Last night’s most surprising note of conciliation among pundits had nothing to do with the State of the Union address. It came after Stacey Abrams’ SOTU rebuttal speech, the response to which was virtually unanimous: She did a great job.
It may have also been one of the best campaign launch speeches ever! The question remains: what is she campaigning for? Whatever it is — I’m in.
Abrams, the first black woman ever selected to give the Democratic response to the State of the Union, got extra points for excelling in one of politics’ most difficult and thankless jobs. No surprise there given women of color have changed the world inch-by-inch for generations by leveraging the hell out of exactly such unwelcome and underestimated roles.
While some pundits may have been enlightened by Abrams’s seamless performance, its unlikely that anyone who has ever seen her speak was the least bit surprised – whether they agree with her politics or not.
On her worst day – jet lagged, ill prepared, with both hands tied behind her back, and no teleprompter for 300 miles – Abrams is a far better orator than Donald Trump at his rehearsed best. Keep in mind that is pretty much what he offered last night.
As a lawyer, writer, and former Georgia House Minority Leader, Abrams, 45, is a gifted and experienced communicator, who has both drawn upon and honed these skills throughout her career – never more than in the last 18 months as she ran (from coast-to-coast) for Georgia governor.
While she didn’t prevail in that race, she managed to spin a technical loss into a moral and political victory that has her supporters eagerly anticipating her next run.
While Abrams’s specific ambitions yet to be articulated, her campaign may have just begun. Need evidence? How about her speech’s stated family values of “Faith, service, education, and responsibility.” Need more? Start with these most memorable quotes below. Campaign slogan, anyone?
The 6 Best Quotes From Stacey Abrams’s SOTU Rebuttal Speech
1.”Victory is not winning for our party; victory is winning for our country.”
2.”Our power and strength as Americans lives in our hard work and our belief in more.”
3.”Our most urgent work is to realize Americans’ dreams of today and tomorrow.”
4.”The foundation of our moral leadership around the globe is free and fair elections, where voters pick their leaders, not where politicians pick their voters.”
5.”Our progress has always been found in the refuge, in the basic instinct of the American experiment, to do right by our people.”
6.”Together, we are coming for America. For a better America.”
Abrams will be a featured speaker at this year’s Women of Power Summit. There is still time to register for the event being held at the Mirage, Las Vegas, February 28-March 3.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise.