We know it's a slow burn...we just wanted a positive affirmation that there was a glimmer of hope now...

My Big Boss just posted on FB she may retire early and leave the country because she was sure Ossoff would win. She is someone who is a fighter. If this was a purple or blue district, I would be freaking out right now, but it is a district redder than red. And he almost took it.

That is terrific.

An inner reflection of the ongoing misery we have been experiencing since November.... it's not just this House Seat loss but a cumulative response..this House Seat represented hope.

I realized this morning that last nights election was a reminder of last November. How many more losses can we take? One win would be enormous. A feeling of doom is beginning to settle in.

Missing a phony euphoria over a win that would have made almost no difference politically by the end of the week is not worth wimpering over. Republicans control the White House for the next 3-1/2 years and the legislative branch for minimum 1-1/2 years and maybe 3-1/2. In 2020 comes the huge battle of the census and reapportionment. That's the way it is.

As for the OP's question, it's because some people are easily overset. Others had realistic views of the chances of a 30-year-old Democrat in a heavily Republican district and prepared for whatever the result was. Fact is, all these special races we've "lost" in heavily conservative districts are scary-bad signs for the McConnells and Kochs, and they aren't missing them at all.

Not true, of course. Politics runs in a cycle. It's usually Democrats making things better, Republicans making things worse, Democrats cleaning up the mess. Rinse and repeat.

If he had, I am about positive he would have won.

you don't live there? That was dumb.

A US House rep only has to live in the state, but not the district. Perhaps it was a safeguard to prevent a legislature from gerrymandering a rep out of their own district. But I agree that he should have moved into the district.

He currently lives near Emory University (4th District, my district) with his fiancee while she finishes medical school. As far as I know, that's not against the rules.

She did purge voters as SOT...she used cross check which we should be fighting against.

wrong. I lived there.

If you'd read the article you'd know that 40 - 60 THOUSAND new registrations were not added to the rolls.

I don't know for sure if Ossoff could have won or not -- and you don't know where I live, do you?

But what I do know is that Democrats running elections and too many voting in them - and pundits and journalists too -- are not taking into account the massive voter suppression that's going on and continues to go on. You can't ask the right questions or come up with the right strategy for running the NEXT election if your data is flawed. We do not KNOW what the outcome of this election would have been if all those voters hadn't been disenfranchised. Therefore, maybe we have NO "lessons" to learn (as all the pundits are putting it), or maybe the lesson would be: do more, it's working. We just effing don't know. It drives me crazy what all the pundits and even elected Dems are saying today when WE. JUST. DON'T. KNOW.

Here's something else I feel strongly about: IMO (somewhat educated) Ossoff was cheated out of his Primary win. There was a little glitch that kept returns from coming in from Fulton County at the end of the night, and that put Handel in the race. And gave Republicans a lot of time to do their dirty work.


EDITED to add the relevant part of the article, which I just also posted in another thread:

GREG PALAST: Voting rights groups registered literally tens of thousands of minority voters, but, strangely, the voter forms simply vanished.
NSE UFOT: We registered over 86,419 voter registration forms.
GREG PALAST: How many again?
NSE UFOT: Eighty-six thousand four hundred nineteen. There are 46,000 of the folks that we’ve registered who have made it, and 40,000 of them are missing. And you know what they told us? "We don’t know what you’re talking about. What forms?"
GREG PALAST: You mean that 40,000 of the voters you had registered, mostly minorities, just disappeared?
NSE UFOT: They did not disappear.
GREG PALAST: Nse Ufot of the New Georgia Project.
NSE UFOT: With all four of my eyes, I—we walked into county boards of elections—county boards of registrars and seen boxes of voter registration forms waiting to be processed.
GREG PALAST: And if you complain about the missing voter registrations, you could face criminal felony charges, and your group could be destroyed. Three years ago, I visited the group registering 10,000 Korean voters. I met their director, Helen Ho.
. . .
NSE UFOT: And so there was a campaign to register them, and they started registering significant numbers of Korean Americans. Their registration forms weren’t getting processed. So they sent a letter to the secretary of state and said, "Hey, here are all these people that we registered to vote. They aren’t on the voter rolls. WTF?" And they never got a response from the secretary of state. And the next thing you know, there were folks from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation coming, seizing their files, requesting correspondence, basically kicking in the door and shutting down their operation.

