Project Logic Ga

As we prepare for Senate runoffs and the governor’s race in 2022, I wanted to consider a breakdown of Georgia voter groups. The groups are: Metro Atlanta, the Next Six Cities (Athens, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, Albany and Savannah), Rural Georgia and Coastal America.

We know that Atlanta is the power in Georgia and her suburban areas rival the regional cities in population and money. The Next Six Cities are the regional cities that are hubs for a 20 mile radius. Candidates running statewide from Atlanta often think a visit to Albany is a trip to Rural Georgia. No.

The vibe and mentality of Non Atlanta voters is different from the Next Six Cities voters and Rural Georgia voters are still different from the other two groups.

In Next Six Cities, you find somewhat urban Blacks with a rural twist on some level. In Rural Georgia, Black voters are near the political center. The political history of Rep. Sanford Bishop reflects these divisions.  As a college student in Atlanta, Bishop was a Liberal but he might have grown more Moderate while serving Columbus as a state legislator. For over 20 years, dapper Congressman Bishop got his expensive foot-ware dirty on farms and military bases in rural Georgia as he became an expert on agriculture, the military, transportation and veterans matter.

You can’t win a statewide election in Georgia without showing well in the three Georgias. One would think that U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would have asked Statesman Bishop if they could shadow him for a week or two last year to drink in his knowledge and wisdom of Non-Atlanta Georgia, USDA, DOD, VA and other federal alphabet soup. Ossoff knows the federal government somewhat from being a congressional staffer but is likely awkward in the land of plants (manufacturing plants and green, leafy plants.)  Warnock is an outstanding preacher who Bishop would have loved to mentor politically and maybe he did privately but we didn’t see indications of rural knowledge from any U.S. Senate Dem candidate other than former U.S. Attorney Ed Taver and he had no money.

You might have asked what is Coastal America in this Georgia political discussion; isn’t Savannah one of the Next Six Cities. Oh, I am not talking about Georgia’s lovely coastal region. For this voter analysis, Coastal America would be the Democrat donors from Washington, D.C. to Boston and from San Diego to Seattle who pour campaign contributions into the South to help candidates and fund Get Out The Vote efforts.

Their assistance is greatly appreciated. Can you believe that South Carolina might have two Black U.S. Senators if Jamie Harrison can beat Lindsey Graham. Harrison’s national fund-raising has been amazing. Of course, the pioneer of this funding method might be Georgia’s Stacey Abrams.

In my Rural Georgia area, we say whomever pays the piper, calls the tune or a modern version might be whomever hired the D.J. selects the playlist. The downside to campaign cash pouring into a state is the fact that those donors have the ear of the candidates/officeholders as much as local voters.

We have a dilemma in Georgia because Coastal America cash comes from donors who are more Progressive than Rural Georgia Black voters. Actually, Black Georgia voters aren’t the same group as Black Georgians because Progressive seek to help struggling families who vote infrequently. Democrats would own the South if most Blacks simply registered and voted.

The plan seems to be win Georgia statewide for Democrats by registering young, hip voters in Atlanta and the Next Six Cities with a Progressive agenda. We Moderate Dems would be a bonus or gravy but seeking our support isn’t efficient and jeopardize Coastal America Progressive donors because centrists are near conservative on guns, faith, spending, military, agriculture and the limited role of government.  

Moderates are dumbfounded because we feel our place in the center is needed because we counterbalances the Far Left division of the Dem Party and could attractive enough college-educated suburban conservatives to win more elections and leave the GOP as the new MAGA Party of Trump and his angry types.  

Well, we should remember that Moderate Joe Biden beat Progressive Bernie Sanders by securing Black voters in the South. Finally, the usage of the Coastal American contributions is strange and lazy anyway. The money is generally spent on T.V. ads with limited substance. While we are in a pandemic, statewide candidates still could have crisscrossed the state safely to show their regional understanding.

But, they didn’t see the need to connect with Rural Georgia voters as much as Coastal America donors. While Republicans should be ashamed for rubber-stamping Trump’s actions, the argument can be made that the some Republicans are familiar with our regional interests and those interests are as important as national matters. I’m reluctant to write the idiom “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” but that’s likely the mindset of the Georgia Republican farmers who supported Rep. Bishop because he was always there for them.  

To win, Democrats need Rural Georgians.