Amidst Nationwide Chaos, Georgia Flips Senate Blue

On Wednesday, January 6th, our nation witnessed the culmination of four years of tension, division, and polarization. Americans watched from their living rooms as the nation’s sacred Capitol was ravaged by terrorists, destroying America’s most sacred building while searching for the lawmakers who would affirm the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. Hidden in the chaos was the Georgia Senate runoff election. That Tuesday, Georgia held Senate election runoffs for both its seats, as neither race in November crossed the 50% threshold for victory required by Georgia law. While Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock won his race against the incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler in the early hours of Wednesday morning, it wasn’t until domestic terrorists were knee-deep into the Capitol that Democrat Jon Ossoff was declared the winner of his race.

Some Democrats, having just flipped the US Senate blue with these victories, felt cheated out of their victory lap by the outrage unfolding in DC. While this may be valid, it should, more importantly, serve as a bleak reminder that promising liberal victories remain subject to the broader political context of the United States. 

Ossoff won his Senate seat while a mob breached the Capitol building. Had these events not happened simultaneously, though, what led up to each still remains. Jon Ossoff’s win has no choice but to exist in the context of pervasive white supremacy in America. Similarly, our Senate turning blue does not eliminate the millions of people in this country who continue to believe in terrifying right-wing conspiracies and lies. 

Our politics are one big labyrinth. It’s impossible to evaluate any political issue, figure, or moment in a vacuum, no matter how grand the force may seem. While a Democratic Senate reveals the growing numbers of Democratic voters in Georgia, a breaching of the US Capitol demonstrates how there’s another equally strong population that couldn’t agree less. Instead of fixating on our perceived political victories and tragedies, we should all make an effort to pull back the lens and analyze the country’s landscape from a wider perspective.  Maybe then, by confronting the real puzzles of this political era will we establish a time in which we can celebrate lasting progress.

By Annie Levy