“Democrats have struggled to turn out Black voters in earlier Senate runoffs in Georgia, though they are optimistic that the presence of the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who is African American, in one of the contests, and the robust get-out-the-vote machinery built by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, will largely rectify that problem… Win or lose, the fact that Democrats must sweep the two Georgia Senate seats to reach even a 50-50 Senate split after an election that Biden will probably win by well over 5 million in the national popular vote underscores the long-term squeeze Democrats face in the body…

“To [Brian Fallon, a former Democratic Senate leadership aide who's a founder of the group Demand Justice], the Georgia challenge underscores the need for Democrats to focus on the structural obstacles the Senate presents them. When the party next has unified control of government, he says, it must prioritize adding the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico as states… Like other liberal activists, he argues that's the only way to begin addressing the rural imbalance that means Democratic senators next year will represent a clear majority of the population (assigning half of each state's population to each senator), but possibly still not control the majority in the chamber.”
Ronald Brownstein, CNN

“If Democrats win both of these seats (or score an upset in other uncalled races), and Biden prevails, they would control [the] chamber. But their majority would be razor thin, with 50-50 ties broken by a Vice President Kamala D. Harris. [Joe] Manchin, the most moderate member of the Senate, would be the key swing vote. If he refused to sign off on any piece of major legislation, Democrats would need to woo moderate Republicans, such as Maine’s Susan Collins or Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. Democrats would still be able to govern, but progressive dreams would evaporate…

“And if Republicans disrupt any part of the Democratic Senate map — for example, by taking one or both Georgia seats — gridlock would reign supreme. A President Biden might be able to get Collins or Murkowski to sign off on some initiatives, but Murkowski would have a strong incentive to oppose him to ward off a primary challenge in 2022…

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“In short, Georgians have a chance to determine the character of the Senate for at least the next two years. If they choose the Democrats, they’ll get a moderate-dominated, center-left government. If they choose Republicans, they’ll get Biden’s best attempt at a center-right compromise coalition. The 2020 election is not through with us yet.”
David Byler, Washington Post

“Let's consider what is likely to happen over the next two months. The coronavirus pandemic is raging out of control in almost every state, Georgia included. Thursday saw over 116,000 new confirmed infections, hospitalizations are skyrocketing, and deaths (as always a lagging indicator) have been rising for weeks. The hospitals in some locations are already stuffed to capacity. Meanwhile, the economic recovery has been gradually stalling out. Each monthly jobs report since June has seen a decline in the number of new jobs, and we are not even close to replacing all the jobs that were lost in the depths of the first wave in March and April…

“At an absolute bare minimum, America is crying out for another major rescue package to tide us all over… I therefore suggest that Democrats develop their own rescue package, which every upcoming member of Congress, and both of the Georgia Democratic challengers, will promise publicly to pass on day one of the next Congress. Such a concrete offer might just drive enough liberal turnout to match what appears to be an extremely narrow Biden win at the presidential level in Georgia. Vote Democrat, and get $1,200 simoleons directly into the pockets of each and every Georgia voter, plus other nice goodies. It's just crazy enough to work.”
Ryan Cooper, The Week