Georgia politics remain a hot mess—a bitterly contested state throughout 2021 and going into 2022. With no relief in sight. The following from redstate.com.
The state underwent a dramatic blue shift (Read: Election steal that Gov. Kemp and SoS Raffensperger refused to address.) during the 2020 election (and the 2021 runoffs that handed democrats control of the U.S. Senate),
Sen. Raphael Warnock is up for re-election after just two years in office and Gov. Brian Kemp also faces a tough road to re-election against the political machine of Stacey Abrams [as well as a pair of Republicans in the primary that includes Jonathan Garcia and David Perdue].
In the midst of those political concerns is another battle going on over the COVID-19 response in schools.
Multiple Georgia counties have announced a return to remote learning coming out of the Christmas break. Mask mandates are also still prevalent in many districts.
wake up, parents. pic.twitter.com/9UQ1q96QPD
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) January 1, 2022
If Brian Kemp wants to remain the Governor of Georgia, he has to lead on this issue. But instead of leadership, weak excuses are being made, and to be frank, they aren’t going to do anything to help Kemp’s chances when Election Day rolls around.
The following are examples to set things up:
That's the thing though, Kemp has not done *anything*. No joint action with State AG challenging decisions of counties. They legally can do that. No joint action with the State Superintendent to find remote days inapplicable to instructional days. Also wholly within authority. https://t.co/JxRLC4obil
— EJ (@Ejmiller25) January 1, 2022
If you want to stop mask mandates in Georgia schools, instead of demanding the Governor do an unconstitutional executive order that’ll be thrown out, approach the State School Superintendent who is up for re-election and has a primary challenge.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 1, 2022
The problem with both of those criticism[s] of Kemp is that they assume the governor is just a bystander in all this. He’s not, and he can’t afford to operate as one, even if that means stretching the limits of his power.
Imagine if Ron DeSantis had just thrown his hands up and said “welp, nothing I can do” and left things up to the legislature and state superintendent?
How many commentators on the right insisted that DeSantis’ executive orders on masks and keeping schools open wouldn’t survive the courts? Yet, here we are, with the Florida governor having enjoyed multiple legal victories over the last two years and his schools open for business. In short, you cannot win a fight if you forfeit.
The broad consensus is that Kemp is a weak governor. Never should a state be saddled with a weak, indecisive governor, however, presently that advice is even more emphatically voiced.
[I]f we accept the premise that there’s nothing Kemp can do via the power of his office, shouldn’t he still be the one leading these fights?
The parents can and will lead this fight, but they shouldn’t have to.
[They] have no inroads or connections to get a bill proposed[.] How about Kemp go[ing] to the GOP-controlled legislature and demand action? How about showing up in Fulton County and rallying with concerned parents to put pressure on the school board?
That’s what DeSantis did. That’s also what Glenn Youngkin did, even in deep blue Loudoun County, and it led him to a massive victory in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
At the very least, Kemp should be releasing daily statements slamming the decision to return to remote learning and threatening legal action if mask mandates aren’t removed.
That’s not gonna fly if Kemp’s goal is to get re-elected. The smart set can call it unfair and blame the rubes for wanting a governor who fights for them, but that’s the reality of the situation. It’s put up or shut up time for Kemp. He has to get out there and be the face of the movement or he will lose in 2022, and that’s if he makes it out of the primary.
In the end, Kemp will be primaried out. Perdue is the old horse with President Trump’s backing. Garcia is a young firebrand conservative who will do well in certain parts of Georgia, but he will fall short without the heavy hitter backing.
God speed to Conservatism in Georgia.
And God speed to change that Georgians can appreciate.
