TJJS - EP31 - "I fought the Vote and Vote won!" & "Corona Safety and Mama house this Thanksgiving!"

Man, it's getting real out there! 

First, the election, Biden Won, Trump lost. But the control of the Senate is still up for grabs and the Georgia Senate runoffs are at the epicenter of the policial universe.  This segment lays it out with help from a nationally known political writer.

Second, Get some tips from Dr. Collier, known from being on the Rickey Smiley Show.  Join him as he lays it out for you... If you going to mama's for Turkey Day, you better be careful for your sake and others.

Follow JJ: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!  The Jeff Johnson Show. Real. Genuine. Authentic. Jeff!

 What the Jeff Johnson Show “IS” and “IS NOT”:

IT IS NOT:

• It’s not a news show, but we learn stuff.
• It’s not a sports show, but Garinger beats Independence all the time and we love the game.
• It’s not an “artsy” show, but local artists/performers are always in the house.
• This is not a food show, but I love livermush!(‘Nuff Said”) So, we'll be talking about food a lot!

IT IS:

• It is a Labour of Love for myself and my Hometown.
• It is a show about you and me and finding out why the Charlotte/Metrolina region is a great place to be!
• It is a show that I get to introduce you folks I grew up with who influenced me in my life. (I got some "Very Unique" friends y'all so this should be interesting!)
• It is a show that I share some of the many talented friends I’ve met along the way.  (I got some "Very Unique" friends y'all so this should be interesting!)
• It is a show that works your emotions. (“...Laughing and Crying, you know it’s the same release..”)

Follow JJ: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!  The Jeff Johnson Show. Real. Genuine. Authentic. Jeff!

Transcript

Ep 31 -  I fought the vote and vote won! Be Careful at Mama house this Thanksgiving! 

[00:00:00] JJ: [00:00:00] It's the Jeff Johnson show brought to you by O T E @ofthisearthglobal.com of this earth. global.com clothing connection. OTE.

[00:00:21] Greetings, or as we say it right here in the South, Hey y'all Hey, you know what time it is? It's time for another edition of the Jeff Johnson show a real, genuine, authentic podcast where I get to reconnect with the people and places and events of my hometown area, Charlotte, North Carolina. All right, everybody let's get this week's.   Show started off folks. 

[00:00:45] Now we're getting into the real deal of what all this political stuff is. You know, it, it is really interesting to me after the recounts and everything that's going on, that it is coming down in terms of control of [00:01:00] things to one state and one state only. That's the state of Georgia.

[00:01:07] That's right. Georgia, I live in Georgia right now. I am in Atlanta, in John Lewis's oldest. John Lewis's district. Fulton County and I'm telling you, the energy here is amazing. The things that are getting ready to happen are just off the charts and it can be a bit confusing. There's no doubt about it.

[00:01:30] I mean, I try my best to stay up on top of these things. You know, I'm online all the time, I'm reading stuff, but to, you know, average folks, just people that are trying to get by every day, this barrage of information can be tough. So. What I am going to do today is I ran upon a really good interview from the folks at FiveThirtyEight.

[00:01:52] I don't know if you know about FiveThirtyEight, but they are a fantastic opinion, political sports website. [00:02:00] That in my opinion is a very fair and balanced site. And I think you can get credible information. They've been rated as reliable and fair by many, many groups. So I think that, that this interview that you're going to hear featuring a gentleman who is the senior writer, I think for the AJC, his name is Perry bacon jr.

[00:02:25] About the Senate runoff elections in Georgia here. Because everything's underway now, the campaigns under white way, they're spending tons of money on television, doing all these things. The interviewer's name is Galen Druke and I've always found him to be fair. He asks some very probing and insightful questions, and I feel felt that this interview was one that could clear up a lot of things or, or bring you up to speed.

[00:02:52] So we're going to play it right now for you, and I hope you enjoy it. I hope you have a lot of questions because we've been, I've been getting a lot of questions from folks. What's [00:03:00] going on down there. I believe that this interview does that. Check it out. You're listening to the Jeff Johnson's show. This is five 38 talking about the Senate race in Georgia.

