December 6, 2021

"David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and ally of Donald Trump, plans to announce on Monday that he will run in a Republican primary..."

"... against the state’s incumbent governor, Brian Kemp.... Mr. Trump has vowed to orchestrate Mr. Kemp’s defeat as payback for the governor’s refusal to help overturn the former president’s November election loss in the state.... Mr. Perdue’s decision to try to knock out a fellow Georgia Republican in 2022 is... sure to ignite an ugly — and costly — intraparty war before a general election in which the Republican nominee will likely face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war chest.... The former senator has told people he was uncertain about running but decided to run because he’s gravely worried about her prospects for victory over an incumbent who has been weakened by Mr. Trump’s unrelenting attacks."

60 comments:

rwnutjob said...

"Democratic superstar"
*snort*

rhhardin said...

A lady with a huge war chest is sexist.

David Begley said...

If the vote stealing and cheating doesn’t stop, Abrams wins.

Shoeless Joe said...

Isn't it odd how many Democratic politicians there are like Abrams and Beto O'Rourke and Pete Buttigieg who haven't done jacksh#t in national or even state wide elections, and yet are still considered "superstars" by the main stream media?

Ficta said...

That's reporting? Sounds more like concern trolling to me.

Mike Petrik said...

As a Georgian, I like Kemp. His governance has been steady and competent, with none of the "look at me" nonsense we have seen and continue to see with other governors. He deserves to be re-elected and would be if Trump would support him. But Trump's juvenile treatment of Kemp makes his candidacy against Abrams a tough challenge. David Perdue is a good man and good candidate. Much better than his egotistical thin-skinned cousin.

farmgirl said...

Could they BE more transparently biased??
Puke emoji

There is no reason for me to even respond otherwise to this - what- obtrusive petting by Dem operatives.
Geezum

Amadeus 48 said...

Is DJT about to display his matchless winning touch in Georgia?

So far, he has lost the state in the presidential election, alienated a significant portion of the Georgia GOP, and cost the Republicans two Senate seats with his matchless winning style. Now he can take out the GOP governor.

DJT should go home and figure out how to win Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin. He clearly is not the right guy for Georgia.

JPS said...

I've had a mild dislike for Governor Kemp since his campaign in 2018. I thought he was kind of a dick, and I still do. I have colleagues who served on his COVID emergency advisory committee, and nothing I've heard from them shakes that sense.

All of which is so you know, I'm not outraged on behalf of my guy. But Trump is being an idiot here, and Perdue is being his tool, emphasis on tool.

Kemp has been an effective governor. The state has done well under his leadership. And his COVID leadership has been everything I would have liked Trump's to be. He took it seriously. He didn't shoot from the hip publicly. He ended the state's lockdown in April 2020 while the left decried his "experiment in human sacrifice," and Trump cynically piled on, I'm guessing for purposes of triangulation. The whole time he was resisting the left's prescriptions, he was speaking seriously, urging people to take this seriously, urging them to protect themselves and make [stupid] mandates unnecessary.

Result? The state's doing quite well economically – better even than Florida by some measures – and didn't suffer more COVID deaths per capita than a lot of states that imposed much stricter measures for much longer. We were lucky to have him.

Ah, but he refused to throw out Georgia's electoral votes at Trump's request. Look, some of what went on in Fulton County stinks on ice. Our beleaguered Secretary of State Raffensperger had one hell of an axe to grind in insisting that our elections were run effectively. I note the public emphasis on our recounts producing the same results down to a tiny handful of votes – which would result either if the elections were carried out soundly, or if the ballot boxes were stuffed successfully in the first place. I never doubted the counting was accurate.

But for every irregularity Trump loyalists point to, there is an explanation that sounds plausible, not to me necessarily, but to an unconvinced centrist. Whether it should or shouldn't, I don't want a governor of any state, or any party, overriding his state's electoral votes on anything less than proof agreed on by everyone but the most hardcore partisans. Trump didn't produce agreed on by anyone but his strong supporters. Kemp made the right call, I didn't have to like it.

