What gives?
Abrams lost to Gov Brain Kemp 4 years ago….
That was before she became a iconic Democratic figure nationally…
All that national exposure STILL has Abrams trailing in EVERY poll since January of this year…
She HAS a problem….
She is working all of the black, brown and yellow voters in the state..
She is hoping infrequent voters will turn out to vote for her….
She is hoping rumours of problems with black males is just that….A rumour…
(She is trying to get over her bitterness over her 2018 loss, which included bashing the state outloud, which some voters haven’t forgotten evidently)
The above is playing while we know that Donald Trump hates Brian Kemp…
Of course, Abrams has been widely celebrated in the years since her 2018 run, which she lost. Like former President Donald Trump, though, she managed to spin away her defeat to the satisfaction of her supporters and allies as a result of nefarious forces beyond her control.
The narrative about her has been that, unbowed and undefeated, she’s fighting a righteous battle against the voter suppression that denied her her rightful victory the first time around, and — as a charismatic figure of unbounded talent — she’s heading for bigger and better things than narrow defeats in statewide elections.
As it happens, she may be headed for an even less narrow defeat in exactly the same statewide election. Come November, she may look more like Beto O’Rourke than Barack Obama.
There’s no doubt that Abrams is a talented organizer whose voter registration and turn-out efforts helped move the needle in Georgia. She also has performative ability, and the enthusiastic support of a cadre of loyalists — a category of people that seemingly includes everyone who does a profile of her.
New York Magazine wondered in the headline of its 2019 profile if she’d run for governor, senator, vice president or president — the world was her oyster. Vogue asked, “Can Stacey Abrams save American democracy?” A Washington Post Magazine piece about her famously included an arty, moody picture of her staring off into the distance wearing what looked like the cape of a superhero.
The problem is that all the hagiography never grappled with the reality of her defeat in 2018, instead taking for granted her version that unfair voting restrictions sank her. Nor did it sufficiently take into account what is required to get elected statewide in Georgia as a Democrat in the normal course of things (i.e., when Trump isn’t sabotaging his own side), which is either some crossover appeal or, failing that, genuine once-in-a-generation political talent.
Although you’d never know it reading her press, Abrams hasn’t demonstrated either…
…
Lately, Abrams has been at pains to soften her claims about 2018, probably worried about seeming like a sore loser and mindful of comparisons with Trump. She said recently, “I refuse to concede [to] a system that permits citizens to be denied access. That is very different than someone claiming a fraudulent outcome.”
In reality, it’s not that different. It’s true that she hasn’t alleged that anyone double-counted votes or that Venezuela tampered with the machines. When she says, though, in her book, that Kemp is “a racist demagogue who carefully disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Georgians,” and the state “slashed voters from the rolls, ensured thousands could not cast ballots, and blocked thousands more from being counted,” she’s obviously calling into question the legitimacy and fairness of the election.
That’s wrong when Trump does it, and wrong when she does it….
image…Bloomberg.Com