Here’s are some statistics to make you sit up and take notice:
Turnout among black voters soared in last month’s Georgia primary, a show of strength that could bode well for Democrats in this year’s contests for governor and other statewide offices.
The number of black voters rose 43 percent in the May 22 election when compared with 2010, the last time there was a competitive race for governor, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of demographic data released this week by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
The data show the broad majority of African-American voters pulled Democratic ballots, which could bolster the hope of Stacey Abrams, who is racing to be the nation’s first black female governor. Her Republican opponent will be decided in a July 24 runoff between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
At the same time, the proportion of white voters continues to decline. White voter participation in last month’s primary was down 9 percent from 2010. And white voters are more likely to be conservative, making up 93 percent of the GOP primary vote — and just 30 percent of the Democratic support.
I assume some of this is purely related to the enthusiasm around Stacey Abrams and the prospect of electing the first black governor in the nation’s history, but it could indicate a higher degree of political engagement for the black community in this year’s elections in general. One thing the Republicans cannot rationalize is the decline in participation from their base.
We’re going to need all the votes we can get, because who knows what the Russians might still be able to do and what effect gerrymandering could have.
I also advise everyone to make sure older voters and seniors are still eligible and registered to vote as well. My mom missed a couple of primaries due to illness and I’m going to make sure she’s still in the voter rolls and I will drive her personally so she votes.
Every single vote counts more now than ever. Don’t waste yours!
Every democrat should seek out at least two non voters and get them onboard.
That should be a campaign for the campaign, e.g. each one reach one, or in this case two, and get them to the polls!
Indeed.
For additional context:
*As of the 2010 census, Georgia was roughly 60% white, 30% black, and 10% Latino/other.
*The number of nonwhite voters has risen 46% since 2010; 90% of those voters are Democratic.
So, if Abrams gets 90% of the African-American vote and 70% of the Latino/other vote, that gets her to 34%. Then she’d need about 27% of the white vote to win.
(If her percentages are higher—say, 95% of the black vote and 80% of the Latino vote–that gets her to 36.5%. Then she’d only need about 23% of the white vote.
If Democratic voters are more motivated than Republican voters, Abrams might be able to squeak by with 20% of the white vote.)
Hopefully, voting is like sex: If you try it once, you’ll want to try it again.
It may be that I’m a hopeless optimist, but just as 8 years of Bush hell brought us Obama, I see something good arising out of this mess.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/30/opinion/democratic-socialists-progressive-democratic-party-trump.
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The future of the county is its young folks. And yet my grandmother, who believed in equally of opportunity, would be so happy to watch this movement emerge.
American has been like a drunk for the last 40 years.
And most drunks don’t learn until they hit rock fucking bottom. It’s all been so theoretical, so esoteric. Now people are going to see their lives directly effected, and not so theoretical.
I’m just not so sure there is a bottom, we might just keep on falling.
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We will keep heading to hell until something really serious wakes us up, like more serious war or economic crash. Even then I fear the whakos will still be calling most of the shots since the sane people will be constrained to compromise. It’s the right thing to do after all.
You mean something serious like large portions of the planet becoming uninhabitable?
“I would make this war as severe as possible, and show no symptoms of tiring till the South begs for mercy.”
– William Tecumseh Sherman
Only if large parts of the US becomes uninhabitable.
Otherwise it isn’t their problem, is it?
This would be a feature, not a bug.
It makes it much easier to remove the natural resources. At least 50% of the American population would vote for such extractions, and corporations almost certainly have existing plans on how to go about it.
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Yeah, I thought that in 1972.
Now, if only “young folks” actually voted…
In case you could use a little inspirational pick-me-up to your Saturday. I know I needed it.
Kudos to Jeff Merkley, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Keith Ellison, Chelsea Clinton (those I noticed participating/supporting in some fashion).
They are not us.
. . . Worst President Ever a mere 8 years after dubya retired holding the title?
Kemp is the GOP candidate for gov. In 2014 Kemp was the SOS of Ga. He lost 50,000 voter registration forms submitted by African Americans in
GA. He never explained what happened and the GOP state government just acted like nothing happened. In 2017 Kemp let a computer server get destroyed that was part of a law suit regarding the voting system. Betcha GA does a voter purge right before the election. We can hope the tariffs drive the white voters from the polls.
Black woman governor in Georgia?
I’m fully supportive of her effort but it’s only slightly more likely than a black guy named Hussein being elected president.
Wait, now I’m stoked!
The SOS who did that voter purge was Brian Kemp. The winner of the Dem Primary to run against the Republican candidate (also in a runoff election in a couple of weeks) is John Barrow, who was the last white Democrat from the Deep South serving in Congress, at the time he lost his seat in 2014. The GOP kept redrawing his district’s lines and he kept having to move, but they finally succeeded in ousting him in 2014. He deserves support because if there’s one office that we need to regain it’s the one that controls the voting system. We do have the non-paper trail Diebold machines that are now 16 years old.
The competing ads from Cagle, the establishment guy (so described by his opponent), and Kemp, the non-establishment(not!)gun toting candidate in his ads who thinks he’s funny are truly frightening to me. Each claims to be the strongest Trump supporter and each is smearing the other. It’s turning out to be a very ugly runoff.
Either of them will be more extreme than the last two GOP governors (the only 2 in the last century), but I’d put Abrams chances of winning not very likely at this point. For a Democrat to win back the governorship, there’d need to be an Obama style candidate. Abrams is smart, but I’ve not seen the charisma. And the voting purges/shenanigans are still occurring, cause Kemp is still Secretary of State.
A final note, many of the candidates in the various GOP races ahead of the GOP primary claimed to be the true Conservative… implying that others in the GOP race were not. Strongest race to the right that I’ve ever seen in this state.It is altogether worrisome. Remember that voting is also a tribal thing and I know far too many fellow citizens who will ALWAYS vote for the Republican. That’s the only way that white women, for example, could have voted for Trump. Pure tribalism and racism.
I believe this election there will be another “silent majority,” but this time it’s a majority of people who are absolutely disgusted with Trump and the republicans who protect and enable him. They appear “silent” because the media is so obsessed with the Trump voter they ignore the group larger by 3 million more votes, who didn’t vote for Trump, making it seem as if they are a minority when they are clearly not.
The challenge will be coming to the polls in such numbers so as to overwhelm the undemocratic hurdles they put in place, from gerrymandering to “voter fraud” to maintain power.
The stakes are high, but they are clear. With organization, planning and volunteering, it can be done.
I call us the ‘silenced majority’. The media has zero interest in who we are or what we want.