He's going to lose. The Democrats all hated him already. Now Trump fans hate him too. The prospect of Stacey Abrams' revenge will bring money and endorsements from leftists all over the country who believe both that it undermines democracy to question election results, and that Kemp and Raffensperger systematically suppressed the black vote and Stacey Abrams was the real winner in 2018.

Anyway, you know who's not going to win? A defeated senator remarkable for no legislative accomplishment, most famous for stock trades in early 2020 that stink worse than Fulton County election practices. The guy who lost to that cipher Jon Ossoff. But his run will temporarily salve Trump's ego, so I guess we've got that going for us.

Wince said...

refusal to help overturn the former president’s November election loss...

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame...

...an incumbent who has been weakened by Mr. Trump’s unrelenting attacks.


Journalism.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Kemp sucks, but I don't feel like Perdue has enough star power.
We need super-star power to beat the media darling.

Joe Smith said...

Abrams may end up having too much money to be stopped.

But I'm tired of voting for republicans just because they have an 'R' after their name.

Kemp was more than useless when it came to the election. He allowed Georgia to be a free-for-all...Zuck drop-boxes on every corner.

If an R is ineffective (Kemp) or an asshole (C-John McCain) then they should be challenged.

Lurker21 said...

I gather Perdue was "cleared" of the insider trading charges, but enough questions and enough of the stigma remain. He ought to step aside for somebody better. People who were angry enough at Perdue and Loffler to stay home last time aren't going vote for him this time.

Howard said...

Competition is good. Make them work hard for the nomination. Iron sharpens iron. It's just a warm-up for the next senate race for whomever loses.

No way Georgia is going to elect a heavy set black woman governor. Either man will wipe the floor with her.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Like the stupid GOP of Colorado - if you start out with a circular firing squad for the primary - the candidate who emerges is so damaged - it makes the election a cake-walk for the D's. And Abrams is already a media darling with loads of money and free good press.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Someone needs to tell Kemp to step aside, and Perdue needs to go away. Is there anyone else?

Achilles said...

Amadeus 48 said...

Is DJT about to display his matchless winning touch in Georgia?

So far, he has lost the state in the presidential election, alienated a significant portion of the Georgia GOP, and cost the Republicans two Senate seats with his matchless winning style. Now he can take out the GOP governor.

DJT should go home and figure out how to win Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin. He clearly is not the right guy for Georgia.


Only someone who is willfully blind could post something like this.

Raffensburger worked with Democrats to change election laws and allow thousands of illegal votes to be counted in Georgia. Raffensburger diverted funds to cronies and implemented a corrupt system.

Republican poll observers were removed from counting stations while votes were being counted on obvious pretexts.

There are people on video pulling votes from under a table and stuffing them through counting machines.

There are several eyewitness accounts to pristine unfolded "mail-in" ballots that were obviously never mailed.

Kemp actively blocked investigations and effective audits.

People like you who kneel to this corruption are the problem. Not Trump.

lane ranger said...

Two points: The base won't turn out for Kemp, and that's why Perdue needs to run. The base stayed home in the run-off because they were pissed off about election fraud, not because they don't like Perdue. They don't hate Perdue, and if Trump endorses him, he wins, both in the primary and in the general against St Stacey.

Achilles said...

The only thing they need to do to win the election in Georgia is to block the "mail-in" votes that democrats print out and dump into absentee ballot boxes spread out around Atlanta from being counted.

farmgirl said...

… if no one votes R b/c of anger or disinterest: u get Abram’s?
By all means…

Drago said...

JPS: "All of which is so you know, I'm not outraged on behalf of my guy. But Trump is being an idiot here, and Perdue is being his tool, emphasis on tool.

Kemp has been an effective governor."

Kemp was certainly "effective" in providing cover to the horrific Raffensberger and Raffensberger staffers who purposely pulled another Ukraine-phone call like hoax against Trump much to the democraticals delight all the way up to the runoff elections.........

Hey, why not just try and recruit Romney or Liz Cheney to run for office in GA while you are at it?

jaydub said...

