Political Insider

By Jacob

July 18, 2006 11:40 PM | Link to this

Incompatible liberal endorsements from Giuliani to conservative politicos throughout the state doomed the lobbyist loving Reed.

By zealot

July 19, 2006 12:11 AM | Link to this

I really do feel sorry for poor Zell Miller whose loyalty to a friend leaves him even a sadder political figure in Georgia politics. Zell is really a good man.

By Tony

July 19, 2006 12:20 AM | Link to this

Not knowing if the scope is larger but Sadie Fields might win the “Sinking Credibility Award” for her candidates losing. Kay Godwin and Ralph Reed lose. Does this mean the CC in GA is finished? Have they lost all power? Will they be listened to and feared any more?

By Tony

July 19, 2006 12:34 AM | Link to this

Here’s a good question….with a lot of negativity prevailing, did BLOGS hurt or help campaigns’ causes?

By Francis Burdett

July 19, 2006 12:37 AM | Link to this

RE: the Fourth US House District

Whose vote will hold in the primary run-off, that of McKinney or Johnson?

Do the voters who pressed the screen for Coyne hold the balance or will those voters even show up in the run-off?

By JP

July 19, 2006 12:41 AM | Link to this

Anyone know what works to get Ralph Reed off one’s shoes? (splat!)

By Debbie

July 19, 2006 12:47 AM | Link to this

Tony, Bahama Boy, go ahead and take your shots and gloat . I will hold my nose and vote for Cagle. My hubby will cancel my vote out unfortunately. You guys are the victors but at what cost? The party will be split on the Lt. Governor’s race. I have not seen so much anger since Barnes changed the flag..and from really unexpected places .I hope this anger goes away. The votes were mainly against Ralph and not for Casey. Casey will have a hard time to keep the same level of support without Reed in the picture.

I will urge the Reed folks to rally behind Handel and Black for the runoff.

By Nick

July 19, 2006 12:57 AM | Link to this

Reed losing by such a wide margin is obviously a shocker of the night.

I really did think Hank Johnson would come out on top over Cynthia, but I guess I’ll settle for a runoff. She sure as hell knows how to appeal to her base, buuuut … I’m anticipating one more “crazy Cynthia” event between now and the runoff that’ll give the race to her opponent.

I think everyone needs to do a once-over of the Cathy Cox campaign. Early polls in the Spring showed the race was clearly hers to win. Unfortunately, her first campaign manager brought any momentum she had to a halt. She recovered admirably, but ultimately it wasn’t enough.

Mark Taylor’s a politician’s politician if there ever was one, and he has a couple of simple, straightforward talking points. His “eliminate the sales tax on medicine” and “health care for all children” initiatives are simple to understand and are the types of things that should resonate with voters - feasibility of those programs aside.

And yes, the Democratic primary between Cox and Taylor got a little ugly. But I think Taylor actually came out relatively unscathed. One of Cox’s points of attack, “he’s just another big guy,” is no longer of consequence. And the fight for the black vote, well, Taylor won’t have to worry about that anymore, either.

Suffice to say, Taylor knows how to run a campaign. He closed the gap with Cox, and I think he’ll slowly close the gap with Perdue, too. The final vote will be closer than people think.

By Jacob

July 19, 2006 1:24 AM | Link to this

Did former Senator Zell Miller also endorse Sonny Perdue as well as Ralph Reed? I heard some people say it sounded like the Senator in a Perdue ad but it did not to me. It was Mark Taylor that accomplished most all of Governor Miller’s initiatives. How could he turn on such a friend as Taylor? But then again as maybe Reed learned he should have shied away as well from Miller as Max Cleland and Roy Barnes should have too. Bush would have carried Georgia w/o Senator Miller anyway and distanced him from the Bush family after his unfortunate keynote address.

By Tony Knowles

July 19, 2006 1:39 AM | Link to this

Zell is no longer a force in GA politics. His people couldn’t get past 2nd place

By Redan Panola

July 19, 2006 1:43 AM | Link to this

Pending the results on 8th August, the McKinney-Johnson result is huge. Demonstrates— possibly— that there Is an outer-limit of what South DeKalb will put up with.

By RW-(the original)

July 19, 2006 2:58 AM | Link to this

I know it sounds obvious, but the key to the 4th district runoff is who can get people out to the polls. If all the same people came out the overwhelming number of Coyne votes would go to Johnson, but the lack of a runoff between Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor is going to make turnout extremely tough to gauge.

