Wednesday on Political Rewind: The death toll from COVID-19 continues to grow in Georgia. On Saturday, 220 people were confirmed dead from the virus, bringing the total deaths in the state to over 20,000. Meanwhile, the state is seeing nearly 27,000 newly confirmed or suspected cases of the virus in the past four days alone.
Should state leaders be taking more drastic action to stem the rising tide? DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond said elected officials are making a blunder by filtering the pandemic through a political lens and staking their position there instead of where it really matters.
"The position is: People are dying," Thurmond said. "So you have to start there. 'What can I do? What positions can I take that will mitigate and reduce the spread of the virus to save human life?'"
Meanwhile, in the days since the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a Texas law effectively banning abortion, the case has suddenly made a woman’s right to choose a top issue in 2022 political campaigns. We’ll look at how it’s playing out in Georgia.
Also: Former President Donald Trump is heading to Perry, Ga., later this month. Will his hand-picked candidate for U.S. Senate, college football star Herschel Walker, share the stage with him?
Panelists:
Greg Bluestein — Politics reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Thurmond — CEO, DeKalb County
Sam Olens — Former Republican Georgia attorney general
Dr. Andra Gillespie — Professor of political science and director, James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference