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/6/15/greg_palast_how_racist_voter_suppression


So, I think it's possible Ossoff COULD have won.

And from the same trascript:

DEE HUNTER: To be very clear, Jon Ossoff would be the congressional member right now. He really would have won the previous special election but for a combination of systemic voter suppression tactics and techniques.
GREG PALAST: Dee Hunter is director of the Civil Rights Center of Washington, D.C.
DEE HUNTER: The district itself was gerrymandered. The Republican leadership have been very clear that they gerrymandered this district in order to ensure that it would be held by a Republican.

but it is a very tough lift there...I lived in Marietta.

He lost because the word Democrat is linked to the word Liberal and the word liberal is linked to the word Libtard. Until the message of this party can change to stand for all in this country and not the perceived notion that the Democrats just want to help minorities, foreigners, muslim terrorists, old people, and Mexicans, this is where we are going to stand. The Blue states will not be enough to propel this party forward. Our message is NOT on point. You need to understand the people that voted for Fuckump. The Democrats dont understand them. 2018 will be a catastrophe unless this party can solidify behind a message and actions for all americans, not just the select few. I know I may be met with opposition, distaste, and anger, but so be it....time to move on from the old party, time to bring the young new ideas into play.

Smart, inclusive, open, engaging.

Harris (or similar progressives) are great and we should be glad states like California can elect them. Swing states and red districts will take a more moderate (or even the return of blue dogs). A true progressive candidate doesn't help if they can't win.

While I did want to make this point, I don't think this was the issue in GA 6. The out of district residency and inexperience seems more significant.

even GOP types.

I know who they are.

Your post is so full of epic fail.

Take your epic fail.... you want epic fail, talk to me in 2018 if this party does not change message. You sound just like the republican base. You made my point. MESSAGE... Ok you are a southerner, great, liberal is a nasty word in every corner of the republican party. And just to remind you, it wasnt the south that lost the 2016, it was the mid west, Wisconsin, Pa, Ohio

But the messaging and the candidate must fit the state. Have you ever lived in the south? I have, and I am here to tell you that you are wrong...and getting in people's faces as you did is not nice...she lives there...you are just so sure that a certain message will unlock the electorate...it won't. I suggest you look at the Georgia candidates fielded by Dean in 2006. Obama should never have changed the DNC head. Let's work together. It 's going to be a hard lift.

I have lived in Charleston, SC for many years and yes, that is a HOTBLOOD of conservative who's who.... thats Lindsay Graham country so yes I have. You are missing the large picture. The messaging of this party is old, its outdated, it leaves many who want help out. Lets look at the midwest voters who went Trump... Ohio, Wisc, PA...coal country, blue collar... how many times did the Democrats seek out their votes...? not much. MESSAGING IS CHANGING.... The message of every democrat now should be THE REPUBLICANS ARE FUCKING YOU OUT OF HEALTHCARE.... ram it home, push it hard, keep it in EVERYONES face EVERYONE... its not a local or regional thing its a NATIONAL thing....My healthcare now in Maryland should not be different from anyone who voted Republican last night in Georgia. Healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.... these are national issues, not regional. Time to push hard on all fronts, People get sick EVERYWHERE, some people are poor in EVERY STATE. Citizens become seniors in ALL of this country.

This was not a small county election for mayor or head of the school board. This was for the Congress of the US.

Dean did not seek a second term because he felt with a democrat as president, the DNC was not going to be as fulfilling as with a Republican as president. I dont believe he was replaced, until he announced he will not seek.

