GA-SEN 2020 Class III Megathread: She Who Loeffs Last

[We Live in Black and White]

Trump is urging Kemp to appoint Doug Collins

I think Kemp is looking for someone who can win in 2020 rather than trying to find the Trumpiest candidate.

Thing is, Collins is both the only really serious candidate to submit himself for consideration and relatively easy for us to beat, so Kemp doesn't have much choice but to shoot himself in the foot on this one. Kingston and Price are getting up in age and they've been cycled out of politics for a while and Broun is a goddamn lunatic and a half.

[JMT]

Gov. Brian Kemp to appoint Businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to the soon to be vacant Senate seat. He reportedly will announce the appointment at a press conference early next week.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-gov-expected-tap-finance-exec-senate-next-week/qDibvzRR0L6VvyUmjnB1QJ/#

[Calthrina950]

Gov. Brian Kemp to appoint Businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to the soon to be vacant Senate seat. He reportedly will announce the appointment at a press conference early next week.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-gov-expected-tap-finance-exec-senate-next-week/qDibvzRR0L6VvyUmjnB1QJ/#

Loeffler would be the best option for the general election. However, Collins could very well mount a primary challenge out of spite, and given how "Trumpy" the Republican base has become, I wouldn't be surprised if he beat her. He would then put the seat in jeopardy in the general, as I believe that he would not appeal to the Atlanta suburbs effectively and would lose suburban voters who stuck with Kemp last year against Abrams.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Gov. Brian Kemp to appoint Businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to the soon to be vacant Senate seat. He reportedly will announce the appointment at a press conference early next week.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-gov-expected-tap-finance-exec-senate-next-week/qDibvzRR0L6VvyUmjnB1QJ/#

Cool. It didn't matter which one he chose, they're both weak.

Atlanta suburbs are not ticking back to the GOP because he chose a woman. Especially when a lot of the change here has been because of non-white voters.

[DrScholl]

Look at who is playing identity politics. The deck is stacked against Loeffler because she's immediately going to be labeled as not having the Trump seal of approval. Second, Collins being ranking member of the Judiciary Committee gives him the ability to defend Trump against impeachment in the most theatrical manner. Third, Loeffler is a transplant and Collins is a native of Georgia, so he's going to ham it up to lock in rural voters.

To overcome that, Loeffler would have to seriously prove she is more Trumpist than Trump's pick and that's a hard sell. Even if she did manage to do that, she'd be damaged goods in the general. All that said, I think Collins wins the primary easily.

[Skill and Chance]

Gov. Brian Kemp to appoint Businesswoman Kelly Loeffler to the soon to be vacant Senate seat. He reportedly will announce the appointment at a press conference early next week.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-gov-expected-tap-finance-exec-senate-next-week/qDibvzRR0L6VvyUmjnB1QJ/#

Loeffler would be the best option for the general election. However, Collins could very well mount a primary challenge out of spite, and given how "Trumpy" the Republican base has become, I wouldn't be surprised if he beat her. He would then put the seat in jeopardy in the general, as I believe that he would not appeal to the Atlanta suburbs effectively and would lose suburban voters who stuck with Kemp last year against Abrams.

Yeah, Loeffler is clearly the better candidate and her advancing to the runoff is the best case scenario for Republicans, but Collins running and advancing to face a Democrat in the runoff with Loeffler in 3rd is a worse scenario for Republicans than Collins simply running as the appointed incumbent would be.  Collins could win 1-on-1 vs. a Dem in November if it's a good night for Trump.  Loeffler won't get that opportunity if Collins runs.

[The Mikado]

To overcome that, Loeffler would have to seriously prove she is more Trumpist than Trump's pick and that's a hard sell. Even if she did manage to do that, she'd be damaged goods in the general. All that said, I think Collins wins the primary easily.

There's not going to be a standard primary, right? For the special, they're doing a jungle primary.

