The explosion of vitriol against Georgia for the audacity to try to protect future elections has been remarkable.  Businesses, including Delta and Coke, have made very public statements about the issue.  Major League Baseball will be moving its All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver.  Celebrities in sport and entertainment have weighed in against Georgia.

Our politicians have gotten into the act as well.  President Joe Biden has encouraged professional golf to move its Master's tournament in Augusta to another state.

To hear them tell it, Georgia has become the revival of the old Confederacy, and a new Sherman's March is needed to burn Georgia once again.  All of this is based on an election law that expands voter access and does it legally, as the Constitution directs.  For now, the politicians in Georgia are resisting this onslaught.

In reality, it is not about Georgia.  It is something much more diabolical.  This is a warning to other states that may attempt to do what Georgia has done.  In the last election, a few states were the focus of the irregularities that appeared to throw the election to the Democrats.  Activists with political authority in these states used the pandemic to bypass their legislatures to impose quick, partisan changes to voting processes to diminish secure processes.  Now the legislatures in these states are considering changes to law much as Georgia has done.

In Wisconsin:

This legislative cycle, Republicans around the country have proposed hundreds of bills that would restrict access to voting, taking aim at issues like absentee voting, voter registration and disability access. Wisconsin Republicans are part of that trend, releasing their plans as well.

In Pennsylvania:

GOP leaders in Harrisburg say they want to examine what happened and work with Democrats to improve state law. The House State Government Committee has already begun a months-long review.

In Michigan:

Michigan Senate Republicans unveiled 39 wide-ranging bills Wednesday to alter state election laws, targeting areas like absentee ballots and voter qualifications that were the focus of former President Donald Trump's campaign to overturn his 2020 defeat.

In Arizona:

The Republican-led Arizona state Senate announced Wednesday four auditing firms have been hired to recount the 2.1 million ballots cast in the Maricopa County general election last year.

This is a national trend that is much too large to fight nationally.  Democrats can target Georgia and even afford to lose there.  However, if their efforts frighten off the other states, they come out ahead.  This battle, taken on a national scale with corporations in multiple states, would not work.  They must make it appear local while getting a national effect.

That is what the blowup in Georgia is really about.  Much like the crime boss making a visit to a business and proclaiming, "Nice little place you got here.  You don't want what is happening in Georgia to happen to you, do you?"  Pay attention, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona, among others.  If they win in Georgia, you can count on them targeting you if you don't play along.

Image: Rotting peach by Steven Depolo. CC BY 2.0.

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