Georgia's Very Own Megathread!

[Use Your Illusion]

President Obama just endorsed Stacey. Hopefully both he and Michelle come visit the Peach State this fall!

Absolutely fantastic news for the Abrams camp. It's hard to imagine that the Trump effect and Obama support is going to drastically drive up Republican turnout. If there's anyone who will get apathetic young voters who feel like Abrams doesn't have a shot to the polls it'll be Obama's blessing. If she runs a good, solid campaign it'll come down to the wire on election night.

Obama is no longer a boogeyman now that he’s out of office. I expect robocalls from him. Dispatching Michelle, Kamala Harris, and Gillibrand to Atlanta to shore up suburban women, Biden and Booker to South Georgia to shore up the rural black vote, Bernie to Athens for the liberal college voters. We can do this!

This is going to sound horrible no matter how I say it but if she needs that many endorsements to be elected then she simply is not a good enough candidate to climb the hill on her own and Georgia is not ready. That list is short of President Carter stumping for her and digging up Richard Russell. She has to make her own name and cannot rely on popular Democrats that Georgia either nevee voted for or has only popular interest connection

Biden, Harris, Gillibrand, and Booker are already planning on coming. LOL. I don't think it's that bad. Doug Jones had Biden, Patrick, Booker come to Alabama and Obama doing robocalls.

Abrams is not relying on these people, she is out there fighting for every vote, but some star power to shape the narrative that she actually has a chance in this red state is not a bad thing.

I'm not trying to be critical of endorsements only that she cannot hope to rely on them because she's gotta be the real deal on her own accord. As for Jones win, Roy Moore was openly despised by his own party AND Richard Shelby and lost because of it by the skin of his teeth. Abrams is fighting a much greater battle and while Obama and everyone else will help, she must seize the moment. I think it goes without saying just how much history she is on the cusp of here because unlike Doug Jones, her win is highly unlikely to come as a fluke. I wish the state of Georgia all the best and that the right candidate wins

[Adam Griffin]

At the Abrams Dalton event: it's almost over. Got a lot to say later!

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I thought Ben Jealous would win. But, I will take Stacy and Mike Espy

[Podgy the Bear]

I look at it this way--great to know that she is doing the Obama strategy of hitting hostile territory and going to places like Dalton to go after votes that surely would have been written off otherwise.  If she does this and can at least match the Hillary vote share in suburban Atlanta, she has a chance.

[Adam Griffin]

Just pointing out: this is the 4th visit to Whitfield County by Abrams since her campaign began (and 5th visit by her campaign).

So the Abrams campaigned first contacted the county party about this event on Monday morning. It may be different in metro ATL, but it is very hard to get a good crowd for anything in rural and Republican areas with 48 hours notice. I will say this is my biggest functional complaint about the campaign: they spring stuff without much notice at all (more so than the average statewide candidate).

Nevertheless, the county party used its email list and blasted a few thousand people with robocalls, and the Abrams campaign seemed to be running social media ads and blasting emails of the own.

The room reserved had 130 seats put out. In the end, 200 people showed up. In Dalton. With 2 days notice. With rain pouring. I can speak from personal experience that that is a very good and large crowd given the circumstances.

[Rookie Yinzer]

The room reserved had 130 seats put out. In the end, 200 people showed up. In Dalton. With 2 days notice. With rain pouring. I can speak from personal experience that that is a very good and large crowd given the circumstances.

That is awesome. Abrams is building a movement. My dad is a black Republican who is voting for her. I'm very excited for November.

[libertpaulian]

Just pointing out: this is the 4th visit to Whitfield County by Abrams since her campaign began (and 5th visit by her campaign).

So the Abrams campaigned first contacted the county party about this event on Monday morning. It may be different in metro ATL, but it is very hard to get a good crowd for anything in rural and Republican areas with 48 hours notice. I will say this is my biggest functional complaint about the campaign: they spring stuff without much notice at all (more so than the average statewide candidate).

Nevertheless, the county party used its email list and blasted a few thousand people with robocalls, and the Abrams campaign seemed to be running social media ads and blasting emails of the own.

The room reserved had 130 seats put out. In the end, 200 people showed up. In Dalton. With 2 days notice. With rain pouring. I can speak from personal experience that that is a very good and large crowd given the circumstances.