The fact that Stacy Abrams is a Democrat superstar is all you need to know about the current state of the Democrat party.

Ann Althouse said...

Why did I put this post up?! It's one of the most boring posts I've ever done — by my standards. This is completely idle. I'm going to use this to remind me not to do things like this anymore. This blog is not a news feed, and I only want to talk about politics in the "cruel neutrality" mode. And I'm tired of South Carolina... I mean Georgia... whatever...

Joe Smith said...

'Why did I put this post up?! It's one of the most boring posts I've ever done — by my standards. This is completely idle. I'm going to use this to remind me not to do things like this anymore.'

But will this post send you flowers, or at least call you tomorrow?

: )

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war

When Stacey Abrams is your side's version of a "superstar", you're f'ed

Kemp deserves to get the boot. The word needs to go out to every politician who claims to be a Republican: if you stand back while Democrats engage in questionable ballot procedures, your career is over.

Fulton County announcing that they were shutting down the ballot count, and then continuing it once the press and poll watchers were gone, was utterly unacceptable behavior. Since Kemp was willing to accept it, he's utterly unacceptable

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Amadeus 48 said...
Is DJT about to display his matchless winning touch in Georgia?

So far, he has lost the state in the presidential election, alienated a significant portion of the Georgia GOP, and cost the Republicans two Senate seats with his matchless winning style.


Bullshit. McConnell cost the GOP the two GA Senate seats, by having the "Republican" Senate pass a Covid bill that had billions for "fat cats", and $hundreds for regular people.

So regular people said "F you, the GOP isn't worth voting for", stayed home, and didn't vote in the runoff.

I don't know why Cocaine Mitch wanted that, but that is clearly what he wanted. If he just wanted the payoffs, he could have had the bill pass after the GA vote.

Having it before was because he wanted to say FU to rural GOP voters.

Mission Accomplished

You don't get to blame that one on Trump

Yancey Ward said...

The only reason to renominate Kemp is that he will have a good incentive to not lay down and rollover for the coming emergency voting regulations next year. When Kemp is on the ballot, he will make sure absentee ballots aren't mailed to everyone who ever lived at an address in the last 100 years.

Sebastian said...

"And I'm tired of South Carolina... I mean Georgia... whatever."

Considering that Georgia is now the essential swing state, this means you are tired of thinking about the future of the USA.

Anyway, a loser running on behalf of another loser, the guy who lost to Ossoff speaking for the guy who lost to Biden, is a recipe for failure. Are we sure Trump is not a Dem plant?



Ficta said...

Hmmm. Oh well. I thought it was interesting. I don't read the NYT, so it was interesting to see what passes for "news" there. It's so far from straight reporting that it's a bit headspinning.

I also liked the detailed "view from the ground" comment from JPS. I'm finding Georgia very intriguing. It was the first barrage from the fossilized RINO contingent: "Thank God that PITA is gone, back to business as usual" and Trump's Scots Irish bloc said "The Hell with that". No, I don't think the governor should have tried to set aside the electoral vote, that's ridiculous, but that was just Trump's opening offer. It's maybe a bit silly to negotiate that way, but he's consistent.

I do think that Republicans nationwide should have, immediately after the election, started banging the drum about election integrity and how a republic can't function without trust in the voting process. Then, within, say, two months, Republicans in every state house in the country should have introduced a voting integrity bill and when the Dem piggies started squealing about voter suppression, tell them to piss up a rope: Everyone has the right to vote, but everyone also has the right to the certainty that their vote will count and not be offset by fraud. People either vote or they don't vote. Short of physical intimidation or fraud, there's no such thing as "voter suppression".

Mike Petrik said...

As a Georgian I don't find the topic boring at all. Not as boring as posts about celebrities.

Kemp deserves to be re-elected and would beat Abrams if he received Trump's endorsement. Without Trump's endorsement, Kemp cannot win. Kemp won last time because of the rural vote, which he has now lost thanks to Trump. So Perdue is not wrong in saying Kemp cannot win, and he will likely beat Kemp in the primary thanks to Trump's endorsement. Then Abrams will beat the GOP candidate rather handily no matter what Trump does. Trump can torpedo a GOP win by torpedoing Kemp, but he cannot secure a GOP win unless he supports Kemp.

