The week
GOP faces electoral dilemmas in Georgia, suggests new poll
New research released by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday suggests that the Republican Party is in a difficult situation in Georgia. Democrats – including President Biden, Stacy Abrams and the newly elected Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) And Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) – have strong favorability ratings, while Governor Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) And former President Donald Trump are struggling. But the most telling results may belong to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who became a target of Trump when he rejected conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud in the state’s presidential election. The refusal to back off has put him in good stead in Georgia, although his numbers have been driven largely by Democrats, 60% of whom say they approve of the work he has done. Meanwhile, Republicans supported Raffensperger with just 38%, while almost 45% said they disapproved. To put it in context, President Trump received almost 85 percent support from Republicans, despite his insignificant overall numbers. And therein lies the puzzle. The research suggests that a Republican like Raffensperger could launch a challenge in a state election in Georgia, but winning a Republican primary to get there seems difficult. And a candidate more like Trump would have a good chance of winning the primaries, but would probably face an uphill battle overall, apparently leaving the party in no-man’s land for now. Cross tabs in the AJC poll, Q3: Do you approve or disapprove of Sec State Brad Raffensperger? Republicans: 38% approval, 45% disapproval. Democrats: 60% approval, 20% disapproval. A strong candidate for the general elections. But can he win a Republican primary? Https: //t.co/3sSRer79FG – Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 30, 2021 New Georgia research via @ajc illustrates why the GOP doubling down on Trump and MJT is a recipe for electoral failure: Trump unfav 57 / 40Biden fav 52 / 41Abams fav 51 / 40Ossoff fav 50 / 40Warnock location: 54 / 37https: //t.co/xNjelSAH0J – Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) January 30, 2021 The vote involved 858 registered voters in Georgia and was conducted from 17 to 28 January by the UGA School of Public and International Relations. The margin of error is 4.2 percentage points. Read more at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. More stories from theweek.com Don’t look now, but vaccines can end the pandemic5 brutally funny cartoons about the GOP Trump problem5 irrationally funny cartoons about the madness of the GameStop stock market