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RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
Fri May 25, 2018, 04:25 PM May 2018

Stacey Abrams' Roadmap for Red State Elections

Abrams really showed us how to do it. I wish this article went into more depth on her actual campaign strategies and tactics. I heard her interviewed the other day and was simply aghast at how smart and how hard they worked. But it's got some good info in it anyway.

Time to get rid of those old playbooks! We've seen decades of running Republican Lite fail, and it's time for a new way forward.
Stacey Abrams’ Campaign Is A Road Map For Democrats In Red States

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-anoa-stacey-abrams_us_5b05c7b2e4b05f0fc8444251

On Tuesday night, former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams became the Democratic nominee for governor, defeating her primary opponent Stacey Evans by over 50 points, claiming victories in urban and rural counties alike and far exceeding even the most generous poll predictions. If Abrams goes on to win the general election in November, she would become the first African-American woman to become governor in any state.

Yet Abrams’ win should not be limited only to conversations about historical firsts. The success of Abrams’ campaign should be a mandate for the future of Democratic politics and campaigns.

Given the choice between the same failing Democratic playbook of trying to win over moderate conservatives and a bold vision grounded in building a new winning coalition, voters overwhelmingly chose the latter. And by both mobilizing the existing base of the Democratic party and expanding on that coalition by engaging new voters, Abrams reduced the turnout gap between Republican and Democratic voters to just 54,000 votes ― compared to nearly 300,000 the last time both primaries were contested, in 2010.

Sixteen years ago, Republicans dealt a historic blow to Democratic control in Georgia, unseating Sen. Max Cleland and Gov. Roy Barnes, the first time the Democrats had lost that position in more than a century. Since then, Democrats have been trying to win back the voters who left the party in the 1990s. Candidates such as Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter sought to appeal to moderate Republicans in hopes of closing the gap statewide. Yet, there is little to no indication that Republicans are willing to vote Democratic in significant enough numbers to justify continuing to invest in that strategy.

“The approach of trying to create a coalition that is centered around converting Republicans has failed Democrats in the state of Georgia for the last 15 years,” Abrams recently told The New York Times.

Repeating the same thing but expecting a different result is madness. Democrats need to build a coalition based on the Georgia we have today, one that has increasingly grown more diverse since that 2002 sea change.

MORE: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-anoa-stacey-abrams_us_5b05c7b2e4b05f0fc8444251








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Stacey Abrams' Roadmap for Red State Elections (Original Post) RandomAccess May 2018 OP
Exactly what I have been saying. tazkcmo May 2018 #1
+1000 -- and from 2016 it was about 42%; that's a lot of people. fierywoman May 2018 #5
Yup tazkcmo May 2018 #7
People tired of same old-same old so they sat it out. fierywoman May 2018 #8
I wish she were running in a Presidential election year. dawg May 2018 #2
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe May 2018 #3
You bet RandomAccess May 2018 #4
All our recordings are done in Georgia DFW May 2018 #6

tazkcmo

(7,286 posts)
1. Exactly what I have been saying.
Fri May 25, 2018, 04:37 PM
May 2018

The non-voting public is our path to winning elections. We are not going to convince anybody that has been brainwashed into thinking Liberals are literally the devil to vote Democratic. We would be wise to focus our Energies and money on the segment of the population that has not voted for whatever reason. This includes new voters especially. In fact, I would pay special attention to first-time voters and harness their enthusiasm and energy into the volunteer network and ground campaign needed for this type of campaign.

dawg

(10,609 posts)
2. I wish she were running in a Presidential election year.
Fri May 25, 2018, 04:42 PM
May 2018

I'm thinking turnout is our best friend here.

But if Stacey is able to mobilize a historically high percentage of minority voters, there just might be enough of us white Georgia liberals and moderate Atlanta city-slickers to put her over the top.

DFW

(54,050 posts)
6. All our recordings are done in Georgia
Fri May 25, 2018, 05:56 PM
May 2018

Granted, this is Atlanta, and not out in the hinterlands, but all but one of the musicians I work with are solid blue Democrats except for one solid Republican, and he's from Alabama, anyway.

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