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July 2006
Life without Ralph: The Democratic race for No. 2 searches for a voice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pity the two Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, now locked in a run-off campaign that’s down to its final eight days.
For more than a year, Jim Martin and Greg Hecht - both metro Atlanta attorneys, both former state lawmakers - have pitched themselves as the only man with the smarts and chutzpah to take on the legendary Ralph Reed.
Fund-raising and strategy were built around the presumption Reed would dispose of Republican rival Casey Cagle like a used Bic razor.
But in the end, it was Reed who was judged obsolete by voters. And now, in a final lap, Martin and Hecht have left to redefine themselves and their race in new terms. You could see some of their effort Sunday morning in a relatively tame 30-minute studio confrontation on WXIA-TV (Channel 11) - taped two days earlier.
Martin, of Atlanta, emphasized electability. He bragged of his service in Vietnam, his first-place finish on July 18, at 41 percent, his endorsements - most recently, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin - and his fund-raising success.
Hecht, a one-time assistant district attorney from Jonesboro, finished five points behind Martin - and was the aggressor on Sunday. Hecht made clear that he’ll rely on the issue that Democrats often dwelled on before their fall from power: Crime.
In the one exchange that contained any heat, Hecht said: “The last case that I didn’t win was the rape of a stepdaughter by a stepfather. The other side of the table had 12 jury strikes, and I had six. That’s what the victim had. We had a terrible jury. The jury let him off. I had to tell her that she had to go home with the fellow that raped her.”
Hecht claimed that Martin, while chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, blocked a bill to equalize strikes in rape cases.
Now, in the final days of the July primary, Hecht was accused of putting out a misleading flyer on legislation proposed by Martin that would have revamped the prosecution of sexual assault in Georgia.
On television, Hecht was careful not to cross any line. “It’s not to say Jim doesn’t have a good heart, he does. He’s a good man,” Hecht said. “But we have a different vantage point.”
Replied Martin: “I thought this was going to be an easy conversation today. Greg is continuing his negative campaign against me. The truth is I’m tough on crime. I’ve always been tough on crime. My personal story has been part of my advertisements - the fact that my daughter was kidnapped.
“The question is on one particular piece of legislation, a very narrow issue. It’s a very complicated part of criminal justice.
“But the point is that, over my time at the legislature, I voted for two-strikes-and-you’re-out, I voted for restitution for victims of crime, and I have a good record on the issues associated with criminal justice.”
They go at it again Monday evening, on GPTV.
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Support Darryl Hicks, see the world
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With a Democratic finale blazing in the 4th District congressional race, Darryl Hicks — who finished second last week behind Gail Buckner in the Democratic race for secretary of state — has a good chance of breaking Chuck Bullock’s run-off odds mentioned below.
Hicks is African-American. Buckner is white.
But to win the run-off, Hicks needs money. And he’s tapping some interesting friends. Atlanta music mogul Jermaine Dupri and a slew of other black entertainers, athletes and such have lined up for an Aug. 3, $250-a-head fund-raiser at Cafe Dupri (a “health-minded restaurant”) in Buckhead.
One name on the list that especially pops: Dallas Austin, a recent resident of Dubai.
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Martin hits the radio with Franklin’s endorsement
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Campaign-wise, this has been a mostly quiet week. Most candidates have been locked in little rooms, with a phone duct-taped to their head, raising money for a burst of activity that will consume the next week and a half.
But Jim Martin, one of two Democratic candidates in a run-off for lieutenant governor, is up on WSB radio (and who knows where else) with this endorsement spot from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.
The other candidate in the race is Greg Hecht, the Jonesboro attorney and former state senator.
Franklin formally endorsed Martin on Monday. The mayor manages to squeeze six “Jim Martin’s” and two “Jim’s” into 60 seconds. No Jimmy’s or Jimbo’s or Jim-bob’s. She also manages to remind voters that Roy Barnes and Andy Young are also backing Martin.
The significance? If Martin’s first out of the gate with media, that suggests he also is having an easier time raising money.
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In a run-off, bet on the leader
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chuck Bullock, the moustachioed political scientist at the University of Georgia, wrote the book on run-offs.
