Georgia is doing something worse to Donald Trump than just prosecuting him
I’ve lived in Georgia my entire life. While politics in the state never much impacted me directly, I always knew that things needed to change. Slowly over the years, things have changed for the better. While the faces of the former confederacy still blight the side of Stone Mountain, the Klan was run out of town decades ago. No longer do you drive through Stone Mountain Village and see confederate flags everywhere. The new Stone Mountain Village is a melting pot of different shop owners who welcome everyone with open arms, including several Black entrepreneurs, something I rarely, if ever, saw when I was young. It, therefore, makes sense that Georgia is now a swing state.
The Bulwark, a decidedly conservative website, called Georgia “the new Ohio.” The Bulwark believes that Governor Brian Kemp is the sign that the Republican party is souring on Donald Trump, at least in Georgia, and that’s a good thing. The Bulwark pointed to important signs of change in Georgia: The Republican House Speaker’s and Lieutenant Governor’s opposition to pressuring, defunding, or impeaching DA Fani Willis and indications that Trump has no power in Georgia, including a recent poll that shows the same. Alternet echoed Bulwark’s thoughts, pointing to the political victories that occurred in 2022 in the state, including two non-MAGA Republicans keeping their offices (Kemp and Raffensperger) and two liberals joining the Senate (Ossoff and Warnock). These victories show that not all Georgians vote one party all the time, and we see the beginnings of what a free and fair election looks like.
Kemp, above most others, has seen his profile rise. First, he beat back Trump’s threats and recaptured the governor’s office. Now that Trump has been indicted and his people are calling for Fani Willis’s head, Kemp is staying out of it. He continues to point to the law and the Constitution for his decisions, as it should be. As a result, a June Morning Consult poll showed a 60% favorable rating for Kemp. An August poll conducted by the University of Georgia’s Survey Research Center revealed an 80% job rating for Kemp, a number unheard of in politics. As Mark Elias recently said in a podcast, Kemp is a card-toting vote suppressor; however, he’s doing something right to generate these numbers. When all of this is taken together, the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics calls Georgia “one of only four swing states that will truly matter in 2024.” Those words should make Georgians proud, but our work must not stop.
Yes, Kemp is doing well, but we must continue to keep him on task. He has done some things in Georgia from which many benefit, but he has also done some horrible things that are not good for mankind. Just because it’s fashionable right now to go against Trump doesn’t mean that another Trump won’t come along that they like just fine. It is up to us as citizens of Georgia to ensure that our diversity continues to grow and that we educate our fellow citizens on the value of that diversity.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years