Posted on 06/06/2017 8:02:36 PM PDT by MaxistheBest
Atlanta attorney Craig Bertschi writes from Georgia’s Sixth District with a report on the pending special election to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in the House.
I’m a long-time fan of Power Line and a resident of Georgia’s 6th District. The big Handel-Ossoff Debate is tonight at 8:00 pm EDT. In advance of the debate, I thought I’d give you some local color. So, here goes:
I’m a lifelong Republican, casting my first vote for President Reagan in 1984. I went to Emory University here in Atlanta (back when you could still find a conservative or two on campus). Harvey Klehr was my favorite professor and one of my advisors. With the exception of three years in Athens, attending UGA for law school, I’ve lived in GA-6 most of my adult life. I know this District and its voters very well. We aren’t accustomed to the national political spotlight and particularly the non-stop political ads.
Karen Handel wasn’t my first choice, but I will go to the polls and vote for her. Most of the Republicans I know are doing likewise, not with any sense of enthusiasm, but out of duty and certain knowledge that Ossoff is a robotic vote for gun control, abortion, illegal immigration and the rest of the progressive agenda. Handel’s grassroots and canvassing efforts seem weak. With the exception of this ad, her TV spots have been lackluster.
The enthusiasm for Ossoff is unprecedented in this district. In my normally quiet and conservative neighborhood, Ossoff signs have proliferated like lawn weeds. He’s got a good spin team, plenty of money and hasn’t made any unforced errors. He’s avoiding the controversial issues, even going so far as to call out both parties “for spending too much money.” Yeah, right.
It’s tempting to compare this race to the Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter races of several years ago. Nunn and Carter were stronger candidates than Ossoff for a host of reasons, including the obvious name recognition advantages. Those races also generated a lot of buzz, national money and base excitement. Yet in those races both Democrat candidates lost, scoring in the mid 40s, which seems to be the high-water mark for Democrats in statewide races in Georgia over the past 20 years.
I don’t see Ossoff suffering the same fate as Nunn and Carter. I think he wins in a very close race. Trump seems to have moved the partisanship needle, making the moderately left-of-center crowd much more likely to vote.
This is all a terrible shame because Ossoff is a very weak candidate. He spent his formative years at The Paideia School, one of Atlanta’s famously liberal in-town private schools, where he marinated in this. He’s only been out of high school for 12 years. As best I can tell, he has never had a real private sector job. He worked as a staffer for Rep. Hank Johnson. He’s currently the CEO of a film company that appears to be financed by his father’s charitable foundation (see here).
It’s a safe bet that every paycheck Ossoff has drawn in his lifetime has been underwritten by Daddy or Uncle Sam. It would be interesting indeed to see his tax returns. To his credit, Ossoff has managed to move out of his parents’ basement. He’s currently shacked-up with this girlfriend, who is attending Emory Medical School. In short, this kid is vapor.
To boot, for the past 2 days there has been a barrage of ads on cable for President Trump....why not focus that money to Georgia instead of Florida. Losing this seat will hurt and it didn't have to happen. From the insanely huge GOP field in the primary to the slow start of her ground game, the Georgia GOP has a lot to answer for.
Hillary in a landslide!
They always say we’re gonna lose, then it’s not even close.
Dems may barely win this one. Out of 5 special House races this spring/summer this is the only one they may flip. They are underperforming.
The worst is if the DNC do pull this out, all those GOP House members up in 2018 will get freaked out and that’s bad for President Trumps agenda.
From the comment section:
I lived in Dunwoody, Georgia for five years(1982-1988) and it was in the GA-6 district. The controlling factor in this race is not the liberal regions of northern Fulton and Dekalb counties. Those regions have a large compononet of Democrat voters, but not enough to control the election. Conservative Cobb county will control this election, if they turn out. And there seems to be no reason that they won’t.
Handel by three to five points.
In talking to past aquiantances in Atlanta, many people are not trusting the polling. And all the local media is solidly in Osoff’s court, and not disguising it one bit.
More from the comments:
I agree with him on every aspect but the winner (I’m a GA6 resident). Handel will indeed make this closer than it should be, but she will win by 2 pts. Like Nunn and Carter there is hand wringing about losing to the D. This will be closer than these two races, but the R’s will turnout enough to win. Not sure D can grow anymore then 4/20 primary results. A majority R district will win, if they show up.
Thought he didn’t even live in the same precinct so, it stands to reason he would lose...
94% of his campaign donations are from NY, CA, and DC.
Isn't this District overwhelmingly Republican?
It's not like this is a swing district, if Republicans turnout, no reason this dbag wins & why wouldn't Republicans turnout?
It doesn’t appear that there is any piece of real estate in the 1980’s version of GA-6 that is in today’s GA-6. I think the author is not telling the truth.
I have sent money to Karen and will do so next week. Doing my part.
I know so many FReepers have been paranoid about this race. Also the fact DJT only won by 1.5%.
The size of the primary field has nothing to do with anything.
The problem is
A)This isn’t a great district anymore
B)Rats are energized to turnout
C)Supposedly Handel isn’t gangbusters as a candidate
Mostly A and B.
And it’s far from over, will be a very close race, don’t give up, if you give up the faggots win.
I cant believe the folks of GA-6 would even entertain the idea of a left wing weenie taking that seat.I certainly dont trust the media polling on this race of any other race for that matter.We will see.
These Lobbyist lawyer HATE Trump and love the Mittens - Bushy crowd .
This Scott poster has a severe case of Trump derangement .
That blog has become unreadable
Believe not much from these bitter Trump haters .
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