Senator Kelly Loeffler’s Debate Performance Was Disgusting And Effective by Robert Covington Jr.
The Georgia Senate runoff races between Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler versus Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Reverend Ralphael Warnock is shaping up to be one of the most consequential Senate races in modern history. If the Democrats can pull off the upset and win both races, Democrats would be in control of all branches of government and soon to be President Joe Biden will have an opportunity to implement a moderate to progressive agenda that strengthens democracy, address widespread economic misery and enact a multitude of needed structural reforms.
If the Republicans win either one or both seats, Mitch McConnell will remain majority leader and Joe Biden will have to deal with years of Republican obstruction and bad faith politics.
Kelly Loeffler, an extremely wealthy woman, was appointed Senator by Governor Brian Kemp in January 2020 due to the retirement of Johnny Isakson, reportedly due to health reasons, made it clear who she is and who she represents when she stated: “I’m a lifelong conservative, pro-Second Amendment, pro-military, pro-wall and pro-Trump, and I make no apologies for my conservative values and will proudly support President Trump’s conservative judges.”
Since her time in office, she has been true to her word. Loeffler has supported McConnell and Trump’s cruel and heartless agenda, she’s been silent on Trump’s corruption and attack on democracy, has fought against governmental health expansion and has found herself in the midst of her own controversy due to dubious stock trading that did not result in charges under the corrupt Barr Department of Justice — but you don’t need Barr to validate what was in front of us, an ethically compromised Loeffler was briefed on coronavirus pandemic and with that knowledge, sold millions of dollars of stock for her own benefit. In a nutshell, Loeffler has done nothing for Georgians and the country.
On Sunday, December 6th, 2020, America had a chance to see how bad Loeffler is as an elected official in her debate with her Democratic opponent, Reverend Ralphael Warnock, Senior Pastor from the esteemed Ebenezer Baptist church, the Atlanta church that gave rise to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Loeffler presented herself as a mix between being the puppet in a ventriloquist act to being a robotic cyborg sent to earth to act like a human being. Loeffler’s predictable game plan was to repeat over and over the lie that Reverend Warnock is a “radical liberal” and a socialist that is going to overthrow government and turn America into an unrecognizable country. Loeffler never deviated from that disingenuous game plan. It is the same game plan that was effectively used by Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham in their re-election campaigns. But her performance was on another level of tragic comedy.
As bad and pathetic as it was, Loeffler’s approach may prove to be effective. Reverend Warnock did not seem prepared for this type of label gun slinging. Warnock often let her smears go unaddressed, rarely engaged in rebuttal and it was so obvious, that one of the moderators pushed for him to respond. Warnock never attacked her disqualifying position of supporting Trump’s anti-democratic attack on Georgia’s election results and conspiracy theories. It was a lost opportunity.
To his credit, however, Warnock was civil, humble, respectful and came across as a man of deep faith. His best moments came when he repeated that his focus will be to serve ALL Georgians if elected and his attempts to highlight the unrepentant selfishness of Loeffler as a Senator.
Loeffler made it clear that the audience she was speaking to was white Georgia voters. Loeffler knows black Georgians do not see Reverend Warnock as a man that will overthrow government and take away their human and civil rights as Americans. Loeffler does not even try to insult our intelligence in that way.
However, Loeffler has no problem insulting white Georgians. Loeffler is banking on the same white Georgians that voted overwhelmingly for Trump, twice, even though this sick man has created the worst public health disaster in American history with his coronavirus response and will also go down as the most corrupt, criminal president this country has ever seen.
Loeffler is banking on the white Georgia voter to ignore her horrible record, questionable ethics and Trump sycophancy. Loeffler is hoping and praying that an overwhelming number of white Georgians continue to value misplaced white fear and aggrieved entitlement as their primary reason for voting for her.
Black Georgians will turn out in large numbers for Reverend Warnock because his presence will strengthen democracy and give ALL Georgians a better chance at getting healthcare, economic support and relief. White Georgians will turn out in large numbers for Kelly Loeffler because she is white. A clear example as to how whiteness works. Will it be enough? We’ll know January 5th 2021.
Follow me on twitter: @robcovingtonjr
