Georgia senate seats runoff(s) megathread

[Alcibiades]

I might just be a political oddball but I do actually care about the deficit and responsible spending and I'm not convinced a blanket $2,000 stimulus check is good policy. I'd much prefer the Dems take some time to lay out all the different options for stimulating the economy (e.g., infrastructure spending, tax credits for parents that need child care for the pandemic), rather than just jump on the more checks for everyone train.

We're in a recession, the deficit doesn't matter right now (and barely matters during times of economic expansion). The best stimulus for this pandemic would be lockdowns coupled with direct aid to businesses to keep them open and direct checks to families/individuals so that they can afford to stay home and keep the virus in check.

Half the population is working from home already according to the polls and doing better financially than ever. Do they really need direct checks?

I disagree the deficit doesn't matter. We're financing all of this in the form of debt that carries interest that the Government will have to pay each year until that debt is paid off.

The main issue with a deficit is long term - if you can’t pay off your loans, your credit rating goes down and you might not be able to borrow as easily in the future. But in the short-term, it’s not that big of a deal, and especially in the middle of a recession, a country is doing something wrong if it’s not running a deficit. (Also history shows that Democratic presidents tend to be much better at reducing or keeping the deficit in check than Republicans.)

[Alcibiades]

Just got another Perdue ad lol.

Anyone else noticed how all his ads end through him angrily walking in a random field

I find his slogan “The Original Outsider” particularly amusing considering his extensive corporate background.

[Alcibiades]

CNN exit poll claiming that college-educated whites have swung 10 points to Perdue from November. Not sure how useful/reliable that is, but something nonetheless.

[Alcibiades]

What is the best website to use to track results with a map?

My favourite is the New York Times, although it has a paywall.

[Alcibiades]

CNN exit poll claiming that college-educated whites have swung 10 points to Perdue from November. Not sure how useful/reliable that is, but something nonetheless.

But Ossoff increased his share among African American voters. But I would take exit polls with a huge grain of salt.

Yep, was just pointing some info out. Personally I don’t think the exit polls tell us much at this stage.

[Alcibiades]

Webster County is 100% in

And it’s swung slightly to both Rs.

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Fulton just had its first set of results drop.

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Just waking up now to the news of the Dem victory. This is hilarious. Couldn’t have happened to two worse GOPers.

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I think it’s fair to say that the people of West Virginia were the real winners tonight.

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Both in a Georgia sense & beyond how common is it for the run-off to be won by someone who finished second?

In Georgia it’s happened once before. In 1992, incumbent Democrat Wyche Fowler finished first in the November election, but Republican Paul Coverdell won the run-off. These are also the first run-offs in Georgia that the Democrats have ever won.

[Alcibiades]

Both in a Georgia sense & beyond how common is it for the run-off to be won by someone who finished second?

In Georgia it’s happened once before. In 1992, incumbent Democrat Wyche Fowler finished first in the November election, but Republican Paul Coverdell won the run-off. These are also the first run-offs in Georgia that the Democrats have ever won.

And before 2005, a candidate in Georgia needed only 45% of the vote to win the first round and avoid a run-off.

This was changed to 51% when Republicans took over the state's legislature. 

Had this not happened, Purdue would have outright won the first round in November.   

I’m not sure if that was the case, because Fowler got 49.2% and still had to advance to the run-off which he lost.

[Alcibiades]

looks like there are 4 racists in glasscock county Georgia. 1230-134 perdue wins, 1234-130 loeffler

Ha, those numbers are nice and easy to compare. Not surprising considering it’s a 90% Republican county (the GOP percentage is almost identical to the white percentage) surrounded by the Black Belt.