For Pence in Georgia, it’s location, location, location
The vice president rallies Trump supporters and GOP base voters in Georgia’s smaller cities
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vice President Mike Pence was back in Georgia on Thursday for the fourth time since the kick off last month of the state’s twin Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections, where the Republican Party’s Senate majority is at stake.
"We stand with Sen. David Perdue and Sen. Kelly Loeffler," the vice president emphasized as he campaigned for the two Republican incumbents in the runoffs.
PENCE - IN GEORGIA - VOWS THAT HE AND TRUMP 'WILL KEEP FIGHTING'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We’re going to keep fighting to hold the line in the United States Senate. We’re going to win Georgia and we’re going to save America," Pence proclaimed as he headlined a rally in Columbus which preceded another campaign stop with the two GOP senators in Macon.
For Pence, the locations of his campaign stops in the Peach State may be more telling that his stump speeches at the rallies.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE GEORGIA SENATE RUNOFFS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Veteran Georgia-based Republican consultant Chip Lake says Pence’s stops in Columbus and Macon "certainly helps rally the base and in order for us to be successful in both of these Senate races we have to run up the margins in rural areas and Pence continues to travel to media markets that are inclusive of all the rural areas of our state."
The vice president’s Georgia itinerary tells the story.
Pence campaigned in Gainesville and Canton, in northern Georgia on the far reaches of the Atlanta exurbs, on his first swing. And he held rallies in the coastal city of Savannah and the northeastern city of Augusta on his second and third stops. President Trump has made one trip to the state, holding a large rally in the southern Georgia city of Valdosta on Dec. 5.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s a good strategic decision that I’m sure hasn’t been made lightly," Lake noted.
In Georgia – as in many other states – the Democrats dominate in the urban areas and inner suburbs. It was no surprise that when President-elect Joe Biden finally landed in Georgia this week to campaign for the two Democratic candidates – Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock – he chose to hold his rally in Atlanta.
President-elect Joe Biden, center, acknowledge supporters at the end of a drive-in rally for Georgia Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock, left, and Jon Ossoff, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Biden crushed the president in Atlanta and its surrounding counties in the general election. He defeated Trump by a razor thin margin to become the first Democrat to carry the state in the White House race in more than a quarter century.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BIDEN HOLDS RALLY IN ATLANTA AS HE PUSHES FOR THE DEMOCRATS TO SWEEP GEORGIA'S SENATE RUNOFFS
The Democrats' strong showing in urban areas and inner suburbs has forced the Republicans to become increasingly dependent turning out their base in high numbers in Atlanta’s exurbs and the smaller cities and towns in the rural parts of Georgia.
While Biden won Columbus and surrounding Muscogee County, Trump carried most the neighboring counties. And the media markets in Columbus, Macon, Augusta, and Savannah, where Pence has stopped this month, reach far into rural areas where many MAGA voters live.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tim Phillips, the longtime president of the powerful conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), has been spending plenty of time in his former home of Georgia in recent weeks. He’s been leading a group of some 200 field staff from AFP’s political arm to knock on doors across the state to make sure conservative voters will cast ballots in the runoff.
REP. JORDAN: GEORGIA REPUBLICANS ENERGIZED, KNOW 'WHAT'S AT STAKE'
He told Fox News last week that one of the two groups his teams are targeting are people who live in the exurbs and small towns across the state. He said they’re "folks who are aligned with us but we’re worried they may not be absolutely sure they’re going to turnout. There’s a lot of presidential only voters who vote every four years. We’re worried about disillusionment, discouragement, over how the presidential election has turned out."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Just about every political analyst and strategist spotlights that there aren’t many undecided or swing voters in the Georgia runoffs – and that the contests are base elections.
TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP SAYS GROUND GAME IN GEORGIA RUNOFFS COULD BE 'THE DIFFERENCE MAKER'
Phillips emphasized that voters on both sides are energized, saying, "What will tell the tale is which side can get the largest number of its people to actually vote."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And having the vice president fly into these mid-sized cities onboard Air Force Two and rally the base could possibly make the difference in what’s expected to be very closes contests.