Podcast: 'Democracy is on the Line'
I talked to Georgia voters about the stakes of the presidential election
Georgia voters have heard perhaps more than others about allegations of rigged elections and threats to democracy. The state’s 2020 election results were deeply contested, and state voting laws have been fiercely debated ever since.
But the notion that democracy might be on the line this fall means different things to Republican and Democratic voters who I interviewed this summer for the latest episode of the “Chasing the Vote” podcast series. You can listen to it in your browser, on Spotify or through the Apple podcast app. Also check out this visual essay by me and Cam Pollack of photos taken by Cindy Elizabeth.
For Donald Trump’s supporters, it means that Democrats will use the power of big government to control more aspects of their lives in the economy. Many also believe there was widespread fraud that changed the outcome of the 2020 election, even though there's been no evidence to support that.
When Democrats say democracy is on the line, they mean that Trump is a threat to norms in American politics. They point to his conduct after the 2020 election, including the January 6th, 2021 attack on the US capitol by Trump supporters. Trump himself has said that this rhetoric has "taken politics in our country to a whole new level of hatred, abuse, and distrust.”
“There's no policy that's going to break this country, like wrecking democracy. And there's only one person in this race that has a chance to wreck democracy, and that's Donald Trump,” former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
I got the opposite perspective from Angela Bogle, who I met near the central square in Covington outside Atlanta. “Our lifestyle, what America stands for, is on the line. We are not what this country was set out to be. The people don't have a voice and that's what we need to move back to,” she said.
I had a few takeaways from my conversations with Georgia voters. First, people here are more focused on Trump's actions after the 2020 election than in other states I visited, in part because voting rights are so hotly debated.
Second, the democratic argument of democracy being on the line doesn't land well with everyone. I found older voters were more likely to embrace it. I also found that it was more important when Biden was the candidate and Democrats had less to be excited about.
It's hard to say how much of an impact it'll have, if any, with Republicans, but polls show the race is so close in Georgia that the election will be a game of inches, so even a small number of GOP voters who backed Trump in 2020 staying home are switching sides, like Duncan, could be very significant.
Throughout my conversations with Georgia voters, it was clear that Trump's fight over the election results has created a real headwind for him in the state. The main question in November will be whether he can convince voters to think about issues like immigration in the economy and tune out democratic attacks on how he handled himself after the last election.
TRIP NOTES:
++ I had some of the best fried chicken of my life at Paschal’s, a soul food spot south of downtown. (I ate a lot of fried chicken during these reporting trips, and all of it was good.)
++ I rented an electric bike and met a friend on the Beltline. It was hopping! A huge contrast to my first trip to Atlanta, in 2012, when it was in its earliest stages.
++ Manuel’s Tavern on the east side of Atlanta has a very unique vibe. It’s covered with political memorabilia, and it’s where Jimmy Carter announced his run for governor.
THE QUESTION: Who is the current governor of Georgia?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins was the first Black person to serve in that role. He was elected in 1989 and lost to Rudy Giuliani in 1993.