Just a little more than 24 hours before Donald Trump's visit to Macon, Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz was on CNN, explaining why he is slowly coming to grips with the possibility that the billionaire could become the GOP candidate who faces Democrat Hillary Clinton next November.
The Sunday appearance was an outgrowth of a recent email exchange
discussing
At this point, Abramowitz thinks Trump will carry Georgia.
Read the original here, but below is a truncated version of Abramowitz' thinking:
5. He is favored on almost every major issue by Republican voters including immigration and terrorism by wide margins. The current terrorism scare only helps him with Republicans. They want someone who will "bomb the ***" out of the Muslim terrorists.
6. There is clearly strong support among Republicans for deporting 11 million illegal immigrants. They don't provide party breakdown here, but support for this is at about 40 percent among all voters so it's got to be a lot higher than that, maybe 60 percent, among Republicans.
7. If none of the totally crazy things he's said up until now have hurt him among Republican voters, why would any crazy things he says in the next few months hurt him?
8. He's very strong in several of the early states right now including NH, NV and SC. And he could do very well on "Super Tuesday" with all those southern states voting. I can't see anyone but Trump or Carson winning in Georgia right now, for example, most likely Trump.
The Trump rally at the Macon Coliseum begins at 7 p.m., but doors will open at 5 p.m. to accommodate Secret Service screening. The event is free, but tickets are required. Bring a $5 bill if you have a car to park. So sayeth the Macon Telegraph.
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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will be in Atlanta next Monday, Dec. 7, to boost his presidential ambitions here. As of this moment, we know of no public gathering, but Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is the top name on a list of hosts for a fundraiser.
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Over at myajc.com, our colleague Jeff Schultz writes that the sacking of Mark Richt and the choice of who will succeed him will stand as the biggest test of Athletic Director Greg McGarity's administration.
But, as in all matters of statewide importance, there is a political link as well. For it was Gov. Nathan Deal who had the final say on UGA president Jere Morehead's appointment in 2013. And Richt's firing could well be the biggest challenge so far for Morehead, who gave McGarity his blessing for the ouster.
Make no mistake that powerful state politicians, along with the boosters that fuel the venerable program, were carefully watching Morehead's decision. We haven't heard from most of the state's top leadership about yesterday's decision, but we did get this statement from House Speaker David Ralston:
"Mark Richt's legacy as Georgia's head football coach cannot be measured merely in wins or losses. He demonstrated that character, on and off the field, matters just as much as any game statistic. I join our student-athletes and the entire Bulldog nation in thanking Coach Richt for his example and his service to the University of Georgia."
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Over the weekend, you may have read an Insider post on C.J. Pearson, the 13-year-old African-American who has been touted as the next conservative wunderkind. The middle-schooler has decided he would rather not be that.
We were wondering why the attraction to child speakers appears to be a Republican phenomenon rather than a Democratic one. This Augusta youth is far from the first. The most plausible answer we could come up with is the influence of the charismatic Christian revival movement – where child preachers have a long, long history, especially in the South, based on Isaiah 11:6: "…and a little child shall lead them."
If you’re old enough, you’ll remember “Little Michael” Lord of Columbus, Ga., a young evangelist of years in single-digits, who was profiled by “60 Minutes” in the late 1970s.
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A number of special elections are scheduled to conclude Tuesday, but the race to replace state Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, is nearly assured to move into a runoff phase. The Macon Telegraph has this recent backgrounder.
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The Obama Administration's pick for an open federal judgeship in Georgia is in limbo.
DeKalb State Court Judge Dax Lopez was tapped for the federal bench in July, and he would become the first Hispanic lifetime-appointed federal judge in Georgia. He's also a Republican and Jewish, leading to hopes from his supporters that he could pass muster with both conservatives and Democrats.
But The Daily Report tells us that neither of Georgia's two GOP senators have returned blue slips to the Senate Judiciary Committee signaling their support of Lopez's confirmation. From the story:
Perdue is a member of the Judiciary Committee, which must hold a hearing and then vote on whether to forward Lopez's nomination to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote. Blue slips are a traditional courtesy, not a rule, by which senators signal their approval of a judicial nominee from their home states before the Judiciary Committee will convene a confirmation hearing.
Sen. Johnny Isakson's spokeswoman did not respond to the Daily Report's inquiries about Lopez. A spokeswoman for Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, also did not respond to inquiries about Lopez.
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