As far as getting into people face...tough shit... I am going to get up into anyones face who need to get off their asses and vote democrat, including couch sitting democrats who may be too complacent to vote....

"and not one of us"

There has been a Repug in this seat since 1979. I was hopeful but also said I would have been very surprised if he had won.

But guess what? They GOT A WOMAN and they hate them too. So there is that.

Pelosi liberal, liberal is liberal if its attached to a name, so be it. I am a Kennedy liberal, and I know we need to change message to get this party dominate again

"We are for the white straight rich male?"

Of course we are for them too! We are an inclusive party, women, men, people of color, LGBT, religious, non-religious, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindi. Buddhism, etc.

But we are also the party who fights for the middle class and the poor. The immigrant and the oppressed. The living children, not just the unborn.

What should our message be pray tell?

as I responded just now, here is what I said, and I believe it fits for your inquiry too.

The messaging of this party is old, its outdated, it leaves many who want help out. Lets look at the midwest voters who went Trump... Ohio, Wisc, PA...coal country, blue collar... how many times did the Democrats seek out their votes...? not much. MESSAGING IS CHANGING.... The message of every democrat now should be THE REPUBLICANS ARE FUCKING YOU OUT OF HEALTHCARE.... ram it home, push it hard, keep it in EVERYONES face EVERYONE... its not a local or regional thing its a NATIONAL thing....My healthcare now in Maryland should not be different from anyone who voted Republican last night in Georgia. Healthcare, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security.... these are national issues, not regional. Time to push hard on all fronts, People get sick EVERYWHERE, some people are poor in EVERY STATE. Citizens become seniors in ALL of this country.


"We are for the white straight rich male?" well these guys didn't vote democrat.

Republican scare the shit out of their voters... democrats need to do that too, but in a caring way, not propaganda like the Trump reign

You want people to listen, scare them about healthcare, diabetes, weigh issues, cutting their funds, no money for their social programs, social security is getting cut, medicare is getting cut, Banking is about to go to shit.... the are eliminating much of DODD-FRANK, regulations to protect your money, your water, your health are being overturned. Show them photo of Flint water supply....this is the message that need to be sent to all states....because these are all states problem. OR

or we can just do what we have been doing the past 4 years and watch the senate and house kill our families.... because with the GOP in charge, thats what going to happen... it may not be in the papers or on DU or MSNBC, but there are going to be seniors who will go with medication and die. There are going to be immigrants deported back to countries where they will be in danger, there will be more cost cutting /safety cutting on food, water, textiles, etc.

...was bringing more high tech jobs into the district and being a good-government watchdog, against wateful spending, etc. Some of his ads sounded Republican. I think his message was appropriate for the region.

Ironic that about half the people who vote the GrOPers into office are women.

With the privacy afforded the act of casting a vote that is something I'll never understand.

Every race we've run recently has been ABOUT inclusion. It was Hillary Clinton's goddamn campaign slogan, and the divisiveness you mentioned was everything that the Trump campaign was about and that plus unwavering selfishness is what the GOP has been about for DECADES.

The problem is the media. When you have not just corporate cable news, not just the Kock bros. & other corporate scumbags buying ads with unlimited cash donations, not just RW hate radio, but LOCAL Sinclair-owned TV stations airing self-created propaganda that favors the GOP candidates the problem isn't the messaging on our side. It's the fact that that message is being DROWNED OUT 24/7.

I disagree, the reason behind the fact that Fuckump won was not just the media. The fact that this party has been perceived as the party for tax and spend, we have perceived as the party for the minorities and foreigners because they want free stuff. We have been perceived as the party that is against the middle America, our blue states are the east and west coast states, not middle America. Theses perceived notions have been established for as long as I can remember, and I have been a voter for 40 years. I work in an area where most if not many are conservative voters. I heard them talk, they were not just your standard right wing talking points, but deeper. Many were older like me who have lived and worked back when the Republicans were all for infrastructure spending, Eisenhower agenda... Ok yes, Fox news sucks, MSNBC sucks, CNN sucks, but our own party communications sucks. If you remember, not ONE candidate went out with or publicly supported Obama on the ACA during the mid-terms of 2014... that was when the Senate turned right wing... MESSAGE IS FLAWED.

