Georgia Sharpens Democrats’ Debate About How to Win

There is a growing debate within the Democratic Party about the kind of candidate who would be best positioned to beat President Donald Trump in 2020. Would it be one with a working-class message like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont? Or would it be a more establishment figure with a similar appeal like former Vice President Joe Biden? The victory of Stacey Abrams, an African-American woman, in the Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary on May 22 is a reminder that nothing matters unless you first win the nomination, and that Hillary Clinton's strategy in the last election might be more effective in 2020.

I first wrote about the Georgia race almost a year ago because it showed the potential to be one of the marquee Democratic primaries in 2018, even if it wasn't clear what the themes would be. Although race is always going to be a dominating factor in a Deep South election between a white and a black candidate, the sizable margin and geographic breadth of Abrams' victory shows that other issues mattered, too. The two candidates for the nomination had similar positions on most issues, so the election became a referendum on what kind of voters Georgia Democrats should try to turn out. Abrams' pitch borrowed from the Clinton playbook: The focus needed to be on the base of the party — people of color and women, especially in metro Atlanta, and especially those who might not be registered to vote. Stacey Evans, Abrams' opponent, argued that this strategy targeted a coalition that was too narrow and that some independent and rural white voters would be needed to win the general election in November.