[DrScholl]

To overcome that, Loeffler would have to seriously prove she is more Trumpist than Trump's pick and that's a hard sell. Even if she did manage to do that, she'd be damaged goods in the general. All that said, I think Collins wins the primary easily.

There's not going to be a standard primary, right? For the special, they're doing a jungle primary.

That's right, I'm getting the races confused. Loeffler is definitely finished before she starts in this case.

[We Live in Black and White]

Hoo, boy, Kemp really didn't get a great field of applicants, did he?

I sense an absolute massacre of a primary in the future, which is brilliant news for us.

[Zaybay]

Man, what an odd pick. I guess she has money and is a woman, but besides that I dont see any advantage she offers the GOP. And now Trump's allies are pissed at Kemp's actions and Collins looks likely to jump in.

It looks to be a bloodbath on the R side, one in which Collins likely comes out on top.

[We Live in Black and White]

Also, the thread subtitle should definitely be "Loeffingstock" after this recent development.

[Brittain33]

Also, the thread subtitle should definitely be "Loeffingstock" after this recent development.

Sounds good, but it’s too partisan on its own. “Loeffingstock or ________?”

[We Live in Black and White]

Also, the thread subtitle should definitely be "Loeffingstock" after this recent development.

Sounds good, but it’s too partisan on its own. “Loeffingstock or ________?”

Alright, less partisan idea: "She Who Loeffs Last"

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Go Kemp! Even if he kinda expanded Medicaid, he's done a great job thus far, and this makes it even better.

[Rookie Yinzer]

Go Kemp! Even if he kinda expanded Medicaid, he's done a great job thus far, and this makes it even better.

He didn’t expand anything. How empty must your soul be to think that doing so is negative though.

[Mr. Smith]

So what are the odds that Lieberman can actually take in the majority in the first round?

[Gracile]

So what are the odds that Lieberman can actually take in the majority in the first round?

Very low. It's going to be pretty much impossible unless the Democrats can consolidate around a single candidate, and frankly, I don't think Lieberman is capable of performing that role. I'm hoping someone else jumps in.

[Continential]

Hopefully someone good will run, I wonder why Riggs Amico has a huge ego and thinks that she can win in the primary against Tomlinson and Ossoff.

[Adam Griffin]

Lieberman would be as weak of a candidate as Barksdale (performance notwithstanding). If we can't do better than this, then we're not ready for primetime.

[QAnonKelly]

Kemp's an idiot cheating bastard and it just goes to show you how bad his team is that they're telling him that he needs to pick some pretty, unassuming woman to try to win back some woke suburbanite women. They're not coming back. He needs to pick the nuttiest nutcase he can find so there's no room for a primary challenger.

[Pollster]

This has the potential to be a massive disaster. Loeffler will now have to vote to acquit Trump in order to hold off Collins - who can probably still defeat her regardless - weakening herself for the general. She will have to say ridiculous things and take ridiculous positions and votes that will alienate the exact voters she is being appointed to appeal to. Loeffler losing to Collins as an incumbent Senator will be yet another set of terrible optics for a party struggling to elect and appeal to women.

[Pericles]

Matt Gaetz has made several cultish statements about the Loeffler pick, but this one is probably the most extreme. He's essentially demanding that people always obey Trump rather than use their own judgement lol.
https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1200458921804218369

[Libertas Vel Mors]

Matt Gaetz has made several cultish statements about the Loeffler pick, but this one is probably the most extreme. He's essentially demanding that people always obey Trump rather than use their own judgement lol.
https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1200458921804218369

Kemp's advisor is really throwing some shade here lol.

[wbrocks67]

Not sure how this is a good idea considering how Georgia is trending. I feel like you can't just be a generic Trump shill here.

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1202204550268116993

[Annatar]

Trump's approval was 52/47 in the 2018 midterm exit polls in Georgia, unless he suffers some kind of approval rating collapse in 2020 relative to the 2018 midterms Trump will carry Georgia and Loeffler will win as a result, candidate quality doesn't really matter in a presidential year, its all going to be about how the presidential race goes in each state.