ATLANTA – As Democrats brace for Donald Trump’s second administration, the explosion of protests and coordinated pushback that greeted his first is all but missing.

The mass demonstrations and vows of resistance that helped birth the political rise of Stacey Abrams and Jon Ossoff haven’t materialized.

Interviews with more than a dozen prominent Georgia Democrats show there’s no consensus over how to grapple with Trump’s return beyond taking a wait-and-see approach.

Some see inevitable GOP overreach as their prime weapon as Republicans prepare to take charge of a trifecta in Washington, with control of both chambers in Congress as well as the White House after Monday’s inauguration. Others hope to paint a sharp contrast between the rival parties by keeping a laser-like focus on Democratic priorities while not getting bogged down in the daily — even hourly — dramatics of another Trump administration.

Facing a tough reelection battle that will hinge on winning Republicans, Ossoff plans to stress bipartisanship and consensus where possible and fierce opposition when not. Others say defiant Democrats should prepare for combat by leaning further into their progressive roots.

What many prominent party figures agreed upon, though, is that Trump shouldn’t dominate the party’s discourse even if he’s still uniquely polarizing to Democratic voters.

“I don’t think we should have ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,’” said Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, of Augusta. “Our strategy should be to show the people of Georgia our ideas. It’s not necessarily just about pushing Donald Trump. It’s about focusing on Georgia.”

Jen Jordan, the party’s 2022 candidate for attorney general, said there’s no need for a massive realignment of Democratic policies on issues such as expanded health care access after Trump captured Georgia and the other six battleground states. “The course correction needs to be us talking to folks and hearing what they’re concerned about,” said Jordan, a former state senator and potential candidate for higher office in 2026. “We need to start with issues that really help people succeed.”

‘MAGA extremism’

One shift already may be underway in Washington. After an election dominated by Trump’s pledge to crack down on border security and mount large-scale deportations, some Democrats are reassessing their stance on tough immigration policies.

Ossoff is among several vulnerable Democrats to endorse the Laken Riley Act, Republican-backed legislation named after a slain Georgia college student that would let law enforcement officers detain and possibly deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of theft or burglary. Riley was killed on the University of Georgia campus by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who police said entered the U.S. illegally in 2022. In October 2023, Ibarra and his brother, Diego Jose Ibarra, were issued citations after being accused of shoplifting in Athens-Clarke County.

In an interview, Ossoff said he hopes the “incoming administration can deliver and succeed for our state’s benefit — and I’ll actively look for opportunities to continue the bipartisan work that I’ve done for the last four years.”

Another supporter of the immigration measure is U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who voted against a version of the bill in March but backed it this month. She was among seven House Democrats who switched their vote and supported the newest iteration of the bill.

“I’m thinking about the families; I’m thinking about the children,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That’s the perspective I always think about — the impact, the pain, just everything that has happened emotionally and psychologically to that family.”

Others have evoked the sustained outrage that followed Trump’s first victory. Abrams, who harnessed her party’s angst over Trump during her 2018 bid, sends regular dispatches to supporters to coach fellow Democrats on how to approach Trump’s second term.

She argued in her “Assembly Required” podcast that it’s best to look past his rhetoric and focus on what Trump realistically can and cannot accomplish.

“Our job is to understand what’s threatened versus what’s really possible, and then do something about it,” she told listeners on a recent episode focused on climate policy. A few days later, she sent allies an email urging them to keep up the fight “against MAGA extremism.”

“I am here to tell you the only way people like Trump keep winning is if we cede our power,” she said. “If we believe our work doesn’t matter, that is the moment we’ve truly lost.”

‘Reason over partisanship’

U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, who also serves as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said Democrats shouldn’t worry about being branded roadblocks to the GOP agenda.

She said she promised voters in her deep-blue Atlanta-based district that she’ll focus on priorities like expanding voting rights and boosting affordable housing — and that won’t change even if it means tangling with Trump and his allies.

“Until Donald Trump shows me that he’s fighting for the people that I was sent here to represent, then ‘cooperative’ is not a term that I would use,” she said, “because I don’t believe in going along to get along.”

Still, Williams and other Democratic leaders said their party can find common ground with Republicans on consensus-driven issues. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, said one possibility is working to lower the costs of food, medicine and housing.

“That’s what (Trump) campaigned on, and that’s what we need to do as the government,” Johnson said. “That’s what the American people are expecting of us.”

Johnson said voters don’t want Democrats to position themselves as doormats or roadblocks to Trump. They want to see results.

“I think our constituents expect us to come to Congress and get things done,” he said. “They don’t want us to be mired in gridlock. They want us to advance their interests. They elected us to be the government of them, by them and for them.”

Macon-Bibb Mayor Pro Tem Seth Clark, a rising Democratic figure, acknowledges his party may not have a cohesive approach to Trump. But as he’s watched the president-elect’s political arc, he’s come away with a new mantra.

“We have to prioritize empathy and reason over partisanship and gamesmanship. Every issue we take up needs to be one that affects the well-being and pocketbooks of everyday Georgians,” he said. “And we have to get outside of Atlanta.”

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