ATLANTA — Georgia knows it’s at the center of the political universe. How could it not? Locals can’t turn on the TV, check their phone – or even have some alone time in a pandemic without running the risk of ads, texts or knock-knock-knocks from someone looking to elect the foursome vying for a pair of runoffs that will determine the makeup of Congress.

"Well, it is annoying," one Georgian admitted to me as I surveyed a sea of signs just outside of Atlanta.

Political lawn signs are of course staples of American democracy, from town council members to the president – but a pair on Monday caught my attention. 

“Keep Our Eyes on the Prize,” it read, bookending another: “Help Redeem the Soul of America.”

Spectrum News

No candidate was mentioned – just a picture of a young John Lewis, the former Congressman and civil rights advocate,  who died last July. I drove on, passed street signs reflecting the divergent annals of history in the American South. First came Dixie Street, a nickname for the Confederacy, then onto Hosea L. Williams Drive, named for a top deputy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Those contradictions, those tensions are readily apparent and southerners of all stripes live with them every day whether or not they realize it,” Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory, told me.

Georgians don’t need to be reminded how important they are, at least this week. Celebrities are flying in – or, more precisely, Zooming by. (Billy Crystal! Questlove!) Reporters from everywhere are keeping track. Hundreds of millions of dollars has been raised.

And then there are the national politicians. Senators. The Vice President and Vice President-elect

And in a single day, Monday, both the incoming and outgoing President, sharing the same message: vote, and everything changes.

“Folks, this is it. This is it. It’s a new year, and tomorrow can be a new day for Atlanta, for Georgia and for America,” Biden said in the afternoon in Atlanta. “Unlike any time in my career, one state – one state – can chart the course, not just for the four years but for the next generation.”

About a hundred miles and a few hours later, Trump’s message was more of a warning, albeit one tied up with falsehoods that rampant fraud had cost him a second term.

“The Democrats are trying to steal the White House, you cannot let them,” Trump said in Dalton. “You just can’t let them steal the U.S. Senate, you can’t let it happen.”

“I want to be clear,” he added, "those of you who know badly screwed we got – I want to be clear that we can’t let that happen again. We can’t let that happen again."

There was another, more subtle warning: that Vice President Mike Pence “comes through for us” when he presides over Congress’ recording of the Electoral College vote Wednesday. His position is ceremonial and the several Republicans looking to object to Biden’s victory – which Loeffler announced Monday will include her – don’t have the votes to overturn it.

It’s the Senate that many Republican officials are concerned about. A Democratic sweep would mean they effectively control the chamber, along with the House of Representatives and the White House. At stake are Biden’s agenda – on taming the pandemic, restoring the economy – as well as approving his cabinet.

 

Spectrum News

 

Republicans need to win just one of the two seats, but Trump’s talk about things being rigged concerns some that it will depress needed turnout, just as Democrats poured to the polls in early voting.

We’ll find out soon enough. Polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. When the counting is over, probably within a few days, two of the four people who have been on everyone’s TV for weeks will be going to Washington. Two will stay home in Georgia.