Stacey Abrams' Embarrassing Weekend

It must be tough to be part of Stacey Abrams’ campaign. For starters, the ~~governor~~ candidate has bought into every bit of the fawning press the mainstream media has generated for her. Secondly, she seems completely blind to the political realities that not everybody loves her like the left does — especially in Georgia.

Last but not least, she continues to put herself in a position that makes it too easy for Gov. Brian Kemp and his team to not just attack her, but also to make fun of her. This weekend is a prime example of why Stacey Abrams has become such an embarrassing candidate.

On Saturday, Abrams went to Athens, Ga., to hold a campaign rally and speak to people downtown. On Saturdays in the fall, Athens can be a hopping town, with tailgating all over the place. The weekend before last, Kemp and other GOP candidates tailgated and hobnobbed with faithful Georgia Bulldogs fans.

This year, with the Georgia Bulldogs at the top of the polls and looking unstoppable, Athens is the center of the college football universe, at least when the Bulldogs are playing at home. On Saturday, the Dawgs were in Columbia, S.C., to take on the University of South Carolina.

Really astute politics here. Holding a rally in Athens during the Georgia game… that’s in South Carolina. #gapol https://t.co/n3eCM13JXr

— Cody Hall (@CodyHallGA) September 17, 2022

Yeah, yeah, I know. Not everybody comes to Athens for football. Also, Athens is a reliably left-wing town. (And, to be fair, it’s a heck of a lot easier to find parking when there aren’t as many tailgaters around.)

But if you’re looking to reach voters who may not have made up their minds who to vote for, rather than just preaching to the faithful, it seems like you’d be better off showing up when the team and its faithful are at home, rather than away.

As Erick Erickson puts it, “You just don’t do that. And yet she did, without much of a crowd.”

And notice she’s wearing blue. Sure, that’s the official color of leftism, but you’d think she would show up in a college town wearing the school’s red and black. After all, she pretends to be a UGA fan.

I’m a @SpelmanCollege alum, but I’m rooting for @GeorgiaFootball today.

Happy game day, #GoDawgs! pic.twitter.com/yQZfkxwVf2

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) September 3, 2022

So there’s one embarrassing moment. But wait: there’s more.

Abrams has made a big deal out of her Star Trek fandom, even parlaying it into a breathlessly touted cameo on one of the Star Trek shows as President of United Earth (sorry if you lost your appetite at that thought).

Happy #StarTrekDay pic.twitter.com/eWm7VM3jhH

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) September 9, 2022

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s Greg Bluestein pointed out a hilarious mailer that the Kemp campaign sent out. The campaign piece takes advantage of Abrams’ close identification with the Star Trek brand.

>@GovKemp’s campaign swipes at @staceyabrams Star Trek fandom with this mailer hitting Georgia households this week: “Planet Stacey. Boldly going where California and New York have gone before.” #gapol https://t.co/R8XmKObpFd pic.twitter.com/YbKGcd7gCf

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) September 18, 2022

“Planet Stacey. Boldly going where California and New York have gone before.” It’s a brilliant ad with its digs at both Abrams’ geekery (apologies to my Star Trek-fan friends, but she seems obsessed) as well as how beholden she is to influences and donations from far outside the Peach State.

As of July, only 14% of Abrams’ campaign money has come from within the state of Georgia. By contrast, around the same time, Kemp’s fundraising was nearly a mirror image, with 83% of his fundraising coming from instate. On top of that, Abrams’ values and campaign promises match those of the coastal elites far more than those of most Georgians.

And polling bears out that reality. As of this writing, the RealClearPolitics average has Kemp up 5.3 points over Abrams, which has been consistent. It’s a totally different story from 2018 when Kemp and Abrams ran a tight race against each other.

Erickson points out that “no poll this year has had Kemp behind Abrams and most have him ahead by more than five. Four years ago, the polls were split 50/50 over who was winning.”

Keep it up, Stacey. Maybe once you’ve lost, you’ll have a full-time job as part of the cast of Star Trek.