Because we should. She can win.
Let’s start with what we already know: Abrams electrified the electorate of Georgia and made the entire nation take notice of Georgia’s potential to be a blue state. Abrams had, perhaps, the best State of the Union response in recent memory. She’s known from coast-to-coast as a fearless fighter for progressive issues and the right to be heard.
Here’s what you don’t know: That SOTU response? It had watch parties not just in Georgia or in DC, but across the nation. In Iowa, in New Hampshire, In California. Her PAC, FairFight has changed from a state organization to a national one. Abrams IS national. She’s being urged to run not for Senate, but for President, and she seems to be listening. Here’s her campaign manager on Twitter:
You know what else? Of all the people considering running, she’s ahead of nearly ALL of them and the fifth choice among all the candidates. AND NOBODY IS EVEN TALKING ABOUT HER.
This is from Bold Blue Campaigns, a Democratic pollster:
When asked to state which declared or potential Democratic Presidential candidate they would vote for if the 2020 Primary in their state was held today 48% were undecided. The top vote getter was Joe Biden at 12%, followed by Kamala Harris at 11%.
Rounding out the top 5 were Bernie Sanders (9%), Beto O’Rourke (7%), and Stacey Abrams (5%). Abrams was included in the poll after her national response to President Trump’s State of the Union Address on behalf of the Democratic Party (which 58% of the poll respondents watched). The only other candidates in the field to poll above 1% were Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand at 3% each, and Amy Klobuchar and Sherrod Brown at 1% each.
And it gets even better for Abrams. You ever been to an Iowa caucus site? Caucus goers tend to be whiter and older than the state overall. But this year the Iowa Democratic Party has changed the rules: You can vote from home, online. They offer Ranked Choice Voting. It’s a very different game. And it’s a game that Abrams could crush. She is the only one of the Presidential contenders that has run a hyper-targeted heavily digital campaign. She’s the only one who has run a strong canvass program. She leads the entire field in support among young people 18-29 (in the same poll). Those are exactly the people who haven’t been a part of Iowa Caucuses previously (except maaaaybe for Bernie) but who can now vote from home.
So why aren’t people talking about Abrams?
Maybe because they think she’s going to eventually run for Senate, nothing stops her from dropping down to run for Senate against David Perdue after Iowa (or New Hampshire or even South Carolina) if the results aren’t what she wants.
Super Tuesday is the South plus California, and the South is fired up for Abrams. If she can get through Iowa and New Hampshire, this is a path to victory. People are talking about whether she will run for Senate. They need to be talking about so much more.