How Brian Kemp Shot The Republican Party In The Foot

     Brian Kemp became governor of Georgia in the most corrupt election in American history. In the role of sitting secretary of state, this gubernatorial candidate was tasked with voter registration, and, in the greatest act of modern voter suppression, purged 700,000 votes, mostly of black, urban voters not likely to cast their vote for a man who pointed an assault rifle at a teenager and threatened to swipe up illegal immigrants in a pickup truck. He also claimed, two weeks before the election, that the Democrats had hacked their software. It turned out to be a routine security test conducted by Kemp's own office.

     In 2020, when a man of principle was in charge of voter registration, the voters Kemp oppressed came out in record numbers to give Joe Biden the White House and the Democrats the Senate. Until at least 2025 in the White House and 2027 in the Senate, Georgia's Republicans are out at the federal level. 

     In 2022, if Stacey Abrams can do it again at an even smaller scale, she or another Democratic could take the governor's mansion or possibly a house or two of the legislature.

     Brian Kemp may have won his term, but he gave the Democrats something better: a chance to prove they can effectively mobilize local activists and two years of total freedom to pass civil rights legislation, voting rights bills, and criminal justice reform.