The Ron Show

Ron Roberts
  • 4.8 (12)
  • Politics
  • Updated Daily

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

  1. 18h ago

    Who's voting (and where they live) - what it may be telling us already

    PLUS: debunking the right wing hyperbole: no, Atlanta didn't "burn" in 2020. Early midterm voting in Georgia is providing some details - including where turnout is strongest so far, where it's exceeding 2024, where it's lagging the 2024 pace, the demography turning out ... enough, perhaps to tell us what's expected and possible to happen when results begin coming in on Election night. One of the key races this cycle is the race to succeed two-term governor Brian Kemp, and the narrative coming from that man while stumping for GOP nominee Rick Jackson is that "Atlanta burned" on the Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms' watch. Not his watch as governor; just hers as mayor. AJC op/ed writer David Plazas sets the record straight:" Voters have a right to hold Bottoms accountable for her term as mayor, but they should do so with all the facts and without exaggeration. And the fact is, Atlanta didn’t burn in 2020." That said, how much blame is there for this narrative being such a strong tool for Jackson to lay at the feet of Bottoms' Democratic primary opponents for not discussing these issues in the primary cycle?

  2. 1d ago

    The "number one state for business" is one of nine losing jobs

    PLUS: AJC/UGA polling shows Ossoff comfortably ahead, but not at or above 50% Georgia Republicans keep telling us Georgia's "the number one state to do business in" and yet it's also one of nine states (plus DC) that's seen job losses in the last 12 months. Well, that can't be good for the "status quo" going into a pivotal election period, no? When do we start openly wondering "when" (not "if") a recession is forthcoming? We heard so. much. open pontificating about it during the Biden presidency that never saw one - that saw the exact opposite actually. Actually, an economist who studies financial crises says the US is on the brink of recession. But wait, the definitely not-lying Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the "k-shaped economy" is over. The truth is, it's what's keeping us from being in recession, economically. =+=+=+= Back to polling: Senator Jon Ossoff enoys an 8-point advantage in the latest AJC/UGA poll, but when you couch it with the same poll's findings on Trump's approval and where the gubernatorial race stands, do those numbers make sense? Also, how does the result for the Bottoms/Jackson race impact 2028 presidential prospects?

  3. 2d ago

    I'm sorry Rick Jackson (wooo!), polls show his money hasn't bought the race (yet)

    With apologies to Outkast, Rick Jackson can't be enthused that his tens of millions in personal funds haven't sewn up the Georgia gubernatorial race just yet, and with his opponent - Keisha Lance Bottoms - now having some coin ($10 million or so) in the closing weeks to make her case, seeing new polling that shows a dead heat has to give the ol' fella a Tums moment, no? What's kinda baffling, though, is that Trump's numbers - while still underwater in Georgia - haven't budged since April. Stubborn gonna 'stubborn,' I suppose. One more point: as tight as this race is, having President Barack Obama swooping in next week for Mayor Bottoms is a big deal, but - again - where is Geoff Duncan, the new enthusiastic Democrat who became a Democrat minutes before launching his campaign? My theory? He hopes Keisha loses so he can run again in 2030. Yeah, I said it. I'm begging Democrats to remember all (the 'nothing') Duncan's done for the party since his primary loss to now, should he ever run for a statewide race anytime soon.

  4. 3d ago

    Jilani: Jackson's 'rags to riches' message is a mis-direction

    Atlanta-based freelance journalist Zaid Jilani penned an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution that works to dispel the 'rags to riches' mythos erected to prop up a facade of who GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson was and is. In that piece, Jilani opines that it sends the wrong message about "the American Dream." He joined me to discuss.

