I know I am not alone in being gobsmacked about the Georgia election being such

[Atticus]

a nailbiter. Nearly 1.69 million Georgians voted for a man most would agree was the most transparently incompetent and unqualified Senate candidate in their lifetime or, for that matter, EVER!

"What", many are asking, "could possibly motivate so many supposedly 'normal' citizens to embarrass themselves and further tarnish their party by voting for such a --- CLOWN?"

I think they were motivated by the same force that has been the wind in Trump's sails since he came down that escalator in 2015: hate, pure and simple.

They are a frightened group. Their lives are not all that they hoped they would be and they have decided that that must be someone else's fault. That "someone else" is anyone who is "different" and being different --- in their crippled minds --- justifies hatred.

If you are not a white straight Protestant Christian who loves guns and power over the "others", they hate you.

Those Walker votes were their way of saying "We hate you and that election-stealing Biden just like 'president Trump' wants us to!"

Hate is corrosive and destructive, but it has been shown to be a motivational force that we dare not ever underestimate or ignore.

[msongs]

1. klan crowd told its followers it was safe to vote so nt

[SYFROYH]

2. They weren't really voting for Walker.

They were voting against Democrats.

They hate us and what we stand for.

[Sky Jewels]

7. The feeling is mutual.

Fuck these fascist freaks.

[Hortensis]

16. 100% right: they vote against Democrats. But they don't KNOW what we stand for.

We'd strongly disapprove and and oppose, and some would "hate," ourselves also if we were what they believe. Not an excuse for them, of course.

They could just read research on us, like from Pew, a quickly accessible gold standard for such things, to get at least Pew's interpretation of Democrats, the Democratic agenda and beliefs, etc.

[Johnny2X2X]

22. Walker is a folk hero in Georgia

He's a legend as an athlete, he gave Georgia football fans some of the greatest moments of their lives when he took them to the top of college football in the early 80s. Running Walker was like running a real life Paul Bunyan for many Georgians. He most certainly got a lot of votes based on him being a sports hero.

And he was Trump's guy, Trump and Walker have been friends since the 80s. So there's an element of Trump told them to vote for Walker. Trump supporters were willing to overlook a lot of stuff because they have 100% faith in Trump like he's their god.

[SYFROYH]

23. That's all true, but it could have been any Republican; the vote would have turned out+/- 5%

[SYFROYH]

24. Take the last elections between Loeffler and Warnock

No really liked Loeffler. She was rich and pretty, but not many people knew her. Her roots are in southern Illinois.

Warnock won by only 2%

[Meowmee]

3. They voted for dump twice

And would vote for him again. Enough said.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Walker is a sports legend in GA

Kind of a folk hero. He was a celebrity candidate and outperformed his qualifications.

[irisblue]

5. White people being racist & mysoginist

[Deuxcents]

6. I have posted this a couple of times..

I’m pleased w/ the results tonight.. I am disappointed by the margin.. there is a lot of work to do but changing the minds n hearts of the hardened or haters.. I don’t know even in the 21st century, some knuckle draggers are still alive n well

[Skittles]

8. when Trump was made "president"

the bar was lowered for the GOP to the point where now it just rolling around on the ground

[flvegan]

9. Really? 74 million people voted for Trump in 2020.

And Biden only won by what, 12,000 votes in GA? And you're gobsmacked that a fucking potato got this many votes in this state against an actual pastor incumbent, with "conservative christians" voting their conscience?

Stop underestimating the turnout of hypocritical morons.

[calimary]

11. Yep. That fucking potato did remarkably, and frankly frighteningly well.

Maybe every time the potato looked in the mirror, he saw a football?

[moniss]

10. Great comment

and it is amazing how a candidate of such low ability and character is given such huge support. This is the legacy since the Tea Party days. Prior to that a candidate like Walker would never have gotten this far. But the massive funding, organization and media manipulation of people like the Mercers, Koch Brothers etc. have brought us to this point.

