DSCC MEMO: OSSOFF, WARNOCK WELL-POSITIONED TO WIN. The DSCC kicked off this week with a memo outlining why Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock are beginning their respective races in a strong position with momentum on their side and a path to victory on January 5, 2020.
Read the full memo here.
LOEFFLER & PERDUE SLAMMED ON AJC FRONT PAGE: “RECKLESS BARELY BEGINS TO TOUCH ON WHAT PERDUE AND LOEFFLER HAVE DONE.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Board slammed Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue for folding under pressure from their party leadership in Washington this week when they “leveled unfounded claims” to discredit the election results in Georgia. After President Trump and his team “pressured” Loeffler and Perdue to call for the Georgia Secretary of State’s resignation, the “Republican senators played ball,” fearing political retaliation. The AJC Editorial Board rebuked the two vulnerable incumbents in a front page editorial for their “dangerous behavior,” writing that “Monday’s attack by Georgia’s U.S. senators marked a new low” and “reckless barely begins to touch on what Perdue and Loeffler have done.” The two vulnerable incumbents once again failed a basic test of leadership by refusing to be independent voices for their state and proved they’re nothing but rubber stamps who can’t be trusted to put Georgians first. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Opinion: Ga. doesn’t need baseless accusations
LOEFFLER CAUGHT USING “TAX LOOPHOLE TO WRITE OFF CAMPAIGN JET.” A new Salon report revealed that unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler may be taking advantage of “a loophole in President Trump’s 2017 tax bill that turns private jets into flying tax shelters.” Records suggest that Loeffler deducted her multimillion-dollar plane that she uses for campaigning, “letting the government eat the cost.” The unelected Senator has already come under fire for chartering her multimillion-dollar aircraft under a system offering “anonymity,” and this latest reporting reinforces just how out of touch Loeffler is with hardworking Georgians. Salon: Did Sen. Kelly Loeffler take advantage of a Trump tax loophole to write off campaign jet?
LOEFFLER RELEASES SHAM HEALTH CARE PLAN. Unelected political mega-donor Senator Kelly Loeffler released a new health care “plan” that’s short on substance and fails to guarantee coverage protections for the nearly 2 million Georgians with a pre-existing condition. The reality is Loeffler has a long history of opposing affordable access to health care and this plan’s only purpose is to distract from her toxic record of supporting the dangerous lawsuit to end protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Here are some facts:
Check out what experts and reporters are saying:
LOEFFLER’S DESPERATE ATTACKS RULED “MOSTLY FALSE.” Unelected political mega-donor Senator Kelly Loeffler’s latest desperate attacks on Reverend Raphael Warnock were rated “mostly false” by PolitiFact. The nonpartisan fact checker found no proof for Loeffler’s claims that Warnock “celebrated Fidel Castro and welcomed him to his church.” The fact check confirms that Loeffler’s attacks are nothing but sad, desperate attempts to distract from her own record of attacking health care, profiting off the pandemic, and associating with QAnon believers and right-wing supporters of white supremacists. PolitiFact: No proof Georgia Senate hopeful Warnock ‘welcomed’ Fidel Castro to his church
OUT OF TOUCH: ULTRA-WEALTHY LOEFFLER AND PERDUE REFUSE TO EXTEND EMERGENCY JOBLESS RELIEF WHILE MILLIONS FACE EVICTION AND HUNGER. A new New York Times report this week detailed how millions of Americans will be “vulnerable to eviction and hunger” if Congress fails to renew two emergency unemployment lifelines and a federal eviction moratorium that are set to expire at the end of the year. Ultra-wealthy Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue have repeatedly stood against extending the critical emergency jobless aid that millions of Americans have relied on to meet basic needs. As millions of Americans face eviction and hunger, Loeffler claims she doesn’t see “a big need” for emergency unemployment relief and Perdue has callously called the assistance “a hindrance.” Their offensively cavalier attitudes are just one more reason Loeffler and Perdue are not fit to represent Georgians in the Senate.
