Political Rewind

Tuesday on Political Rewind: The big Republican names in politics are all planning to visit Georgia to help rally supporters in the lead up to the state’s crucial congressional races on the ballot in the Jan. 5 primary.

President Donald Trump is expected to visit this weekend, while Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Savannah on Friday. Some Republican state leaders raised concerns the President could devote more time to airing his grievances than to encouraging his supporters to vote in the runoffs.

Meanwhile, divisions in the Georgia Republican party remains stark with six weeks before the runoff. In a Fox News interview, Sen. Kelly Loeffler failed to defend Gov. Brian Kemp from the increasingly personal attacks he is facing from the president and his supporters.

Our panelists included: Dr. Andra Gillespie, Professor of Political Science and Director in the James Weldon Johnson Institute on Race at Emory University; Tamar Hallerman, Senior Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Mary Margaret Oliver , State Representative (D-Decatur); and Brian Robinson — GOP Political Consultant and President of Robinson Republic

Monday on Political Rewind: Our panel of political experts discusses the continued baseless attacks on the integrity of the election. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, President Donald Trump continued his efforts to undermine the outcome of the presidential election. He insists, without evidence, that President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia was based on massive fraud.

Meanwhile, some allies of the president attacked Republican U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for not doing enough to support the election fraud claims.

Will the ongoing allegations of fraud suppress GOP turnout in the Senate runoff election on Jan. 5? And how will President-elect Biden respond to the belief by a large number of Americans that he is not the legitimate winner of the race?

Our panelists: Tharon Johnson, Senior Advisor to the Joe Biden campaign in Georgia & CEO of Paramount Consulting; Jim Galloway, Lead Political Writer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Raisa Habersham, freelance reporter; and Sam Olens — Former Georgia Attorney General

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The coronavirus epidemic has uprooted many of the norms of daily life, and that will continue to be true through the holiday season. Yesterday, Gov. Brian Kemp urged Georgians to consider alternative virtual Thanksgiving gatherings in order to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. Georgia is faring better than other states at the moment, yet the rate of new infections continues to rise. Last week, an average of over 2,500 Georgians reported new COVID-19 infections each day.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force issued an advisory to Georgia, warning the state is “in the early stages of a full resurgence” and has urged state leaders to take aggressive new steps now to tamp down the virus before it spirals out of control.

Gov. Kemp did not issue new restrictions or mask mandates, describing new data as a “bump” and not a "spike."

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Spending on Georgia’s two U.S. Senate runoff elections is reaching mind-boggling heights.

So far, $257 million has been committed or spent for television, radio and digital ads in the races. According to media expert Rick Dent, more than $32 million of ads were broadcasted by the four campaigns in the past week alone, and the spending spree will continue during the six weeks until runoff election day.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns among Georgia Republicans that could hobble the party’s organizing efforts, especially in the lead up to the runoffs for the state’s two Senate seats. Top GOP officials, including President Donald Trump, alluded to election malfeasance by Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger following November’s presidential victory for Democrat Joe Biden. Republicans are worried that these assertions could undermine Republican candidates' chances to win and could lead to a party at war with itself.

Our panelists included: Dr. Amy Steigerwalt, Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University; Dr. Andra Gillespie, Professor of Political Science at Emory University; Rick Dent, Georgia media consultant; and Tamar Hallerman — Senior Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday on Political Rewind: We speak with a giant of Georgia politics — former United States Sen. Sam Nunn.

During his 24-year tenure, Nunn became the Senate’s most important voice on the U.S. military and a leader in debates on foreign affairs. In the years since he left the Senate, Nunn continued his groundbreaking work to rid the world of the threat of nuclear destruction.

We will discuss Nunn’s career and ask him about how the Senate has devolved from an important deliberative body into a toxic partisan stew. What are the statemen’s thoughts on President Donald Trump and his efforts to forestall the outcome of the presidential election?

Nunn finds Trump's refusal to transition President-elect Joe Biden into the White House "breathtaking."

"You don't have to concede to have a transition. President Trump can keep on fighting, you can keep on going to court, that's fine," he said. "But for goodness sake, he needs to step up and put his county first."