[00:03:12] Big props to them for putting this out. I'm glad I can share it with you here. It is.

[00:03:22] Galen Druke: [00:03:22] Hello, Galen Druke in the days since the presidential race became clear, we've learned more about the state of the race for control of the Senate, both in Alaska and North Carolina, it's clear that the Republican candidates will win those races. And so that sets up an environment where Democrats plus the two independents that caucus with Democrats have 48 seats in the Senate and Republicans have 50.

[00:03:46] And that leaves the two Senate races in Georgia to decide who controls that chamber. So here's me to talk about how that race is already revving up and how it might play out is senior politics, writer. Perry Bacon, Jr. Hey Perry. 

[00:03:59]Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:03:59] Good to see [00:04:00] you, Galen. 

[00:04:01] Galen Druke: [00:04:01] Likewise. So let's just  start from a base level of where this race.

[00:04:05] Stands. I know that we already have some polling and while 

[00:04:08] people may be skeptical from  polling after the 2020 election, the polling  in Georgia was verry, very accuate .   So why do 

[00:04:11] JJ: [00:04:11] you think  things 

[00:04:15] Galen Druke: [00:04:15] look  right now in those Georgia Senate races. 

[00:04:19] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:04:19] So it's worth noting, just in terms of the actual runoff  itself, what happened w or in the original election?

[00:04:27] David Purdue, the Republican incumbent, the one who won in 2014 got about 49% 49 point just under 50 and Jon Ossoff get 48. So he said that's about right. And then the other, the, the sort of special election Kelly Leffler was at, the Republican total was around. 49% Kelly. Lether got the most of that.

[00:04:49] And the democratic total was around 48%. Rafael wore not get the most of that. He's the Democrat. So Lana journal had some polls out today. [00:05:00] They were both within the margin of error, both sort of the both candidates in both races were around 50% in both races. The Republicans had a narrow lead. So that's sort of gives you a sense of like, that's kind of what we know though.

[00:05:14] In the first election, the Republicans basically won by one point in the runoff there, they appear to be ahead by one point, at least one to three points leave right now, this is just a very close state by all indications. And you know, you start up thinking the Republicans have an advantage, but a very narrow one, I think.

[00:05:34] Galen Druke: [00:05:34] How much should we think about runoff races being different in nature from the kind of, you know, presidential turnout style race that we saw on November 3rd, who might take advantage of the two parties and how might the electorate look different? I 

[00:05:50] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:05:50] just think we can't predict that the traditional view is like runoffs will have a much smaller electorate and that it'll end up being like [00:06:00] probably more white and older than usual.

[00:06:03] That's given the traditional path of runoffs, both in Georgia and around the country. I don't think that has any parallel to a race in Georgia or a sort of a changing state in 2020. And this race, which I'm guessing might have hundreds of millions of dollars of ads run like this is you're going to have Mike Pence, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, other surrogates.

[00:06:29] This is going to be like a, you know, sort of a political festival in Georgia for the next two months. So I think turnout will be pretty high. We don't know if it'll be, you know, mashed November it'll match the election day, but I think it'll get closer than you would think. I don't expect a huge drop-off.

[00:06:43] So that's kind of why I'm nervous about sort of projecting that right now. 

[00:06:47] Galen Druke: [00:06:47] Yeah. In the Atlanta journal, reporting that you mentioned earlier, there were some quotes from a Republican strategist who said that this is fully a turnout election, and it's going to be all about [00:07:00] juicing turnout based on ideology.

[00:07:02] And it's not really a persuasion election. Is that a fair argument to make about, you know, at least the way that the campaigns we'll, we'll try to win this thing. And is that likely to be the reality of the case? 

[00:07:16] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:07:16] I don't think so. I mean, for two reasons. So the first is it looks like Biden got about. 49.

[00:07:24] You know, he got close to 50 and Ossoff get a little bit post the 49. And, and the Democrats combined got about 49, 40 in the other race or us I've got 48. And so it was like Biden is one or two points above the democratic candidates was tells me. It must be some amount of voters there who for whatever reason may have voted for one of the Republicans for Senate and Biden.

