Republican win in Georgia gives Trump breathing room

Embattled US President Donald Trump Wednesday savored a Republican victory in a closely-watched election in Georgia, calling it a vote of confidence in his administration, as Democrats struggled to hone an anti-Trump message. Establishment Republican Karen Handel defeated Democratic novice Jon Ossoff in Tuesday's contest after a bitter, months-long race, retaining a seat that her camp has safely held since 1979 -- and calming party jitters about the impact of the president's troubles on local and national politics. Trump's Republicans have now won all four special congressional elections held since his inauguration in January, leaving demoralized Democrats to pick up the pieces as they seek to snatch control of Congress in next year's mid-term elections. "Well, the Special Elections are over and those that want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN are 5 and O!" Trump crowed in a post-election tweet, presumably counting Ossoff's failure to win the Georgia race in the first round, along with Democratic losses in South Carolina, Kansas and Montana. "Democrats would do much better as a party if they got together with Republicans on Healthcare, Tax Cuts, Security. Obstruction doesn't work!" the president added. The Republican Party interpreted the results as a sign Trump's core supporters remain faithful despite turbulence in Washington: with no major legislative achievements to date, and a White House mired in scandal over the investigation looking into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, and potential obstruction of justice by the president himself. While Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by barely one percent in the district last November, Handel won by 3.8 percent, a signal that Republicans running in such affluent, conservative suburban territory may not be doomed by Trump's poor approval numbers. And the win will embolden the party to press ahead with Trump's political agenda on Capitol Hill, notably a reform of health care law and an overhaul of the tax code. The Senate's Republican leadership said it will unveil on Thursday a new bill to replace Barack Obama's flagship health reform. The legislation faces unanimous opposition from Democrats and skepticism from some Republicans, who have voiced concern about the secrecy of the drafting process. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted he wants a vote on the bill by June 30. - 'Far from a disaster' - The Democratic losses of recent months have been demoralizing for the party, but some see reason for optimism. In each of the four congressional races, Democrats did far better than in previous elections. Ossoff, for example, secured 48.1 percent of the vote, 10 points higher than the Democrat in November's congressional race. "Last night's results were far from a disaster for Democrats, and Republicans shouldn't be tempted to believe their House majority is safe," wrote David Wasserman, an editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "In fact, their majority is still very much at risk." Democrats would need to flip 24 seats to retake the 435-member House of Representatives in next year's mid-term elections, and analysts believe Republicans are vulnerable in at least that many districts. Some Democrats however believe their party has been too busy licking its wounds from the presidential defeat instead of regrouping and refocusing on top domestic issues such as the economy. Senator Chris Murphy warned the mounting scandals in Trumpland had further diverted the party from addressing the needs of ordinary citizens. "The fact that we had spent so much time talking about Russia... has been a distraction from what should be the clear contrast between Democrats and the Trump agenda, which is on economics," he told MSNBC. Debate is also swirling about whether Democrats should be campaigning like Ossoff, who treated Trump with kid gloves and sought a conciliatory tone, or aim for more bruising congressional battles. In what may have contributed to Ossoff's defeat, Republicans painted him as a pawn of Nancy Pelosi, the 77-year-old leader of House Democrats and longtime target of conservatives, who depict her as a far-left San Francisco liberal disconnected from the challenges of middle America.