Georgia Republicans turn to conspiracy cranks to boost turnout and save McConnell's GOP majority

Democratic turnout has been even higher for Georgia's special election for U.S. Senate than the presidential election -- forcing President Donald Trump and Republicans to turn to right-wing conspiracy theorists to save Mitch McConnell's GOP majority.

Both of Georgia's Senate seats, which are currently held by Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, are up for grabs, and Democrats would take over a thin majority if they win both on Tuesday, once Joe Biden is inaugurated, giving Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote as vice president.

"Georgians understand the stakes of the election, and the $500 million in ads hasn't gone to waste, and it's very good news for Democrats," Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "That number shows, if you look at it deeper, that Democratic strongholds of metro Atlanta [and] rural Georgia all have extremely high turnout when compared to the November general election, and there's disproportionately large numbers of African-American voters voting and, generally, in Georgia in runoff elections, younger and more diverse voters tend to sit these ones out, and it's good for the Democrats who felt like they built an early advantage going into Tuesday."

Trump, whose recorded attempts to overturn his own election loss could threaten the GOP majority, will rally in the north Georgia district that sent QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress in November, in hopes of boosting turnout in the deeply red area that's been hit hard by the coronavirus.

"This is a turnout election, so just like his last visit, another red area, this is one to one of the most conservative areas in Georgia and an area where it's lagging behind in early voting turnout," Bluestein said. "It is one of the lowest performing parts of the state and that's exactly right. He's not trying to go and try to convince unpersuaded, undecided voters. He's going to the heart of the Republican territory in Georgia, one of the most conservative congressional districts in the nation, represented by Marjorie Taylor Greene, who just won an open seat by aligning herself to Donald Trump in every corner. Very, very conservative and very troubling early participation numbers for Republicans right now."

Loeffler and Perdue, who's now isolating himself after possible exposure to COVID-19, have sought to drive up turnout among the furthest right voters -- who've been encouraged by right-wing fringe characters to sit out the special election to protest Trump's loss -- by appearing alongside conspiracy theorists hoping to overturn the Nov. 3 election.

"Send [Vice President Mike Pence] a written letter and say, 'Would you please, please, please, not recognize Georgia's elections," said state Sen. Marty Harbin during a Loeffler event. "He's going to be under that gun and you need to know that."

But the attacks on Georgia's election results have worked to undermine conservative faith in the system, and some would-be GOP voters would rather travel to Washington, D.C., for a protest promoted by Trump against his election loss.

"I stocked up on ammo yesterday," one custom home builder from Atlanta told The Daily Beast. "These people right here are going to stand up for America."

The early Democratic turnout differential may be too much for Loeffler and Perdue to overcome, some Republicans admit.

"It's getting to the point that, unless we see a massive turnout on Tuesday, it may be too much to overcome," one Republican said. "I'm not sure even a Trump rally will close the gap."