[00:07:50] So I do think it's a tiny universe, but I suspect there is a universe of people who are persuadable voters who are not necessarily, you know, [00:08:00] going to be. For one party or the other, both races. And I think that matters. And so even though I think broadly this true is that both campaigns will be focused heavily on turnout.

[00:08:11] And I think that's important, particularly in a state like Georgia, where you have a lot of African-American voters, but a third of the electorate. You have a lot of white evangelicals and you sort of know which party those blocks are growing. And the evangelicals are the Republicans, the African-Americans for the Democrat.

[00:08:25] But I think there is a universe of small, but a universe of voters who might swing. And I think that's important. And I think that affects the campaign strategy. So I saw. I'll stop in an interview with ex-CEOs today. And he's very explicit about being he's against the green new deal he's against, Medicare for all he's against adding judges, the Supreme court.

[00:08:48] So those are not, I mean, those wishes he already had, but that tells me, he's thinking about, is there a moderate voter who's kind of a Biden person who might back me as long as I don't seem to lift. So I think [00:09:00] there actually is. Some persuadable voters. And I think the Democrats in particular will try to win them.

[00:09:05] I do get the sense watching the Republicans have far like leftovers and produce first move out of the gate. Was was on Monday when they, when they sent this public statement, attacking the secretary of state of Georgia, who is a Republican saying the election there was not conducted well. And it seems to me that they didn't really name anything wrong with the election that happened there.

[00:09:26] So it seems like the problem with the election is he can look at an election that appears to allow Joe Biden to beat Donald Trump. So that told me that they're really. Going to push hard for aligning with Trump. And I think that, for Lee, so I think Leffler and Purdue may run a pretty base campaign.

[00:09:44]but there too, I do think part of their message will also be. You know, if you're a re if you're a voter and you sort of assume that Biden will be president and the house is drove by Democrats, I assume there might be some kind of [00:10:00] Atlanta suburb voters who maybe don't want Democrats have control of all three.

[00:10:04] And I assume Leffler and Purdue will try to sort of hit those voters to maybe people who might've voted for Biden, but want to check on the Democrats. 

[00:10:14] Galen Druke: [00:10:14] Yeah, I was going to ask, what are the issues here is the whole message of this campaign going to be from Democrats. Hey, we need to get control of the Senate so that we can do things like reform health care or, you know, pass a stimulus plan.

[00:10:30] Et cetera. Whereas Republicans will, argument is going to be like, we need to prevent Democrats from getting a trifecta or are they going to try to make this more local and talk about Georgia specific politics and not control of the Senate writ large. 

[00:10:45] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:10:45] So a couple things. So first of all, the Republican message is going to be complicated by the fact that.

[00:10:53] It doesn't look like Trump is going to concede right now, or any time soon and [00:11:00] Leffler and Purdue, I don't think are going to say Trump lost definitively. So I think their message is going to be at least so far left. His message has been, we need to keep our Senate majority. It has not been. You must save us from a democratic trifecta because they're not really conceding that's happening.

[00:11:17] And I wonder if that changes, but they're talking about national issues. They're talking more about that. also if I saw her at a press conference yesterday, I talked about the healthcare bill and attacking Purdue for voting to repeal the ACA. So that's kind of the similar. Present democratic message about healthcare.

[00:11:35] So I think he's going to do this. So that's kind of a local, he mentioned Georgia Georgians who might have, who might have healthcare problems and want to keep the AC. So he's keeping it a little bit local, Raphael Warnock is talking about healthcare too, but this is a nationalized race. And I think they're not ignorant.

[00:11:51] They're acknowledging that. So, Warnock is having an event this week with Pete budaj. It's like an online fundraiser and then in person. [00:12:00] Leffler had an event today with Marco Rubio. So they're already bringing in national surrogates and Pence has already said he's going there. So I don't think anybody's ducking from this race being national new question might be how left are the Democrats run and how right to the Republicans running?

[00:12:16] I think both campaigns like budaj and Rubio are. Not the most right-wing or left-wing figures, which tells me there's already some sense that the campaigns are going to try to hit some people in the S in the more center parts of the electorate. Yeah. 