Trump is an egotistical fool, and his cultists are just plain fools. And yes, I voted for him without reservation and have no regrets at all.

doctrev said...

If you need "star power" or whatever else to beat the DMV Lady in a R 5+ to 10+ environment, you deserve to lose. Full stop. Althouse probably wants to shy away from the evidence that the GOP is doubling down on MAGA, but it's not going to change anything. Right now most of the country wants Biden's head, never mind turfing him out of office, and if they can't get that through elections life will find a way.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"If an R is ineffective (Kemp) or an asshole (C-John McCain) then they should be challenged."

Yes. I used to be of the "you're throwing your vote away" mindset but the last ten or so years have been an education. Punish the Establishment clowns at the polls and if their Democrat opponent wins, well, there's another election in two years. And, odds are, their challenger will be someone less likely to pander.

walter said...

Did Vernon Jones drop out? Not even mentionable?

tim maguire said...

Amadeus 48 said...So far, he has lost the state in the presidential election, alienated a significant portion of the Georgia GOP, and cost the Republicans two Senate seats with his matchless winning style. Now he can take out the GOP governor.

Sad to say, but...yeah. That sounds about right. If he's recovered from his post-Nov tantrum, maybe he can do some good, but the best thong may be to just stay out of it. (Note: for the purposes of this comment, I don't care if the election was stolen from him. Justified or not, his reaction did a lot of damage to him and to his country)

Drago said...

Ann Althouse: "Why did I put this post up?! It's one of the most boring posts I've ever done — by my standards. This is completely idle. I'm going to use this to remind me not to do things like this anymore."

I feel like there is a "boring blog post" = "empty calories" comparison in there somewhere.

iowan2 said...

will likely face Stacey Abrams, the Democratic superstar whose national fame will allow her to amass a huge campaign war chest

Is that "superstar", as in woman of color, huge name recognition, never did anything, "Superstar" like VP Harris "Superstar"?

Or more like the Kardashian, Famous for being famous, Superstar.

Jim at said...

He deserves to be re-elected and would be if Trump would support him.

Why should Trump support someone who doesn't return the favor?

Jim at said...

Trump received nearly 400,000 more votes in Georgia in 2020 than in 2016.

And I'm reading comments here saying he lost support and alienated GOP voters.

OK.

rcocean said...

"South Carolina, Georgia whatever."

I get the feeling Althouse isn't very interested in our Southern Neighbors.

rcocean said...

I wasn't going to comment, but there are too many moronic Erick Erickson type quotes here in the comment section.

Kemp only had to do one thing, help Trump fight the 2020 election fraud and support a real audit of the votes. If, as all the D's claimed, the election was fair and square, then everyone would've been happy except Trump. Who would've been PROVEN to be completely wrong.

Insead, Kemp and his Sec of state, kept stonewalling, delaying, and engaging in double-talk with the sole purpose of NOT auditing the vote. The idea was to not enrage Trump (and his supporters) by Clearly and decisively saying NO AUDIT, in November and December, but to give him hope something would be done. After Jan 6th 2021, the pretence was dropped, and it was made clear that Kemp and Sec of state NEVER wanted to help Trump.

Kemp stabbed Trump in the back. Why? He's been bought off. Why did he appoint a woman who's married to the head of the NY Stock Exchange to the US Senate, instead of a 10 other more deserving and more qualified candiates?

So now Perdue has understood that Kemp can't win. He barely won in 2016 with Trump's endorsement. And now without Trump's endorsement Kemp is a 100% sure loser. The question isn't why is Perdue announcing, its why is Kemp not retiring?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Lane said

The base stayed home in the run-off because they were pissed off about election fraud, not because they don't like Perdue.

How do you know?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Id A democrats wins the governorship in GA - say goodbye to any GOP or non-proggy ever winning that state ever again. Do ya'll understand that when D's win the top spots, they build the cheat-to-stay wall.