He’s published a reminder today on the InsiderAdvantage web site. Here’s a tidbit:
“The general pattern is for the candidate who led the primary to prevail in the runoff. An extensive analysis over many years found that the primary leader held position and won the runoff about 70 percent of the time. (See Charles S. Bullock, III, and Loch K. Johnson, Runoff Elections in the United States.) In 2004 the primary leader won 69 percent of the runoffs. The prospects for the primary leader improve as the size of the margin over the second place finisher widens.
“The advantaged position of the primary leader does not extend to incumbents who get forced into a second primary. In 93 Georgia runoffs involving incumbents conducted since 1970, incumbents who led at the initial stage secured the nomination only 42 percent of the time.
“Only four congressional incumbents have competed in Georgia runoffs in recent years. Two won and two lost the runoff after leading in the first primary.”
Read the rest here, but be aware this is a subscription site.
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When friendship and politics cross
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last year, when the Republican lieutenant governor’s campaign was just getting kicked off, we got a call from Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman about Ralph Reed, with whom he had worked closely during the two George W. Bush presidential campaigns and in other Republican activities over the years.
Last week, Mehlman put out a press release congratulating Casey Cagle – something you’ll very seldom see a national chairman do for the winner of a primary campaign for lieutenant governor.
The GOP leader, who was in town Thursday to speak to the National Urban League Convention before heading to Macon for a Mac Collins fundraiser, said he didn’t remember the call last year. He put the release out last week, he said, “because I look forward to working to make sure Casey is the next lieutenant governor, and I strongly support his candidacy.
“Ralph’s a good friend of mine but as party chairman my job is to support the eventual nominee, which is what I’m going to do,” Mehlman said.
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McCain & Cagle: Together again, for the first time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that Ralph Reed is out of the picture, Georgia is open territory for Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, the Arizona senator.
We’re hearing that he’ll come to Atlanta on Oct. 9. We’re pretty sure it will be McCain’s first visit to the state since the Senate Indian Affairs Committee began looking into the doings of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff — and by extension, Reed.
McCain, of course, is chairman of that committee. The visit is a three-fer:
There’s a fund-raiser for Casey Cagle, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, who used much of the material dug up by the McCain committee in his TV campaign against Reed.
McCain will also be a speaker at a luncheon for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. And U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has roped McCain into some sort of golf tournament. We’re not clear on the details of that last event.
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Sonny gave us Lt. Col. Gandalf the Gay? Zell, no.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The measure of a good election-year story is this: Even if it’s not true, it’s still good.
In a New York Daily News gossip column, published this week, Sir Ian McKellen claimed that Sonny Perdue had made the out-of-the-closet actor an honorary lieutenant colonel in the Georgia National Guard - a symbolic violation of the country’s military policy toward gays.
You probably know the formidable Sir Ian from either the “Lord of the Rings” or the “X-Men” series.
Said McKellen: “I was in Atlanta doing press for the ‘Da Vinci Code’ - and they wanted to honor me. The governor made me a lieutenant colonel in the gubernatorial force,” he said. “So the ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule obviously didn’t apply to me. I have a lovely certificate hanging in my office. So inadvertently, they made me the poster child for having openly gay people in the military.”
E-mails churned. Gay blogs were delighted at the hypocrisy. Republicans sweated. Oh, Sonny Perdue, why did you do it?
As it turned out, Sonny didn’t.
First thing Wednesday morning, Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan set his staff to work. First, they found out that McKellen hasn’t been to Atlanta this year. Then a plucky intern turned up this McKellen quote from 1995:
“Last year I was visiting Atlanta for the opening there of my film of ‘Richard III.’ The governor was not abashed and in compensation he declared me an ‘aide de camp’ in his gubernatorial militia, with the status thenceforward of Lieutenant Colonel - which must make me the only openly-gay senior officer currently serving in the armed forces of the USA. This appointment is for life - I think it’s time someone designed me a uniform!”
McKellen’s militia certificate is real — it’s just 11 years old. The fellow who signed it was Zell Miller, the former U.S. Marine, ex-Democratic governor, and current backer of Perdue, a Republican.
Which is perhaps why McLagan treated the 71-year-old actor’s memory lapse with such kindness.