[00:12:31] Galen Druke: [00:12:31] I'm curious, what kinds of national figures get brought in because presumably both parties have national figures that wouldn't actually be particularly popular in Georgia.

[00:12:41] I mean, you think about Trump seemingly has moved Georgia to the left by dent of him being an unpopular Republican president. Meanwhile, you have to imagine that figures like Nancy Pelosi or Bernie Sanders are not also going to be popular in VR. Save those Atlanta [00:13:00] suburbs where Biden and picked up a new swing voters.

[00:13:04] So who like, who are the parties here relying on to, kind of do their work for them? Is it going to be Stacey Abrams? Is it gonna be Mike Pence 

[00:13:11] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:13:11] is a role for Trump. Trump and Pence I'm pretty sure are going to be, be there. And so even though you could argue, the Trump might lose you some voters in the Atlanta suburbs.

[00:13:23] They, I think they're betting that the turnout is going to be high. They need it. They need him to turn out people in the rural areas. Like, you know, like LeFlore is a appointed Senator. She doesn't, she's not, she's not one election before. She's not that well-known. So I would think that they're going to have pins as a safer surrogate, but the Trump is probably a bigger turnout maybe for both sides, but I think he's going to come there.

[00:13:47] I I'll be curious to know if Biden comes or not. Cause you know, on the Monday before the election, the person who was there was Barack Obama and I think he might be kind of the, you know, I think of Iraq and maybe Michelle Obama will be [00:14:00] the lead surrogates because I think they're popular both with they're pretty popular with them.

[00:14:04] The swing voters, but they also can be sort of a turnout for those, a big people of color and younger vote, population there's I think Barack Obama, I'm guessing there'll be there more than once in these two months. The other big factor here. I think another, there's almost a third democratic candidate running here, and I think she, in some ways is the first candidate running.

[00:14:24] Is that right? I expect Stacey Abrams to have a really big role. You know, her whole thing has been Georgia can become blue and she's been working on this for years in terms of registering voters. I know her team is pretty involved in trying to, register voters. She's helping Warnock and Ossoff. She's going to be on TV a lot.

[00:14:43] I think that she is going in some ways, like I assume she is probably more known and more popular than Warnock or Ossoff bars. So I'll be curious to see what she does and what kind of role she can play. But I think you will see her on MSNBC and CNN, probably as much as the actual candidates [00:15:00] on the democratic side.

[00:15:01] Galen Druke: [00:15:01] I'm thinking about how, you know, Leffler and Purdue accused the Republican secretary of state, as you mentioned, Of, you know, not administering, an election with integrity. There was absolutely no evidence that they pointed to in the letter that they wrote that secretary of state replied, essentially saying as much is 

[00:15:25] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:15:25] like 

[00:15:26] Galen Druke: [00:15:26] the election being rigged, which is of course a false claim going to be a rallying cry in this election.

[00:15:33] And to what extent are people motivated by that sense? Doesn't motivate Republicans more than Democrats. And also if people believe that that elections are rigged, are they liable to not want to participate? And maybe these are difficult questions to answer, but like, how does this environment in which Republicans are denying the legitimacy of this election going to play into this election?

[00:15:56] That's now going to play out in two 

[00:15:57] Perry Bacon Jr.: [00:15:57] months. So in [00:16:00] Georgia, I mean we no in 2018 Stacey Abrams, the Democrats sort of said the process there didn't work. And then in 2020 democratic turnout was huge. So in that sense, I would argue that suggesting the election didn't work perfectly is it was not a demobilizing mobilizing effect, at least on the democratic side.

[00:16:17] What I think Leffler and Purdue were doing was not really to. They, it, it looks on paper, like in an attack on the election and that's problematic. What I think they were really signaling is there was a signal that Trump, Hey, we, you know, we're going to attack. We're not, we're never going to say you lost Georgia.

[00:16:39] Please help us win. That's what I thought it was mainly like an invitation to. Trump to sort of Trump to be able to say, when he comes to Georgia, it's a little bit unclear what exactly happened here. People say that I would've won except for X. Some people say there was cheating and I would have won. And I think then he can come and [00:17:00] can't, I thought that was, or a tactic to appeal to Trump.

