In this special edition of the podcast, I live-watched (virtually) the results of the Georgia elections and US midterms with Tea Troutman. Tea is a talented journalist, Georgia native, and current Ph.D. student.
We talk about the live results of several US races including the Pennsylvania and Arizona US Senate races alongside several national ballot initiatives. This interview is available on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts and starts 90 seconds in.
Timestamps:
1:30 - Interview start
2:30 - Hot take: Tea Troutman’s politics—Tea
3:00 - My thoughts on polling in the 2022 election
4:25 - Thoughts on Kemp/Warnock as a split ticket
7:00 - The Kemp/Warnock voter is the new Nathan Deal/Kasim Reed voter
7:56 - Kemp’s covid response
8:59 - Why did people support Warnock over Stacey?
11:30 - Where does Stacey Abrams go from here?
13:00 - Where do the Democrats and Republicans go from here?
19:07 - Hot take: Tea’s thoughts on politicians taking activists’ work and phrases—Tea
23:03 - General malaise in this election with would be Dem voters
27:30 - Contextualizing the impact of Republicans on the Supreme Court
29:37 - The role of an activist in a GOP-led society
33:30 - Updates on Georgia vote totals
34:45 - Mableton Cityhood
41:48 - More updates on California, and Illinois special ballot initiatives
45:15 - Hot take: film industry people don’t want to live in Georgia —King
52:16 - Update 1,100 votes separate Warnock and Walker + looking at vote totals
55:16 - Why Georgia’s new absentee ballot laws changed turnout
58:45 - Potential national implications of voter suppression
1:00:30 - Rise of global fascism and the recent Brazilian election
1:04:00 - Potential of an upcoming Supreme Court case in Louisiana and North Carolina on voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the ‘independent state doctrine’.
1:07:00 - Hot take: White men have never let go of power in the state, from 1700s-present.—King
1:12:22 - Hot take: Brian Kemp is Richard Nixon —King
1:13:30 - Pennsylvania US Senate and Governor’s race updates + thoughts on Dr. Oz versus Jon Fetterman with a dash of ableism.
1:15:49 - Hot take: White people (in the majority) are voting Republican regardless
1:17:57 - What does it take for the US to have a viable 3rd party? —Tea
1:21:04 - Another Warnock-Walker update + other totals
1:21:55 - SB202 and problems with the live totals
1:24:15 - Hot take: Florida is who we thought they were —Tea + King
1:29:19 - Arizona Governor and US Senate races
1:31:23 - Hot take: Does the GOP take the US back to the 1850s or the 1950s?
1:31:51 - Hot take: Does Biden run again in 2024?
1:33:15 - Hot take: What does the Biden administration do now?
1:35:20 - Hot take: President Ron DeSantis?
1:37:57 - Hot take: What is the next thing in the culture wars?
1:40:21 - Hot take: Herschel Walker’s candidacy is disrespectful to Black Republicans—King
1:43:21 - Updates on the DC tipping initiative
1:45:00 - Hot take: Black Christians backing away from Stacey on abortion
1:48:00 - Closing comments and updates
This was a long chat and I hope you enjoyed it, if you have additional questions, comments, or concerns—or hot takes of your own, please let me know or in the comments below.
-KJW
Hot takes watching the Georgia 2022 and US midterm elections recap with Tea Troutman