I was a crossover Republican supporting Hank Johnson and I was frankly shocked that he came this close with such minimal campaigning. After tonight I think he will win the runoff and even though I will vote for Catherine Davis in November I will be represented by Hank Johnson for the next two years.

By Philly

July 19, 2006 6:06 AM | Link to this

This is one Christian Conservative that will sit out the November election. I will cast my last vote his year for Handel and Black. The State Senators need to learn humility.

The Georgia Repubican Party needs to see how many races they win without the Christian Conservative vote. We can protest the way Bush has sold out our country to illegal aliens and the way Ralph Reed was treated. There are many that will vote for Hecht should he win the nomination. A negative campaign like Cagle ran should not go unpunished or it will continue.

I will not change my mind before November. In order for change to come about, sacrifice is necessary. I urge all Christian conservatives to join me in sending a message!

By Happy REPUBLICAN

July 19, 2006 8:35 AM | Link to this

Ralph is gone, thank God. He is an embarassment to republicans and Georgia. His supporters failed to follow the scriptures about removing the log in your own eye before saying something about the splinter in anothers’ eye. All you Reed folks can sit the next election out. Cagle;Cagle.

By curious democrat

July 19, 2006 8:37 AM | Link to this

what happened to the “crossover question” blog? Is it still available for comment?

By Jack

July 19, 2006 8:43 AM | Link to this

“The way Ralph Reed was treated”? Oh, come on. Ralph Reed brought all of that treatment on himself with his holier-than-thou attitude and his ties to Jack Abramoff. Ralph can spin that all he wants; the facts are that he took money from gambling interests to oppose casinos from other gambling interests and he knew what he was doing and who was paying. Sheesh. Get over it.

Debbie, I must disagree with you on one point — I hope the anger doesn’t go away. It’s been proven time and again that anger motivates people to do things like vote when nothing else does. If you’re angry at the people in charge, vote them out. If you’re angry about the way someone campaigned, vote against them. I’d like to see the rabid viciousness go away, but the anger should remain. It was anger at King George III, after all, that helped form our Republic in 1776.

My only disappointment of the night was Cox losing without even a runoff. But the pundits are right on one thing — we have not seen the last of Cathy Cox. She will be back, and she will be a force for Georgians.

By Political Foreskin

July 19, 2006 8:44 AM | Link to this

More Importantly, whatever happened to the “cross-dresser” blog?

By Political Foreskin

July 19, 2006 8:55 AM | Link to this

The “Big Guy” campaign by Cox was a dud. I guess her advisors just couldn’t resist the pun. Never, ever make fun of an opponent’s appearance in a campaign slogan. It doesn’t inform, and only the choir would laugh at it.

Cox, you clearly should have won that election easily, if only you had me. I invite the democratic candidates to consider me to write for their November campaigns. I wont be making fun of your opponents body parts, or facial features, THAT I guarantee.

But I will give you killer lines to blow your opponent’s lead clean away. I really liked Cox, and I actually feel pain that she lost, but cross over democrats who voted for Cagle were in the Cox camp.

Seems a shame.

By DeKalb Dem

July 19, 2006 8:56 AM | Link to this

Considering that Hank Johnson did so incredibly well against McKinney and that Coyne’s voters are likely to back Johnson, why is the AJC still focusing its story on her and telling the public essentially nothing about Hank Johnson and what he stands for?

By Debbie

July 19, 2006 9:22 AM | Link to this

Jack, in this instance anger could cause christian conservative voters to sit at home and that is the same thing as voting for the Democrats. I pray the anger goes away …. There is anger about the way Reed was treated, there is anger about Bush’s immigration policy, there is anger about the big spending in Congress. The list goes on and on.

Forget about the Lt. Governor’s race. There are other races that will be impacted if voters sit at home. Karen Handel and Gary Black need all those votes.

By SamX

July 19, 2006 9:23 AM | Link to this

Don’t look for the AJC to cover much of anything in DeKalb County. The AJC has virtualy abandoned DeKalb. Gwinnett, Cobb, and North Fulton is where you will find the AJC. How many blogs do you see with a DeKalb connection at AJC.com. NONE.

The north suburbs however are saturated with blogs and content. Sandy Springs alone has 3 blogs specific to them. There’s also Deluth.Talk, Lawerenceville.Talk, Norcross.Talk, Snellville.Talk. and Rick Badie/Gwinnett opinion.

This is the first election for the new Suburban AJC. Thats the one thing I noticed about this election.

By Tony

July 19, 2006 9:24 AM | Link to this

Debbie,

If you noticed in one of the other topics, I said my piece. No gloating except for asking for a steak dinner.

