OPINION:
Four weeks and one day from now, voters in Georgia will make the second most consequential decision in this election cycle and most likely send to the Senate either two Republicans or two Democrats.
What is at stake in this runoff?
If the two Democratic candidates win, their party would control the White House and both houses of Congress.
They would take immediate steps to institutionalize their temporary advantage and turn the Senate map more blue by granting statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, increasing investigations of conservative and Republican organizations, and, at some point, granting amnesty to the 15 million or so people living in the United States unlawfully.
They would change the foundational elements of the system that frustrate their agenda. Sooner rather than later, the new majority would dispose of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
In the wake of a win in Georgia, Democrats would seek to expand government.
A new majority would follow presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden and create a public option for health insurance. This government-run health care would be specifically designed to expand the reach and size of the federal government and would, over time, erode the ability of private insurers to compete. When the government is your competitor, it typically uses all of its advantages — regulations, enforcement, taxes — against you.
A new majority would consider reparations for African-Americans. Expect a price tag in the trillions of dollars.
A new Democratic majority would, again, follow Mr. Biden and increase taxes. The tax increases would start with a repeal of the 2017 Trump tax cuts. Eventually, Democrats would try to pass all or part of Mr. Biden’s $4 trillion tax increase. It is an ambitious proposal that would be the largest tax increase in the history of the world.
A new majority in the Senate would void religious exemptions from various laws, especially in the realm of gender identity. It would provide taxpayer funding for abortions. It would impose elements of the Green New Deal, most likely those imposing a national wind and solar mandate and a national building code.
It seems reasonable to assume that a Congress controlled by the progressive party would require the Department of Education to condition its funding on the teaching of critical race theory, consequently sowing the seeds of further undermining national cohesion.
This is just a sampling. There are, of course, more items on the to-do list. All of those who care about limited government and the primacy of the individual over the state would face risk from the agenda of a new Senate majority.
But the person most at risk from all of this is President Trump. A Democratic majority in the Senate would destroy most of his accomplishments and essentially all of his legacy.
Victory for the Republicans in Georgia on Jan. 5 is critical for the president’s future economic and political prospects — and those of his allies. He and they should spend the next four weeks staying on message and remaining solely dedicated to winning the runoffs.
If Republicans lose the Senate in January, it would be very bad for Mr. Trump. It is difficult to imagine how he could construct a winning political campaign in 2024 from the smoking ruins of an election cycle in which he was a major factor in losing both the presidency and the Congress.
• Michael McKenna, a columnist for The Washington Times, is the president of MWR Strategies. He was most recently a deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House.
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