Drago said...

Mike Petrik: "Without Trump's endorsement, Kemp cannot win. Kemp won last time because of the rural vote, which he has now lost thanks to Trump."

LOLOLOLOLOLOL

Yeah, Kemp lost the rural vote because of.....Trump. Not because Kemp has been exposed as a Georgian Romney.

Keep telling yourself that...and make sure to get those last minute donations into Adam Kinzinger while you still can. After all, Paul Ryan is a big fan of Adam's and that's all guys like you need to know, right?

Tina Trent said...

Oh goodie, David can harvest even more WIC and food stamps selling over-priced past-by date baby food and mini cans of green beans to the impoverished on every street corner in his Dollar Generals then do nothing for six more years.

Not that I won’t bust my ass for him against the communist fantasy novel writer.

Tina Trent said...

Vernon Jones is not available for comment because he’s too busy renting vintage Pan Am outfits for his two simultaneous dates tonight.

Let’s just say his baggage is too heavy for even Trump to carry..

Tina Trent said...

This is a boring post. No offense to you. Sometimes dull is good. This isn’t that. It’s “which one of these guys is the candidate at the Dawson Chick-fil-A” meet and greet dull. And if you can make Dawson County dull, you’re working it. Their town hall is shaped like a race car. They hand out free moonshine inside. And it’s home to the largest nudist colony in the southeast.

Do come see our pig races and corn cannons. Seriously, it’s some of the prettiest county I’ve see outside the Apalachicola swamps, where they invite you in for free beer and shucked oysters and smoked mullet and it’s only a little bit scary.

Mike Petrik said...

@Jim at
Trump shamelessly threw Kemp under the bus for getting COVID right before he did. And then Trump excoriated Kemp for "returning the favor" by not finding non-existing votes.
I don't know who is saying that Trump lost support in Georgia, but I do know that GA has two Democratic Senators because the rural GOP turnout was depressed due to Trump's incessant proclamations that their votes won't count.

Kevin said...

Time to go Asian.

"Vote for the Asians when you get the chance. We'll work while you're eating." As campaign slogans go, it's not half bad.

Howard said...

Why do empty calories fill in the gut? If they were empty they should just disappear.

Drago said...

Mike Petrik: "@Jim at
Trump shamelessly threw Kemp under the bus for getting COVID right before he did. And then Trump excoriated Kemp for "returning the favor" by not finding non-existing votes."

Surprise surprise surprise.

Petrik now pushing the completely debunked phone call lies that were shown to be just that after the actual transcript of the call was released.

Just like the democraticals.

Good old solid "republican" Petrik. Pushing debunked democratical lies.

Hey Mike, I'll bet you were a huge fanboy of Adam's Schiff's many, many, many hoax russia collusion lies, weren't you?

And remember, for all those months prior the Trump/Raffensberger phone call transcript being released, Raffensberger and his lefty gal staffer worked with the media to ensure the false narrative got plenty of airtime.....just like Schiffty Schiff.

Drago said...

rcocean: "I wasn't going to comment, but there are too many moronic Erick Erickson type quotes here in the comment section.

Kemp only had to do one thing, help Trump fight the 2020 election fraud and support a real audit of the votes. If, as all the D's claimed, the election was fair and square, then everyone would've been happy except Trump. Who would've been PROVEN to be completely wrong."

Precisely correct. On all counts.

But don't press it too hard. You'll make Petrik weep like Adam Kinzinger at the hoax "insurrection" hearings....which I'll bet Petrik supports.

Strongly.

Narayanan said...

rcocean said...
"South Carolina, Georgia whatever."

I get the feeling Althouse isn't very interested in our Southern Neighbors.
-------------
Madison-Dixie Line is where cruel-neutrality begins

Mike Petrik said...

@Drago,
I did not accuse Trump of doing anything illegal, and I don't think that Trump was asking Kemp to do anything illegal. I do think Trump was demanding that Kemp do something that was impossible. Read better.

Mike Petrik said...