Were there voter registration people there, or at least people to make sure this crowd is registered?

[Dr. Arch]

The room reserved had 130 seats put out. In the end, 200 people showed up. In Dalton. With 2 days notice. With rain pouring. I can speak from personal experience that that is a very good and large crowd given the circumstances.

That is awesome. Abrams is building a movement. My dad is a black Republican who is voting for her. I'm very excited for November.

 

[Podgy the Bear]

Griff--Thanks for the pictures and information.  A very good turnout in early August in the pouring rain (and the weather is really bad this week in north Georgia).

FYI--in 2016, Clinton got 26% of the vote in Whitfield County (lowest Dem vote share since 1972) and lost by a margin of 13500 votes.  If Abrams can reduce the margins by 15-20% in places like Whitfield, it will go a long way.

[Adam Griffin]

Griff--Thanks for the pictures and information.  A very good turnout in early August in the pouring rain (and the weather is really bad this week in north Georgia).

FYI--in 2016, Clinton got 26% of the vote in Whitfield County (lowest Dem vote share since 1972) and lost by a margin of 13500 votes.  If Abrams can reduce the margins by 15-20% in places like Whitfield, it will go a long way.

I think she can make some real progress here in Whitfield especially. Another good metric to look at is the gubernatorial elections. In 2010, it was 72.3%-22.9%; in 2014, 66.9%-28.6%. That was the biggest swing of any county in GA in the 2014 gubernatorial race in favor of Carter, made possible by a resurgent local Democratic effort and a field operation of a couple of dozen dedicated volunteers with a $6000 field budget. I'm not saying we'll be able to replicate that margin swing again, but who knows...

[Adam Griffin]

Were there voter registration people there, or at least people to make sure this crowd is registered?

Personal information was collected which I'm sure will be fed into the campaign's existing database. Any non-RVs will likely be contacted (I hope). I'm willing to bet based on the look and feel of the crowd that almost everybody there who is of age is already registered...especially with AVR being the reality in GA for almost 2 years now, we're not far away from effectively having full registration in the state.

The 8-year driver's license is all you can get now (they jettisoned the 5-year option; implemented post-AVR), and there's hordes of people who will be renewing over the next 2-3 years.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I just watched the video of the event her campaign posted (because I'm weird and can't get enough of her). I absolutely LOVED her response to the lady's question about Stone Mountain. She explains the historical context of Confederate monuments and refuses to backtrack or back down (and then redirected focus back to REAL issues). I know Kemp is going to bring it up at a debate and she is going to eviscerate him.

I loved how she got the loudest applause when she mentioned expanding Medicaid. When I canvass for her that's what gets the most passionate response.

[Adam Griffin]

I just watched the video of the event her campaign posted (because I'm weird and can't get enough of her). I absolutely LOVED her response to the lady's question about Stone Mountain. She explains the historical context of Confederate monuments and refuses to backtrack or back down (and then redirected focus back to REAL issues). I know Kemp is going to bring it up at a debate and she is going to eviscerate him.

I loved how she got the loudest applause when she mentioned expanding Medicaid. When I canvass for her that's what gets the most passionate response.

FTR, that was a Republican plant. I saw her yakking afterward with several of the county GOP officials who also attended.

And yeah: we've used the straw poll question option available to all parties in their primaries to survey our county Democratic base electorate on a plethora of issues. Gun control? Maybe 70% support. Marijuana legalization? 70%. Gay marriage? 70-75%. Ending immigration profiling and the like? 65%. With Medicaid, though, it's a strong 90% - and very relevant here.

And I was just about to post the link to the town hall video for anybody who wanted to watch!

[Zaybay]

I just watched the video of the event her campaign posted (because I'm weird and can't get enough of her). I absolutely LOVED her response to the lady's question about Stone Mountain. She explains the historical context of Confederate monuments and refuses to backtrack or back down (and then redirected focus back to REAL issues). I know Kemp is going to bring it up at a debate and she is going to eviscerate him.

I loved how she got the loudest applause when she mentioned expanding Medicaid. When I canvass for her that's what gets the most passionate response.

Could I have the timestamp for that?

