The fate of the US Senate, and perhaps of the nation in the near term, will be decided in Georgia on Wednesday, as four candidates vie for two slots in the upper chamber. Incumbent Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are up against Democrat challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The advantages have gone up and down in this race. Currently, according to campaign staff and other analysts LifeZette has spoken to, the Republicans have a slight advantage.

That is because Perdue started out strong out of the gate and Warnock has been hurt by a long list of personal scandals, not to mention his hard left views in a purple state, that have come to light during the race. But it will all come down to turnout. It will be the Stacey Abrams machine versus the GOP operation. But there is a glitch for the Republicans. It is called Donald Trump.

Trump is in the state Monday campaigning for Perdue and Loeffler. But he has previously called the runoff “illegal” and has gone out of his way to trash Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The now infamous Saturday night phone call and its aftermath are cases in point. The situation has gotten so bad within GOP ranks that it has caused strong  conservatives to break ranks with the president.

Senator Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania: “President Trump’s call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger represents a new low in this whole futile and sorry episode. I commend Republican election officials across the country who have discharged their duties with integrity over the past two months while weathering relentless pressure, disinformation, and attacks from the president and his campaign.”

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey: "President Trump's call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger represents a new low in this whole futile and sorry episode. I commend Republican election officials across the country who have discharged their duties with integrity."

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 4, 2021

The question presents itself, if Trump says the election is illegal and goes after state Republicans with a pitchfork, then what kind of effect will that have on GOP turnout? Will Trump voters turn out for an election their icon has deemed illegal? If they don’t the Democrats will take both seats and with them the US Senate. Thus, the most effective impediment to Biden hard left plans will be gone. If that happens, Trump’s fingerprints will be all over it. Comments from both sides of the campaigns are everywhere in the last hours of these efforts.

“It’s all on the line in Georgia,” said GOP Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law. “These two races will mean the difference between Democrats having free rein to destroy minority rights, pack the Supreme Court and create new states, versus a healthy check on their far-left agenda. We were by far the largest outside group on the right in Georgia this fall, and we’re scaling far beyond that for the runoffs.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “A Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate would be the biggest difference-maker to help President-elect Biden deliver for working families across the country and in Georgia where, for too long, they have been denied the help they need by President Trump, Mitch McConnell and a Republican-led Senate.” This will be a donnybrook and may not be decided for days, though Democrats will claim immediate victory just as they did in November. Fasten your seat belts. It’s gonna get bumpy.

This piece was written by David Kamioner on January 4, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Objectivist. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.