@Drago --
I think the "insurrection" hearings are a sham. It must be comforting to go through life as a simpleton Manichean.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Mike Petrik said...
@Drago,
I did not accuse Trump of doing anything illegal, and I don't think that Trump was asking Kemp to do anything illegal. I do think Trump was demanding that Kemp do something that was impossible. Read better.


You think better, and we'll "read better".

What's "impossible" about holding a press conference the day after the election, and blasting the Fulton County vote counters for kicking out the poll watchers and press and then continuing to "count" votes?

What's "impossible" about telling the Sec of State (who's responsible for elections) to do his job, and stop the Fulton County vote count while outside auditors are brought in to examine every thing Fulton County has done?

The Democrats used violations of voting law, and outright fraud, to steal GA in 2020. Kemp sat on his ass and let them, to the extent that he didn't actively support their vote fraud efforts.

It was not "impossible" to fight that, it's just that Kemp wasn't willing.

So F him

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Can Of Cheese for Hunter said...
Id A democrats wins the governorship in GA - say goodbye to any GOP or non-proggy ever winning that state ever again. Do ya'll understand that when D's win the top spots, they build the cheat-to-stay wall.

As opposed to the "cheat to steal" wall they built in 2020 while Kemp was Governor and "Republican" Raffensperger were in charge?

If you're not willing to fight Democrat vote fraud, and Kemp isn't, then you're already on the other teanm

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Mike Petrik said...
@Jim at
Trump shamelessly threw Kemp under the bus for getting COVID right before he did.


Really? Do tell. Exactly how did Kemp "get COVID right before Trump did"? Please, be specific

And then Trump excoriated Kemp for "returning the favor" by not finding non-existing votes.

No, and then Trump excoriated Kemp for supporting Democrats who were clearly violating election laws, like when the Fulton County "vote counters" kicked out all poll watchers before "counting" more votes.

This was public knowledge the day after the election. Kemp didn't care.

I don't know who is saying that Trump lost support in Georgia, but I do know that GA has two Democratic Senators because the rural GOP turnout was depressed due to Trump's incessant proclamations that their votes won't count.

No, rural GOP turnout was depressed due to the "GOP Senate" passing a Democrat "Covid relief" bill the week before the election.

Mitch McConnell is the one who told rural GA voters their votes didn't count, because even with a GOP Senate their votes didn't count. Which is to say, Democrat fat cats got $$$, and rural GA voters got dick all.

Mike Petrik said...

@Greg
Do tell?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-kemp-georgia-coronavirus-reopen/2020/04/24/116f6ebe-863f-11ea-a3eb-e9fc93160703_story.html
Specific enough for you?
The rest of your rant relies on such key evidence as “public knowledge.”
There wasn’t widespread voter fraud. The Dems just cynically weaponized COVID in key states via emergency (and often shaky) rules changes in order to allow the mobilization of votes from unlikely voters. Now they are trying to make those changes permanent.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

@Mike
The conversation followed warnings from Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, and Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said they disagreed with Kemp’s move.

So in April of 2020, Trump was listening to his "experts". Which was a bad move.

But if you read your own f'ing article, you'd know that they were in conflict long before that.

The rest of your rant relies on such key evidence as “public knowledge.”
Why yes, I should be ashamed of using facts that no one can dispute, rather than pulling things out of my ass like you do

There wasn’t widespread voter fraud.

Said without providing any evidence.

The Fulton Country Democrat "vote counters" shut down the vote count, kicked all the press and poll watchers out, then immediately started "counting" ballots again.

If Kemp gave a damn about the people of GA and their right to have their votes matter, then the day after the election, when this came out, he would have acted against the Democrat vote fraud artists in Fulton County.

He didn't

Because he didn't, he should have his political career destroyed.

And no, I don't give a damn if that means an out and proud Democrat takes over for that supporter of Democrats. It is better to be stabbed in the gut than to be stabbed in the back

Bilwick said...

"Tank" Abrams may indeed be a superstar in Georgia, at least in the greater Atlanta area. If you ever spent any time here you'd know that fat Black low-fo voters are quite the sizable bloc here, and they are The Tank's core constituency.