[Adam Griffin]

I just watched the video of the event her campaign posted (because I'm weird and can't get enough of her). I absolutely LOVED her response to the lady's question about Stone Mountain. She explains the historical context of Confederate monuments and refuses to backtrack or back down (and then redirected focus back to REAL issues). I know Kemp is going to bring it up at a debate and she is going to eviscerate him.

I loved how she got the loudest applause when she mentioned expanding Medicaid. When I canvass for her that's what gets the most passionate response.

Could I have the timestamp for that?

42:30ish

[Rookie Yinzer]

LMAO at her being a Republican plant. So that’s all they got? She doesn’t pay her taxes and she wants to sandblast Stone Mountain.

Keep talking about polices and how you want to improve the lives of Georgians Stacey. They’ve got nothing.

[libertpaulian]

I hope Kemp runs a pure "MUH SOUTHRON CULTURE IZ BEIN DESTROYED BY COLOREDS AND KWEERS" campaign while Abrams sticks to bread-and-butter issues.  It would be a real test to determine Georgia's political direction.

[Rookie Yinzer]

I hope Kemp runs a pure "MUH SOUTHRON CULTURE IZ BEIN DESTROYED BY COLOREDS AND KWEERS" campaign while Abrams sticks to bread-and-butter issues.  It would be a real test to determine Georgia's political direction.

His Twitter is full of baseless attacks on Abrams. I literally have no grasp of what his policy proposals are let alone why he wants the job of Governor. Meanwhile her Twitter is focused on policy proposals and she’s on a statewide Jobs tour.

ETA: Another thing I like is that she does give Governor Deal credit where it’s due and talks about how she can continue his legacy on things like criminal justice reform. Not a peep from Kemp on that.

[President Johnson]

I hope Kemp runs a pure "MUH SOUTHRON CULTURE IZ BEIN DESTROYED BY COLOREDS AND KWEERS" campaign while Abrams sticks to bread-and-butter issues.  It would be a real test to determine Georgia's political direction.

Which southern culture has been destroyed? Slavery? Segregation? White privilege? Pretty disgraceful for a candidate to say or indicate something like this, but it again feds Trump's narrative "we against them".

[libertpaulian]

I hope Kemp runs a pure "MUH SOUTHRON CULTURE IZ BEIN DESTROYED BY COLOREDS AND KWEERS" campaign while Abrams sticks to bread-and-butter issues.  It would be a real test to determine Georgia's political direction.

Which southern culture has been destroyed? Slavery? Segregation? White privilege? Pretty disgraceful for a candidate to say or indicate something like this, but it again feds Trump's narrative "we against them".

His whole "I'm politically incorrect" and "I'm so conservative" schtick implies what I said.

[YE]

Stacey Abrams is the perfect candidate who can get swept in in this environment despite the naysayers. She isn't exactly a conservative either and is easily better than what Stacey Evans would have done. She's one of my favorite Southern Dems atm and I say this as someone who supported Evans in the primary.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I hope Kemp runs a pure "MUH SOUTHRON CULTURE IZ BEIN DESTROYED BY COLOREDS AND KWEERS" campaign while Abrams sticks to bread-and-butter issues.  It would be a real test to determine Georgia's political direction.

Which southern culture has been destroyed? Slavery? Segregation? White privilege? Pretty disgraceful for a candidate to say or indicate something like this, but it again feds Trump's narrative "we against them".

That's all that Republicans have anymore. Unfortunately, it is more successful than it should be.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Georgia election officials knew system had ‘critical vulnerabilities’ before 2016 vote

I expect the Democrats will hammer Kemp on this.

[libertpaulian]

Georgia election officials knew system had ‘critical vulnerabilities’ before 2016 vote

I expect the Democrats will hammer Kemp on this.

John Barrow needs to hit this point home especially hard. 

[Rookie Yinzer]

FEARLESS QUEEN!

https://twitter.com/WaPoVanessa/status/1025497508448018432

Georgia election officials knew system had ‘critical vulnerabilities’ before 2016 vote

I expect the Democrats will hammer Kemp on this.

John Barrow needs to hit this point home especially hard. 

Yeah, I'm voting by absentee ballot. I don't trust Kemp at all.

Coalition for Good Governance filed a motion in federal court today to mandate GA use hand marked paper ballots this November.

https://coaltionforgoodgovernance.sharefile.com/share/view/se25b27c6a6f4ab48