{"id":103865,"date":"2021-01-04T12:59:03","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T12:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=103865"},"modified":"2021-01-04T12:59:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T12:59:03","slug":"a-new-year-less-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Year, Less Drama?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back! Believe me, we are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020 \u2014 right after we finish up this last bit of business down in Georgia. It\u2019s Monday, and this is your politics tip sheet. <\/em>Sign up here<\/em> to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here we are, folks. I hope you rested well over the holidays and found some time to put your news alerts on \u201cmute.\u201d (I know I did.) Four days into 2021, we\u2019re still waiting to put the 2020 elections fully to bed.<\/p>\n

The candidates in Georgia\u2019s two Senate runoff races are trying to eke out what seem likely to be razor-thin wins. And President Trump \u2014 who still refuses to concede to Joe Biden \u2014 recently urged Georgia officials to \u201cfind\u201d him exactly 11,780 votes, the number he\u2019d need to reverse his loss there.<\/p>\n

And what about the rest of us? Well, as we enter the first full week of a year that was supposed to be different, we\u2019ll be putting up with this political circus for at least a little longer.<\/p>\n

And with that, allow me to welcome you back to \u201cOn Politics\u201d! Lisa and I have each enjoyed our time off, but we\u2019re excited to dive back into the maelstrom. Things will be a little different around here than they were last year: You\u2019ll still be hearing from me every morning, Monday through Friday, but we won\u2019t send you multiple emails each day (except on special occasions). Lisa will weigh in once a week with a column that will land in your inbox on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s get caught up. In case you missed it, The Washington Post published a recording yesterday of Trump\u2019s call with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia\u2019s Republican secretary of state, and Raffensperger\u2019s lawyer, in which the president vaguely threatened that Raffensperger could be prosecuted if he didn\u2019t go out and \u201cfind 11,780 votes\u201d to overturn the election results in Georgia. Raffensperger, who has repeatedly stood by the results, flatly refused to help.<\/p>\n

But Trump is likely to find a more receptive audience today, when he lands in rural North Georgia for one last rally on behalf of Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the state\u2019s two Republican senators. More than three million early votes have already been cast in the state\u2019s runoff elections, in which the senators are facing Democratic challengers, the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff; Election Day is tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Republicans are openly worrying about the effect that Trump\u2019s debunked claims about voting fraud will have on the election.<\/p>\n

When we spoke last month for an article, the Republican pollster Robert Cahaly told me that Trump\u2019s attacks on the credibility of the voting process could well drive down participation among his party\u2019s base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone believes the election wasn\u2019t legit, and that voter then asks the logical question \u2014 \u2018Well, if you want my vote to count, what are you going to do differently?\u2019 \u2014 and Republicans don\u2019t have an answer for them, it affects their enthusiasm,\u201d Cahaly said. \u201cMy question is, can the Republicans overcome that? I\u2019m not sure they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Trump has only seemed to double down on his claims in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

Polls \u2014 including those by Cahaly\u2019s Trafalgar Group \u2014 are not assuaging Republicans\u2019 concerns. None of the traditional polling outfits that we\u2019re used to relying on have conducted surveys ahead of these runoffs (they\u2019re taking a break after a tough year for polling and licking their wounds), but the ones that we do have are a cause for Republicans to worry.<\/p>\n

In Washington, Trump\u2019s inability to accept his defeat has left him increasingly isolated \u2014 but he still has a posse. No matter what happens tomorrow, the Senate\u2019s Republican caucus will remain divided by Trump\u2019s loyalty tests, and it promises to be an ugly scene on Wednesday, when Congress will convene, one day after the Senate elections, to certify the Electoral College results.<\/p>\n

A dozen Republican senators have now said that they intend to challenge the election outcome. That\u2019s not nearly enough to successfully overturn the results, particularly since the chamber\u2019s Republican leadership has already indicated it considers Biden the rightful winner, but it\u2019s enough to cause a stir.<\/p>\n

The 12 senators who have indicated they will contest the results on Wednesday are a mixed bunch, but many of them \u2014 including the relatively young and staunchly pro-Trump senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, and four lawmakers who were just sworn in yesterday after being elected to the Senate for the first time in November \u2014 appear to think that their brightest days in politics are still ahead.<\/p>\n

But what about the several dozen Republican senators who aren\u2019t heeding the president\u2019s cries? With all eyes on Georgia, he has tried to make the secretary of state there into a villain \u2014 but Raffensperger, with his conservative track record and his carefully calibrated statements throughout this head-spinning process, just might come out with his credentials burnished.<\/p>\n