“This guy is Gandalf and Magneto rolled into one, and if he wants to join forces with Georgia when we must battle evil, we welcome him,” McLagan said.
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Presidential ripples from Ralph Reed’s splash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week’s defeat of Ralph Reed in Georgia’s race for lieutenant governor figures prominently in the calculations of Chuck Todd’s presidential rankings.
Todd is editor-in-chief of Hotline.
Here’s what he said of John McCain, ranked No. 1:
“Another tremendous month for McCain, capped off by an early public endorsement of the most popular governor in the country, Utah’s Jon Huntsman. No one would have predicted how solid a frontrunner McCain is at this point. The lack of blind quotes from establishment types is fairly solid evidence that President Bush is comfortable with him as a successor. By the way, how much behind-the-scenes help did McCain give to Casey Cagle? Just askin’.”
And here’s what he said about Rudy Giuliani, who came in at No. 4:
“There’s no sign that he’s not running, so he’s on his own with a solo spot in the rankings. Two words: Ralph Reed. Rudy endorsed him, raised money for him and even recorded a phone call for him. That decision goes to the heart of Giuliani’s appeal — his judgment. State party elites seem to like him and hint that they might excuse his… ideological indiscretions. But there are 10 regular voters for every one member of the elite. That aside, we can’t discount his favorability ratings, national name ID and heir-to-Bush creds on terror.”
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McKinney and gays: This circle isn’t unbroken
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In political campaigns, victory is about coalitions holding together, however tentatively. Fractured alliances are often a prelude to defeat.
For years, gays and lesbians in DeKalb County were an essential ingredient in Cynthia McKinney’s formula for holding her 4th District congressional seat. No more, and it’s gotten quite personal.
Shortly after her 2002 loss to Denise Majette, McKinney locked on DeKalb County’s same-sex community as one of the groups that had betrayed her.
Here’s an excerpt from an October 2003 speech McKinney gave in California:
“By the time the corporate media had finished with me, my white support had plummeted. And sadly, this was even among people whom I had represented for a decade and who knew me.
“I was even booed at our annual Gay Pride Parade despite my lifetime 100 percent [Human Rights Commission] voting record.
And Atlanta’s white gay and lesbian leadership refused to march with me, including Georgia’s only openly gay member of the Legislature, whom I had endorsed and for whom one of my trusted staffers had worked to ensure that she won.
“I protected her during redistricting when other Democrats targeted her. A white lesbian that I helped get elected in a majority black district. She refused to march with me, too.”
The only woman who matches the above description is state Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates). More on this later.
This spring, at a forum attended by a reporter from the Southern Voice newspaper, McKinney’s father, Billy McKinney, said much the same thing.
“Cynthia supported gays for 10 years, then the gay leadership abandoned her and voted for Majette,” the father said.
In that same article, Southern Voice, a publication aimed at gay and lesbian readers, reported that, since returning to Congress, McKinney had not signed on to any legislation favorable to gays.
Back to Karla Drenner. Last week, she handily won re-election to House District 86, with 62 percent of the vote — despite some surgery and an unplanned hospitalization. Drenner was forced to rely on an army of volunteers.
Her opponent was Cynthia Tucker of Stone Mountain — no, not that one. This Tucker was endorsed early in the race by Cynthia McKinney, as well as other African-American leaders in DeKalb County.
House District 86 is located in the center of DeKalb County, home to 90 percent of the 4th Congressional District. The same territory that gave Drenner nearly two-thirds of the vote, doled out only 45 percent to McKinney. Hank Johnson won 44 percent.
Perhaps there’s a connection, perhaps not. But it certainly could matter whether Drenner’s supporters — whether gay or not — hold a grudge in McKinney’s Aug. 8 run-off.
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McKinney claims a place at the debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve gotten word from the Atlanta Press Club that all candidates in the statewide, televised run-off debates the group will host on GPTV have confirmed their attendance.
For those still suffering from Election Night hangovers, the key word in the above sentence is “all.” As in, even Cynthia McKinney. She missed a couple in the primary, but apparently has re-prioritized.
Here’s the schedule:
— Republican secretary of state, Karen Handel and Bill Stephens, taped, to air at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1.
