The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

The guys who commit atrocities such as the massacre in Nisour Square will never be the ones to face the death penalty.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

It's hard to know how much of this is "inside the Beltway chatter that will never truly reach, let alone penetrate the consciousness of the masses. Just a few weeks ago there was talk about the so-called Squad going down to GA and campaigning for Warnock (which always seemed a dubious assertion, at best), which never materialized and seemed the invention of one shady blog.

 

 

Here is one reason why I disagree with the notion that this result was the product of some miracle-- this election result was not an isolated incident, it was the product of years' worth of organizing.

 

 

This is not to sound haughty but I just don't think most of us know enough of what's truly going on in GA to make the assertion that these gains weren't already in the making as a result of other factors that had little to do with luck and miracles, or some outside force.

[Khan]

 

Agree.  Stacey Abrams worked her ASS off from the day Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from her to get POC in GA registered and voting.  She and her team should be commended for "turning GA blue" and making their state THE story of the 2020 election.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

My thoughts exactly. Also, I am not sure that people realize that, even in the last election, as Abrams didn't get the governor's mansion, there were actual breakthroughs for a few Black candidates in GA at the local level. The media, so fixated on Trump supporters, rarely takes notice.

 

Now Arizona, I can possibly see the miracle claim being attributed to that state!

[ChitHappens]

Amen about Stacy.  Kemp picked the wrong one to rob!  

 

 

[Juliajms]

Yes, he did. Getting screwed over like that would have discouraged a lot of people, but SA just fought harder. I have tremendous respect for her.

[JaneAusten]

Yep but remember Abrams has been working on turning Georgia for over 10 years.  Something a lot of people forget. When I hear that Biden winning Georgia was a miracle, it discounts the work not only Stacey did but many grassroots groups over the past 10-12 years.

 

Arizona is a product of the same. Organizers have worked in AZ for years and the story there has been the grassroots organizing in not just the Latino communities but also Native American. 

 

I hope we can look past the cynicism and agree that both states are a result of hard work. AZ now has 2 democratic senators along with it. And maybe I am being Susie Sunshine but I do think Texas is in play for 2024. Talk is Beto will run in 2022 for Governor. And if he's on the ballot, that will juice up turnout for all the down ballot races as his candidacy did in 2018. And Harris County in Texas has changed politically over the past 10 years very significantly.

Edited December 26, 2020 by JaneAusten

[DRW50]

 

I think that Abrams worked incredibly hard, and I think she deserves most of the strategic credit, along with her team in Georgia. I don't bring up a miracle or luck to put her down. I just think in politics, especially with someone as uniquely appealing to toxic elements (who go out and vote in full force) as Trump, and on top of that, in a state with major voter suppression, it was miraculous to see all this not work and for Trump to lose. Even now I was reading about how the Secretary of State in Georgia wants to get rid of the no-excuse absentee voting that may have made a difference this year. So it feels like one of those moments where a lot of people worked hard and everything aligned, similar to North Carolina in 2008, which has since severely backslid in spite of a lot of hard work. You don't get those elements from just a fluke, but when everything comes together, then it's a miracle in of itself. I do hope that this continues with the Senate races and onward...I just don't have any real faith these days in what people vote for with their senators. Loeffler is truly repulsive, so I guess if someone loses it might be her, if the hatemongering attacks don't work.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The AZ comment was mentioned as a somewhat tongue in cheek utterance, as I know and have read about Indigenous/Native American groups and Latinx organizers working to get people registered.

Having close friends and people who are 'like family' who have lived in GA since the early aughts, I know that GA has been slowly transforming for the past two decades and should be the least surprising of these Southern states that flipped. Abrams definitely gave it a jolt by bringing together what is essentially a loose confederation of grassroots efforts and bringing them together via her organization, she said as much in her tweets.

 

...when she acknowledged other groups that had been doing this work.

[Vee]

Trending this morning: "SIGN THE BILL". Trump is holding the bag.

[JaneAusten]

I wasn't pointing to anyone in particular or even on this board with the comments I made. I apologize if it came across that  way. I just get frustrated when so many think one can just swoop in without doing the hard work and buy races. The GOP certainly did not do that despite the insane about of money that is spent. Well maybe the Tea Party which was a bought and paid for group of "grassroots" organizers.  But whenever you see shifts in places like Georgia Arizona and I will say even Texas it's based on years and years of work on the ground. And that ground work builds from the ground up which is likely why North Carolina reverted back.

 

Florida for example has a lot of problems and I think we can firmly say it's a red state at this point, but the potential there has been wasted. There are organizers there but a bumbling party structure for years has allowed the GOP to sell themselves there as saviors. Hard to imagine in a place that has bungled and covered up so much about COVID deaths in the state.  I have a friend who grew up in Puerta Rico and has tons of family there and she talks about how well organized the GOP is in terms of Puerta Ricans in Florida and the machine they have that helps people transition into the state with lots of help and the democrats think that swooping in 2 months before an election changes that?  Mississippi has the largest state black population in the country and there are organizers there but they also need help and money. I know people think it's too radical to think about MS changing but it's not provided the money to help those grassroots organizations there is possible.

The bill needs to be signed but that higher payment certainly needs to be addressed. $600 is a fricking joke.

[DramatistDreamer]

No need to apologize at all @JaneAusten
I know that you are definitely pushing back against cynicism, which is an important reminder. Personally, I fight cynicism daily when I read the newspaper but try to remind myself that perhaps, I personally wouldn't be here if cynicism had been allowed to take hold. At times(if you remember a salty post that I made just before the general election about wanting to avoid negativity), I have forcefully pushed back when I thought I was seeing hopelessness, perhaps more for my own mental health, more than any other reason, but I definitely understand and relate to what you're saying and took it no other way.

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It will be interesting to see if, and when the needle can be significantly be moved in Texas, which is definitely 'Bible belt' territory and although the evangelical movement has lost a lot of people, still has a hold which is not easy to shake loose.  People don't think of Florida as being connected but, spend any genuine amount of time in that state and you will see that Florida is part of that 'Bible belt' configuration (God, guns and football, NFL, that is). Whereas in GA, NC, AZ and increasingly, TX, you see those states being transformed hy the people that move in, Florida seems to have the opposite effect, those that decide to stay anyway.

[Taoboi]

Same. 

 

ETA: I take it back lol. And SA's hard work is definitely showing since I feel that I know more about her now than 10 years ago (and thank you all for the additional information). There have been several times here as I've been survive the zombie apocalypse, I ponder if I could do more for the voting there in January. She definitely has my respect.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Taoboi

[Vee]

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Hopefully GA Democrats ignore that and continue to go to the polls to vote, the same way they ignored Trump's incessant whining about so-called rigged elections.