GOP Senate Is Trump's to Win or Lose

by Thomas Gallatin: For those who don’t know, there are a pair of runoff elections in Georgia on January 5 that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. And irrespective of how things work out in the presidential election, the fact of the matter is that, for freedom-loving Americans and for the preservation of the American Republic as we know it, Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue need to secure at least one of the two seats.

In light of this reality, the open mud-slinging that has erupted between President Donald Trump and Republicans in Georgia is, to put it mildly, quite disturbing. While Trump should express his legitimate concerns over potential election fraud, his hammering of Republicans like Governor Brian Kemp does little to build consensus among party faithful in support of the president’s efforts to investigate election fraud, nor does it energize Georgia Republican voters to turn out for the runoff.

Epitomizing the madness of this political fratricide are the statements from Trump-backing attorneys Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, who, in attempting to make their case of massive election fraud, have literally called on Trump supporters in Georgia to boycott the Senate runoff. Thankfully, Donald Trump Jr. called out the insanity of this suggestion, stating, “I’m seeing a lot of talk from people that are supposed to be on our side telling GOP voters not to go out & vote for [Kelly Loeffler] and [David Perdue] Senate. That is NONSENSE. IGNORE those people. We need ALL of our people coming out to vote for Kelly & David.”

To be clear, Trump has endorsed both Loeffler and Perdue and will be stumping for them in Georgia Saturday. Yet the question many Republicans are asking is whether Trump will stay focused on campaigning for Loeffler and Perdue or devolve into rancor over the Democrats’ efforts to steal the election while accusing Georgia Republicans of not doing enough to stop it. Ginning up anger over the Democrats’ efforts to rig the election is fine so long as he also pushes hard for voters to get out and prevent the Democrats from moving forward with their radical agenda. Attacking fellow Republicans only hurts that message.

Trump’s recent statement regarding Georgia’s secretary of state serves as just one example of why Republicans are so nervous. Trump wrote, “Georgia Secretary of State, a so-called Republican (RINO), won’t let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud. Why? Without this the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless. Everyone knows that we won the state. Where is @BrianKempGA?” How does saying “the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless” encourage conservatives to vote in the runoff?

In any case, likely in an effort to generate a little team spirit, Governor Kemp has (once again) called for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to conduct a signature audit of mailed ballots.

It behooves Trump to do his best to ensure the GOP holds onto the Senate, especially if he has his eyes on 2024. As The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes, “Mr. Trump is already sounding like he wants to run again in 2024, and his stolen-election claims sound like an opening bid for campaign donations. At least for now he can say, with justification, that he helped the GOP gain seats in the House and avoid a rout in the Senate. But that narrative changes for the worse if the GOP loses in Georgia after Mr. Trump divided his own party to serve his personal political interest. He needs a GOP Senate nearly as much as Mr. McConnell does.”
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Thomas Gallatin writes for The Patriot Post.

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