It’s official: Democrats don’t start their real campaigns until election tallies suggest they’ve lost. How else can one explain their post-election antics in Florida and Georgia? In fact, just to make it sporting, Andrew Gillum conceded to Ron Desantis (R–FL), before his lawyers and handlers convinced him to fight on (pretty sure these “election experts” had dreams of cushy government jobs). In the realm of possible outcomes, Democrats Bill Nelson, Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams were never going to change the election results. So – – what we observed was evidence of one political party’s hunger for power by any means.
Vote recounts should not be complicated because states have election laws to ensure citizens of the legitimacy of polling results. Therefore, it was mere posturing when Nelson, Gillum and Abrams clamored for justice, and no one should be surprised their lawsuits were overwhelmingly met with judicial restraint. Did you know recounts have only reversed three statewide-election results since 2000? This is true, and there have been 27 recounts after 4,687 statewide elections between 2000 and 2015 – and the most “extra” votes ever found were in 2,000 by Al Gore in a losing cause. Abrams (55,000-vote deficit), Gillum (34,000-vote deficit) and Nelson (10,003-vote deficit) had NO SHOT at reversing the election outcome. Their post-election filibusters only served to keep their names in the news and their supporters (and money) engaged, while subverting the majority’s will. Shame on them!
Since I began voting (1972), I have observed an un-patriotic shift from losing Democrats. In 1980, Jimmy Carter made the gracious concession of a values-driven man: “When I ran for president, I told you I would never lie to you; so, I cannot stand here tonight and say it doesn’t hurt.” By 1984, Walter Mondale had introduced the defiant concession of a self-righteous politician: “My loss tonight does not diminish the importance of our struggle…so tonight let us be determined to fight on.” In 2018, Stacey Abrams (D-GA) floated the non-concession of a seditious mutineer: “Democracy failed in Georgia…in the coming days, we will be filing a major federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia.”
We learn a lot about politicians when fear or anger expose the private self they try to hide from the public. Mondale revealed his condescending arrogance, and Abrams revealed her preachy piety. Jimmy Carter’s balanced-life maturity is clearly absent from such sore losers. Carter’s concession exemplified a man for whom the presidency was what he did and not who he was. He gave it his best shot and did not demonize the victor (or nitpick the 116,990 polling places). He remained magnanimous and later served liberal causes in other ways – including being a common laborer to provide housing to the needy. Carter’s patriotic concession and life after losing are quite the counterpoint to the pathetic images of today’s power-hungry souls clawing for any chance at power and influence.
Democrats should be ashamed the one Republican to read the DNC memo was Donald Trump, the object of their fear and loathing. His answer (“I don’t know…maybe”) regarding whether he would honor the 2016 election results sparked outrage from Democrats and their media allies. Trump’s answer was pathetic, and wasn’t just the way a boorish billionaire hardhat from Queens talks (which is an insult to hardhats from Queens). Trump’s non-answer, like Stacey Abrams non-concession, presumed command and control over the election. Wrong! Maybe in office, but never during an election because we the people elect those who govern, and those who govern work for we the people.
Stacy Abrams post-election behavior has been self-centered and undermined Georgia’s representative democracy. Her victorious opponent, Brian Kemp, accurately described Abrams as having “moved from desperation to delusion” after her loss. Abrams did speak in desperation: “You see as a leader, I should be stoic in my outrage and silent in my rebuke.” Absent the good cheer of a true leader, the should-have-been with a microphone attempted to delude Georgians: “Let’s be clear: this is not a speech of concession because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that.”
In America, the term “concession” is understood to mean an admission that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it, or to surrender or yield. Abrams did publicly admit Kemp won and did surrender to Georgia’s election laws, but still insisted her parting shots were not a concession. Americans also understand “delusion” to mean an idiosyncratic belief that is maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. Everyone but Ms. Abrams accepted Governor-elect Kemp, and Ms. Abrams embarrassed herself by tip-toeing around CNN’s Jake Tapper’s questions on the issue of concession. I suspect Ms. Abrams is only fooling (deluding) herself because the facts betray her public comments.
Even though Georgia voter turnout was 16.4% above 2014 levels, she blamed Republicans of voter suppression (107,000 non-active Georgians were purged from voter rolls in 2017). Abrams also blamed Brian Kemp (R-GA) for the use-it-or-lose-it policy, when a Democrat-controlled legislature and governor enacted the state’s 1997 “Use It or Lose It” law. Furthermore, the purge of 107,000 non-active voters in 2017 was a 4-year total and not the typical 2-year accumulation. Did you know 40 percent of Georgia’s electorate (2.6 million voters) sat out the 2018 election? This is true, meaning a plurality of Georgia’s 6.5 million registered voters – including rural whites and urban blacks – did not vote for either Kemp or Abrams (source: The New York Times). Finally, Abrams lost by only 58,000 votes; therefore, had she convinced 2.3% of Georgia’s registered non-voters to get out and vote, she would be the governor-elect.
When the math and path are that simple, Abrams should shoulder the blame, rather than concoct a conspiracy theory. I suspect Georgians probably detected her lack of accountability and decided she was not chief-executive material. In a state with 7.5 million adults, Ms. Abrams behaved as if she’s just that right and 2 million Kemp voters were just that wrong. Who died and made her Joan of Arc? Probably the same people who died and voted for her (cue the laugh track). The bigger issue is Abrams exemplified the new SOP (standard operating practice) for losing Democrats: demand a recount, blame Republicans for voter suppression, and demonize the basket of deplorables. Such behavior is patently un-American. While losing a single election is at worst a setback, demonizing the other side pushes America to the brink of sectarian violence. Shame on these sore losers.