— Republican commissioner of agriculture, Gary Black and Brian Kemp, taped, to air at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2.
— Democratic secretary of state, Gail Buckner and Darryl Hicks, taped, to air at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3.
— Democratic lieutenant governor, Greg Hecht and Jim Martin, live, 7 p.m. Monday, July 31.
— Democratic 4th Congressional District, Hank Johnson and Cynthia McKinney, live, 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 31.
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The Newslady endorses Hecht
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Late-breaking news this afternoon that Sen. Steen “Newslady” Miles has endorsed Greg Hecht in the Democratic lieutenant governor’s race, answering Mayor Shirley Franklin’s endorsement of Jim Martin earlier in the day.
Not only a race with passion, but also developments.
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A race that has stirred surprising passions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There were plenty of robocalls flying before last Tuesday’s primary, but seldom will you hear a politician with his own race to worry about jump with this kind of passion into another as this call, by U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall for Jim Martin in the Democratic lieutenant governor’s race. It went out to about 40,000 Central Georgia households.
As loyal Insiders know, this is all about another robocall, purportedly from a gay Martin supporter, which Greg Hecht’s campaign has denied any connection with, and two mail pieces which have drawn criticism even from some of Hecht’s supporters, but which he continues to defend as fair game in a race that is likely to get even tougher in the fall.
“Jim Marshall never called me. He never went through it with me. He just jumped,” Hecht said Friday of Marshall’s call.
Hecht has defended the two mail pieces in a letter which appears to have circulated a good bit on the internet (see below). Much of that letter focuses on Hecht’s disagreement with the way he and Martin have been compared on women’s issues.
The former South Metro legislator was particularly insistent last week that it was fair game to bring up a bill sponsored by Martin which would have created four categories of rape. Contrary to what has been reported, most prosecutors didn’t support the bill, which failed to win passage, he said.
Hecht said use of a portion of a Martin quote in a 1994 AJC story, which seems to imply Martin was saying some rape victims “should have known better” was justified to underscore that the bill would have allowed previously inadmissible factors to be considered in rape cases.
“I can’t understand for the life of me why that position is reasonable for someone running for lieutenant governor,” Hecht said.
Martin said Friday the only person he’s aware of who think’s Hecht’s attacks were justified is Hecht himself.
“You can argue whether the idea was a good idea or not,” Martin said of the rape bill, which he argued at the time would make it easier to get convictions in rape cases. “But it certainly wasn’t designed to protect rapists.”
Martin believes that for all the sympathetic reaction to the anonymously-launched robocall, it hurt his vote total. Hecht has been criticized for taking the low road, but a strong subtext of this story has been the doubts his campaign has tried to raise about whether Martin could withstand an even more brutal Republican attack, Martin’s determination not to be viewed, as he put it, as “a pushover.”
“If people thought Jim Martin didn’t have the stomach to run a tough statewide campaign, I hope I’ve proven myself,” he said.
For those who want to read the Hecht letter in its entirety, it’s reprinted below.
Response From Greg Hecht - Regarding Context of Campaign
I appreciate your note which you sent to me. I can assure you it bothered me, and I know that was what was desired. I want to explain the context of this race to you.
Like you, I had a positive experience with Jim Martin during my time in the legislature. I did not always agree with all of his positions and stands, but I had a positive experience with him, which is why I was surprised to find a different Jim Martin on the campaign trail.
At the very beginning of the race, I called Jim to ask him to meet with me about the election. I wanted to establish some ground rules about campaigning in a positive manner and to try to determine which one of us should run against Ralph Reed. Jim refused to meet with me. He said I did not have to worry about his campaign tactics, and that he would remain positive. However, he would not meet with me.
One month later, some of my female supporters told me that thousands of e-mails were being generated from across the state to women’s groups members which were being prompted by the Martin Campaign. The e-mails were stating that I was against women’s rights, and that Martin was a strong supporter of women’s rights.
