The carpetbaggers are here

Liz Warren is grifting in Georgia

As I write this, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is primping and putting on her best face, from the neck up, to participate in a Zoom-enabled virtual campaign fundraiser.

The Democrats are trying to raise any amount you can give as they line up Jon Ossoff (who?) and Rev. Raphael Warnock against incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. The other night, the candidates, minus Perdue, faced off in a debate where Loeffler failed to admit President Trump lost the election, and Ossoff was so brave to call Perdue’s empty chair a “coward” for sitting out the debate. None of it made any difference.

As one example, no amount of critical thought it going to sway Floyd County Republicans, who had a choice between a heart surgeon and the QAnon Queen Marjorie Greene to replace retiring Rep. Tom Graves. They didn’t pick the surgeon. Many voters in Georgia are not going to vote for a Democrat. But there’s a problem, because these same guaranteed vote-bots are now listening to people like Lin Wood, who is telling them to stay home and “boycott the election.”

It may not be popular to say this, but here goes. It won’t matter who wins the runoffs. At this point, the race is close enough that either side could win, with a slight advantage (despite the polls) because Republicans always pick up two to three points at the polls. That is, if voters show up.

But as I said, it won’t matter. It’s all a grift, and Warren is just one of the carpetbaggers that have descended on the Peach State like post Civil War northern speculators and snake-oil salesmen. They come for the money, and there’s lots of money pouring into Georgia right now.

Federal candidates raised nearly $300 million more in this cycle than they did in 2016, which was nearly $200 million more than 2012. The last four years has been one nonstop campaign.

The biggest increase is to Democrats in statewide races, and for all that money, the Democrats don’t have much to show for it. They need the win in Georgia, and all the chips are in.

Republicans are fundraising off the Democrats’ fundraising. Emails highlighting all of Elizabeth Warren’s plans: undoing Trump’s tax reform, passing the Green New Deal, opposing law and order government, and ending the Senate filibuster, fly into my inbox every hour. Even if Democrats narrowly take the Senate, there’s little chance of these coming to pass—other than ending the filibuster, which, frankly, we deserve.

With Biden as president, a narrow majority in the House, and a divided Senate, Democrats are going to spend the next two years raising money on issues like Trump’s tax breaks (for the rich!), gun control, global warming, and universal health care. In the meantime, nothing useful will come out of Congress. A few defense budgets, a few continuing resolutions, and maybe some arguments over judges or nominations.

There will be endless investigations, and investigations of the investigators. There will be investigations of the election, and investigations of the media, both fake and real.

But the real business of politics is now raising money and spending it.

Elizabeth Warren’s virtual arrival is just the first in a long line of carpetbaggers for the next election cycle.