REPUBLICAN UNPOPULARISM IN GEORGIA

A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll has lots of good news for Republicans:

President Joe Biden’s approval rating has fallen off a cliff in Georgia, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released Thursday that showed just one-third of registered voters approve of the Democrat’s job performance.

That’s a sharp decline from the 51% of voters who gave Biden high marks in the AJC’s May poll....

The poll also found Gov. Brian Kemp ahead of Democrat Stacey Abrams in an early test of that potential rematch. In a hypothetical race that pits Abrams against Kemp’s primary rival, former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, the two finish in a statistical tie.

And it indicated that former football player Herschel Walker, the best-known Republican in the race for the U.S. Senate, is essentially tied in a potential race against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock....

The numbers are here. (Move your cursor over the bar graphs to see them.) The Biden number is truly awful -- 34% approval, 61% disapproval, including 50% strong disapproval. The other numbers aren't as bad, but it looks as if Republicans would win every statewide race if the election were held today -- Abrams trails Kemp 48%-41% and Perdue 47%-43%, while Warnock trails Walker 47%-44%.

Which doesn't mean that the poll respondents support Republican policies. Here's one survey question:

Do you agree or disagree that adults in Georgia should be allowed to carry concealed handguns in public without a license?

The response: 28% agree, 70% disagree -- 60% strongly. And yet Brian Kemp has been championing concealed carry, as has Perdue. At a time when Democratic candidates and officeholders are warned never to speak about unpopular liberal or progressive ideas, the two top GOP contenders for the gubernatorial nomination are both proud supporters of this wildly unpopular idea -- and it's apparently costing them nothing at the polls.

Here's another question:

A 2019 Georgia law bans virtually all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape and incest that are reported to authorities. The law is currently blocked from taking effect by a federal court. If the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to impose abortion restrictions, do you support or oppose the Georgia law from going into effect?

Opposition is 54%, including 44% strong opposition. Support is 38%. Kemp is a strong backer of the six-week abortion ban; Perdue declared his support when the law was enacted. Again, supporting a very unpopular is apparently cost-free for them.

Why do only Democrats need to worry about taking unpopular stands? Why can Republican practice "unpopularism" and get away with it? I still don't understand.