With just two months to go until Election Day, the Georgia’s governor’s race is simply too close to call. Though there is clearly only one candidate who embraces the state’s diversity and seeks to create a prosperous future for all its residents, Politico’s recent race ratings note that, for now, this election is a toss-up.
In some ways, that’s hard to believe. Since July, Democrat Stacey Abrams has been crossing the state talking with voters about jobs, the economy and health care. She spent last month on a jobs tour—hitting every major city and a number of small towns sharing her plans to create jobs through small business financing programs, infrastructure investment and the creation of 22,000 apprenticeships to develop a pipeline of skilled workers. In September, she’s pivoting to talk about how to help Georgia’s poorest adults access health care by expanding Medicaid. This is a proposal that is widely supported by the majority of Georgians. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, its polling over the years has indicated “that solid majorities have always favored it” including Republicans. As recently as January, 73 percent of Georgians and 51 percent of Republicans supported Medicaid expansion.
Georgia’s healthcare situation is dire. It has the fifth worst infant mortality rate in the country. In the last eight years, seven of its rural hospitals have closed. There are nine counties where there is no doctor at all. And insurance prices are through the roof. Abrams believes that Medicaid expansion is a win-win for expanding access to healthcare coverage and boosting the state’s economy. She proposes that such a move would create more than 50,000 jobs while keeping open rural hospitals and creating healthcare access for nearly half a million Georgians.
Her opponent, Republican Brian Kemp, thinks increasing health access for poor folks simply isn’t financially viable. Citing the costs of expansion, Kemp says better health outcomes can be achieved by working with the private sector and using the Internet to improve access to care. If you raised an eyebrow when you read that, you are not alone. It’s a nonsensical proposition. Apparently, Kemp thinks it’s too costly to invest in the health and well-being of Georgians but that if they have computers and Internet, they can use Web MD or some such other website to diagnose their conditions and get treatment.
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So health care is shaping up to be a big issue in this race and even though most Georgians want something done about it, only Abrams seems to be taking it seriously. Meanwhile, national Republicans are planning to hit the campaign trail in Georgia for Kemp next week—including Mike Pence. Pence will be the headliner at an event next Thursday in Atlanta being billed as a “Victory Dinner.” This isn’t a surprise. Donald Trump endorsed Kemp before the Republican primary in late July, which helped Kemp beat the establishment candidate and outgoing Lieutenant Governor Casey Kagel. Kemp stood out in the race as a fearmongering anti-immigrant, pro-NRA, conservative businessman so he and Trump obviously have those things in common.
Presumably, this so-called victory dinner is a chance for some of the most wretched and hateful Republicans in the country to get in a room together and pat one another on the back for their efforts to keep America and Georgia as white and male and unequal as possible. They’ll raise lots of money. And in the end, they won’t be thinking at all about what the majority of Georgians need—especially those who are poor and marginalized. So, again, it’s hard to believe this race is a toss-up. Because if Republicans win, all of Georgia (save a few wealthy folks who refuse to embrace diversity, equality, and innovation) will lose.