Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is in hot water with his own party's Trump loonies -- which is to say, virtually all Republicans -- because of reports he's likely to defy the Great Man's pick for the US Senate seat being vacated at the end of the year by Johnny Isakson, who's resigning due to declining health. Donald Trump wants rabid loyalist Rep. Doug Collins to move from the House to the Senate, but Kemp appears to have settled on an Atlanta financial services exec, Kelly Loeffler, a newcomer to politics but clearly an excellent choice for the Senate since she'll always side with rich people while perhaps not totally alienating women voters in the 'burbs the way a hardline Trumpsucker like Collins would.

For his efforts to game out an "electable" conservative candidate, Kemp is being excoriated by Trumpetarians as a dirty rotten traitor to the cause, since Trump's last-minute endorsement of Kemp in the 2018 GOP primary (breaking a Trump pledge to stay neutral) is thought to have tipped the primary his way.

Let's try not to revel too much in the anticipated wingnut-on-wingnut violence, shall we?

According to Politico, Trump has made very clear to Kemp that Collins was his guy, but "those close to the governor" say Kemp "believes Loeffler will help the party appeal to suburban and female voters who've drifted from the GOP since Trump took office." No official announcement has come from Kemp's office yet.

Thing is, the GOP doesn't want to appeal to suburbans and women if that goes against the Great Man's wishes, because no disloyalty can be tolerated. Kemp tried to win over Trump by taking Loeffler with him to meet Dear Leader at the White House last month, but it wasn't very effective:

Trump raised pointed concerns about whether Loeffler — who has never run for elected office before — is seasoned enough in politics to receive the nod.

Trump also noted during the sit-down that Loeffler was not an original backer of his 2016 campaign. He said he couldn't be sure how his supporters would respond to her selection.

Translation: IMPURE! IMPURE! ALSO STILL NOT DOUG COLLINS! TREASON!

You might think Loeffler would be an attractive candidate for Republicans, what with her having no qualifications other than being the rich CEO of a Bitcoin-trading outfit called "Bakkt," and the co-owner of a WNBA franchise, the Atlanta Dream. But nah, she's clearly a dangerous traitor to REAL conservatism, as Dead Breitbart's Home For Fanatical Devotion To The Dope pointed out recently. For one thing, she's a socialist liberal! Or at least "country-club Republican," SAME THING, because she donated to Mitt Romney in 2012, and also supported Paul Ryan, that communist. Georgia Tea Party wingnut Debbie Dooley griped to Breitbart that Loeffler was clearly Not Of The Body because she

gave $750,000 to Mitt Romney in 2012; she gave zero to Donald Trump in 2016. A few weeks ago, she gave $100,000 in contributions to Donald Trump, but that was only because her political consultants said, "you need to do this."

Dooley also asserted Loeffler has "ties" to Stacey Abrams and Planned Parenthood!!!!!!! At least, if you have a weird interpretation of "ties." Here's the very convincing case, as laid out by Breitbart:

After the Trump administration announced plans in 2018 to cut family planning funding from abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood, WNBA President Lisa Borders said that she and the league "stands with Planned Parenthood" ...

Borders' statement follows shortly after the WNBA announced its "Take a Seat, Take a Stand" program, which provides donations to one of six organizations, including Planned Parenthood, for every WNBA ticket purchased.

Loeffler's team also promoted the program, which favors donations to the abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

Jeez, why not accuse Loeffler of being a lesbian, too? REAL Americans know all about what goes on in women's basketball, like an emphasis on "the fundamentals," a clear reference to lezzie stuff.

Loeffler's alleged "strong ties" to Abrams are even more hilarious. You see, Abrams joined a board that promotes the WNBA's player's union, which means Loeffler is clearly in cahoots with the terrible Georgia lady all good conservatives loathe. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitutionpoints out, that "would put Abrams in opposition to Loeffler's management role," but let's not get too tied up in details, at least until some lefty claims Donald Trump has "strong ties" to the union organizers at his Las Vegas trash palace. Oh, but Loeffler's hatred of America and Christianity goes even farther, says Dooley, because the basketball team opposed Georgia's hate-the-gays law, meaning she personally opposes religious freedom!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Kemp tried to calm wingnuts down by insisting whoever he appoints will still hate Mexicans and Democrats and gun-grabbers, you just settle down, now:

And to prove he's a Trump loyalist, Kemp didn't even thread his tweets!

In her own "application" for the Senate job -- Kemp set up an online application process, how moderne! -- Loeffler insisted she too would be loyal to the Great Man, really and truly!

If chosen, I will stand with President Trump, Senator David Perdue, and you to Keep America Great. Together, we will grow jobs, strengthen the border, shutdown drug cartels and human traffickers, lower healthcare costs, and protect our national interests — at home and abroad.

The point remains, however, that her name is definitely not "Doug Collins," so she's a dangerous Never Trumper and turncoat who merely threw $100K at the "president" to fool patriots. Collins is currently talking about running against Loeffler in 2020 if he's not chosen by Kemp.

Florida wingnut congressman Matt Gaetz certainly wasn't fooled by the obvious disloyalty, and warned Kemp he'd better not appoint Loeffler to fill Isakson's seat, because Florida voters would demand a real conservative (Collins) primary her, you just wait and see!

Such ingratitude would be remembered, Gaetz explained:

After a few more tweets, Gaetz was pretty much ready to put Kemp in front of a firing squad, for TREASON, BETRAYAL, and BESMIRCH STATEMENTS!

Kemp's own comms team didn't seem to respect the unsolicited advice from Gaetz. Kemp's director of communications, Candice Broce, pointed out that Florida congressmen aren't the boss of the Georgia governor, and also maybe being a toady is a bad look for Gaetz:

Never a man impaired by a sense of irony or spelling, Gaetz replied he couldn't possibly be "submissive" because he's Donald Trump's most loyal defender on TV, and the real problem is that Brian Kemp is not submissive enough:

Kemp adviser Ryan Matthew Mahoney wasn't especially impressed with Gaetz either, because dammit, Brian Kemp can choose the wingnut corporate shill he likes, OK?

Now, before you go thinking Mahoney is a hero for getting into a Twitter fight with Gaetz, remember: He's still a scummy rightwing asshole who wants fewer people voting.

In conclusion, it sure is fun to watch rightwingers eat their own, but that may not be enough to get a Democrat elected to either of the two Senate seats open in Georgia next year -- that's the special election for Isakson's seat, and Perdue's regular election. Fortunately, Loeffler's demonic union ally Stacy Abrams has a plan for Dems to run and win in the South, so let's see some organizing.

[Politico / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / AJC / AP / Breitbart]

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