I’ve always been a keen observer of perception versus reality as we live in an age where we’re all constantly bombarded by information, misinformation and disinformation.
With this in mind, I was extremely intrigued by the recently released report from Starts With Us developed in partnership with the Common Ground Committee and the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University.
The report found that hyper-partisan politicians received four times the media coverage of their bipartisan counterparts during last year’s midterm elections.
Being from Georgia and having served nine years in elected office, I found it very interesting that, according to the report, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA 114), a good example of a hyper-partisan politician, received more than double the news coverage of all of the bipartisan politicians in the study combined.
Although I have never met Ms. Taylor-Greene and have no personal ax to grind with her, I do believe it does a great disservice to the State of Georgia for anyone to think, based on the extensive amount of media coverage she’s given while representing our state in Congress, that her political views represent anything close to those of the vast majority of Georgia’s citizens.
The past several election cycles have placed Georgia in the spotlight of national politics. The 2020 elections saw both a heated presidential race as well as our two duly elected senators, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, help to tip the balance of power in the United States Senate in favor of the Democratic Party.
Following the election, state level officials such as Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensburger, both Republicans, were pressured relentlessly by then President Donald Trump to seek to overturn legitimate election returns which had been scrutinized, counted and recounted without changing the outcome that President Joe Biden had rightfully won our state.
I have known Gov. Kemp for many years now and only recently had the pleasure of meeting Secretary Raffensberger. I have considered it an honor to thank each of them personally for modeling for elected officials around our nation what standing with courage and integrity while being mercilessly attacked looks like in action.
I believe these two gentlemen provide a more accurate reflection of what the best of Georgia’s politics look like as opposed to the purposefully polarizing politics of Representative Taylor Greene. Both won handily in their primary elections, where they faced challengers endorsed by Mr. Trump, as well as in the general election.
This is due, in my opinion, in no small part to one simple thing which garnered them support from members of both political parties and independents alike: they both exercised strong leadership in the face of adversity while exhibiting exemplary character.
When I objectively consider the State of Georgia’s politics from a realistic perspective as opposed to the perception of them people may have in other parts of the nation there is one word that springs to mind: nuanced.
When one considers that our state has elected two senators who happen to be Democrats, re-electing Sen. Warnock last year, with a majority of voters supporting a Democrat for president in 2020 while continuing to elect Republicans to every statewide office in 2022, some would say Georgia has turned purple.
However, I would put it in different terms. To me, this clearly shows the State of Georgia, based on the certified results of the last two election cycles, has shown itself to in many ways be remarkably bipartisan in our politics with many voters casting their ballots for both Republicans and Democrats in the same election cycle showing support for candidates they feel will best represent them in office as opposed to pledging an unquestioning allegiance to one party or the other.
In the end, I’m proud to say that I live in a state where the toxic politics of extreme polarization ultimately don’t rule the day in Georgia.
Deke Copenhaver, former Augusta mayor
