Runoff Pits Old South Against New South

Politico: “Georgia’s campaign ads tell a tale of two states: Raphael Warnock’s ads are bright and sunny, featuring the pastor expounding on health care policy, telling his family story and walking a puppy. But the majority of Kelly Loeffler’s spots take a grimmer tone, attacking Warnock as ‘the most dangerous, radical candidate in America.’ In one ad, the camera pans across a photo of Warnock, who is Black, darkened and superimposed over footage of riots. ‘Saving the Senate,’ the narrator intones, ‘is about saving America … from that.’”

“It could work. But with Georgia’s demographics shifting, Loeffler’s approach — a familiar playbook tailored to older, whiter voters who skew Republican — is just as likely to prove out of step with a changing electorate. It’s pitting the politics of the Old South, often characterized by thinly-veiled racist rhetoric and maintenance of the predominantly white status quo, against the New South’s increasingly young and racially diverse constituency.”