Stacey Abrams needs to lead the runoff effort in Georgia
t’s easy to want the new Biden administration to do many things. Including but not limited to doing no harm. The executive branch has unto itself vast powers. And there are already clear indications that Biden will use those powers early and often to right the administrative destruction wrought by Trump and his army of obedient flunkies.
However, if legislative support is required to get things done, the outlook is bleak for as long as the Senate is in Republican hands. Winning both Senate runoff elections in Georgia to wrest a majority in the upper chamber is not the only path forward for the new Biden administration, but it would greatly expand the palette of possibilities and is certainly worth mounting an all-out effort to accomplish.
Stacey Abrams should lead/coordinate the Georgia runoff campaigns. No one understands Democratic voters in Georgia better, and no one has greater respect among them. It’s a difficult assignment with a low probability of success. But the stakes are high enough to warrant the A-Team.
The two Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, face an uphill battle in the slimmed-down runoff field. It’s a safe bet that without new energy and a new game plan, both will lose. Such a game plan might well include less reliance on television advertising and a far more robust ground game. If Biden could beat Trump in Georgia, then Ossoff and Warnock can win too, but it’s going to take a significantly better effort.
Stacey Abrams, while not viewed as a progressive, has a significant amount of respect among progressives, and of course with black voters, she’s a legend. Absolutely she deserves a place in the new Biden administration. One from which she can continue her voter justice and empowerment campaign on a national level.
Biden flipped Georgia, but it’s still Georgia. For Democrats, black voters, mostly in Atlanta, hold the key. Democrats need the Senate, black voters and their elected leaders need more seats at the leadership table. Somebody call Stacey Abrams.