It bears mentioning that the Republicans aren\u2019t the only party with a unity problem. Whether Biden assumes office with a slim Democratic majority in both chambers or a split Congress, he will have to contend with an increasingly factious party. Immediately after the November election, with Democrats reeling from unexpected losses in down-ballot races across the country and looking ahead to a narrow majority in the House, moderates complained that they had been dragged down by Republicans\u2019 attacks on left-wing figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and by rallying cries like \u201cdefund the police.\u201d But progressives have fired back, saying that it is the left wing of the party that is carrying its most popular messages, and that moderates were the victims of their own poor campaigning.<\/p>\n

In an interview last month, when pressed, Ocasio-Cortez said she thought it was time for Nancy Pelosi to step down as speaker of the House \u2014 though she added that doing so without first finding a better alternative could lead to \u201csomething even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday Pelosi, well known as a steely steward of party unity, managed to win re-election as speaker \u2014 though a few Democrats defected, and some members simply voted \u201cpresent.\u201d Notably, Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the left-leaning Squad backed her.<\/p>\n

By the appearance of his cabinet and staffing choices, Biden seems to be going just about all-in on a moderate approach: He has filled key White House staff positions with establishment Democratic figures. Many have spent some or all of the past four years in high-powered lobbying positions, and critics on the left have begun to complain audibly that while he has focused on racial and gender diversity in his appointments, he hasn\u2019t yet given a position with considerable power to a leader on the party\u2019s left wing.<\/p>\n

Still, Democrats of all stripes agree that those intraparty debates won\u2019t be nearly as relevant if the runoffs don\u2019t go their way in Georgia.<\/p>\n

So for at least for another couple days, that\u2019s where we find ourselves: bating our breath, waiting for those final returns to come in, before 2020 really vanishes into the rearview at last.<\/p>\n

Photo of the day<\/span><\/h3>\n

Speaker Nancy Pelosi was re-elected on the opening day of the 117th Congress.<\/p>\n

Could youth turnout tip the scales in Georgia?<\/h2>\n

Young people have not typically been the most reliable voters to turn out, especially in runoffs and other special elections.<\/p>\n

But Democratic organizers in Georgia \u2014 heartened by the surge in voter turnout across the board in November that helped Biden flip the state blue \u2014 are now placing a big bet on these voters. And college Republican groups are fighting vigorously, too.<\/p>\n

Turnout organizations have used an increasingly diverse array of tech tools to reach these voters, even as the surging pandemic puts a damper on in-person gatherings: TikTok videos, poetry readings, drive-in events with celebrities, phone-banking competitions and even some GOTV efforts using the dating app Tinder.<\/p>\n

As our correspondent Rick Rojas<\/strong> reports from Atlanta in a new article, \u201cfew groups have been as vigorously pursued as young voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s saying something: Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into the race on each side, making these among the costliest Senate campaigns in history.<\/p>\n

And the work has shown results. More than 75,000 new voters have registered ahead of the runoffs, as Rick reports, with more than half of them under 35.<\/p>\n

Indeed, young people on both sides of the aisle have found themselves particularly energized by the country\u2019s spotlight on Georgia politics. \u201cI think that young voters have felt so disconnected from politics and their voice was not heard,\u201d Bryson Henriott, a University of Georgia student and the political director for the school\u2019s College Republicans chapter, told Rick. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones door-knocking for these campaigns, they are the ones on social media. Now that young people feel like they have a voice in politics, they\u2019re going to stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Politics is also available as a newsletter. <\/em>Sign up here<\/em> to get it delivered to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

Is there anything you think we\u2019re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We\u2019d love to hear from you. Email us at <\/em>onpolitics@nytimes.com<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back! Believe me, we are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020 \u2014 right after we finish up this last bit of business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":103864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome back! Believe me, we are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020 \u2014 right after we finish up this last bit of business [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/cnewsfotoonpolitics-volcano-facebookJumbo.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/\",\"name\":\"A New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A New Year, Less Drama?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fin2me\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"Mark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me","og_description":"Welcome back! Believe me, we are more than ready to say goodbye to 2020 \u2014 right after we finish up this last bit of business [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/","og_site_name":"Fin2me","article_published_time":"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00","author":"Mark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/cnewsfotoonpolitics-volcano-facebookJumbo.png","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/","name":"A New Year, Less Drama? - Fin2me","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-04T12:59:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/a-new-year-less-drama\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A New Year, Less Drama?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/","name":"Fin2me","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"Mark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}