Stacey Abrams Would Have Been Better for Georgia than Brian Kemp

Why an Adversarial Relationship Among Branches of Government Can Be a Good Thing

Last week, on social media, I fielded the following question from a veteran Georgia Republican House member preparing to participate in the 2024 Georgia General Assembly. Concerning my recent Substack entitled, “How to Build a Police State While No One Notices,” he wrote,

Question? So you think Stacey would have done a better job? I do see some of what you say. Even more than I like . However I have said this over and over If you do not VOTE !!!! Because of whatever you believe. Then I can’t help Stupid!!! With the mental health yes I see much to be concerned about . The same nonsense with Hate Crimes. I do believe you are very smart and you are concerned as I am. You know me and I have always been respectful but I am tired of The Biden administration! I am also tired of people who say they are Republicans and Conservatives when they are not. However I am also fed up with people that NO ONE can please. Merry Christmas. Sometimes we all have to agree to disagree.

I voted for Kemp both times. As it turns out, Abrams would have been a better choice

“Agree to disagree,” I hear that a lot, mainly from individuals who run out of arguments and find themselves vulnerable in the weak positions they take. Now, of course, there would be issues on which I can agree to disagree, sure. I mean, what should be the legal weight limit on Georgia highways for vehicles hauling this or that? There is room for disagreement there. Maybe one industry ought to have a higher weight limit than another based on…whatever. And I can live with any politician with whom I have an objective, differing opinion on policies such as I describe. But my friend asked a worthy question, one that has been rolling around in my head for awhile, whether Stacey Abrams would have “done a better job” as governor than Brian Kemp.

I’m not going to walk away from questions like that. I am glad to receive them. And I won’t just leave the questioner saying we’ll have to “agree to disagree.” I am going to answer the question fully, taking the adverse position that Georgia and America would have been better off with Stacey Abrams as governor rather than Brian Kemp, and explain why. Without disclosing his name, here is the answer I gave this Georgia Republican Representative:

That is a quite an excellent question, ________, whether Stacey Abrams would have done a better job. In fact, I will likely write on that question as a first order after the New Year, as that thought has already occurred to me. However, I will ask the question a little differently, and that is to determine whether, given a Republican House and Senate, a Governor Stacey Abrams would have done less harm to our state and country than Brian Kemp. And my answer would be a resounding YES. Given a Republican House and Senate there is no doubt Stacey Abrams would have done less harm. That is largely because there would have been an adversarial relationship between the legislative branch and the governor's office, a condition which would have allowed much less harm, been much less divisive to the Republican Party, and placed Georgia Republicans in a much better place to win in 2024 than it is today.

How can I say that?

First of all, there is no way on God's green earth that you and the rest of the Republicans in the House and Senate, save an extremely small minority, would have voted for SB221 in 2021, handing the Governor unlimited means to solicit and receive funds inside of a private "Leadership Committee," a corporate organization empowered to receive unlimited contributions from not only individuals, but also corporations and LLC's, who's owners and members are unidentifiable, the funds of which can't even be certified as originating from within this country, much less the State of Georgia.

Thus, there is no way Brian Kemp would have been able to raise almost $80 million dollars for his 2022 campaign, outside of his own official campaign, and outside of the Georgia Republican Party proper, to in essence become a king-maker, or rain-maker for Republican politicians seeking office in state government, or to become a forceful adversary against those same aspiring Republican politicians, fearful that the governor may fund a candidate to run against them, or primary an incumbent, even yourself, who chooses to disagree with the governor on important policy. That one bill, WHICH YOU VOTED FOR, ______, has made a mockery of the Georgia Republican Party, Kemp informing his Georgia First Leadership Committee last February, "We can no longer rely on the traditional party infrastructure to win in the future.” That one bill, again, WHICH YOU VOTED FOR, has virtually destroyed the Georgia Republican Party and replaced it with a private corporate receiver run by the Governor of Georgia. That governor is establishing "Republican Coalition Corporations" in county after county all over this state, further diminishing any voice deriving from the actual will of the people comprising the former Republican Party of Georgia.

Now, had Stacey Abrams taken that bill to the floor, it is no venture to say there would have been no way you, nor any other Republican in the House or Senate, would have voted for it. She would have been a political adversary rather than the leader of your party. Had that been the case, the Georgia Republican Party, after five years of a Stacey Abrams Governorship, would be as strong as it has ever been going into the 2024 Presidential Election. As it is, the so-called "Republican" Governor of the State of Georgia, has emasculated his own, so-called, political party, in effect making it jump back flips to perform whatever his bidding might be, hoping the Governor might give some "Republican" candidates a few dollars from his leadership committee, such that they might be able to compete in 2024.

Brian Kemp is no Republican. Neither was Nathan Deal. Neither was Sonny Perdue. All of those governors were Democrat makeovers. Perdue, a Democrat makeover, APPOINTED Brian Kemp as Secretary of State, enabling Kemp to run as an INCUMBENT in 2010, which launched Kemp's statewide political career. Why Kemp? Why not ANYONE else? Just read my Substacks about Kemp. Throw out the rhetoric. Just look at the results. Under SoS Brian Kemp, our elections were removed out from under the direct supervision of academic professionals at Kennesaw State, put there originally to create an arm's length between any SoS and the system under which the SoS, himself, would be elected, and placed perfect control under Kemp, as SoS, who as a first course of business personally supervised his own election as governor. And please do not argue with me whether Kemp would have been elected or not because that is not the point. The point is that one of three statewide office holders, AND HIS SELECTED STAFF AND SELECTED ELECTION BOARD, now personally supervise all elections in the state, and Brian Kemp, as Governor, personally carried the ball from the SoS's office, to the Governor's office, creating not only the conditions under which the old election system would be discarded, but also the present election system would be purchased and installed. None of that could have happened had Stacey Abrams been elected governor in 2018.

Without even opening the door to discuss Kemp's certification of the 2020 election, Georgia's Governor voicing serious concerns about that election, moments before signing, a signature which I argue may have changed the world we live in today, just for the one reason I have the time to discuss this morning, SB221, had Stacey Abrams been elected Governor in 2018 and 2022, Georgia and America would be much better off today, going into the 2024 elections. Of that I have no doubt.

Thanks very much for the question. If you desire to redeem your vote on SB221, I expect you would garner much support should you sponsor a bill to repeal it.

And to my readers today, don’t bother bringing up Kemp’s appointment of Kelly Loeffler as “Republican” Senator. True, Stacey Abrams would have appointed one of the two Democrat senators presently occupying those seats today. So what? What would have been different? The only meaningful act “Republican” Kelly Loeffler undertook as US Senator from Georgia (other than insider trading) was during the late afternoon of January 6, 2021, when she threw both the Trump presidency, and her own Republican senate seat, under the bus, handing both over to Democrats during the joint congressional certification hearing. Would a Senator Doug Collins have done that? Doug has his faults, but would he have never rolled over to the Democrats as Loeffler did on January 6.

So there you have it, the reasons Stacey Abrams would have been better for Georgia than Brian Kemp. If you disagree, fine. But if you do, tell me where I missed it.