GA-06: Opinion Savvy, the only nonpartisan, independent firm to poll Tuesday's special election in Georgia, has released a final poll of the race, but it's not all that different from their survey three weeks ago. Here's how the candidates stack up, with trendlines in parentheses:
Jon Ossoff (D): 42 (40)
Karen Handel (R): 21 (20)
Judson Hill (R): 11 (10)
Bob Gray (R): 11 (10)
Dan Moody (R): 9 (8)
Other: 3 (7)
Undecided: 3 (6)
These numbers would suggests that a first-round knockout for Ossoff is out of reach, but we've seen so little reliable polling here that this one survey simply isn't enough to go on. Meanwhile, in hypothetical runoff matchups with the top four Republicans, Ossoff leads Handel 44-42, Gray 46-45, and Hill 47-44, while Moody edges him 48-45. Those numbers are actually somewhat optimistic, because the conventional wisdom has coalesced around the first round being Ossoff's best chance to score a victory, but if he's already as high as 47 in a potential second round, that would put a win within reach even in a one-on-one matchup.
Republicans are evidently still worried about Ossoff winning outright on Tuesday, because the NRCC has dropped yet another TV ad featuring supposedly reg'lar folks howling about what a raving DC libruhl Pelosi puppet liar Ossoff is. They also seem to channel a racist local mayor (the guy who said people wouldn't vote for a name like "Ossoff" because it might seem "Muslim" or "Lebanese") in declaring that "Jon Ossoff is not one of us." Could you dog whistle any louder, GOP? (Ossoff is Jewish, so welcome to Trump's America.)
Much more awesomely, the DCCC is answering back with a radio ad that features a man you all know and love: Samuel L. Jackson. The spot is geared toward black voters (Jackson is introduced as a "Morehouse man," a reference to the historically black college in Atlanta he attended), and the script is pretty fantastic, though you'll really want to listen to it to get the full Samuel L. Jackson flavor:
"Hi. I'm Samuel L. Jackson. There's a special congressional election on April 18th. What can you do? Go vote! Your vote goes a long way toward setting things right in this country. Vote for the Democratic Party. Stop Donald Trump, the man who encourages racial and religious discrimination, and sexism. Remember what happened the last time people stayed home. We got stuck with Trump. We have to channel the great vengeance and furious anger we have for this administration into votes at the ballot box. Do your friends and family a favor. Do yourself a favor and vote on April 18th, and make sure to vote for the Democratic Party."
Yes, he delivers the bolded line exactly the way you'd hope. Now let's hope voters respond in kind.