Biden returns to Georgia as validator for Ossoff, Warnock
The first Democratic presidential candidate to win
They also will serve as an early test of Biden's power as president-elect while President
“The president-elect can motivate our base but also what we call the Biden coalition,” said
Biden’s joint rally with Ossoff and Warnock comes on the second day of early voting in
A Biden aide said the president-elect will make a direct appeal to Georgians about what
Biden's campaign, together with the
But Biden's biggest impact could be vouching for Ossoff and Warnock. The general election results show why the two could benefit from riding Biden's coattails.
Biden topped all candidates on Georgia’s November ballot with nearly 2,475,000 votes, finishing about 12,000 ahead of Trump out of 5 million ballots cast. Perdue finished with about the same number of votes as Trump and led Ossoff by about 88,000 votes, meaning Ossoff ran about 100,000 votes behind Biden.
Warnock and Loeffler, meanwhile, led a special election that included more than 20 candidates. But both finished well behind their respective parties’ statewide pace. The runoffs are necessary because none of the
The record general election turnout — about 850,000 more presidential votes than in 2016 — demonstrated considerable enthusiasm across the spectrum. And, certainly, Democrats’ decade-long organizing efforts in
“I welcome my president-elect to Georgia,” Williams said, but “it’s not about appealing to one segment of voters.” Instead, she argued, the runoffs and Biden’s visit are about “appealing to all Georgians who want to see something different” on the pandemic response.
Johnson, who worked on the Biden campaign, said it’s impossible to separate those issues from Biden himself.
In Biden's fall campaign, Johnson said, “our first goal was to not let them label him as this left-wing, radical socialist.” Now that he’s won, Johnson said, “Who better to explain exactly what these
Warnock and Ossoff have scoffed at the “socialist” labels from
But because Ossoff and Warnock have never held public office and are still building their brands, it's harder for them to offer the kind of retort Biden made in August as Trump was hammering him as a leftist.
“Ask yourself,” Biden said, “do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?”
Even some
“He’s a known quantity,” said Republican
Kingston noted
“He’s been doing this for decades,” Kingston said. “He’ll give a nod to the liberals. He’ll give a nod to the mainstream. He knows what to say without embarrassing or alienating anybody.”
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