This can be crucial

On Friday, several US media reported that newly elected President Joe Biden (77) is running away with victory in Georgia.

And it is precisely Georgia that can decide what to achieve as the 46th president of the United States. These days, a senatorial battle is raging that could have great significance.

Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives, but they need a majority in the Senate to gain full control of the three centers of political power. To get a majority, Democrats must win over both senators in Georgia.

If not, it is Republican Mitch McConnell (78) who decides.

McConnell, who is the Majority Leader, has been in the Senate since 1985. Joe Biden since 1973. When Joe Biden is installed as President on January 20, the two will be the most powerful men in the country.

The battle of georgia

Georgia has not been decided because the state requires the winner to have more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of voting to be declared the winner. Otherwise, the two candidates with the most votes must meet for a rematch.

This is exactly what happened and therefore new elections are scheduled for January 5 next year.

Trump lost: – Definitely

Right now, Democrats have 48 senators, while Republicans have 50. Therefore, Democrats must win both elections to have any chance. If it is the same, it is the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris that decides.

That means Democrat Raphael Warnock must beat incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler, and Democrat Jon Ossoff must defeat incumbent Senator David Perdue.

Georgia has historically been a Republican state. Biden is the first Democrat to win the state in 28 years.

– I think the Republicans are the favorites for both. Democrats have made great progress in Georgia in recent years, but hardly enough, says researcher Hilmar Mjelde of the Norwegian Research Center (NORCE) in Bergen to Dagbladet.

– It becomes difficult

Mjelde believes that Democrats have overestimated his chances in several Senate elections in recent years. In Texas in 2018 and in both South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as Maine this year, Democrats had high hopes, but they still beat the Republican nominee.

– If Democrats unexpectedly win both Senate elections in Georgia, they will win a majority in the Senate. The Senate has great power in appointing judges, ministers, and in foreign policy, so which party governs the Senate has a lot to say for Biden. At the same time, in many cases you must have a majority of 60 senators to pass, due to special Senate rules. So Biden will experience a lot of resistance anyway.

If Democrats fail to win the Senate battle, Republicans will retain their majority, led by Mitch McConnell. It will be a loss for Joe Biden, according to US Civita expert and adviser Eirik Løkke.

– Depends on winning both. It is not entirely impossible, but it is a “long shot”. What is happening in Georgia will be incredibly important and will receive enormous national attention, Løkke tells Dagbladet.

If McConnell remains the majority leader, he will have great power. Hilmar Mjelde explains that American politics is a complex system of checkpoints and veto actors.

– It is very difficult for a president to get his policy adopted in both houses of Congress, which he needs. Therefore, a president today controls more by issuing orders that to some extent allow him to bypass Congress.

Now the alarm is ringing

Will be pressed

Mitch McConnell said Monday that “Trump has 100 percent of his right to correct possible mistakes and weigh his legal options.” It was interpreted by many as support for Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud and that it could damage the relationship with Biden.

According to CNN, Biden will also be pressured by his own. Norwegian experts agree with this.

– McConnell can ruin Biden, who must make concessions. It will be pressed from two sides. Both radical progressive Democrats, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. Then there are the moderate Democrats who he also has to balance. It will not be easy. But if anyone is going to make it happen, it’s Joe Biden, says American expert Eirik Løkke.

Senator Joe Manchin is among the moderate Democrats. Earlier this week, he said he would vote against his own party on a number of issues, if they won a majority in the Senate. On Twitter, he writes that he doesn’t want a “crazy socialist agenda.”

– I am a proud moderate conservative Democrat. There may not be many of us left, but what this country wants is moderation, he said.

This has prompted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) to react, who is on the other side of the Democratic Party. Instead of making statements, he has posted an image, where Manchin is the only one applauding Trump’s speech to Congress in February 2019.

Wide party

Hilmar Mjelde explains that the American parties are broad umbrella organizations. This means that many Democrats have different positions within the party.

– Democrats are internally broader than Republicans. All Norwegian parliamentary parties, with the partial exception of the FRP, had adapted very well to the Democrats, explains the NORCE researcher.

– AOC has influence through social media, but little influence in DC She is only one of 435 in the House of Representatives, and even a young woman. Joe Manchin is one of 100 senators and therefore has much more power in DC’s political system than the AOC, says Mjelde.

He emphasizes that American politics is full of gray eminences like Manchin, who have much more power than those who do a lot on social media, like the AOC and Matt Gaetz.

– I picked it up from the junk heap

I squeeze

If the Democrats lose the senatorial battle, it will also be difficult. Mitch McConnell can put the wheels in the wheel for much of Biden’s politics.

It is especially the handling of the corona pandemic and the financial consequences of this, there will be disagreements, writes the Financial Times.

According to the New York Times, Biden will likely try to top a large financial bailout and stimulus package for American companies. Republicans oppose this because then it will be necessary to raise taxes.

– Biden will want a big package of measures. Mitch will be reluctant to hand it over, Heidi Heitkamp, ​​a former Democratic senator from North Dakota, told the Financial Times.

On January 5, we get the answer on who wins the battle for the Senate.