  5. 6d ago

    Trump's GA visit puts GA GOP hopefuls in awkward spot

    Donald Trump stumping in Georgia is something of a "double-edged sword" writes Patricia Murphy at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution or could be "an anchor" writes Georgia Recorder scribes Ross Williams, Ignacio Perez and Alander Rocha. Trump wants his base to vote as if he were on the ballot; Georgia gubernatorial hopeful Keisha Lance Bottoms - alongside Rev. Senator Raphael Warnock do, too. Might these midterms be where voter sentiment shows enough Republicans who've been won over by Trump's rhetoric finally realize - a decade in - he's full of crap and knows not what he's doing?

  6. Oct 16

    MAGA can't contain costs & a reminder: "Biden-flation" was Trump's fault, too

    Plus, an important down-ballot race Democrats are poised to grasp in the Georgia legislature - why it's important they do. September's inflation data shows Donald Trump has failed (again) to reign in prices for goods & services - mostly because he keeps meddling in the fossil fuel business or sabotaging it altogether by going to war with Iran. Here's the thing no one's saying (outside of me, apparently): his oil-meddling in 2020 is a leading (if not "the" leading) contributor to the oil price spikes and hyper-inflation the Biden administration sought to combat in its first two years. That's right; Joe Biden's ability to eventually calm and cool inflation and lower gas prices was delayed by a Trump-led OPEC initiative to reduce oil production through April of 2022, and damned if gas prices didn't begin coming down and damned if inflation didn't begin its cooling trend a month after that deal - a deal Biden tried to get OPEC to end early by the way - did come to an end. =+=+=+= Meanwhile, I've made it no secret that Georgia's gubernatorial race is likely the toughest for Georgia Democrats to win - mostly because of the nominee and her mayoral record being the focus of her opponent and even with Atlanta residents perceiving that term with a note of reticence. That said, whether Keisha Lance Bottoms can or can't overcome that to win, state Senator Josh McLaurin's race to be Georgia's next Lieutenant Governor is a really important one to back in that it's unlikely Democrats retake the state Senate but should he win, he holds that chamber's gavel in session. Huge opportunity to control what comes out of that chamber, and with the state House a possibly/likely flip for Democrats, we may be entering an era where Democrats either get to purse an agenda of their preference, or if Rick Jackson were to prevail, McLaurin can put the brakes on Jackson's thin-on-substance policy goals. For his part, McLaurin is almost as deft a debater as Senator Jon Ossoff so I wanted to share some of his finer moments from the Atlanta Press Club clash between he and MAGA state Senator Greg Dolezal.

  7. Oct 14

    Focus on the Flippables: GA Senate 32 & Michael Hettig

    If Georgia Democrats are going to flip the state Senate - and it's a daunting task given the gerrymandering - Democrats will need to win districts like SD 32. Democrat Michael Hettig is making a go of it in the Cherokee/Cobb-shared turf and I had the opportunity meet him for an extended one-on-one conversation on the issues shaping that race and are of importance for the voters he's meeting. Is it possible a progressive shares a lot of values with voters in a red-leaning district?

  8. Oct 13

    George Chidi: It "Feels Like 2018"

    ... though he also said in this episode that it feels like 2006, so ... He writes for The Guardian; he pens for his own Substack - The Atlanta Objective - and knows a lot of smart people to lean on for information on a whole host of issues globally to locally. He joined me Tuesday for a well-rounded discussion on the upcoming midterm elections and the impact the Trump era's had on our mental well-being, how Jon Ossoff is willing victory into being up and down the ballot in Georgia and why it still may not be enough for a Democrat - Keisha Lance Bottoms - to win the Governor's race.

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4.8
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Ron Show - Atlanta's only progressive audio platform airing five days a week on Georgia Now, M-F 4-6pm (replaying 8-10am the next weekday). Host Ron Roberts covers Atlanta, metro Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from a pretty unique lens ... he's just your run-of-the-mill Georgia-born gay progressive cat-dad realtor & talk show host. Dime a dozen, right?

Information

  • Creator
    Ron Roberts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    816
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ron Roberts
  • Show Website
    The Ron Show

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