ICYMI: With Two Months to Go, Georgia Republicans Race to Their Base

In case you missed it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution detailed the race to the right happening in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Georgia. Every one of the candidates has run far to the right of current Governor Nathan Deal in hopes of courting the far-right fringes of the party. The candidates have staked out such extreme positions that some GOP leaders, including Deal, “worry that the GOP race to the right could hurt the party’s nominee in the long run.”
“I would hope we do not find ourselves in a posture of taking actions that we cannot sustain,” said Deal.
Read excerpts below or the entire article here.
Atlanta Journal Constitution: With two months to go, Georgia Republicans race to their base
By Greg Bluestein
Brian Kemp vowed to outdo Mississippi by signing into law even tougher abortion restrictions. Hunter Hill criticized the students who walked out of schools to protest gun violence.
Michael Williams has upped his calls for illegal immigration crackdowns. And Clay Tippins has doubled down on his pledge to expand the medical marijuana program.
The Republican candidates for governor gunning for a spot in a likely runoff have increasingly pivoted toward social issues, some more divisive than others, to contrast themselves in the crowded field.
…But some Republican elders worry that the GOP race to the right could hurt the party’s nominee in the long run.
“That’s politics and I understand politics. But I would hope we do not find ourselves in a posture of taking actions that we cannot sustain,” said Gov. Nathan Deal, who has sounded a note of regret about his own GOP “heat of the moment” duels.
“If I’ve learned anything in the many races I’ve run,” Deal told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “it’s be careful what you promise because somebody is going to ask you if you’ve fulfilled your promises.”