I was very upset. Contrary to Jim’s representations, Mr. Martin’s Campaign hit me behind my back, and they forgot to mention that as a State Senator and State Rep, I authored the Domestic Violence Prevention Act and passed it. I authored and passed the Protective Order Registry to protect women from victimization. I had authored the Gender and Race Equal Pay Resolution in the Senate. I helped pass prescriptive equity and breast cancer care initiatives. I authored the law to eliminate court fees for stalking and rape victims seeking protective orders, and I worked on many other legislative efforts to champion women’s rights.
Also, the Martin Campaign failed to mention that I have served over a decade as a Civil Rights Attorney representing women against sexual harassment and gender, race, and disability discrimination.
Also, the Martin Campaign failed to convey to voters that I left a lucrative law practice to become an Assistant D.A. and specialized in my four years in protecting women against rapists and sexual predators. In the legislature, I also worked with several women’s organizations on sexual predator registry laws and equal opportunity legislation. I let those e-mails go without a response. I did not want to start a negative back and forth.
Mr. Martin and I both spoke at Pro-Choice Georgia’s dinner as headline speakers. However, one month later, Mr. Martin told one of the largest women’s rights groups behind my back that he was the only pro-choice candidate. Also, I found out that e-mails had been prompted by Martin’s Campaign to women’s organizations regarding a vote on the Partial Birth Abortion Bill back in my time as a freshman legislator. I was able to catch up with Mr. Martin at a Macon Forum in which we both appeared. I asked him to sit down with me to talk. He agreed.
I told Mr. Martin that I found his comments about women’s rights and that I was anti-choice were offensive and wrong. I explained to him that we had both appeared at a dinner expressing our pro-choice viewpoints, that I had supported the Choice Movement, and that I did vote the same manner in which Roy Barnes voted on the Partial Birth Abortion Bill. I explained that the Democrat leadership, just as he knew it and had been there, had told all legislators from conservative districts, my district was a 56% Republican rated district, to vote for the bill. Roy Barnes told me this as well. A large majority of Democrats voted for the bill. Mr. Martin knew this and never told the conservative district representatives to do otherwise.
Many times, Mr. Martin had told me that he needed us, i.e. freshman legislators from conservative districts, to come back and vote according to our district’s desires. In some ways, he was a mentor in these types of comments and advice.
I confronted Mr. Martin and told him that his comments were untrue, and that I had voted just as Roy Barnes had, who was supported by Pro-Choice Georgia after that vote in his run for Governor. The Choice Community supported me after that vote in my State Senate Campaign.
Mr. Martin’s comment was, “I do not have to run against Roy Barnes. I have to run against you. I am going to continue saying what I am saying.”
At that point, I looked at Jim Martin as a different person than I knew in the legislature. I told him what he was saying was untrue. He left the table, and our experience was tense from that point on basically.
It should be noted that Mr. Martin was making incredibly incorrect statements about my record to the majority of the primary base from the beginning of the campaign.
- Next, I received calls from religious leaders that said, “Jim Martin told me that you found your faith for political purposes.”
I was disgusted. This allegation was the most disgusting to me. Left out of the communication was that I had been baptized 20 years ago, had been a Sunday School teacher for 4 years at my church before I ever ran for office, spent 3 years as an administrative board member at my church before I ever ran for office, and had gone through a lot of prayer and contemplation about my faith from the age of 14 to 19. I had to go into these details with these religious leaders, and I was appalled to have to go through this personal conversation.
I confronted Mr. Martin at a breakfast in Atlanta that the City of Atlanta put together. I asked to speak with him. I told him what these religious leaders told me. Mr. Martin told me that he was reaching out to a certain religious community, but he was sure that he had been misunderstood.
I told him I was very upset, but that I would take him at his word. I had some misgivings about it, but I let it go. I did not talk with any religious leaders about Mr. Martin’s faith.
- Next, at a forum in Columbus, Georgia, my hometown, I was not able to attend due to personal illness. At this Chamber of Commerce forum covered by the news in Columbus, Mr. Martin told the crowd that I was against clean water initiatives. Obviously, not being there, I had no chance to respond.
Mr. Martin failed to tell the crowd that I had won the 2001 and 2002 Georgia Conservation Leadership Environmental Leadership Awards for my legislative work to protect the waters of Georgia.
