She has come to represent for most on the right — and even some on the left — the poster child for modern left-wing social activism. Indeed, since bursting onto the political stage four years ago, Stacey Abrams has become widely known for loudly signaling her progressive virtue, effectively organizing like-minded voters across the nation, and refusing to concede in a gubernatorial race she had clearly lost. Through it all, Abrams developed a profile high enough to rate a mention when Joe Biden decided he must select a woman of color to be his vice president.
Now the former Georgia state representative takes her second shot at becoming governor of the Peach State. And given her portrayal as a rising star — one of a precious few — in the Democratic Party, on top of the fact that she came close to winning four years ago, she should be ideally positioned to succeed in 2022, right? Well, apparently not.
Something happened to Abrams on the way to the governor’s mansion in Atlanta. It started with her insistence — without evidence other than generalized, unsubstantiated claims of voter suppression and racism — that she was cheated out of a victory in her race against Republican Brian Kemp in 2018. Thus, like Donald Trump since 2020, she has refused to ever concede defeat in a race decided by more than 54,000 votes.
Nevertheless, she became an icon on the left and hit peak visibility two years after her unacknowledged loss. In 2020, as the country descended into violent chaos, she aroused social justice warriors across the nation with her impressive oratorical talent, organizing skills, and fundraising ability. She banked the resulting political capital for a highly anticipated rematch with now-Governor Kemp. All the dominoes seemed set to fall her way.
But as the country came to realize that the progressive policies demanded by the likes of Abrams and implemented by their avatar Joe Biden were leading to soaring inflation, crime, and illegal immigration, her star began falling from the high sky. Woke prosecutors conducting social experiments with the safety of its citizens have become overwhelmingly discredited. Eliminating cash bail and allowing even violent criminals to return immediately back to the streets have been a disaster in great cities from New York to San Francisco. Violent crime and murder rates are setting ominous new records, representing a serious drag on Democrats’ standing among independent voters — now more than 40% of the electorate — and disaffected Republicans.
Stacey Abrams Losing Momentum
Stacey Abrams (Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
But those are just the issues damaging Democrats — and especially progressives — on the national level. For the good folks of Georgia, it was a single statement by Abrams in May of this year that has in many ways come to define her seeming contempt for ordinary folk and the very state she proposes to govern. It was a gaffe or shocking admission of epic proportions from which — like Hillary Clinton’s deplorables and Joe Biden’s semi-fascists — she is unlikely to ever escape. Here is her jaw-dropping assessment of a state in which she owns two homes: “I am tired of hearing about how we’re the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live.” Of course, her opponent Kemp hit that fat pitch out of the park, responding, “Stacey Abrams may think differently, but I believe Georgia is the best state to live, work, and raise a family.” It didn’t help that she had previously been unmasked for burning the Georgia state flag while in college.
Then there is the pressing issue of defunding the police. Abrams openly favored that insane idea during the year-long nightmare of 2020 but now claims otherwise — despite statements on camera to the contrary — and is now shamelessly reversing field, calling for an increase in police salaries. Talk about a hard sell, not dissimilar to, say, Biden admitting he likes Donald Trump after all.
If championing horrifying policies and defaming her own state — teeming with semi-fascists, we presume — weren’t toxic enough to her campaign, you can add an advanced case of mask hypocrisy. Fitting the caricature of the control-freak leftist like a glove, Abrams continued to demand mask mandates long after they had proven ineffective. And then, as if on cue, she was caught on camera maskless in a classroom filled with mask-compliant children. Talk about bad optics.
And so, with the near-meteoric rise of Stacey Abrams in the rearview mirror, and her trailing consistently outside the margin of error in gubernatorial polls, it is looking more and more like her equally rapid fall may be imminent. If you don’t believe it, check out the panicked headline in the hallowed halls of the Gray Lady. “Democrats Fret as Stacey Abrams Struggles in Georgia Governor’s Race,” blared the New York Times, unimpeachable source of leftist wisdom, complaining that she took for granted the party’s most loyal supporters, as her approval drops among the minority voters she must turn out to win.
In the end, it may just be that Stacey Abrams has become like that soaring fly ball more impressive in height than distance, at first eliciting oohs and aahs from the crowd, before descending well short of the outfield wall — or even the warning track — for the last out of the game.