You can think what you want, as I can too. IMO, until we change our message and messengers, this party is going to lose.

corrupt, failed businessman. It is my belief that they did so because of messaging kept simple and constantly repeated that eventually cancelled their rationality and basic logic. It is a tool used by tinpot dictators the world over. I'm not saying we should do the same, simply that we have to find a solution before we can win those votes. Call in the experts.

They voted for fucKing scum like Trump.

Georgia is not a state that expanded Medicare...and the news is unbelievably skewed. I did not realize that until I moved to Wisconsin...and later to Ohio...I lived in Marietta which is Georgia 6.

We didn't even have Democrats to vote for in many elections...wrote in candidates.

A week ago, this was a tie in the polls. GOP voters got energized by that.

Dems may need to go low, like the Repubs.

should do the trick, although half the Republicans no doubt approve of child sexual predators.

what should have been a safe seat.

elections were blowouts for the republicans.

Because his arrogance, venom and venality has been on full view for two years now, and the arrogance, venom and venality of the worst Congressional majority in history has been similarly visible for a full six years.

This country is now a global laughingstock, eager to ramp up at least one new war in Syria and to ramp up the longest war we've ever known in Afghanistan.

What shitty semblance of health care we do have is on the brink of elimination, with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid right behind it.

OpioIds are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, and in response, the DOJ is trying to ramp up a new war on pot, especially medical marijuana.

Extremes of wealth and poverty haven't been this bad since the late 19th century, and health care is being destroyed to provide EVEN MORE TAX CUTS for those at the very top.

Governance has been reduced to a cash trough at which Trump's butt-boys and family members can enjoy all they can eat for as long as they want, and senior positions in the White House and cabinet are filled by clueless family members and sycophantic sidekicks.

The president (sic) invited a hostile foreign power to hack our elections, and all indications are that they did just that.

He and multiple members of his cabinet are now facing federal investigations for obstruction of justice and conspiracy, and he's being sued for blatant, flamingly obvious violations of the Constitution.

And we're 0-5 since last November.

THAT'S WHY.

I imagine they're very, very worried.

They just want to go on tv and say stuff like "if democrats can't win a race like this, where will they win....?"

...and the advantage Ossoff should have in 2018 if we continue to hold Handel to the fire.

Link to tweet

lots of transience in metro Atlanta, will newly registered Dems still be there in 17 months?

It's a district where the demographics are changing. There are more young people, more people of color, and more transplants than there used to be. I've lived in Atlanta for 28 years, and I see the difference.

a 9% lead is not enough of a margin.

I know some will consider this insulting but I never expected to win the seat and I never put my faith in the south. A con seat remained con and degenerate donnie is still under 3 different investigations. Absolutely nothing has changed.

It's coming to the point where my last hope is that the Illuminati will come back, step in and fix all this shit.

This was about a 20 percentage point swing from 2016. How many seats would flip with a similar swing? How about just 10 points? This isn't the type of district we need to win.it is the type of district we need to compete in, if only to make the Republicans have to defend it.

solved of all the attacks the Republicans launched against him. Seriously--why should people vote for him if he didn't even bother to live in the district? It's kind of insulting in a way no matter what the reason. That was one of the biggest reasons I thought he would lose. Well, that and it was such a red district. I'm disappointed but not gutted. Keep on plugging along, people. The 2018 election is less than 18 months away.

Neck and neck but hopeful til early evening, but then those last votes for the R pulled out of the pocket.