The party and activists spoke. That’s it. Either you can rally around those who won or you can be a force that ensures liberalism in this state still has a place. If you want to be an enabler of liberalism, then by all means go ahead.

A message to Philly and like-minded people…your attitude is why your candidate lost. YOU are not the one to teach humility. As a Christian God is our judge and HE is the one to teach humility. Ralph should have learned that last night and so should you. It is NOT your place to judge or to teach any Christian anything. I’ll keep praying that your attitude changes. Humility is something God teaches us daily. It would be wise for ALL of us to listen.

By Debbie

July 19, 2006 9:47 AM | Link to this

I have already stated I will support the nominee of the party. I will urge voters to vote for the entire GOP slate.

I am in a minority right now, however.

By Jason

July 19, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this

My faith is renewed in the people of Georgia when scumbags like Ralph Reed get their tails handed to them like he did last night.

I guess its now back to spreading vicuous rumors about John McCain’s children to potential voters in the 08 South Carolina primary now?

By vel

July 19, 2006 10:26 AM | Link to this

Whoever sent Valerie Basheda to cover the Hank Johnson and John Coyne and Cynthia McKinney race for the 4th district should have sent someone who knew something about DeKalb County politics instead. For her to call Hank an “unknown” after his stint in the DeKalb County Commission shows her ignorance. Maybe she will be unknown after this?

By Rusty

July 19, 2006 10:41 AM | Link to this

1) McBerry drawing 12 percent of the vote from Perdue 2) Cagle’s surprisingly strong 12 percent margin of victory over Reed 3) Mac McCarley drawing barely 2 percent of the vote 4) The weird results in the Dem SOS race

I have trouble believing that Ms. Angela would outdraw Shyam Reddy if that primary happened in a vacuum. Then there’s Cagle’s margin very closely matching McBerry’s surprising drawing power. Then there’s the non-exisitng gay protest vote for McCarley. I suspect heavier crossover voting than was predicted by most people.

By MB

July 19, 2006 11:03 AM | Link to this

I’d like to see some reliable poll numbers on actual crossover voting. I too suspect that it was much heaver than anticipated.

By tony

July 19, 2006 11:08 AM | Link to this

The big story is more democrats than republicans voted across the board. So much for GA becoming a red state. If the claim of strategic voting by democrats in the republican primary is true —not a certainty, strategic voting works in theory but rarely surfaces in reality, afterall, wouldn’t reed have been a weaker candidate possibly even hindering sonny-boy?— but if there was cross-over voting, then the republicans could be in for a cold cold fall, if the votes are the same, the dems could sweep the contested races…

By RL

July 19, 2006 11:41 AM | Link to this

Which Democrat in a contested race received the most votes on Tuesday? Denise Majette

What Democrat received more votes than any other Democrat in state history? Denise Majette in 2004 Senate Race.

Who is the only candidate in an contested race in either party to receive more votes than Denise Majette? Sonny…

By Jack

July 19, 2006 11:48 AM | Link to this

Debbie, please tell me why we have to label conservatives as “Christian” conservatives. Can one be a Christian and not be conservative? Can one be a conservative and not be Christian? Is it possible for one to be a Christian and vote for the Democrats? I’m confused by the mixing of religion and politics. That confusion is why I think religion and politics should not be used in the same sentence.

By Tony

July 19, 2006 1:10 PM | Link to this

This is in no way an attempt to pound Ralph more but a serious question. What does the future hold for Ralph? We will have to wait to see what spending went out for this past reporting period. Ralph had to loan himself a large amount of money for this period to stay afloat. That no doubt took a chunk from his personal worth. With the issues he’s having on the consulting front and this loan, has he put himself in a financial bind?

Traditionally those who lose and have personal loans have very difficult times collecting that money back. Has Ralph basically put himself in the poorhouse by default? Or can he dust himself off and rely on his support to get him back that money?

Will Ralph also have that money he had saved for the General redesignated to Cagle’s efforts?

I had a very interesting conversation with another blogger here that Ralph could have had the world but poor choices have seriously humbled him. He is truly a genius in politics but was done in by his own actions. We seriously hope that such a vast array of talent can recover from this and truly place himself back on track to become the rising star he once was.

By BahamaBoy

July 19, 2006 4:50 PM | Link to this

Here’s another on e RL:

What Democrat actually beat Cynthia McKinney to win a congressional seat, only to turn around two years later to make a quixotic run for the U.S. Senate and return the House seat to McKinney?

Denise Majette!

