A recent colloquy on Fox News between Maria Bartiromo, a former journalist who’s now a GOP propagandist, and Rep. Richard McCormick (R-GA), who represents Atlanta suburbs Wikipedia describes as “Republican stronghold” territory, went something like this:
Bartiromo: “What do you make of” polls showing Trump and Harris tied in Georgia?
McCormick: “It’s really hard to believe. I think this is a red state.”
(Read story here.) Really? The state voted for Biden in 2020 and has two Democratic senators. Atlanta’s rapid growth, and influx of professionals, is turning the state purple if not blue.
Atlanta is a stark contrast with Georgia’s solidly Republican rural counties. It hosts the world’s busiest airport, is a technology and manufacturing hub, and headquarters for numerous large corporations (see Wikipedia article here). Its educated workforce is more liberal than the rest of the state.
And the Atlanta metro area has over 60% of Georgia’s total population. In the state as a whole, barely half the population is white, with blacks nearly a third of potential voters (see Wikipedia article here).
Based on demography and past election results, it’s plausible that Harris could win Georgia. Current polling confirms this. Seven of nine political prognosticators rate the 2024 presidential election in Georgia as a “tossup,” with the other two rating it as “lean Republican” (see Wikipedia article here).
So what are Bartiromo and McCormick talking about, when they shouldn’t be surprised by polls showing Harris tied with Trump in Georgia? It’s faux surprise, they’re actors putting on a performance, for a partisan purpose. Georgia is, in fact, a tossup state.