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I’m detecting a slight odor of hypocrisy in response to this tweet and other calls for Stacy Abrams to run for the Senate in Georgia. It’s quite obvious that she needs to run for the good of the Democratic Party and the country
Many of the same people previously calling on Beto, Bullock, and Hick to run for senate in their red states are arguing Abrams should get a pass. She shouldn’t.
One defense is that Abrams has said she doesn’t want to run. But the aforementioned Dems have all said the same thing - and that has hardly stopped the calls for them to give up their presidential campaigns.
Bullock, in particular has said he doesn’t want to go back and forth to Montana every weekend with three kids at home. That seems like a legit reason not to run. Of course, he should run. His country desperately needs him.
The other defense of Abrams is that she’s spearheading an effort to combat voter suppression, which is certainly more defensible than a long-shot, vanity campaign for the White House.
But lots of people can pick up the reins of her voter access campaign ... there is, however, one Democrat in Georgia who has shown the ability to win nearly 50% of the vote statewide. And her name is Stacey Abrams
By flipping a Georgia Senate seat blue Abrams could also do far more to improve voter access, especially if she puts Dems in the majority.
There’s also the fact that two senate seats in Georgia are up in 2020, which means that if she runs her star power could help propel another Democratic candidate in Georgia to victory.
There is almost certainly no better, more politically attractive Dem candidate in Georgia than Abrams. That’s also true of Bullock in Montana and slightly less so for Beto in Texas
Finally, there’s a more cynical explanation for Abrams reticence that is being ignored - she has said she would be open to a vice presidential nod. Running for senate would make that impossible. So it’s not hard to reason that ambition is keeping Abrams from running for senate
To put it bluntly, Stacey Abrams running for Senate could have profound political implications. It could give Democrats a majority in the senate with a Democratic President.
If that happens we could see real progress on issues like climate change, guns, health care and voter access.
Bullock, Beto and Abrams should all run for senate - as Hickenlooper has since decided. For her not to run is an abdication of responsibility.
Progressives shouldn’t be giving her a pass for sitting the campaign out. They should be publicly calling on her to run for senate. Period
