It's going to be a nail-biter

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( January 5, 2021 The all-important Georgia runoff elections are finally here. So how are both parties feeling? Not great it turns out! Democrats and Republicans are reportedly feeling pretty skeptical, with one GOP Senate aide telling the [Washington Post]( that "Republicans should be prepared for a bad night," while Joe Biden's team, though hopeful, is also betting on a loss. [Politico reports](: Privately, Biden's team does not expect to win the races, according to Democratic officials, but they are more optimistic about their chances than they were weeks ago. Though the president-elect narrowly won the state in November, they attribute that to a powerful anti-Trump sentiment that did not translate down the ballot. Perdue received about 88,000 more votes than Ossoff, and the top two Republicans combined got more than 636,000 votes than Warnock in the special election. Not that Donald Trump seems to care about any of this. As my colleague Abigail Weinberg noted last night, Trump [largely ignored the two Republican candidates](, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and instead used one of the last rallies of his presidency to bask in the glow of fawning praise. Promote entirely false conspiracy theories of election fraud. Take it back to 2016 and lead a "Lock her up" chant attacking Hillary Clinton. As for me, I'm not a betting woman; nearly all my predictions concerning elections and the coronavirus have been wrong. But I do encourage you to read my colleagues [Ari Berman](, [Becca Andrews](, [David Corn](, [Jacob Rosenberg](, and others for their outstanding coverage of these twin elections. I'll see you on the other side. —Inae Oh Advertisement [House Donations Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [The Whigs Blew Up Over Slavery. Will the GOP Blow Up Over Loyalty to Trump?]( A split over a principle versus one over a con. BY DAVID CORN [Trending] [Cry about it, Mike Pence]( BY TIM MURPHY ["We come together stronger": Black Greek organizations are showing up for Raphael Warnock]( BY BECCA ANDREWS [Whose first draft of history?]( BY ISHMAEL REED [A fed-up Georgia official just systematically destroyed Trump's election allegations, one by one]( BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG AND SAM VAN PYKEREN Advertisement [House Subscriptions Ad]( [Food] [Special Feature]( [Why Do Conservatives Keep Posting Pictures of Awful Food?]( "Y'all wrong for dishonoring that cow's memory like this." BY ALI BRELAND [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [A Legendary Music Club Faces Permanent Closure. But Crowdfunding Is on Pace to Save It.]( One spot after another has been toppled by the pandemic. Birdland, the historic New York City venue, could be next. But the club’s fate isn’t sealed yet. It’s a living shrine to the music, memory, and resilience of Charlie Parker and the continuum of bebop innovators throughout history. The venue launched a GoFundMe campaign two days ago after nine months of dormancy and another lockdown order that’s pushed it toward extinction. Crowdfunding is coming in. The club aims to raise $250,000 to stay afloat. At last check, it’s pulled in [nearly half](. It’s seeing some of the support reciprocated that it’s shown the world over 72 years as a birthplace of revolutions in harmony and rhythm. “On March 16 we were given the order to close,” the club’s owner, Gianni Valenti, [told]( WBGO’s Nate Chinen. “I thought it would be a couple of weeks, and I kept everybody employed through March.” After laying off almost 60 workers but keeping a small part-time staff, the owner invested more heavily—before the latest lockdown order. “I needed people to realize that we’re still alive, that we’re going to be there, that we’re part of the landscape…It’s heartwarming to see the outpouring for the club. I don’t care if someone gives a dollar or a thousand dollars. It’s that they [made an effort to help](.” —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755