Project Logic Ga

L.B.J. might have said you can’t win big “dadgum” elections without different sides coming together painfully.  The Kennedys reluctantly added him to Jack’s ticket and narrowly won the White House.  Recent segregationists, labor members and Blacks formed the Democrat Party from the 1970s until 2016. If you aren’t familiar with dadgum, you don’t need to grassroots campaign or Get Out The Vote in Georgia south of Macon.

Republicans know there aren’t enough rich people to win elections so they fan the flames of paranoia and division to increase their numbers with blue collar and no collar people.   It worked until the TEA Party types actually took over the GOP from the Country Club, pro-business types.  The team behind Hillary Clinton wanted to win with limited influence and involvement from rural Democrats.  Some argue that Team Stacey Abrams did the same.  Governor Kemp’s margin of victory could have been erased with a nominal effort in South Georgia.  Oh, Ms. Abrams logged countless hours south of the gnat line but something didn’t work.

My friends think you enlist local existing networks and have a list of issues unique to the region.  We could have given them a U.S.D.A./Farm Bill expert politico who was sitting by the phone; someone who knew every rural area like the back of his hand—lawyer, farmer, Hill veteran, Moderate Black college product.  There went 30,000 votes right there.  In a big state, candidates can’t be everywhere.

The Dems need a three legged stool in the South: Blacks, Progressives and Suburban Moderates.  In Georgia, each of those three groups has felt left out during big elections over the last 10 years.  Jason Carter for Governor and Michelle Nunn for Senate were based on Suburban Moderates at the expense of Blacks and Progressives.  The last two groups nearly put Stacey Abrams in the governor’s mansion but the lack of non-urban Whites was noticeable….could have tipped the scales noticeable.

After the 2021 Inauguration, the President should eat a peach and an orange in the Oval Office with either new Senator Stacey Abrams and soon to be cabinet member Andrew Gillum or Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  In other words, turning out Georgia and Florida could decide the next presidential election.

The Progressive Movement is reason for concern.  Movements are made of activists who might not be political party team players—do they work well with others.  If their candidate doesn’t win the primary, they sometimes stay home in the general election (Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton).  Do you remember P.U.M.A.?   Some Hillary Clinton supporters were all “Party Unity My A—s” after Obama emerged as the nominee.

I am just one Black Moderate voter but I was “all in” for Progressive Stacey Abrams for governor in the primary and general election.  If we are to have success in 2020, a lively primary with candidates for Senate from the three abovementioned “legs” could be healthy.  After the primary, Blacks, Progressives, and Suburban Moderates must stand shoulder to shoulder against Trump and the mess that has become the Republican Party.