“Make Trump Furious”: Georgia Special Election Voting Begins
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Apr 18, 2017
The Democratic Party and the mainstream media have thrown their full force behind the election of a 30-year-old political novice, Jon Ossoff, in a special election being held in Georgia today to fill the vacant Congressional seat of Tom Price who joined the Trump administration as Health and Human Services Secretary.
Ossoff is the lone Democrat running against a field of 17 Republicans so there is little doubt that he’ll ‘win’ today’s election. The question, however, is whether he’ll secure the 50% of votes required to avoid a runoff against the Republican front-runner, which looks increasingly likely to be Karen Handel or Bob Gray, in June. And, with polling data from Emerson showing him at ~43%, not to mention the fact that not a single poll has put him anywhere near the 50% threshold, it’s looking like a long shot for Dems.
But, if Ossoff loses it won’t be for a lack of trying. The Democratic candidate raised $8.3 million in Q1 2017 from disaffected Hillary voters which is a fairly staggering number for a first-time candidate running for a seat that will do absolutely nothing to shift the balance of power in the House. That said, Democrats and the MSM want a referendum vote on Trump and they seem to be willing to spend any amount of money and resources required to get it. Per The Hill:
The DCCC dispatched eight staffers to Georgia to build out what’s become a field team of more than 70 paid staffers. The House Democrats’ campaign wing has also made a handful of six-figure ad and mail buys looking to drum up turnout and push Ossoff to an outright victory in the primary. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez also recorded a robocall.
Progressive Democrats have backed Ossoff, too. The Progressive Campaign Committee and liberal blog Daily Kos helped to bundle money and rally support, while Democracy for America endorsed him.
“This race is seen as a referendum on two things: one, on how well the Trump presidency is doing and if there are any Republicans upset enough to want to send a message. And two, a referendum on whether the Democratic Party can actually flip some districts,” said Richard Barke, a political science professor at Georgia Tech who lives in the district. “It looks like it’s in play, but the question will be all about who turns out.”
The Rest…HERE