Panelists:

Sam Nunn — Former U.S. Senator

Jim Galloway — Lead Political Writer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Patricia Murphy — Political Writer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday on Political Rewind: The extraordinary hand recount of some 5 million presidential ballots has confirmed that Joe Biden won Georgia and won its 16 electoral votes. Biden becomes the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia since 1992.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who certified the election results today, joins our panel.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Atlanta has rejected a request from Trump supporters to bar state officials from certifying the Biden victory. Judge Steven Grimberg, a Trump appointee, said he found no evidence to back the claims that procedural irregularities had more than a nominal impact on the election outcome.

At a press conference Friday morning, Raffensperger said he believes the hand recount accurately calls Biden as the state's winner.

"I live by the motto, 'Numbers don’t lie,'" he said.

Panelists:

Brad Raffensperger — Georgia Secretary of State

Caesar Mitchell — Former President, Atlanta City Council

Jim Galloway — Lead Political Writer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Karen Owen — Political Science Professor, University of West Georgia

Thursday on Political Rewind: President-elect Joe Biden has maintained his lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia after the state’s ambitious hand recount of some 5 million ballots. But the process did discover counting errors in several counties that added more than 1,000 votes to the Trump column.

Meanwhile, even while the president and many loyalists here in Georgia and across the country continue to claim that the election was stolen, many Republicans are beginning to contemplate how their party will regroup in the aftermath of the Trump presidency.

We’ll look at the disputed election, how it may impact the senate runoffs and the future of the Republican Party with expert political officials in Georgia.

Our panelists included: Rusty Paul, mayor of Sandy Springs and former state Republican Party chairman; Sam Olens, former State Attorney General; Saxby Chambliss, former U.S Senator; and Kevin Riley, editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Counties have until midnight to finish their audits of ballots cast in the November presidential election. No evidence of election fraud has been found.

The audit revealed memory cards from voting machines in two counties were not properly uploaded. The votes were added to the final tally. After accounting for those ballots, Biden’s lead dropped to about 13,000 votes. The Secretary of State’s office said the post-election process catching mistakes was a normal step in certifying results not a sign of wrongdoing.

Long before Republican senators began publicly denouncing how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger handled the voting there, he withstood pressure from the campaign of Donald Trump to endorse the president for reelection.

Our panel of experts break down the latest in Georgia's election races.

Our panelists included: Eric Tanenblatt, Republican strategist; Greg Bluestein, Politics Reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Riley Bunch — Georgia Statehouse Reporter at CNHI News; and Teri Anulewicz, State Representative (D-Smyrna).

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is responding to criticism from leaders in his own party. President Donald Trump, Georgia’s two sitting senators and other high-ranking Republicans claim, without evidence, that Georgia's election results were rigged in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. Raffensperger called on Georgians to ignore false conspiracy charges about election fraud. So far, the statewide risk-limiting audit has found no acts of fraud. Plus, we look at how the narrative of the two Senate runoffs is developing.

Our panelists included: Rep. James Beverly, State House Minority Leader (D-Macon); Tamar Hallerman, senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Edward Lindsey, a Republican strategist; and Dr. Amy Steigerwalt, political science professor at Georgia State University.

Monday on Political Rewind: Counties across Georgia will finish their audits of ballots cast in the November presidential election. Fifty counties, including DeKalb and Fulton counties, have finished their recounts so far. Our panel of experts and insiders takes a look at the latest results from that process and looks ahead to what comes next.

Also, Georgia’s state and federal runoff elections on Jan. 5 include both Georgia U.S. Senate seats. Voters are now able to request absentee ballots and county registrars can begin sending ballots out on Wednesday. Early in-person voting begins Dec. 14.

Our panelists included: Brian Robinson, GOP political consultant and president of Robinson Republic; Cathy Cox, dean of Walter George Law School at Mercer University and former Secretary of State of Georgia; Jim Galloway, Lead Political Writer at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Tharon Johnson, senior advisor to the Joe Biden campaign in Georgia and CEO of Paramount Consulting.