The Left Can't Meme: Stacey Abrams Edition

It’s a given that Democratic politicians simply aren’t funny. They don’t do comedy or memes well at all. And the latest example of this phenomenon is Georgia’s self-appointed governor, Stacey Abrams.

To explain how Stacey Abrams has proven yet again that the left can’t meme, here’s some context. The latest meme trend involves the Little Miss and Mr. Men series of children’s books that British author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves began in 1971.

“The illustrations of the Little Miss memes date all the way back to 1971 when Hargreaves was asked by his son Adam to describe what a tickle looked like,” explains Chance Townsend at Mashable. “Mr. Tickle, a yellow, squiggly man donning an adorable blue top hat, spearheaded the Mr. Men series which went on to sell over 100 million copies worldwide, including the spinoff series Little Miss in 1981, along with multiple TV shows on the BBC. Roger Hargreaves died in 1988 with his son Adam taking over Mr. Men with new drawings and stories.”

Mashable credits meme creator @juulpuppy with the 2022 resurgence of Little Miss and Mr. Men. And on Tuesday, Abrams issued her own lame version of the Little Miss meme trend.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams)

The meme really is terrible, and it doesn’t work on two levels. First, she (or her campaign) used an old elementary school photo of Abrams rather than a play on the Little Miss characters, which removes all the context of the meme, rendering it completely useless.

Second, barring some really unforeseen circumstances, Stacey Abrams has no future as Georgia’s governor.

Flashback: The DOT’s Twitter Meme Doesn’t Just Offend Comedy — It May Also Be Illegal

Here’s the lay of the land: The RealClearPolitics average has Gov. Brian Kemp with a five-point advantage over Abrams. The most recent polling shows Republicans with leads in all statewide races except one, and the single race with a Democrat winning — the race between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and football great Herschel Walker — is within the margin of error.

Viewing this polling within the typical Peach State trend where Republicans poll lower in the summer than they do in the fall, the 2022 elections look really good for Republicans — and especially heinous for Abrams.

But Abrams’ hubristic Instagram post smacks of another post from 2016, this one from the Least Self-Aware Human Being on Earth™, Hillary Clinton.

Happy birthday to this future president. pic.twitter.com/JT3HiBjYdj

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 26, 2016

That one didn’t age well at all, did it? (And I’ll leave it up to you to add your own aging Hillary jokes.)

Same vibe. Same result. pic.twitter.com/EdyCxPmjTS

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 27, 2022

Let’s face it: there’s naturally a certain amount of arrogance that goes along with running for high office. Anyone running for governor or president has to have an inflated sense of self. But translating that attitude into a meme that jumps the gun on an election that’s weeks or months away can be a bad look, especially when it backfires the way it did for Hillary.

Abrams’ Instagram meme is presumptuous and poorly done. And, worst of all, it’s not funny. Thanks to Stacey Abrams, we have even more proof that the left can’t meme, no matter how hard it tries.