Context for the Georgia 6th. Trump makes it competitive

2016: R +23%
2014: R +32%
2012: R +29%
2010: No challenger
2008: R +37%
2006: R +45%

2017: R +3.7%. A typically safe Republican seat became highly competitive because of Trump. That's the takeaway here.

From Brian Klaas on Twitter:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

You don't see Freepers moping around feeling defeatist when they lose. They regroup, rebuild, and find ways to win.

Our side showed we are competitive in a red district in a red state. That's awesome sauce. We can beat these assholes in a lot of districts in 2018.

Make Pelosi Speaker Again! Make Democrats Win Again!

don't need more of that...enough in 16.

It's all bad and nothing good. That's fact.

Who is to say that 2018 will be any better? Who is to say that there is any way to overcome this shit when nothing goes our way?

Either districts are gerrymandered to the point of assuring a Repuke win, or idiots have drank the koolaid and actually vote for these assholes, or the elections are hacked. Either way. THEY always win.

"Who is to say that 2018 will be any better?"

A double digit point swing is a pretty good indicator.

"Either districts are gerrymandered to the point of assuring a Repuke win, or idiots have drank the koolaid and actually vote for these assholes, or the elections are hacked. Either way. THEY always win."

They don't "always" win but you do hit on some excellent points.

anything.

I hate to point this out, but in that movie, the 2 people who said that died...they were not around to see any ultimate victory.

Another election, another GOP win and another round of hand-wringing talking heads trying to explain why all over TV...yea...

This week, our fellow Americans let another murderous cop go free.

This week, in 2 different districts, our fellow Americans gave Trump their stamp of approval and voted to further entrench us into a 1 party system of government.

How do they not see the difference between right and wrong?

Not only that, but there are still huge problems with the way elections are being run in the south. We have to trust that the vote is legit, that the machines are solid... despite evidence showing the opposite.

So yeah, people are demoralized. And scared.

It has nothing to do with just the "south".

Trump has only been in office for 5 months and most of his policies have not even been felt yet. The economy is still running off of Obama's competence and healthcare is still available for those who need it. A lot of people are really going need their noses rubbed in the shit to finally get it through their heads that Trump and the Republicans are a disaster in motion. Unfortunately for everybody, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.

Even the Russian investigation is still in it's infancy, so the jury is still out on that with the saner branch of the GOP as well.


In this age of instant gratification, we still need to keep an eye on the long game.

I'm demoralized because the rethugs might have been rendered somewhat less emboldened to steamroll over every bit of progress that was made during the eight years President Obama was in office. Healthcare is now firmly and irrevocably lost and with these WINS, they'll feel even cockier about trying to destroy Social Security and Medicare. Bet on it.

These gangsters are going to continue apace because they can without concern because there are no concerns about repercussions for them. They only get stronger and more brazen because the idiots who keep pushing the big red R in the election booths on election day keep certifying that they're plenty fine with voting continuously against their own self interests. And let's face it: the people in the Georgia 6th are affluent. They want the (meager) tax advantages that they'll benefit from and they're unafraid of changes in the healthcare system because many of them profit from gouging their patients with higher fees. They're well cared for, prosperous, have good access and the economic wherewithal to afford whatever comes their way. Oh, and they don't need any "social safety nets" because they've got theirs. And they're more than tickled to take yours too. It's the American way. It really always has been seeing as how the only 'god' Americans have worshiped since before Teapot Dome is the god of their idolatry, Capitalism.

won a deep red district. On to 2018 and swing states!

No? OK didn't think so.

Who chose R last night knowing what it meant nationally.
Those who gave pig shit bragging rights.
Who were supposed to be "educated",
Need to have their medical care taken first.
In fact my greatest regret about Georgia and S.C.
Is that General William T. Sherman didn't raze the south to the ground and bury it twice.
That comes from a Virginian.

This one district portends all the future!!!!!

It is one of 435 and if it was once Newtie's district then damn, Ossoff did very well! We should try to flip in 2018!

