When the top lieutenant to a presidential contender phoned Georgia Democratic Party chairwoman Nikema Williams recently to ask for a one-on-one meeting, Williams declined.
"I'm sorry, but I talk to candidates; I don't talk to surrogates," she said, recalling the conversation in an interview.
Williams got what she wanted. By her count, she's had conversations with at least nine Democrats seeking the party's 2020 presidential nomination, and she expects the number to climb.
That kind of attention is a testament to the growing influence that Georgia and the rest of the South has in presidential politics, beyond the first-in-the-South primary state of South Carolina.
It starts with the hundreds of delegates at stake — about a third of what's required to win the nomination — in primaries that will quickly play out from Virginia to Texas in the weeks after the traditional early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina being the process. And with a significant black population and diversifying metro areas in many Southern states, the region is testing ground for candidates to demonstrate whether they can build the type of diverse coalition any Democratic nominee would need to defeat President Donald Trump.
"We're going to be right in the thick of it," Williams said.
Sen. Kamala Harris of California will be in Atlanta this weekend and has raised money from friends in the city since she first sought local office. Several candidates have been in Louisiana for recent national political conferences and to Selma, Alabama, for a commemoration of the 1965 voting rights march. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts took a multiday swing through Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama this week following a trip to Georgia in February.
Meanwhile, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have ventured to Plains, Georgia, to sit down with Jimmy Carter, the 94-year-old former president who'd been all but forgotten in Democratic politics. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has campaigned for political allies in Alabama and Mississippi since his last presidential run in 2016, and he's expected to return.
The South is still mostly Republican-controlled, with Democrats in the governor's mansion of just three states: Virginia, North Carolina and Louisiana. Democrats Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum grabbed the national spotlight but came up short last fall in their bids to win governors' races in Georgia and Florida, respectively. And a rejection this week of a proposed tax hike to extend mass transit into suburban Atlanta was another reminder of the hurdles still facing progressives in the region.
Southern Democrats welcome the interactions with presidential candidates and say they've earned it based on previous cycles: Barack Obama's early delegate lead in 2008 and Hillary Clinton's eventual winning margin in 2016 were built from wins across the region. But now, Southerners are seeing the candidates earlier in the process.
Warren's visit "shows that she cares about all Americans and not just those whose vote matters" in the Electoral College, said Valerie Latawiec, a 52-year-old Alabamian who was one of about 500 people who attended the senator's rally in Birmingham, Alabama.
The trend highlights African-Americans' influence in Democratic politics, with black voters likely being a majority of primary voters in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana and large portions in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
The primary already includes two black candidates — Harris and Booker — and could feature a third if Abrams decides to get in the race. And all the candidates, regardless of race, are working to tie their discussions of many issues, from reparations for the descendants of African slaves and criminal justice overhaul to environmental justice and health care access, to the black community.
But Bobby Moak, the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, also emphasized that the region's makeup, even in heavily Republican states like his, gives candidates a chance to craft appeals that cross racial, ethnic and philosophical lines.
"It's important for them to hear us and for us to hear them," Moak said.
Certainly, there are strategic complexities for candidates to weigh as they decide where to spend their time.
California has as many delegates at stake as Georgia, Florida and Virginia combined. And with early voting and Harris enjoying a possible home-state advantage, some candidates may decide to spend more time there.
Sanders, for instance, kicks off a series of California rallies this weekend and considers the state vital to his prospects.
For now, Georgia may be the biggest Southern counter to California. It offers more than 100 delegates, a diverse electorate and the deep donor pool of metro Atlanta. Texas and Virginia also are wellsprings of money and votes. But Texas has two local candidates: Julian Castro, a Cabinet member in the Obama administration, and Beto O'Rourke, a former congressman.
"I'm telling them all to come," says state Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, "but if they're still in the race (on the March 3rd Super Tuesday), I think Beto and Julian will dominate Texas."
Virginia could add its own local favorite, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, but more importantly, the state is still reeling after its Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, admitted wearing blackface as a young man and after sexual assault allegations against Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who denies wrongdoing.
Nearly all the 2020 contenders — including McAuliffe — have called on Northam and Fairfax to step down, but state party chairwoman Susan Swecker said that shouldn't stop them from coming to the state.
"Ignore Virginia Democrats at your peril," she said, noting that the state has become part of Democrats' presumed path to 270 electoral votes.
"And if they can't handle questions" about controversial topics, Swecker added, "then they shouldn't be our nominee."
Associated Press reporter Elana Schor contributed to this report from Birmingham, Ala.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States and Japan calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space, calling it “a dirty spectacle” that cherry picks weapons of mass destruction from all other weapons that should also be banned.
The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13 in favor, Russia opposed and China abstaining.
The resolution would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that included the U.S. and Russia, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the resolution as “absolutely absurd and politicized,” and said it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.
Russia and China proposed an amendment to the U.S.-Japan draft that would call on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”
The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes required for adoption.
The U.S. opposed the amendment, and after the vote Nebenzia addressed the U.S. ambassador saying: “We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?”
He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”
Nebenzia accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.
Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”
She called Wednesday’s vote “a real missed opportunity to rebuild much-needed trust in existing arms control obligations.”
Thomas-Greenfield’s announcement of the resolution on March 18 followed White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.
Putin declared later that Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space, claiming that the country has only developed space capabilities similar to those of the U.S.
Thomas-Greenfield said before the vote that the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”
It could destroy “thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world — and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services we all depend on,” she said.
The defeated draft resolution said “the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert a grave danger for international peace and security.” It would have urged all countries carrying out activities in exploring and using outer space to comply with international law and the U.N. Charter.
The draft would have affirmed that countries that ratified the 1967 Outer Space Treaty must comply with their obligations not to put in orbit around the Earth “any objects” with weapons of mass destruction, or install them “on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space.”
The treaty, ratified by some 114 countries, including the U.S. and Russia, prohibits the deployment of “nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction” in orbit or the stationing of “weapons in outer space in any other manner.”
The draft resolution emphasized “the necessity of further measures, including political commitments and legally binding instruments, with appropriate and effective provisions for verification, to prevent an arms race in outer space in all its aspects.”
It reiterated that the U.N. Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, has the primary responsibility to negotiate agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space.
The 65-nation body has achieved few results and has largely devolved into a venue for countries to voice criticism of others’ weapons programs or defend their own. The draft resolution would have urged the conference “to adopt and implement a balanced and comprehensive program of work.”
At the March council meeting where the U.S.-Japan initiative was launched, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “geopolitical tensions and mistrust have escalated the risk of nuclear warfare to its highest point in decades.”
He said the movie “Oppenheimer” about Robert Oppenheimer, who directed the U.S. project during World War II that developed the atomic bomb, “brought the harsh reality of nuclear doomsday to vivid life for millions around the world.”
“Humanity cannot survive a sequel to Oppenheimer,” the U.N. chief said.
United States Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses members of the U.N. Security Council before voting during a meeting on Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)
