Countering Trump, Stacey Abrams to offer case for community on WTOP| ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams will deliver her party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address by arguing for a more unified society that gives every American a chance at prosperity. Abrams’…
ATLANTA (AP) — Stacey Abrams steps into the brightest spotlight of her political career Tuesday night with a speech intended to draw a clear contrast between Democrats and President Donald Trump.
Abrams narrowly lost her bid in Georgia last year to become America’s first black female governor. Instead, she’ll become the first black woman to deliver a State of the Union response.
It’s one of the toughest jobs in politics — a role that has tripped up members of both parties in the past. She must introduce herself to a national audience who may not be familiar with her groundbreaking political resume as the daughter of Mississippi-born parents who went on to Yale Law School and became the first black woman to lead her party in the legislature before her bid for governor.
More fundamentally, Abrams must represent her entire party with an appeal aimed at a base desperate to reclaim the White House and at a wider swath of less-partisan Americans who are uneasy with the Trump administration.
It all comes as she weighs national party overtures to fire up her campaign office again and run for the Senate in 2020.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who asked Abrams to deliver the Democrats’ response, said earlier Tuesday that she “is going to do a great job” and billed Trump as the warm-up act for her.
Trump derided Abrams as “unqualified” for statewide office during her gubernatorial campaign.
Those close to Abrams say she will deliver an argument for a more unified society with shared prosperity. She will focus on education, health care and civil rights — including voting rights — with a focus on the middle class.