By BahamaBoy

July 19, 2006 5:00 PM | Link to this

Ralph is Broke! And it is only going to get worse.

Honestly, my heart goes out to him because he is obviously at one of the lowest points of his life right now. Not just because he lost yesterday’s LG race. No, because his finances are in serious trouble and there is no end in sight for the legal troubles facing him.

As an attorney myself (bet ya didn’t know that, Debbie) I have some idea about how much he is going to have to spend to defend himself in Texas over his deception in the Indian gambling lobbying effort there. Plus there are ongoing congressional investigations; the IRS is looking into misuse of nonprofits by him and Abramoff; there may be other civil suits to come when others who suffered at Reed’s hands see how the Texas case goes.

Reed’s consulting business is going to find few clients in the days and weeks ahead. He might have to shut it down. Then there is a rumor that was suppressed during the campaign that someone at Century Strategies may have embezzeled a few dollars, thereby lowering Ralph’s bank account even further.

If all this doesn’t bring Reed to his knees, what more does it take? I hope he makes peace with those he has hurt and gets right with the Lord. The sooner he does, the sooner he can begin his comeback.

Now, about that steak dinner Debbie. Chops or Bones?

By Claude

July 19, 2006 7:30 PM | Link to this

I think it’s obvious now that the AJC (and the rest of the media) blundered with its lack of coverage of Hank Johnson and the 4th district election. There was so much focus on the lt. governor’s election (an office with very little power), but so little news on an election for someone who gets a vote on war and most every other issue of national importance.

By Howard

July 20, 2006 8:55 AM | Link to this

I live in Maryland and have just read that the current election went off with very few problems. I’d like to know if more voters took part in the election process than in the past. Does early voting actually work to bring out more voters or is early voting an expensive feel-good program that really does not work.

By GLC

July 20, 2006 9:39 AM | Link to this

With respect to “ungrateful,great pretender” Zell Miller it looks like history is on the way to repeating itself. All of the candidates he endorsed in 2002 lost. Except for Perdue, his endorsees (Ralph and Bill Stephens) in Tuesday’s election either lost or is on their way to losing. Stephens will definitely lose the runoff. According to recent history, prospects do not look good for Perdue in November. I sincerely hope Perdue’s defeat, which will take a miracle, will put Zell in obscurity where he belongs. For the time being, Zell may be popular but he certainly does not have “transferability.” There seems to be a “bad omen” around him, maybe as a consequence of his hypocracy for so many years.

By kreedham

July 20, 2006 9:50 AM | Link to this

Mom always said wait your turn. While I supported Cathy Cox I questioned her decision to run for governor. I thought her best shot would be to run for Lt. Governor. She would have been the favorite. Then run for Gov in 4 years if Sonny won or 8 years if the Big Guy won. Of course she’ll probably run in 2010 again if Sonny wins re-election where it will be wide open. Of course Hecht or Martin and Cagle will also be there!

By Harry Heller

July 21, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this

The best way to describe Cynthia McKinney is with one word: RACIST.

I support Hank Johnson —- 100%

By Rawanda Jackson

July 21, 2006 10:33 AM | Link to this

YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD…..

VOTE —— HANK

By Marco Gonzalez

July 21, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this

I’m going back to the polls and change my vote to Hank Johnson … Why? …. Cynthia McKinney’s association with ——- CINDY SHEEHAN.

By Ulanda Williams

July 21, 2006 12:13 PM | Link to this

My husband and I are sooooooo disappointed with Cynthia Mckinney and her ‘love connection’ with Cindy Sheehan.

What does Cindy Sheehan have to do with the 4th District?

Cynthia just lost two more votes.

By William Lowe

July 21, 2006 2:35 PM | Link to this

Leave her in Office. At leat we know what she is not doing and that’s serving the 4th district. McKinney and Corrine Brown of FL. A true pictures of what the democrats are.

By Jan

July 21, 2006 5:07 PM | Link to this

I live in Cynthia McKinney’s district, and I voted for Hank Johnson, but if the republicans and other conservatives start a campaign to get McKinney out of office, it’s sort of a turn off to me. It makes me want to defend her and vote for her in the run-off. I say stay out of the fight between Hank and Cynthia and let Dekalb County voters get her out of office on our own. We’re not stupid. We don’t need anyone telling us not to vote for Cynthina, but I don’t want anyone dissing “my sista” either. When you start teaming up on a black woman it only makes other black women want to defend her. And lord knows I don’t want to have to defend Cynthia. I would like to see Hank in office, but if people start attacking Cynthia, it’s natural for me to want to defend her.