January 5, 2021
The all-important Georgia runoff elections are finally here. So how are both parties feeling? Not great it turns out! Democrats and Republicans are reportedly feeling pretty skeptical, with one GOP Senate aide telling the Washington Post that "Republicans should be prepared for a bad night," while Joe Biden's team, though hopeful, is also betting on a loss. Politico reports:
Privately, Biden's team does not expect to win the races, according to Democratic officials, but they are more optimistic about their chances than they were weeks ago. Though the president-elect narrowly won the state in November, they attribute that to a powerful anti-Trump sentiment that did not translate down the ballot. Perdue received about 88,000 more votes than Ossoff, and the top two Republicans combined got more than 636,000 votes than Warnock in the special election.
Not that Donald Trump seems to care about any of this. As my colleague Abigail Weinberg noted last night, Trump largely ignored the two Republican candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and instead used one of the last rallies of his presidency to bask in the glow of fawning praise. Promote entirely false conspiracy theories of election fraud. Take it back to 2016 and lead a "Lock her up" chant attacking Hillary Clinton.
As for me, I'm not a betting woman; nearly all my predictions concerning elections and the coronavirus have been wrong. But I do encourage you to read my colleagues Ari Berman, Becca Andrews, David Corn, Jacob Rosenberg, and others for their outstanding coverage of these twin elections. I'll see you on the other side.
—Inae Oh
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SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE
One spot after another has been toppled by the pandemic. Birdland, the historic New York City venue, could be next. But the club’s fate isn’t sealed yet. It’s a living shrine to the music, memory, and resilience of Charlie Parker and the continuum of bebop innovators throughout history. The venue launched a GoFundMe campaign two days ago after nine months of dormancy and another lockdown order that’s pushed it toward extinction. Crowdfunding is coming in.
The club aims to raise $250,000 to stay afloat. At last check, it’s pulled in nearly half. It’s seeing some of the support reciprocated that it’s shown the world over 72 years as a birthplace of revolutions in harmony and rhythm. “On March 16 we were given the order to close,” the club’s owner, Gianni Valenti, told WBGO’s Nate Chinen. “I thought it would be a couple of weeks, and I kept everybody employed through March.” After laying off almost 60 workers but keeping a small part-time staff, the owner invested more heavily—before the latest lockdown order.
“I needed people to realize that we’re still alive, that we’re going to be there, that we’re part of the landscape…It’s heartwarming to see the outpouring for the club. I don’t care if someone gives a dollar or a thousand dollars. It’s that they made an effort to help.”
—Daniel King
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