At the Georgia Republican Party headquarters in a lakeside resort in Wisconsin, there was an air of confidence that the Trump campaign could beat Biden by mobilizing Republican supporters alone and that they wouldn't need to bother with the difficult task of persuading swing voters.
“I've never seen this kind of energy and enthusiasm in Georgia Republican politics,” said Republican state Sen. Brandon Beach, a Trump ally who helped open four of Trump's campaign offices. “This momentum isn't going away.”
“For those of us who support Donald Trump, it doesn't really matter who he's running against, it's the simple fact that we need people to turn out to vote,” said Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican from Jackson.
The tumultuous week marked a new low for Democrats, with Biden and his allies suspending their campaign activities after supporters were incensed by his defiant exhortation to “fight, fight, fight” following last week's assassination attempt on Trump.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
And a series of subtle pushes by influential Democrats to throw Biden out of the race are exposing tensions within the party at a time when distracted voters are finally starting to pay attention to the race.
Biden has taken a tougher stance since his debate gaffes in Atlanta sparked concerns about his job performance, trying to reassure voters that he “just had a bad night” but his words were not well received by some former allies.
In Georgia, Democratic Party leaders continue to back the 81-year-old incumbent president, with some dismissing the efforts to remove him as “family talks” or internal drama, while others say they will support his reelection until he decides not to run.
The Biden campaign's Georgia-born deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, a frequent Biden campaign dispatcher this month, has denied speculation about his future.
“Our campaign is not envisioning a scenario in which President Biden is not the top candidate,” Fulks said in Milwaukee. “He is the Democratic nominee and he will continue to be that.”
And Democrats have pressed to change the narrative, whether through new arguments like the much-maligned far-right blueprint “Project 2025” or more traditional attacks on President Trump's role in rolling back abortion rights protections.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“Donald Trump has disenfranchised millions of women across the South,” Carol McDonald of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates said at an event marking the second anniversary of Georgia's abortion ban.
But concerns have not subsided. Carolyn Baudot, a former Democratic congresswoman and Biden's most vocal critic in Georgia, said she saw hypocrisy among colleagues who were once harsh critics of Republicans and put country before party.
“Now, the reasons are different, but the goal is the same. It's time for Democrats to look in the mirror and say the same thing to themselves.”
Democrats are now grappling with the same infighting that Republicans faced during Trump's tumultuous first term, and it is Republicans who have ousted or silenced their fiercest internal critics and united behind Trump.
State Sen. Josh McLaughlin, a Sandy Springs Democrat, said the intraparty debate over Biden's future was a show of strength and disdainfully contrasted it with Republicans' full-throated embrace of Trump.
Those divisions could deepen if Biden is removed, setting up a nasty infighting over whether Vice President Kamala Harris or another national figure should lead the nomination if a pressure campaign forces the president to back down.
Dozens of Georgia delegates to the Democratic National Convention, who could play a decisive role if Biden withdraws, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in interviews that they support Harris over other candidates.
Some lawmakers have also warned that losing the nation's first black woman vice president to a rival could spark a backlash among black voters, the party's most loyal base.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
“If Joe Biden is out, we can't just ignore Kamala Harris as if she doesn't exist,” McLaughlin said. “We can't just let national polls and expert opinion give us something new and exciting.”
Republicans have stoked the Democratic rebellion, but they worry that Trump's missteps could once again sour a race that remains close despite shocking developments that have upended past contests.
And they fear that overconfidence could lead to complacency. As Gov. Brian Kemp said at a Politico event, “Four or five months is an eternity in politics, and a lot can happen.”
Martha Zoller, a conservative commentator who once ran for Congress in northern Georgia, couldn't help but bring up the midterm elections two years ago, in which Republican candidates won all but one statewide race, a victory for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock that still hurts.
“Republicans are ecstatic. But we have to be cautious about 2024, given what happened in 2022. We were pretty optimistic then, too,” she said. “We can't be overconfident.”
Credit: Shin Hyo-seob/AJC
Credit: Shin Hyo-seob/AJC