The race will be a "toss up".
Despite the Orange Fascist and the Repug Congress's abysmal approval ratings, the repug candidate will still manage to barely eke out a win.

that and this guarantees that Tr*mpcare will pass.

Handel will have baggage in 2018 that will be hard for her to escape, Ossoff or another Democrat must take advantage of that.

nt

Looked arrogant to me, even if it wasn't. Seeming to be "dismissive" of the rules and thereby to the strongly red population of voters was horribly dumb.

Plus, it looked like they played the Jewish angle toward the end. I don't know if he is Jewish or not, but I do think that if he is, he is not the Repubs kind of Jew - one who hugs Israel over and above other issues. Plus, they can dog whistle tonthe anti-semitic feelings that are sure to be in a deep red area.

I thought his message was appropriate in many ways and I liked his manner in the groups I saw in video clips.

He really really really should have moved, even if he was getting strong advice it was not necessary.

as a reason not to vote for him. I heard people complain over and over about that issue. Technically, he was allowed to run as long as he lived in the state but the fact that he didn't live IN the district was not lost on voters. It would have been a simple fix.

I had a glimmer of hope that he would win, even if by a squeaker. My husband, ever the pessimist, kept telling me not to get my hopes up. He said, "Don't you get it? The Republicans are in charge now. You can forget about a win." But I clung to a tiny whisp of hope.

Then the election returns started coming in. I wasn't even upset or disappointed. I just felt flat, almost numb to the reality. My husband didn't even have to say, "I told you so."

I have invested a huge amount of time reading about and learning what happened last fall---to the best we know at this point. I have no doubt that all manner of manipulation was done. Psychological manipulation took place. It wasn't so much physically changing votes (although I agree that may have been done, too) but more like changing hearts and minds before they ever went in a voting booth. Sowing seeds of doubt about the Democratic candidates was the tactic and it worked.

I have no idea of exactly what needs to be done to correct this. I hope that these investigations are put on a fast track to the American people. Plain and simple explanations from sources they will trust and believe needs to happen ASAP. We have to start with an understanding among the citizens that they were conned, duped and manipulated into what they thought and believed about the candidates. It will hurt and stun some people but a reality check is needed so we can figure out where to go next. Until the majority of Americans are informed in no uncertain terms of what happened, they won't be receptive to the changes that need to be made.

I see a positive trend, but GA-6 has just sent yet another Republican robot to DC to vote against livable wages, health care, and anything else good that they can get their hands on.

Well said!

We should not be pessimistic. Ossoff did an amazing job, and I agree his biggest mistake was not living in the district.

This was never a purple district, but a solid red one going back to 1980. I live right next to GA6 and drive across north Fulton regularly. It is majority white with lots of nice neighborhoods full of expensive houses, interspersed with vestiges of rural homes and land that have escaped development so far. Some of the problem is that those rich and upper middle class folks are loathe to vote for anyone who might raise their taxes. And some of the rural folks are Trump's core constituency and will never change.

To my previous post I add this:

Seth Moulton - "Ossof Race better be a wake up call for Democrats - business as usual isn't working. Time to stop rehashing 2016 and talk about the future."

Seth Moulton - "We need a genuinely new message, a serious jobs plan that reaches all Americans, and a bigger tent not a smaller one. Focus on the future."

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a progressive who represents Silicon Valley, said Democrats have failed to appreciate how massive changes in the economy are impacting voters.

“We have to figure out how we are going to speak to people’s economic anxiety,” he told NBC News. “We’ve failed at doing that.” “Our politics are still conventional, incremental, are not very different, frankly, from our proposals from 10 years ago,” he added.

Dan Pfeiffer - "We could sit here on Twitter and argue about why Ossoff lost or we could fight like hell to defeat Trumpcare and then reconvene and discuss"

It's just sad there are so many brainwashed idiots in this country who want to hurt themselves and others.