Today: The decision regarding the two seats in the Senate • A victory in one of them will allow Republicans to disrupt the Biden presidency • And the field speaks: "We will not disappoint our president"
Dalton is a northern city in the state of Georgia.
When you get there, everything is painted in a bright Republican red in the metaphorical sense - as Georgia was for decades until it voted for Joe Biden in November.
Trump at a rally in Georgia, archive
But in Dalton it is not possible to vote otherwise than for Republicans.
I sit at Cafe Oakwood, which is considered a well-known institution in the city, and the feeling is that the morale is not very high.
The fact that Trump did not win in November hurt the mood and confidence of his supporters.
Because of the corona the number of guests is limited, I thought.
"Sit where you want," the waitress tells me.
I meet one of the diners: Keller.
She does not understand what happened to them in Atlanta.
"I vote like my grandfather and I expect my granddaughter as well. But something happened in Atlanta unless someone faked the election," Keller says, adding, "I'm so excited Trump is coming to us. We will not disappoint him because he does not disappoint us."
Dalton is the carpet capital of the world - it has carpet manufacturing workshops on every corner.
Many workers live in the Red City.
In the cafe sits a group who came especially from Chattanooga, which is in the neighboring state of Tennessee.
They are convinced that Trump will return to the presidency.
They mostly do not understand how Georgia escapes south from the hands.
At one of the tables sits a family who came from another city - Gainesville - just to see the president.
They are dressed accordingly - with campaign shirts.
"We drove for two hours just to see him. We believe he will be there for another four years, not in 2024 but as early as January," they say.
While the husband adds: "You are from Israel. We heard that they love him very much there. He is the president who brought peace."
I meet Lloyd in the parking lot.
He came from Pensacola, Florida - 400 miles he traveled.
"The God of Israel is faithful to his people and I believe there will be a miracle, he will be the president."
He continues to Washington to witness up close a miracle that will happen on Wednesday - when Congress counts the votes of the electors - he says.
Two months ago everything was almost closed: Republicans David Pardo and Kelly Lefler were on the verge of victory and nearly won both Georgia seats in the Senate.
West Side Story
But in this southern country, the special law does not allow for a simple win, the 50% must be crossed.
And so, as if the law was written specifically for the crazy 2020 election, we have reached a point where the second round of two Southern states' Senate seats will dominate the upper house of Congress in Washington - and in effect determine the ability of incoming President Joe Biden to advance a leftist agenda.
In general, Georgia's story is actually the story of the suburbs: Internal immigration within the U.S. to the suburbs of cities has created blue and liberal bubbles in the heart of red Georgia. That was enough to give Biden a narrow victory two months ago, but will the Democrats succeed To keep a democratic Georgia in the Senate election today? It's hard to believe, but Georgia is now a purple state - neither red nor blue. And that could be interesting.
If the Democrats win both seats today, there will be 50-50 in the Senate, and whoever breaks the tie will be incoming Vice President Kamala Harris, who will also serve as Senate President.
The importance of the two seats is invaluable: President Trump and incoming President Joe Biden, both arrived in the country yesterday to hold rallies, in an attempt to be the deciding factor today.
For Republicans, the task is easier - they only need to win one seat to maintain control of the Senate.
The media killed the president this week because of his phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rapensperger about finding new voices that were not counted properly.
Democrats argued that Trump exercised his authority as severely as in the Watergate affair, but former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a resident of Georgia himself, defended the president, saying he "only acted like a president" and that he had the right to exhaust His rights.
Gingrich and other Republicans believe Georgia's secretary of state did something that was not done when he allegedly recorded the conversation, and the White House even referred the case to the Secret Service to see if there was a violation of the law of espionage.
Elections today are being held in two seats.
One of the races is between incumbent Senator Kelly Lefler and African-American pastor Rafael Warnock.
The second race is between incumbent Senator David Pardo and Jew John Usoff.
Republicans in a defensive position - like Trump in the 2020 election. Thus, a situation is created that this week is crucial not only for the Senate but also for Trump's political future: on Wednesday there will be a joint meeting of the two houses of Congress to count the votes sent by state electors. The president-elect will be sworn in at Capitol Hill on January 20.
Trump knows this is his last chance to advance to a second term.
Trump still believes this sitting could give him a victory, and he has a windfall from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas who has already recruited more than a dozen senators for the move, and several other deputies in the House of Representatives.
Trump hopes Cruz's momentum will lead to a lengthy procedure in which no candidate - Biden or Trump - will have 270 electors, and then the decision will go to the House of Representatives, where a special vote will be held.
The chances of the complex procedure reaching this stage are slim, but Trump plans to hold a mass rally on Wednesday in Washington to pressure Republicans to act harder.
