Subtitles section Play video
♪ ♪
♪ >> Stephen: HEY!
WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY!
SHE IS A STAR OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WHOSE GET-OUT-THE-VOTE
EFFORTS HAVE TRANSFORMED THE STATE OF GEORGIA.
PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "A LATE SHOW," STACEY ABRAMS!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE!
>> IT'S MY PLEASURE.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME BACK.
>> Stephen: WELL, YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY FOR THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO SUCCEED TO HAVE VICTORY IN THE STATE OF
GEORGIA.
ARE YOU ALLOWING YOURSELF TIME TO CELEBRATE RIGHT NOW, OR IS
THERE TOO MUCH WORK TO BE DONE?
>> I HAD ABOUT 17 MINUTES ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, I'M GOOD.
>> Stephen: THAT'S ALL YOU NEED?
>> NOW GET BACK TO WORK.
WE HAVE TO WIN TWO SENATE RACES, I CAN'T GOGGLE TOO LONG.
>> Stephen: I'M GOING GET TO THAT IN A HOME BUT I'LL DWELL ON
THIS A MOMENT MORE.
>> OKAY.
>> Stephen: BIDEN IS SAID TO BE THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE TO WIN GEORGIA SINCE 1992.
YOU'RE BEING CREDITED FOR YOUR GET OUT OF VOTE EFFORT, YOUR
ORGANIZING OF GEORGIA.
HOW DID YOU DO IT?
>> I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE GIVE CREDIT TO THE GROUPS THAT HAVE
BEEN WORKING ON THIS A LONG TIME.
MY PART IS WHEN I BEGAN, I WANTED TO FOCUS ON MAKING SURE
WE WERE IN EVERY SINGLE COUNTY, AND I ADVANCED THAT INTO
MULTIPLE CYCLES.
IN 2018 I RAISED $4 MILLION FOR MY GUBERNATORIAL RACE AND WE
KEPT RAISING MONEY AFTER I LOST TO KEEP FOCUSING ON TEAMING THIS
INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE.
WE WORKED WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, WE HELPED SEED
SOME OF THOSE GROUPS INCLUDING THE NEW GEORGIA PROJECT, WHICH I
FOUNDED, FIRE FIGHT, FIRE COUNT, AND WE HAD 2 MILLION VOTERS WHO
UNDERSTOOD THEIR VOICES WERE NEEDED AND THEY SHOWED UP.
>> Stephen: I KNOW YOU'RE DOING ALL THESE ORGANIZERS AND
EFFORTS WITH THESE OTHER FRAPS LONG BEFORE YOU RAN FOR GOVERNOR
BUT ONE OF THE HALL M OFO THAT CAMPAIGN WAS THE OBVIOUS VOTER
PURCHASE AND VOTER SUPPRESSION THAT WERE GOING ON UNDER THEN
SECRETARY OF STATE KEMP, AND I IMAGINE THAT MUST HAVE GIVEN YOU
EVEN MORE ENERGY FOR THIS EFFORT THAN BEFORE.
>> HE WAS A GALVANIZING FORCE FOR THE INTENSITY OF MY EFFORTS
THIS TIME, YES.
>> Stephen: DO YOU THINK THERE ARE ANY REPUBLICANS ON THE
NATIONAL LEVEL NOW GOING, OH, WOULD BE BETTER IF SHE WAS JUST
GOVERNOR.
NOW WE'VE LOST THE WHOLE DAMN STATE!
>> I HAD SOME TIME ON MY HANDS.
IF THEY WOULD HAVE LET ME HAVE THIS OTHER JOB, I PROBABLY WOULD
HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED.
>> Stephen: IDLE HANDS ARE DEMOCRACY'S WORKSHOP.
>> THERE YOU GO.
>> Stephen: HAVE YOU SEEN SOME OF THE MEMES ABOUT YOU ON THE
INTERNET?
>> I HAVE -- >> Stephen: PLEASE.
NO, NO.
>> Stephen: THIS IS MY FAVORITE.
THIS IS MY FAVORITE SO FAR BECAUSE I'M A "LORD OF THE
RINGS" FAN.
THIS IS YOU DEFEATING THE RICH KING OF ANGMAR IN LORD OF THE
RINGS.
YOU FOOL, NO MAN CAN FLIP ME!
I AM NO MAN!
>> NO MAN!
( LAUGHTER ) >> Stephen: SO $92 IS THE LAST
TIME CLINTON WON.
>> YES.
>> Stephen: WHAT'S DIFFERENT NOW?
