There was a moment last night when CNN said - wrongly - that there weren't enough votes left in Dekalb County for Ossoff to win. After looking at really strong numbers all evening, I felt that old Democratic Dread creeping in. Somehow, defeat would be snatched from the jaws of victory.
And then it didn't happen.
There is a coalition building between Blacks and College Educated Whites that could redraw the American political map. As Ohio reddens, Georgia, North Carolina and potentially Texas loom as the new battleground states. Virginia is now Blue, along with Colorado. A different dynamic is flipping Arizona, but the larger pattern holds.
Republicans have benefitted from those White College Educated Suburban voters for a long time. As "professional class" whites abandon the GOP, it not only means places like Georgia become competitive while places like Virginia stop being competitive, it also means things for midterm elections. Those white suburban voters show up. Year after year, election after election.
They show up for a simple reason: they believe their vote will count. I mean, they are white, well off and things more or less work for them. No one is trying to disenfranchise them and never have. If African Americans begin to believe the same thing - and that was Stacey Abrams' accomplishment, as much as physically registering voters - then the electoral map gets harder and harder for Republicans.
Real change is possible now. The tax code will become fairer. Regulations can be rewritten more quickly. Judges and Cabinet posts can be filled quickly. Republicans will have to explain why they are filibustering legislation to create Green jobs or a new Voting Rights Act.
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