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Sunday, July 16, 2006
White candidates need religion, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you haven’t heard, religion is a big part of this Republican race for lieutenant governor.
A couple notes from Sunday: Ralph Reed was accompanied to the WSB-Tv debate by his wife, former state GOP official Linda Hamrick, and Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Coalition. Fields has given Reed her personal endorsement.
And Casey Cagle on Sunday morning was at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, one of the largest Baptist churches in Georgia. It also happens to be Gov. Sonny Perdue’s church.
Reed and Cagle: Like the man said, all politics could be local
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s difficult to exaggerate the strangeness of this confrontation between Ralph Reed, the ex-head of the Christian Coalition, and Casey Cagle, a relatively unknown state senator from Gainesville.
Never again will a Republican contest for lieutenant governor revolve around e-mails mined by a U.S. Senate investigation, or require voters to discuss the labor laws that govern an archipelago at the outer edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Or at least one can hope.
Grand strategies are at stake. National Democrats would love to see Reed become the first political figure associated with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be rejected by voters.
Georgia Democrats would rather see Reed eke out a win, in order to pair him with Gov. Sonny Perdue. It’s a thought not lost on Republicans, who have been asked to decide whether Reed’s presence on the November ballot would be a jolt of lightning, or a splash of cold water.
But strategy won’t be the only thing voters consider. Primaries are family fights. Impulses often lurk in layers beneath the surface, impervious to both time and common sense.
If this race is as close as pollsters say it is, the line of those taking credit for the outcome will be able to wrap itself around Stone Mountain. Twice.
But one group in particular may have standing to claim a spot toward the front. Reed reminded us of it late last week. He was on “The Martha Zoller Show” on WDUN-AM, a Gainesville radio station.
The question posed by “R.W. from Dalton” requires some background. As part of Perdue’s formula for victory in 2002, he promised a vote on the 1956 state flag, which his predecessor, Roy Barnes, had taken down. (This is the banner with the giant “X” known as the Confederate battle emblem.)
The new governor got his statewide referendum, but the ‘56 flag was deleted as a choice. Southern heritagists still seethe over the outcome. What about that? R.W. asked Reed.
“I would have not have voted for a referendum that did not include the ‘56 flag,” Reed replied. “I definitely opposed any effort to prevent the people of Georgia from having a voice and an option.”
The cause of Confederate enthusiasts has been picked up this year by Ray McBerry, who is Perdue’s opponent in the Republican primary.
McBerry may be no more than an annoying buzz to the sitting governor. If he picks up 10,000 votes tomorrow, Perdue can swat him down with 300,000.
But 10,000 votes, even 2,000 ballots, could mean the world in the GOP race for lieutenant governor.
And flaggers don’t remember Reed as a friend. McBerry says most of his troops will choose Cagle for lieutenant governor - not that they know anything about Cagle’s position on the ‘56 flag, or care. That’s how grudges work.
Jack Bridwell, former commander of the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has cast an early ballot. “I didn’t vote for Reed,” he said Saturday.
Rusty Henderson of Dublin, a sometime lobbyist, is the closest thing that flaggers have to an ambassador at the state Capitol.
He explained: Reed is viewed as a leader of that wing of the national GOP that has emphasized the need to broaden the party’s appeal among African-Americans and Hispanics.
Most would consider this both noble and practical.
But flaggers, Henderson said, argue that Confederate symbolism has been unfairly sacrificed to the Republican cause of diversity, and that Reed - despite his remarks last week - has been part of this.
This may be the strangest development yet in the race for lieutenant governor. Never mind Abramoff. Forget eminent domain, and the Northern Marianas Islands.
For the second time in four years, a political career in Georgia could hang on a scrap of fabric.
