Stacey Evans is running to be the governor of Georgia. The state legislator from Smyrna doesn’t really have a great shot, but neither do any of the other Democrats running. After all, Georgia’s about as red a state as you’re likely to find — but it’s cute that the Democrats keep trying.
Anyway, Evans stood up to speak at the Netroots Nation event, a gathering of liberal activists looking at how best to win elections. She stood up, but it’s not like she was allowed to speak.
Democrat @EvansforGeorgia is struggling to get through her #nn17 speech over protests from @staceyabrams backers. #gapol pic.twitter.com/TR23hHJqRo
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) August 12, 2017
Now, let’s keep in mind that Evans is a left-leaning candidate hoping to change Georgia from red to blue. But that’s not enough. It seems the issue is, at least in part, that Evans is white.
Evans, a Smyrna state legislator who is white, was drowned out by demonstrators supporting Stacey Abrams, an Atlanta lawmaker who is black. A phalanx of sign-wielding protesters formed a line in front of her as soon as she took the podium, while others chanted “support black women” and “trust black women.” What followed was several minutes of pleading – “let’s talk through it,” Evans implored repeatedly – and an attempt to plow through the speech.
After the event, several of the protesters declined to comment. Some demonstrators said on social media they rallied against her because she backed a failed GOP effort to give the state new powers over struggling schools; one African-American activist said in an interview she couldn’t point to any specific policy decisions but that she wanted a “a candidate that truly speaks to my community.”
Abrams’ campaign said it didn’t play any role in staging the protest and defied calls by some Georgia Democrats to rebuke the demonstration. In a statement, Abrams said she would not “condemn peaceful protest” and called the racially-tinged chants an effort to bring marginalized voices to the forefront and not an attack on Evans’ race.
Because when you want to combat white supremacy, the best thing in the world is to simply try and flip the script and push black supremacy. Especially in Georgia.
Yeah…that’ll work.
To be clear, Evans’ campaign strategy is the best possible one for a Democrat in Georgia. She’s hoping to lure disaffected conservatives and independents. It’s not likely she’ll find many who are disaffected enough to vote for the left, but it’s about the only hope the Democrats have to take the governor’s mansion.
Abrams’ failure to condemn this, however, won’t help. She’s officially offered her support for the heckler’s veto, something many have seen happen all over the country and are disgusted by. Condemning the actions isn’t the same as calling for an arrest. It’s not the same as wanting to change laws to ban such behavior.
No, condemning it could have been as simple as saying, “Look, that’s not cool. Let’s save the animosity for the real opponents.”
But no, Abrams didn’t do that. If, by some miracle, she makes it to the general election, her tacit support for the heckler’s veto will be brought up.
Couple that with the attitude that somehow black candidates are the only ones who should be considered, that white candidates can’t represent black people, and you have the makings of a landslide for Republicans in the state.
Again.
Hat tip: RedState
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