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Thursday, August 28, 2008
No looking back, no going back….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know this will shock some of you, but I thought Obama’s speech was excellent. I think the most compelling part of it was the way, in case after case, he took on the worst that his opponents have said about him and refuted it, head on and point blank.
Let the nitpicking begin, as it will, but nitpicking and those who pick them won’t be enough. As the man said, this cannot be a campaign about little things, not at this time in this nation’s history, not with this much at stake. We can’t afford that kind of campaign, and Obama made it pretty clear he will fight to make sure it doesn’t become that.
So. Your turn at bat, Sen. McCain…..
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Indications it may be Romney
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Roll Call, a well-respected newspaper covering Capitol Hill and national politics, reports evidence that Romney may be the GOP running mate:
“If security sweeps are the giveaway, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may be on the brink of being selected as Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) vice presidential running mate.
According to sources with strong Michigan ties, the Secret Service has conducted a security sweep of the home of Romney’s sister. Romney was raised in Michigan, where his father served as governor.”
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Handel shouldn’t decide PSC race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elections should be decided by citizens in the voting booth, not by bureaucrats and judges.
But Secretary of State Karen Handel — the officer charged with protecting the electoral process — nonetheless seems determined to dictate the outcome of a race for the Public Service Commission. Should she succeed, she will also succeed in denying the people of Georgia a voice in decisions with billions of dollars at stake.
Jim Powell and Lauren McDonald are running to represent PSC District 4, in North Georgia. Under state law, PSC candidates must live in the district they seek to represent, although they are elected by statewide vote.
In the Democratic primary, Powell’s residency in District 4 was challenged by his opponent. The arguments and evidence were heard by an administrative law judge, who ruled in Powell’s favor.
Powell bought a house in Hiawassee in 2006 and spends most of his time in the district. As the judge noted in his ruling, Powell also “attends church, pays taxes, registered two cars, registered to vote, voted three times, owns and operates a boat, obtained a driver’s license and receives some of his mail” in Hiawassee.
Furthermore, the judge noted that in March 2007, Powell filed to transfer his homestead exemption from a house in Cobb County to his home in Hiawassee, but could not because the deadline had passed.
That would seem a pretty compelling case that Powell lives in Hiawassee. Nonetheless, Handel intervened and — just a few days before the July primary — tried to yank Powell from the ballot. Only an emergency court order allowed the election to take place, with Powell winning 85 percent of the vote.
Still not satisfied, Handel appealed the case to Superior Court, where she once again lost. Undeterred, she has since filed an emergency motion with the state Court of Appeals, seeking a hearing for her claim that it is within her legal discretion to remove Powell from the ballot.
In that motion, Handel presses the case she has argued from the beginning, so far to no avail. Because Powell did not succeed in transferring his homestead exemption from Cobb to Towns County until this year, she claims, Powell remained a Cobb resident and thus cannot run from District 4.
At its best, that is a highly legalistic argument and represents a close legal call. In the eyes of two judges to date, it is not even that. And common sense would suggest that in close cases, public officials ought to stand aside and let voters, not judges, decide the matter.
If Handel wins the case, what will be the outcome? A candidate who drew 85 percent of the vote in the primary will be removed, replaced by a candidate who drew only 15 percent and has run no campaign since then. In effect, Handel will have ensured that Powell’s opponent, McDonald, will become the next PSC commissioner for District 4, stripping voters of the right to make a choice.
McDonald has served on the PSC before, losing his seat to reformer Angela Speir in 2002. He proved a stalwart — some might even say obedient — supporter of utilities on a commission dominated by such voices. When Speir replaced him, the contrast was stark. She led the charge for ethics reform and served as a strong voice for consumers and utility ratepayers. Usually she was in the minority on such issues, but at least those positions were being heard. However, she chose not to seek re-election.
Powell, a retired senior official in the U.S. Energy Department, promises to pick up where Speir left off. Thanks to his background, he knows energy issues backward and forward. If you go to Powell’s campaign site (jimpowellforgapsc.com) and click on “Issues,” you get a comprehensible discussion of his approach.
On the other hand, if you go to McDonald’s Web site (www.mcdonald4psc.com) and click “Issues,” you get a page stating “Coming Soon.”
In the next few years, the PSC will make critically important decisions on energy conservation, nuclear power, natural gas and alternative energy, with billions of dollars at stake.
The voters of Georgia — not the secretary of state and not a panel of judges — ought to select who makes those decisions on their behalf.
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With Night Three, the preliminaries are over
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So far, I don’t think the convention could have gone better for Barack Obama and the Democrats if they had scripted the whole thing … which of course they did.
Last night the Loquacious Lothario himself, former President Bill Clinton, laid his blessing upon the upstart from Illinois, showing little if any outward reluctance in doing so. “People around the world have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power,” he said, laying out the differences in foreign policy rather nicely.
Joe Biden did well too, bringing the talk down to kitchen-table level, as Zell Miller used to say. The opening acts have warmed up the house, just as they were supposed to do, and expectations and pressure on Obama are now as high as the stadium in which he will speak.
Time to step up or step aside.
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