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MOST DIFFERENT ABOUT GEORGIA NOW THAT
THEY WERE READY TO GIVE THEIR ELECTORAL VOTES TO A DEMOCRAT?
>> SO I WORKED ON THE '92 CAMPAIGN AS A COLLEGE STATE
AND AT THE TIME EVERY STATE OFFICE WAS HELD BY A DEMOCRAT
EXCEPT ONE AND WE LOST THE SENATE SEAT.
DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE LEGISLATURE FOR 130 YEARS.
BIOCIRCUMSTANCES WE HAD SEEN A DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT BEGINNING BUT
AN I LOGICAL SHIFT RELEASE THE MINTING AND THAT'S WHEN
DEMOCRATS REALLY CONTROLLED THE STATE OF GEORGIA.
IN 2010 I PUT TOGETHER A 21 PAGE DECK I TRAVELED THE COUNTRY
SEEING DONORS WITH AND MY ARGUMENT WAS WE WERE HAVING A
DEMOCRATIC SHIFT HAPPENING THAT WE HAD TO HARNESS AND, TWO, HAD
AN INCOHERENT MESSAGE FOR 20th C HAD TO BE REFINED AND, THREE, WE
HAD TO BUILD A INFRASTRUCTURE THAT SOUGHT TO WIN WHO WAS WAS
ON THE TICKET.
WE INVESTED IN CITY COUNCIL RACES AND DEMOCRAT A. RACES ALL
THE WAY UP TO THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE.
I THINK THE BIG DIFFERENCE WAS OUR ABILITY TO REALLY MAINTAIN A
CONSISTENT EFFORT.
SO MANY GROUPS HAD BEEN DOING THIS WORK FOR A LONG TIME BUT
IT'S FEAST OR FAMINE.
WHEN A CANDIDATE WANTS TO INVEST, YOU GET THE RESOURCES
AND YOU STRUGGLE TO GET BY, AND WE WERE ABLE TO TO CREATE
SUSTAINABLE IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH MEANT WE
COULD WIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND BUILD UP TO THE BIG VICTORY IN
NOVEMBER.
>> Stephen: WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR GEORGIA LOOKED LIKE IT
WOULD SWING OVER TO BIDEN'S SIDE, CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH
THAT MOMENT MAYBE?
WAS IT FRIDAY MORNING?
>> IT WAS ACTUALLY WEDNESDAY.
WE HAD A PRETTY GOOD SENSE BECAUSE WE HAVE AN AMAZING DATA
TEAM.
BUT MY PARTNER IN THIS WORK AND I WERE TEXTING BACK AND FORTH
BECAUSE WE HAD THE NUMBERS WE THOUGHT WERE COMING FROM THE
EREMAINING COUNTIES, AN IT WAS THAT MORNING I CALLED HER AND I
SAID THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE WOKEN UP IF A NOVEMBER WITHOUT
CURLING INTO THE FETAL POSITION FIRST.
AND SHE WAS, LIKE, I KNOW, I'M AFRAID, FEELS LIKE WE'RE
WINNING.
I'M, LIKE, I KNOW, BUT DON'T SAY IT OUT LOUD.
AND THE NUMBERS GOT BIGGER AND BIGGER AND WE GOT HAPPIER AND
HAPPIER.
>> Stephen: DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY OUT THERE TO
DEMOCRATS?
I SAW SEVERAL THINK PIECES THIS WEEKEND WHERE DEMOCRATS OR JUST
POLITICAL WRITERS ARE SAYING THE DEMOCRATS WON BUT DID THEY
REALLY?
>> YEAH, WE REALLY WON.
( LAUGHTER ) THERE IS AN ORANGE MENACE OF PEW
TRESSENS THAT WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE.
>> Stephen: PUTRESSENCE, I WANT TO GET THAT DOWN.
>> THERE IS AN INCOMING PRESIDENT WHO HAD MORAL
LEADERSHIP AND CHARACTER AND WHO ACTUALLY BELIEVES IN SCIENCE AND
FACTS.
WE HAVE SEEN THE CHASE IN THE FACE OF LEADERSHIP BY ADDING
KAMALA HARRIS, A WOMAN OF COLOR SO THAT WOMEN AT LARGE AND OF
COLOR CAN SEE THEMSELVES IN THE HIGHEST POSITIONS OF THE LAND.
DID I MENTION TRUMP IS LEAVING?
THAT'S A BIG WIN.
WE HAVE TO GET THE REST OF IT DONE.
>> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK.
STICK AROUND, EVERYBODY.
WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE STACEY ABRAMS.