric followed a phone call in which Trump supposedly told Wood to “knock it off” with the boycott talk.
Despite that, Trump retweeted Wood when he said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, would “soon be going to jail” for refusing to get the election right.
All of the boycott chatter created a buzz on social media. People are reminding others of Wood’s Democratic bona fides and suggesting that he’s engaging in a plot with Democrats to win the Senate races. Donald Trump Jr. took to the airwaves, appearing on Fox News with Tucker Carlson to blast those advocating a boycott as “working for the Democrats.”
The concern, however, may be overblown. The Washington Examiner spoke to several Georgia insiders, and while one described the entire GOP apparatus in the state as “a mess,” most didn’t think the calls for a boycott would have much impact on the race.
Casey Black, a senior spokeswoman for the Perdue campaign, told the Washington Examiner, “Sen. Perdue has encountered nothing but enthusiasm and energy from the tens of thousands of Georgians who have attended stops on his Win Georgia, Save America bus tour.” She dismissed the boycott effort as one driven by the press.
It may likely turn into yet another situation in which an issue that appears significant on social media is not a microcosm for the public. With polling showing the two races close, it lines up with the results from November. If the boycott movement had any significant impact, polls might reflect that sentiment.
The day after the runoff, Congress will meet in a joint session to certify the Electoral College results. At that time, Biden will know what he has in store for him, his Cabinet picks, and his agenda following his inauguration 14 days later.
