A Bridge In Georgia

[n2doc]

As Republicans head to the polls to select a U.S. Senate candidate who will almost certainly hail from the right, Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter--daughter of Senator Sam and grandson of President Jimmy--take the middle path on a road destined to veer left.

By Bob Moser

On a Thursday evening in late April, more than 1,000 Georgia Democrats paid $250 a plate to gather in a vast, ugly Atlanta ballroom and toast their party’s unexpected resurrection at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. Just two years earlier, the Democratic Party of Georgia was careening toward insolvency, leaderless and rudderless after losing its 130-year grip on power in the early 2000s. Even as the state’s nonwhite population had grown past 40 percent, thanks to an influx of Latinos and a remigration of African Americans from up North, conservative Republicans had seized control of every state office and built untouchable legislative majorities. Georgia Dems were deader than a smushed possum on Route 92.

More than joy, the black and white faces in the Georgia World Congress Center registered a kind of pinch-me surprise: How in hell did this happen?

Now here they were, with big-name candidates for governor and U.S. Senate who had a realistic shot to win, with national Democrats throwing serious cash into the state for the first time in decades, and with Georgia progressives building a voter-mobilizing infrastructure based on successful models in Colorado and Minnesota. More than joy, the black and white faces in the Georgia World Congress Center registered a kind of pinch-me surprise: How in hell did this happen?

But beneath the relief and elation, old underlying tensions—the same uneasiness that has haunted Southern Democrats ever since blacks began voting en masse in the 1960s and whites began to flee to the GOP—still whispered their way around the room. Following a round of applause for those who’d participated (and been arrested in) the Moral Monday protests that commenced in the state this year, one of the more notable arrestees delivered the invocation. The young Reverend Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, once pastored by Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr., has become a fiery symbol of the Georgia to come. While he hit the theme of the night—“light does overcome darkness”—he also pointedly warned the rising Democrats to beware “lest in our rush for power we crush the poor” and “exchange politics for principle.”

Whether or not this message was aimed at them, two beacons of this sudden Democratic resurgence couldn’t escape the furtive gazes of bowed heads: state Senator Jason Carter, grandson of Jimmy and gubernatorial hopeful, and Michelle Nunn, a first-time candidate who’s in a toss-up race for her father Sam’s old U.S. Senate seat.

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http://prospect.org/article/how-two-centrist-dems-may-herald-progressive-future-georgia

[wyldwolf]

1. I think this is a very divisive article

I'm not sure he meant to come across that way but he seems to be making the case that Nunn and Carter are happy accidents.

Not only do I find it divisive, I don't think it paints a unrealistic picture of Democrats in Georgia. As someone who has had 'my boots on the ground' in that State for a number of years, I know Georgia has a small but loud 'netroots-style' progressive movement centered mostly in Atlanta. I know they've formed dozens of little PACS and groups with fancy names. Most are hardworking but some do little more than meet for drinks down at manuel's tavern to pat themselves on the back and congratulate themselves for being soooo progressive. Occasionally they get quoted in articles in the local media which gives a false impression of how large their movement is. But most of the Democrats (especially outside of Atlanta) are older holdovers from Georgia's once dominant Democratic party (and their children.) They never made the leap to Reagan land but candidates like Bernie Sanders would make them mighty uncomfortable.

There is no (at least not yet) invisible progressive movement waiting to rise up in Georgia. Despite what Bob Moser (the author) wants us to believe, the growing African American and Hispanic populace are not netroots-style progressives. They understand social and economic justice for sure but, because they're also often very religious, they're tepid on social issues like abortion and gay marriage (I wish I had a dime for every African American Democrat in Atlanta who has expressed discomfort with those issues.)

The writer makes it sound like Nunn and Carter got where they are because of some kind of white privilege and that they better be careful because all that "promising political talent" that just happen to be African American are watching. What Moser fails to mention is that talented group had ample opportunity to declare for these offices. Congressman John Lewis is certainly capable of running a Senate or Governors campaign (I, for one, don't think his age would be an issue at all - he's still sharper than most of us.) Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has the national exposure and national connections to mount such a race. Former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin has been wooed for a senate race in the past and has politely declined. Denise Majette ran and lost (badly) for Senate as did Vernon Jones (who lost in a runoff.) I've met and spent various amounts of time with them and others like Fulton County Commission chair John Eaves. I know how politically savvy and talented they are. Of those, Reed is the most ambitious. There must be some reason why he hasn't flirted with higher office. Perhaps he knows his voter base would shrink exponentially outside the greater Atlanta area. (by the way, Reed is working hard for Nunn.)

So, yeah, Georgia has a blue future. But Moser felt the need to wag his finger at Nunn and Carter for assembling campaigns that can actually win in Georgia. It's an example of what some have always accused the left of - allowing purity tests to undermine a winning campaign.

Finally, Nunn's answer to 'are you a real Democrat' was just a polite way of saying "my family has been Democrats for generations, certainly longer than you smart ass Kos Kids and frankly I'm tired of the question so shut the fuck up." Instead she politely replies “I think it is self-evident, since I’m standing here on this stage to win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate that I am a Democrat.” If I were her, I would have added "I was recruited by the state's top Democrats and Democratic money is pouring into my campaign from all over the country. My status in this party is certainly not a concern to them.'