Stacey Abrams leads chorus in Democrats’ keynote address

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams kicked off the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, getting an assist from a litany of local and congressional lawmakers touting the party’s diverse base.

“This nation belongs to all of us, and in every election, we choose how we will create a more perfect union,” Abrams said in her address.

She echoed what former first lady Michelle Obama said Monday night, that America moves forward “not by taking sides, but by taking stock of where we are and what we need.”

After her 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Abrams founded Fair Fight, a nonprofit focused on making voting easy and accessible in Georgia and around the U.S.

In her keynote on Tuesday night, she portrayed President Trump not only as a threat to the fairness of November’s election, but also the wrong person to lead America out of the coronavirus pandemic.

“America faces a triple threat: a public health catastrophe, an economic collapse and a reckoning with racial justice and inequality,” Abrams said, echoing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s own campaign pitch. “This year’s choice could not be any clearer.”

Abrams called Biden a “steady, experienced public servant” while knocking Trump, asserting he “only knows how to deny and to distract.”

.@StaceyAbrams: “Faced with a President of cowardice, Joe Biden is a man of proven courage. He will restore our moral compass by confronting our challenges, not by hiding from them.” #DemConvention #DNC2020 https://t.co/f4hSCWZoSM pic.twitter.com/1b1aPaV094

— The Hill (@thehill) August 18, 2020

Both Abrams and the Democratic lawmakers who virtually joined her kept coming back to the idea of unity — one of the major themes Democrats have focused on so far during this year’s convention.

Many of the figures had historic victories to reach their office. For example, Nevada state Sen. Yvanna Cancela was the first Latina lawmaker in the state chamber.

Another Democrat featured in the keynote was Nikki Fried, who in 2018 became the first woman elected to lead the Florida Department of Agriculture. She was first Democrat to win the role since 2000 and is the only Democratic official elected statewide in Florida in 2018.

Also in the video keynote address was Georgia state Rep. Sam Park, who became the first openly gay man to be elected to the Georgia state legislature in 2016.