Political Rewind

Wednesday on Political Rewind: A new era begins today for the nation and for Georgia. At noon, President-elect Joe Biden is set be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. He’s promised to immediately act on climate change, an expanded COVID relief package, a campaign to dramatic increase distribution of vaccines to defeat the virus and other policy. After the inauguration, Georgia’s n...

Tuesday on Political Rewind, when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States tomorrow, he becomes the principal player in a transition marked by a surging pandemic, spiraling joblessness and aggrieved ranks of voters who refuse to believe he was legitimately elected. But previous American presidents have, too, faced daunting circumstances as they took the oath...

Friday on Political Rewind: After a bruising year of contending with the coronavirus, feuds with the president and a bitter war with fellow Republicans, Gov. Brian Kemp delivered a State of the State speech calling for unity and painting a picture of a brighter future for Georgia. Still, partisans on both sides of the aisle found grounds for criticizing Kemp’s vision for the year ahead. Kemp made...

Thursday on Political Rewind: Georgia’s members of the U.S. House voted along party lines on impeachment of President Donald Trump. The debate continues over the president’s role in inciting insurrection when he directed angry crowds of his supporters to march on the U.S. Capitol last week. Democrats accused trump of violating his oath to protect the country from its enemies, foreign or domestic....

Wednesday on Political Rewind: We ask two former U.S. senators about the state of our democratic institutions. As we come to the end of the Trump era, just how fragile is the American experiment in democracy?  Former Sen. Gary Hart and former U.S. Rep. Richard “Dick” Gephardt are members of a bipartisan election integrity organization called Keep Our Republic, which seeks to strengthen democracy t...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Guest host Tamar Hallerman, senior reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, leads the panel in a discussion of the U.S. House and its march toward a vote on impeachment for the second time. Included in one article of impeachment is language accusing President Donald Trump of trying to overturn the outcome of Georgia’s president election in his infamous phone call...

Monday on Political Rewind, the weekend brought growing calls for President Donald Trump’s removal from office in the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to colleagues, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will call for a vote on a resolution demanding Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet immediately invoke the 25th amendment. A majority of House Democrats and at lea...

Friday on Political Rewind: Two new senators are poised to head to the U.S. Capitol to represent Georgia in the nation's highest legislative body. Sen. Kelly Loeffler conceded defeat to the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Loeffler said she called Warnock to congratulate him on his victory in their U.S. Senate race. As Georgia legislators prepare for the start of the 2021 session on Monday, proposed changes...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Georgia and the nation’s capital saw a day of triumph and turmoil on Wednesday. Democrats celebrated the twin victories of Georgians Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who now give their party control of the U.S. Senate. Warnock will be the first Black man to represent Georgia in Congress while Ossoff will be Georgia's first Jewish senator. Also, in the early h...

This afternoon on Political Rewind: As the day the last votes are tabulated in Georgia's Senate runoff election, chaos erupts at the U.S. Capitol. Supporters of President Donald Trump assault the U.S. Capitol, storming the building. We covered the breaking news as situations in the capital escalated in the afternoon. This followed a rally nearby where Trump unleashed a barrage of baseless accusati...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The Rev. Raphael Warnock has been elected the first African American U.S. senator from Georgia. His victory over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler puts the Democratic Party within one seat of capturing a majority in the Senate. Now, the focus turns to the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican incumbent David Perdue, where Ossoff holds a small but potentially u...

Today on Political Rewind: On the eve of today’s runoff election, President-elect Joe Biden urged Georgians gathered at the old Turner Field to turn out today for Democrats Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump warned his supporters in Dalton of the dangers of not voting. Many analysts say the Republican Party needs massive turnout today to counter a lead built by...

Monday on Political Rewind: In an alarming hourlong phone call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, President Donald Trump cajoled, begged and threatened Raffensperger to find the votes to win him Georgia. Raffensperger pushed back on the president’s false claims and declined to meet with the president’s allies in person. We take a look forward to Trump's agenda when he makes a scheduled visi...

Thursday on Political Rewind: It’s the last day of 2020 and have we ever longed more for a year to come to an end? 2020 has been a year of collective anxieties, griefs, and solitary sojourns. Some of us have lost people who are dear to us, or jobs, or the beautiful connections to those we love. And yet, as we rummage through the smoldering ruins of this awful, horrible year, we may find that in wh...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: A methodical study of 15,000 Cobb County absentee ballot signatures by state law enforcement and election officials failed to turn up a single instance of fraud, according to the Secretary of State’s office. President Donald Trump and his Georgia supporters have argued for weeks that fraudulent absentee ballots contributed to his loss here. Our panelists included: Ma...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are among the Republicans that President Donald Trump has put on the hot seat. Will they help deliver the first override of a Trump veto after he refused to sign the Defense Authorization Act? Also, Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock is facing a barrage of partisan attacks accusing him of being anti-Israel, a charge that b...

The Political Rewind team is back as we take a look at the top stories of the day. It’s the last week of early in-person voting for the Jan. 5 runoff election. Candidates in the Senate runoff elections are moving into the closing days of their campaigns even as more than 2 million Georgians have already cast ballots early mail or in-person early. Fundraising in the election continues to soar to ne...

The holiday tradition continues with "Political Rewind" host Bill Nigut and his reading of Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory." Capote's short story describes the Christmases he spent with an elderly, distant cousin when he was a young boy living in Monroeville, Alabama. Capote was an American novelist who found his love for writing at 8 years old. He wrote several acclaimed short stories and nov...

As the world navigates a holiday season unlike any other, in a year marred by struggle and uncertainty, it can be hard to make sense of it all. And while 2020 may be exceptional, author Bruce Feiler argues that life's disruptions are not out-of-the-ordinary events. In fact, he has written a new book which comes along at just the right time. It’s called Life is in the Transitions, which reframes ho...

Monday on Political Rewind: a conversation with best-selling author Julian Zelizer about the roots of toxic partisanship in the United States. In his latest book, "Burning Down The House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker," and the Rise of the New Republican Party, Zelizer explores the fame and fortunes of Newt Gingrich. President Donald Trump’s four years in the White House were marked by hype...

Friday on Political Rewind: our panel discusses a wide array of topics, from the coronavirus vaccine to the dynamics of the Senate runoff races. Also, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger received widespread acclaim for refusing to bow to pressure to label President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia a fraud. However, a new report from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution finds Raffensperger’s offi...

Thursday on Political Rewind: A conversation with author Jerald Walker, writer of “How to Make a Slave and Other Essays.” Walker’s collection is a finalist for a National Book award. It gives an intimate account of the experience of the writer as an African American man in the United States. In the process of examining his own questions about race, Walker challenges white readers to confront their...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Georgia’s pair of crucial Senate runoffs are drawing ad dollars and national political figures to the state. One day after the Electoral College sealed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, he campaigned in Georgia on Tuesday for Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to make his fou...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: On Monday, the Electoral College officially cast their votes for President-elect Joe Biden. It’s the first time in nearly three decades a Democratic candidate has won Georgia’s support in the presidential contest. Monday also marked the first day of in-person early voting for the Jan. 5 runoffs. Now, in a year unlike any other, with the nation's eyes on Georgia, how do...

Monday on Political Rewind: The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines is headed to hundreds of distribution centers in all 50 states. Gov. Brian Kemp last week said the first round in Georgia will go to long-term care facilities and front-line medical workers. He warned residents to stay vigilant and continue to practice safety precautions like wearing a mask. Interim dean at Georgia State University's...