[Martin Eden]

12. They're brainwashed by Faux Noise and their version of Christianity

Has been twisted into hate and fear.

The oligarchy manipulates them into voting for its servants.

[Deminpenn]

13. Republicans are only interested in getting and maintaining

power. It doesn't matter how bad or unqualified a candidate might be, if a vote for him or her allows the Rs to stay in power or helps get them there, these voters will vote for the R. GA's LtGov was on CNN this morning and was asked how he felt about voting for a candidate as unqualified as Walker. He said he voted on Tuesday, went in to vote for a candidate who had earned his vote for the office and said he walked out voting for no one. He did not add that he did a write-in vote instead. Since there were only 2 names on the ballot, I suspect Duncan was lying.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. After 2016, I'm surprised people are still surprised at results like this.

[Tribetime]

15. He's still going to end up with more of the vote than mark Kelly of Arizona

[Kaleva]

17. The reports I saw was that Warnock was pretty much a sure thing

Early voting numbers were big and Warnock lead in the polls.

[Johnny2X2X]

18. It was never in doubt

Even when Walker briefly took the lead, there was no doubt. People forgot how in November, Walker had a bigger lead during the last half of the count than he had last night and Warnock pulled ahead as the last 15% came in because that last bit was from the big cities that takes longer to count. Heck, in November, everyone here thought Walker was going to get 50% and win because he was ahead by several points at one point during the count.

Biden won Georgia by 12,000 votes, Warnock won last night by 100,000 votes. Walker was Trump's handpicked guy, they've been friends for almost 40 years. I don't care how unqualified Walker was, this was a Trump vs the Dems election, and Trump lost a lot of ground over the last 2 years. Bodes very well for Dems in Georgia in the future and Biden there in 2024.

[Kaleva]

21. Yes

The reporting I saw last night was that Walker did well in the rural, sparsely populated counties but underperformed in the bigger, red counties which he needed to overcome Warnonk's advantage in the urban, blue counties.

[sarisataka]

19. No one should have been shocked

Everything pointed to the exact result.

Perhaps we should stop denying every poll and story we do not like

[Hortensis]

20. "Majorities in both parties view...the other party as more immoral, dishonest and closed-minded."

This is a fairly recent Pew article, one of many reporting results of their studies of what conservatives, Republicans, liberals, Democrats, "indies," believe. Pew's considered excellent overall, though seriously limited when based on people's ideological self identification, and answers are affected by a lot of misunderstanding and mistaken notions.

Republicans and Democrats increasingly critical of people in the opposing party

Majorities in both parties view members of the other party as more immoral, dishonest and closed-minded
than other Americans ...

Nearly three-quarters of Republicans say Democrats are more immoral (72%) than other Americans, while an identical share (72%) say Democrats are more dishonest. Smaller majorities of Democrats characterize Republicans as more immoral (63%) or more dishonest (64%). ...

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/pp_2022-08-09_partisan-hostility_05-01/

Btw, I'm absolutely among those who see Republicans as far more immoral than other Americans. But, maybe re-read that last sentence? What?!!! Only 63-64% of Democrats characterize Republicans as "more" immoral and dishonest than Democrats?! Today's Republicans?! Not exactly DU-World's view. Who ARE "Democrats" if our view that Republicans are...really horrible compared to us isn't representative?

I'm guessing that our views differ from the Democratic norm because they're being narrowly funneled through LW POLITICAL filters that can produce weirdly unreal, one-dimensional images for those who want that -- a lot like how counterparts on RW political forums see us. And that perhaps Democrats in general, who include the 81M who elected Biden, are more influenced by personal, multi-dimensional knowledge of Republicans they know. Real people.

Btw, I'm gobsmacked also, Atticus. And really disappointed that a majority in my county didn't choose Warnock this time; many split their Republican ticket, rejecting Walker, last month, and I really hoped they might. Chances should be better in 2028.