Georgia’s Victory Shows the Power of a Populist Democratic Agenda Rooted in Popular, Tangible Policies
On Tuesday night, Georgia voters delivered America not just a Democratic trifecta, but a resounding victory for a new, progressive populist economic agenda. After losing nearly every battleground Senate seat in the general election, Senators-elect Reverend Doctor Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff’s victories provide a model for the Democratic Party to replicate in future elections: run on tangible economic policies that are overwhelmingly popular with the electorate.
The runoff election was centered on a debate over coronavirus relief and stimulus checks in particular. This was the result of strategic choices made by the candidates, the Democratic Party more broadly, and the progressive movement. Sending out more stimulus checks is not only the right thing to do but, for the party, politically advantageous. In the state of Georgia, Data for Progress found that 63 percent of voters would be more likely to back a candidate who ran on sending out another round of payments. Looking nationally, Data for Progress consistently finds overwhelming public support for coronavirus relief. 88 percent of voters support an additional one-time coronavirus relief payment of $1,200, and 78 percent of voters support a one-time payment of $2,000. 65 percent of voters want the $2,000 to be recurring each month for the duration of the pandemic.
Georgia Democrats heard this message loud and clear. In the final sprint for both Democratic campaigns, Ossoff, Warnock and allied groups ran coordinated, paid and earned media efforts that highlighted one simple message: a vote for Democrats in Georgia is a vote for $2,000 in Americans’ pocket books. And Georgia voters responded.
On December 9th, a Data for Progress poll of Georgia likely voters found Senator-elect Reverend Raphael Warnock leading his opponent Kelly Loeffler by 3 points, 50-47. As of this writing, Warnock is poised to win by a 2.5-percentage-point margin, within a point of the margin Data for Progress predicted at a predicted margin of +2.5 poll. The same poll found Senator-elect Jon Ossoff trailing his opponent David Perdue by 2 points at 48-50, a gap that Ossoff and Georgia allies closed over the closing month of the campaign by utilizing poll-proven messaging on coronavirus relief.
Democrats should make no mistake: The strategic message discipline of Georgia’s Democratic candidates, outside allies, and moderates and progressives alike in this election on a winning, popular issue was critical to Democrats’ win in Georgia. The focus of this election was doing what necessary to win these crucial seats, with minimal distraction. The boosted salience of $2,000 checks was a clear, simple issue for voters to understand, and provided Democratic allies a clear model to follow to create an echo-chamber chorus for the two campaigns. This message discipline in turn forced local and national media alike to not merely cover campaign tactics, but the actual policy stakes at hand.
Georgia’s Senate wins are a model for Democrats on how to run and win. Here are some additional key takeaways from last night’s results:
Democrats win when they run on popular progressive policies. Warnock and Ossoff campaigned on an agenda of healthcare, jobs, and justice for all the people. This agenda allowed them to in many ways neutralize the attacks emanating from Perdue and Loeffler, who both denounced the Democrats as socialists. What Ossoff and Warnock ran on was clear: more cash payments would be forthcoming, they’d fight to keep rural hospitals open, to legalize marijuana, and to protect voting rights.
Democrats win by making the implications of their campaign agenda clear. In 2009, the Democrats passed and signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in response to the Great Recession. The law was festooned with tax cuts and economists advised the Obama administration to "hide" the stimulus provisions of the law. This approach stands in stark contrast to the CARES Act and CASH Act in which Americans were quite literally handed money by their government. The Georgia races suggest the latter approach is a clear political winner. When the stakes of an election are clear and candidates can point to material ways they'll improve people's lives, voters will turn out for them.
Candidate quality matters. Reverend Doctor Raphael Warnock, the pastor of Georgia’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church which Martin Luther King Jr.once led, is a candidate deeply embedded in Georgia’s Black community. He can speak passionately about progressive policies in the language of religious faith, language that helped drive massive turnout among Black voters and even persuade a notable portion of non-college-educated white voters. Similarly, Jon Ossoff as a lifelong Georgian centered his progressive vision in Southern values Georgia voters could relate to. This was emphasized throughout his campaign as he drew a contrast between himself and the corruption of his opponent: Senator David Perdue.
Climate continues to be a winning issue. In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, President-elect Joe Biden aggressively campaigned on the issue of climate change, which helped sway young voters who helped push him to victory. Both Warnock and Ossoff similarly made climate action a key part of their campaign, with Warnock centering environmental justice and Ossoff making the pitch that Georgia can become a renewable energy leader. With the full backing of the Sunrise Movement — which led a robust voter contact and youth voter registration campaign — Warnock and Ossoff’s embrace of ambitious climate action helped push both younger and older voters to vote blue.
Candidates should respond to Republican attacks aggressively, but with discipline. One clip of Ossoff on the eve of the election really exemplifies this: live on Fox News he hammers themes of corruption, before pivoting to his agenda of healthcare, jobs, and justice. When the interviewer raises concerns of wrongdoing about Warnock, Ossoff pivots to note that Loeffler is campaigning with a former Klu Klux Klan member. This kind of aggressive campaigning, in which Democrats aren’t afraid to hit the wrongdoing of the Republican opponents while emphasizing their own economic populist agenda, is something we need more of. Both Warnock and Ossoff exerted tremendous message discipline under the strain of sustained, repeated personal Republican attacks, and should serve as a model for future candidates to replicate.
Democrats win when they run on shared prosperity. Warnock and Ossoff didn’t just run on popular progressive policies like $2,000 checks, but provided voters with a positive sum vision of collective, shared prosperity. Progressive policies create conditions of economic stability for the working class by ensuring they’re paid an ample wage and can see their doctor without going broke. This drives growth, providing benefits to everyone, and with a Democratic trifecta can serve as a model for the type of long-term political vision Democrats should share with voters.
The narrow Democratic trifecta secured last night will provide the Democratic Party with an opportunity to deliver on the issues that they campaigned on. The voters have given the party a mandate and now it’s time to deliver. Democrats must seize this chance and deliver tangible results that won’t just be felt by the average voter, but will show a model of what populist, progressive ideals can achieve for the American people.