[00:17:04] And that the Republican secretary of state in Georgia was just sort of like left, left to take the hit sort of. And that's kind of what I think is going on here. 

[00:17:11] Galen Druke: [00:17:11] Yeah, that's an interesting point. Well, let's definitely keep in touch about this race over the coming two months, it's going to be a busy two months down in Georgia.

[00:17:19] Like you mentioned, there's probably going to be a record amount of money spent down there. but, that's it for now. So, let's talk again soon. Thanks Perry. 

[00:17:27] JJ: [00:17:27] That was a great interview and I hope you got some great nuggets of knowledge coming out of that. The operative thing is we've got to become engaged.

[00:17:38] We've got to know when and where to vote. Deadlines are approaching, opportunities to do. This is very important. So whichever side of the fence you're on. Make sure you exercise your right and go vote. We're going to be back in just a minute with more of the Jeff Johnson show, getting you ready for Thanksgiving.

[00:17:56] Are you going to get on the road? Are you going to fly? What are you going to do? [00:18:00] Here's some great tips from dr. Collier. You probably know him. I'll tell you about him in just a minute. You're listening to the Jeff Johnson show don't you dare go any where.,   

[00:18:10] PSA: [00:18:10] Help protect your family from flu this season 

[00:18:12] by taking 

[00:18:13] three easy steps first.

[00:18:15] Get yourself and your family, a flu shot it's quick and can protect you all season second, take everyday actions to help prevent the spread of germs. Like flu. Cover your cough. Stay home from work or school. If you're sick and wash your hands. Often third, there are drugs that can treat flu illness. These work best when started early, 

[00:18:35] learn more at 

[00:18:36] cdc.gov/fight flu.

[00:18:51] JJ: [00:18:51] Welcome back to the show everybody get. No thanks. It's giving is right around the corner, man. I'm telling you one of my, I love Thanksgiving. I just love the [00:19:00] fall. I love the fall. I love the winter. All that stuff, but Thanksgiving is one of those, those wonderful opportunities to be with family and friends.

[00:19:09] Now, Corona has thrown a monkey wrench in it, and you're hearing things from all over the place. What do I do? Do I stay, do I go, do I do whatever this particular interview, which comes from the Rickey smiley show? I love listening to him. He's crazy. And. There's a gentleman who's on his show, an awful lot.

[00:19:29] His name is dr. Collier, very, well-known physician, a medical doctor, and he has some really good points about what you can do. So take a listen and whatever you do, be safe to yourself and your family. This Corona stuff is no joke. Folks y'all know I had it. I don't want y'all to get it, but let's see what they say.

[00:19:51] And I hope that each and every one of you take what they say to heat. We're talking about Thanksgiving in the Corona age, on the Jeff [00:20:00] Johnson show. Yeah. 

[00:20:00] Ricky: [00:20:00] K E Y with a number of coronavirus cases in the United States, skyrocketing. it is 

[00:20:06] off the chain, 

[00:20:07] dr. Kalia. Good morning. 

[00:20:09] Dr. Collier: [00:20:09] Good 

[00:20:09] morning, Erica. Smiling.

[00:20:10] Thank you so much. This is a great opportunity to do what we promised. Talk about 

[00:20:14] how to celebrate 

[00:20:16] Thanksgiving safely. This information is directly from the CDC website. So you can follow these 

[00:20:22] guidelines and you can follow 

[00:20:23] up there if you like. So 

[00:20:25] we know that 

[00:20:25] traditional Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends are fun and even needed for a mental and emotional health, 

[00:20:31] but it's 

[00:20:32] a super spread 

[00:20:33] opportunity and it can really increase the chances of spreading not only the coronavirus, but also the flu.

[00:20:38] So recommendations from the CDC. Of course, if you're attending, wear a mask, wear a mask, wear a mask, stay at least six feet. When people who do not live with you now, that would also mean no hugging. No, high-fiving no kids on the cheeks. So 

[00:20:53] all of 

[00:20:53] those things try to stay six feet apart at your table settings.

