By L. Cramer
I’ve lived in Georgia my entire life, and like many people, I’ve lived in multiple metro Atlanta areas and have watched once vibrant conservative strongholds become purple, then blue – and it was a slow fade.
One thing that the left does really well is mobilize their people toward a single, important goal and it’s an all-hands-on-deck activity that gives people pride and purpose; as it should. This is something Republicans have never been able to wrap their hands around because, on average, most conservatives have a mind of their own and if they don’t like something they want to either be in charge, or not participate at all. This is both good and bad.
For anyone who has lived in Cobb County for any length of time, you may remember the days that it was actually a Republican-led area and staunchly red. Now, you can blame redistricting or anything else that probably played a role in why the county went purple then blue, but the fact of the matter is that an area turns blue when Republicans become complacent.
In the Georgia State House there are 180 seats – currently 102 of those seats belong to Republicans and only 78 to Democrats. Now, you may be thinking to yourself “well that’s a nice cushy lead, so why would we need to care?” Well, because, just like our school system, if you bury your head in the sand then you won’t see when someone tries to knock you over – and believe me it’s coming.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not being the typical doom and gloom conservative who says that the world is coming to an end and “boo hoo we just can’t seem to win because it’s all stacked against us” because that’s a lame excuse for not getting involved. What I’m saying is we need to be pragmatic about our state, and its politics. Since the movie industry has taken up residence in Georgia, we’ve seen a large influx of leftists pour into our state and start voting their lefty policies in our local elections.
If you think the top of the ticket is the only thing that matters this year, think again friend.
“Some local and state races come down to a small number of votes, and at the end of the day, many of these down-ballot races make a big difference in how citizens are represented,” said Kay Kirkpatrick, the current incumbent running for State Senate District 32 and is unopposed this election cycle.
Your vote matters in the down ballot races just as much as it matters in the federal election. Who represents you at the state capitol, in the court system and even the Superior Court Clerk should matter to you and every other voter in Cobb County.
“Elections aren’t just about candidates; they are about the direction of our state and the principles we want to see carried forward,” said Jordan Ridley, the incumbent running in State House District 22.
Ridley is running for his second term in a predominantly conservative district and is opposed by a Democrat who presents himself as a moderate leftist; and he might very well be, but are the people of district 22 willing the take that chance?
“Over the past several election cycles, we’ve seen key races tighten and Republicans lose seats that were once considered solidly red,” Ridley said. “Each loss, even if minor, has chipped away at our majority and opened the door for Democrats to gain ground.”
Senator Kirkpatrick agrees that “the demographics continue to change as people move here from blue states.”
In Cobb, and the entire state, Republicans have a unity issue – a really big one – and if we can’t figure out how to come together and win against the Democrats, whose only goal is complete control then maybe we need to have a serious conversation about what our reality in Georgia will be; because it won’t be freedom.
The left has successfully labeled and, dare I say, turned Georgia into a swing state – which still baffles me – and what have Republicans done to combat it? Not very much, quite honestly. In my own anecdotal research, it seems that many long-time Republican representatives either don’t know or dismiss the voice of the people and what’s important to them rather than remember that we are the ones who elected them in the first place.
At some point, the Republican Party needs to have a come to Jesus meeting about how we want to move forward, and if it can’t be unified, well then, we deserve to fail.
