Donald Trump's first two weeks in office sparked a level of political activism not seen in Georgia since the early days of the conservative tea party.
Opponents of Trump’s policies have marched in the streets of the state’s biggest cities, channeled an avalanche of phone calls to GOP lawmakers and held a spate of town halls to try to channel that anger into activity. The size and scope of the movement has stunned even longtime Democratic activists who have seen the ebb and flow of movements such as the Moral Monday protests.
It’s impossible to tell now whether this burgeoning movement will have a lasting impact, like the tea party response to Barack Obama’s election that triggered a wave of Republican wins, or fizzle out like the “Occupy” protests earlier this decade.
But what is clear is the protests are already making waves in Republican-dominated Georgia — and left-leaning groups across the state are trying to make the most of it.
“We have to know that every year is an election, and we are always campaigning,” House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams told a recent meeting of hundreds of new recruits, adding: “We have to show them that we are constantly in this battle and that we’re fighting every day.”
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