Oprah and Pence offer conflicting visions of the "values ​​of Georgia"

MARIETTA, Ga. – In an animated speech in the Republican suburb of Atlanta, Oprah Winfrey asked voters to make history by supporting Democrat Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in the election. next week.

Winfrey called Abrams a "changemaker" that represents the values ​​of all Georgians.

"I'm here today because Stacey Abrams cares about what really matters," she told a mostly female audience north of downtown Atlanta.

Vice President Mike Pence, alongside his Dalton opponent Brian Kemp, mocks the media icon of the billionaire, another liberal outsider trying to impose a Lebanese republic on Georgia.

"Stacey Abrams is funded by the Hollywood liberals," said Pence, after drawing public attention when he mentioned "Oprah is in town" and noted that the "nightmare" is "in the city". Actor Will Ferrell was recently in the state for Democrats.

"I'd like to remind Stacey, Oprah and Will Ferrell that I'm a big problem too," said Pence, adding, "A message for all of Stacey Abrams's Liberal friends: It's not Hollywood is Georgia. "

The competing scenes – from spectator candidates to keynote guests – highlight the choice that Georgian voters will face on Tuesday at one of the most important mid-term duels in the country. After the Thursday duel, former President Barack Obama will follow Friday for Abrams. President Donald Trump will appear with Kemp on Sunday.

More than 1.5 million of the roughly 7 million registered voters in the state have already voted.

Abrams would be the first black female governor in US history. She sought the shameless liberal job of trying to attract new voters to the polls and prove that Georgia's growth and diversity make it a legitimate battleground between two parties.

She praises her experience of working with Republicans as a legislative leader, but she does not deny her promise to extend Medicaid's insurance, to give priority to public education and to make pressure to make the restrictions on firearms more stringent.

Kemp is an avid conservative who has embraced Trump and the hard line of government in matters of immigration. He uses firearms in his commercials and Abrams lambastes as a tool of "socialists" and "billionaires" who "want to turn Georgia into California".

Both candidates began to describe the race as a battle for "the soul of our state".

For its part, Winfrey sought to cut through the framing of the party line.

The entertainment icon, which rarely makes political endorsements, was encouraged when she said that she was a registered freelancer who was not in Georgia at the request of anyone else. is.

"I paid to come here myself and I approved this message," said Winfrey, explaining that she had found Abrams' cell phone number and the number of people in the company. had called to tell him that she wanted to help the last days of the campaign.

She added a note to the media crowd gathered for the event, calling for any relaunching of rumors that she could run for president in 2020.

"I'm not here because I'm giving myself a platform, I do not want to run, I do not test the water," she said.

Winfrey criticized the attacks on Abrams she saw in her hotel room. The Republican ads cast Abrams as "too extreme" and "radical" for Georgia – as a "noise" designed "to confuse you with fear".

Referring to the Democratic candidate's speech for the expansion of Medicaid, "sensible gun control", environmental regulations and "keeping families", Winfrey said that "Abrams offered" the values ​​that matter for Georgians throughout this state ".

"Democracy is not just about our individual rights and concerns and our individual protections," said Winfrey, "but it lives and thrives by ensuring that everyone is raised by the community."

Winfrey did not mention Pence nor the frequent GOP articles about "Hollywood" outsiders. But after her speech, in an interview with Abrams, recalling the 25th anniversary of her daytime television show, she said it was only "two women from Mississippi".

As a black woman, Winfrey pointed out her relationship to two traditionally refused groups in the United States. She recalled generations of black Americans who faced "lynching … oppression … repression" and stated that "their blood had infiltrated into my DNA" and it forced him to go to the polls.

Then she encouraged women of all races – "the sisters … and not just the" sistahs, "she joked – to remember that they would have been" only ". a simple good "without a ballot barely a century ago.

The notes of Pence and Winfrey are clearly in the respective strategies of Abrams and Kemp.

Kemp is attempting to extend Republican rule in Georgia, which has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998. He is banking on wide margins off the Atlanta subway and on maintaining most of the votes GOP closer to the city. Choosing a GOP base that holds Trump and Pence in high esteem is the key to the approach.

Abrams seeks to maximize the participation of non-whites, liberal urban whites and just enough whites everywhere else, including a handful of moderate Republicans and Trump's disenchanted suburbs – a considerable overlap with the fan base that propelled Winfrey to rank of billionaire icon.

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Martin reported from Dalton, Ga.