LOEFFLER CAUGHT LYING ABOUT BUSINESS TIES WITH CHINESE STATE-OWNED COMPANY…AGAIN. New reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week revealed that despite unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler’s tough talk on China and months of vowing to “hold China accountable,” her company partnered with a Chinese state-owned company just weeks after her campaign claimed they had cut ties with the company. Just last month, the AJC uncovered that Loeffler’s company bought a stake in a firm that “was controlled by a state-run energy conglomerate run by Jiang Jiemen, a senior member of the Communist Party with close ties to Chinese leaders.” Loeffler’s team claimed at the time that the unelected Senator’s company sold their stake in the firm, but the AJC’s latest reporting revealed that ICE “has another link to China” through the same Chinese government-owned company. Loeffler’s double talk on China proves one thing: her number one priority is her own personal wealth. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Jolt: Georgia runoffs as a ‘Braveheart’ sequel — ‘where everyone paints their face blue and just charges’
REMINDER: LOEFFLER AND PERDUE’S TOXIC HEALTH CARE RECORDS REMAIN A MASSIVE POLITICAL LIABILITY. Health care remained front and center this week as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the GOP lawsuit to tear down the Affordable Care Act and erase its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Both David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler supported the 2017 tax law that set this reckless lawsuit in motion and have embraced the political crusade to repeal the ACA and its protections. The two vulnerable incumbents recently rushed to confirm a Supreme Court nominee who has a long track record of hostility to the ACA, putting protections for people with pre-existing conditions at greater risk than ever before and they still have “no plan” to help the millions of Americans who would lose coverage if the health care law is struck down by the Supreme Court. The reality is “many voters say protecting pre-existing conditions is their top health concern” and Perdue and Loeffler’s toxic agenda on health care remains a massive “political liability” for these two vulnerable incumbents.
WHERE’S PERDUE? INCUMBENT SENATOR HIDING FROM VOTERS AND THE PRESS. Georgia voters and local press have barely seen or heard from Senator David Perdue since he was forced into a January runoff over a week ago. Until today, Perdue had “not held a public event since the day before the election.” Perdue didn’t even show up to his own campaign event this week and despite several attempts from local media to get in contact with him, Perdue has avoided speaking to Georgians. It’s not a new tactic for the vulnerable incumbent who notoriously has spent the last six years in the Senate hiding from his constituents.
OSSOFF CHALLENGES PERDUE TO DEBATE –– WILL PERDUE CHICKEN OUT AGAIN? Jon Ossoff challenged Senator David Perdue to three debates ahead of January’s runoff this week. Now the question is: will Perdue chicken out again and continue to hide from Georgia voters? The vulnerable incumbent “pulled out of a third pre-election matchup” after Ossoff took him to task for prioritizing his personal stock portfolio over preparing the public during a deadly pandemic and his long record of working to gut health care protections for Georgians.
REPORT: DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS APPROACH #GASEN RUN-OFF DIFFERENTLY. The Associated Press took a look this week at how Democrats and Republicans are taking different approaches to the January 5 runoff elections. As coronavirus cases spike nationally and Georgia enters the red zone, Democrats are “observing social distancing and mask protocols,” while Republicans are “embracing unrestricted in-person events.” And while Republicans are pushing unsubstantiated conspiracies and desperate attacks, Democrats are focused on doing the work by ramping up voter contact and registration efforts. AP: Dems, GOP take different approaches on Georgia Senate blitz
OSSOFF LAUNCHES ‘FUTURE OF GEORGIA’ TOUR AROUND STATE TO DISCUSS ISSUES WITH VOTERS. This week, Jon Ossoff embarked on a “Future of Georgia” tour across the state to speak directly with voters about the issues that matter to them, putting working families first and working for affordable and accessible healthcare. Ossoff started the tour in Atlanta, and visited Macon, Columbus, Albany, Savannah, Augusta, and Athens throughout the rest of the week, while Senator Perdue avoided voters for nine days. Read more about Jon’s visits across Georgia below:
GEORGIA AD WATCH
– Reverend Warnock released three new TV ads this week:
– Jon Ossoff’s first TV ad of the runoff highlights the steps needed to get Georgia and the nation on the path to recovery during and after this pandemic and economic downturn. Watch.
WHAT GEORGIANS ARE READING
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Lauren Passalacqua
@laurenvpass
Stewart Boss
@stew_boss
Helen Kalla
@helen_kalla
Shea Necheles
@sheanecheles
Regina Anderson
@reginasopinion
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