[00:20:57] You probably need to have at least. Every [00:21:00] other space, occupied, that's going to make a major difference. Try to keep your gathering to a small group of 10. People are less. Try to keep the timeframe of the entire encounter. Two hours on this. This is not the time to stay afterwards and watch football, basketball, or, you know, play cards.

[00:21:19] Together can either keep a tablet readily if they look for those independently, 

[00:21:24] Ricky: [00:21:24] not to God, I just thought about something. You can put one of those tents outside, 

[00:21:28] you know, those 

[00:21:29] tests outside with the nets around it and set you a little table up and spread everybody out with that. Erica blow, 

[00:21:34] blow through.

[00:21:35] Cause it's not going to be real cold. That's not, if it's not 

[00:21:38] cold. 

[00:21:39] Dr. Collier: [00:21:39] If it's not cold. So if you're inside open your windows, if you can't, if you can open the door and try to keep some fans with the air circulating, but being outdoors is the ideal situation right here. Highlight unusual, baffle jar that people don't have Thanksgiving outdoors, but this is the time to try something new and different.

[00:21:56] This is not 

[00:21:57] the 

[00:21:57] time to bring out the. 

[00:21:58] China use disposable, 

[00:22:00] [00:21:59] everything, plates or utensils and cups and drinks. And again, a boy going in and out of the area where food is being prepared. You need one or two people responsible for preparation of food and serving of food and use single use options.

[00:22:16] Ricky: [00:22:16] doesn't it. Doesn't there's too many rules.com. We can't do it. That's just ruined my whole morning. We just not go ahead. Okay. We're not going to have it coming up

[00:22:29] Dr. Collier: [00:22:29] Safeway and the Rickey smiley way, which is the way most people go and do it probably. 

[00:22:32] Oh, 

[00:22:34] I thought he caught

[00:22:39] the guy. You tell him dying is a lot too. 

[00:22:44] The options are having a zoom, a Thanksgiving. Grab have your own, repeatable, dinner with the sale before it, pull it 

[00:22:51] back the pot, put the 

[00:22:52] potatoes and put it in the oven for 

[00:22:53] 15 minutes. 

[00:22:56] They do that. 

[00:22:57] Ricky: [00:22:57] You have a nice day, sir. I'm not going to call [00:23:00] your, I was going to take some calls, but we ain't doing it.

[00:23:04] This water cause you ain't acting right.

[00:23:13] Dr. Collier: [00:23:13] Okay, 

[00:23:14] Ricky: [00:23:14] just sit up. You're giving a whole recipe test about how to heat up some potatoes, man. Go and give it a disclaimer. When we can go to the next guest. Cause it ain't working out there. 

[00:23:25] Dr. Collier: [00:23:25] These are the opinions of dr. NJ Cottier and Richard smiley a reference to a cooking, a TV dinner, not those other of the rigs back that radio show affiliates.

[00:23:34] You can reach me on all social media and ask, ask dr. EMT, go to the CDC website. Found out how to host in half your safe 

[00:23:41] Thanksgiving gathering 

[00:23:42] at your home. 

[00:23:42] Ricky: [00:23:42] Not the call. Don't call up here. No more. We're done. I 

[00:23:45] can't do what you say. 

[00:23:48] JJ: [00:23:48] Yes, indeed. Ladies and gentlemen, it is so important for us to be safe during this Thanksgiving time.

[00:23:53] Look all you got to go to find out more information. If you want to just go online cdc.com, they've got [00:24:00] a seat. Excuse me, cdc.org. They've got all kinds of information and that's the place you need to go, but use your common sense. You know, you need to be outside. If it's too cold, you might not be able to go the operative thing.

[00:24:14] Is to still celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving for being thankful for the things that we have with each other. There are a lot of different ways to do it, but the most important way to do it is to be safe. You've been listening to the Jeff Johnson show. I thank you so much for listening. You can get this podcast everywhere you download your podcasts.

[00:24:35] You can go to get JJ now.com to listen as well. Please send in suggestions, ideas for different shows. We really appreciate it. Thanks a lot, everybody. And we'll see you next week.

[00:24:51] It's the Jeff Johnson show brought to you by O T E@ofthisearthglobal.com of this earth. [00:25:00] global.com clothing connection. O T E.