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Abrams takes aim at Republicans and a ‘paralyzing fear of complacency'

Abrams takes aim at Republicans and a ‘paralyzing fear of complacency.'

ATLANTA — Stacey Abrams delivered one of her sharpest attacks on Republicans this general election campaign, energizing a crowd of more than 1,000 at the party's state convention on Saturday with a vow to fight "cheap politics," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The Democrat, who faces Republican Brian Kemp in the November race for governor, nodded toward her opponent’s mantra of “putting Georgia first” to highlight her plan to put Georgia values first.

“My story is our story. This is a Georgia that no matter how tough things get, our core beliefs in faith and family and service never waver,” said Abrams, who was once the state House’s top Democrat.

Although Abrams never mentioned Kemp by name, she took several swipes at the secretary of state’s record. She criticized the “antiquated computers that may be running our elections” and invoked his provocative TV ads to press for new gun restrictions.

“We will proudly demand responsible gun ownership in the state of Georgia,” she said. “We are going to be a state where those who exercise their right to bear arms will know we don’t point our guns at children, and we arm our teachers with resources and not with .45s.”

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Abrams heaped praise on the other candidates seeking to flip statewide seats long held by Republicans, saying that the “most dynamic slate of Democrats in a generation” has a something-for-everyone appeal. She repeated her pledge to eliminate cash bail to stop “criminalizing the poor” and promised to end a $100 million program that funnels tax dollars to private schools.

As for the “religious liberty” legislation, she said she would be the governor to “put it into the grave a final time.”

“Republicans have failed us in too many ways, and they are pledging to continue their failure. And most egregiously they have put their cheap politics ahead of our lives.”

She left the audience with a plea to reject worries that she stands little chance of winning in a state where Republicans control every statewide office and commanding majorities in the Legislature.

“We have to fight old and new enemies in this campaign. We have to fight trickery and complacency,” she said. “And worse, we have to fight the paralyzing fear that comes with the promise of hope. But we know it is possible.”

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Hundreds of Democrats gathered in Atlanta on Saturday for the state party convention to hear from leading candidates for state office and solidify a November election strategy.

Democrats are testing a more liberal comeback strategy that’s shifted the party’s philosophy away from decades of centrist appeals, hoping that a progressive approach can reverse Republican gains that have steadily consolidated power in Georgia.

At the top of the ticket is Stacey Abrams, the party’s nominee for governor who aims to win back the state’s top office for the first time in 16 years by more aggressively backing gun control, increasing state spending and embracing other policies once sidelined by top contenders.

Republicans held their own version of this party-wide pep rally shortly after the bruising July runoff, pledging support behind GOP nominee Brian Kemp and the slate of candidates down the ticket. They highlighted the state’s economic growth and warned Abrams could bring a “march to socialism.”

This story was written by Greg Bluestein for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.