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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Leftovers from the Ralph and Rudy luncheon
At a gathering aimed at '06 and '08, George W. Bush was a shadow of his former self
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The main piece on Ralph Reed’s Buckhead fund-raiser with former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani today can be found here. But we’ve saved some good tidbits for you.
The affair was nearly over before our colleague, Tom Crawford of capitolimpact.com, put his finger on something significant. George W. Bush, once an automatic applause line at any Republican gathering, was barely mentioned by name. We checked the recording, and Crawford was right.
Giuliani spoke of Reed’s “helping to elect several presidents.� Left unsaid was the fact that all of them were named Bush. “The president worked very, very hard for the tax cuts,� Giuliani said. His lips formed around the name “Bush� once, in passing.
Reed mentioned his White House connections not at all. When the occupant is hovering around 30 percent in the polls, the advantage is mostly gone.
Much of Giuliani’s speech was devoted to bucking up the Republican disheartened. “There’s a certain sense of unease among Republicans. We’ve got to lift our heads up and take a look around us — and realize that this country is pretty darn good shape,� Giuliani said.
“Of course we have problems. Economies always have problems. The price of gasoline has to be dealt with, in the short term and the long term,� the former mayor and prosecutor said. “We shouldn’t be going to the American people with our heads down. We should be going with our heads up. Our policies work.�
Another dog that didn’t bark was the list of attendees at the Reed event.
A number of notables turned out: Howard “Bo� Callaway, Guy Millner, and Georgia-Pacific Chairman Pete Correll. But most GOP elected officials stayed away. Among those introduced: State Sens. Cecil Staton of Macon, Ralph Hudgens of Comer, Mitch Seabaugh of Sharpsburg; state Rep. Melvin Everson of Snellville; and Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County Commission.
“You’ve got a primary. I think that’s very, very normal for that to happen,� said Millner, the former candidate for both governor and U.S. senator.
We asked Millner what he thought of comments made by Reed’s rival, Casey Cagle — who lays the blame for Millner’s 1998 defeat as governor on the horrid campaign of Republican Mitch Skandalakis for lieutenant governor. In which Reed played a significant role.
Millner said he doesn’t look backwards.
The Reed-Giuliani luncheon was preceded by a $1,000-per-ticket VIP reception. Reed supporter Dot Burns, a longtime GOP activist and confidante of the late Paul Coverdell, was one of the insiders.
“We talked about the war, mainly immigration, which seems to be on everyone’s mind these days,� Burns said. “I believe in making it easier for people to become citizens. Too many people depend on them in their businesses.�
That, we should point out, is probably not the official position of the Reed campaign.
On the key issues where Giuliani and Reed disagree — abortion, gun control, and gay rights — Burns said: “That didn’t come up. I think our issues now are above that. I think our issues now are with world peace, and those [other] issues need to be put on the back burners.â€?
And one more thing. The following was the Cagle campaign’s official response to the events of the day:
“Although we disagree with Rudy Giuliani on several issues — most notably his support for gay marriage and abortion — he was a great leader for New York, and we welcome him to Georgia. “We are glad to have him here, regardless of who he’s coming to support. We just hope being tied to Ralph Reed works out better for him than it has for Ralph’s other associates.â€?
Former legislator clearing his throat?
Prison transfer could be prelude to court appearance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Rep. Robin Williams, who’s serving a 10-year sentence on 17 fraud, theft, conspiracy and bribery charges involving the health care industry, has been transferred from a federal prison in South Carolina to a county jail north of Montgomery, Ala., the Augusta Chronicle reports.
The move is a bit of a mystery, but a federal prison official said Williams was moved under a writ to appear in federal court. Montgomery is where former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy and two associates are on trial in a federal corruption case similar to the one that got Williams convicted.
The former Augusta legislator’s name hasn’t popped up on a federal witness list yet, but the move could be a signal he’s about to sing.
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