Two months ago, in front of over 500 witnesses, Mr. Martin attacked me at the Georgia Municipal Association on a vote regarding water and sewer sales tax matters. He was basically booed when he brought the attack up at the forum; however, I explained he misrepresented my position that I had told the proponents of the water and sewer tax that they needed to exempt food and medicine, because we were in the middle of a recession, and that seniors were incredibly burdened with having to choose between drugs, natural gas, and groceries. The proponents of the tax refused to make that exemption, which I believed was wrong.
Next, though I did not find out about it for a couple of weeks, in early June, 2006, Mr. Martin sent out a letter to thousands of women in Georgia a little over a month and a half ago, upon which he raised over $170,000, stating that, “Greg Hecht has failed to support women,” in that letter.
Considering I have spent over a decade fighting for women against gender discrimination, Equal Pay Act violations, and sexual harassment, I was upset. It was amazing since I had taken a multi-thousand dollar pay cut to represent victims of rape, child molestation, and sexual assault as an Assistant District Attorney. It was amazing, because as a State Senator, I had authored and passed the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, the Gender and Race Disparity Resolution demanding equal pay, authored and passed the State Database of Protective Orders to prevent repeat victimization of domestic violence, co-authored the law to eliminate court fees for stalking and rape victims seeking protective orders, helped pass the Prescriptive Equity Law, helped pass the breast cancer initiative, and many other pieces of legislation which I helped pass on behalf of the women of Georgia.
For over a year, I have known of many terrible votes and sponsorships of legislation which Mr. Martin had taken which were against the interest of women. I had never put out any of this information, and I have still held back 98 percent of this information, but my Campaign Manager was going ballistic for all this time, telling me to hit Mr. Martin, which I had refused.
- Candidates Debate on PBS 10 days ago and the First Mailer - At the Candidates Debate about 10 days ago, State Senator Steen Miles asked Mr. Martin why he left the Department of Human Resources. Mr. Martin refused to answer that portion of the question. Steen Miles again asked him the same question, and again Mr. Martin dodged the question.
For the past year and a half, Jim has been traveling the state, talking to voters about his heroic efforts as DHR Commissioner, and what an incredibly effective DHR Commissioner he has been. In other words, he has told the Democratic voters of Georgia that he should be Lt. Governor because he did a great job as DHR Commissioner. Any one of you who have heard Jim speak know he has said that many times.
At the beginning of his speeches last year, Mr. Martin would say, “I called my friend, Roy Barnes, and I asked him to appoint me as Commissioner of DHR. I wanted to make things better.”
I believe Mr. Martin did want to make things better. Unfortunately, Mr. Martin left out critical information to Democratic voters to know that he cannot win a general election because of his time at DHR, and that Ralph Reed will win if he is the nominee.
Democratic voters will be furious to find out after a year and a half of Mr. Martin telling Democratic voters what an effective DHR Commissioner he was, that he had to resign for serious reasons which make him unable to win a statewide election.
We believe there are two very important issues which the voters need to know, and if Mr. Martin had ever answered these questions on the campaign trail, which he dodged on the campaign trail, there would be no need to communicate those issues.
First, the buck stops at the DHR Commissioner’s desk. Don Keenan, head of the Kid’s Foundaton, said in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “The fatal flaw in all this is the leadership. The head of DFCS has been there about four years, and the DHR Commissioner is going on two years, and they have done absolutely nothing” (to fix the problems causing the children’s deaths). (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Welfare Officials Under Fire Over Jobs,” August 28, 2003) Don Keenan, Head of Keenan’s Kid Foundation.
Child advocates were furious at Mr. Martin for his lack of responsiveness, which in the end is a large part of the reason he resigned. Yes, the mail piece is graphic. However, the real number of the children that died during the time that Mr. Martin was DHR Commissioner was over 120 children. Seventy-two children died after multiple warnings of abuse and neglect in the home.
While this is not fun to bring up, Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle will advertise this on television, radio spots, and mailers over and over again. Jim Martin should have discussed this with voters long before the last week of the election. He refused to do so, after continually representing himself as the most electable due to his effective time as DHR Commissioner.
Second, Mr. Martin has gone around the state stating that he is against outsourcing jobs. However, the voters did not know that on August 8, 2002, he approved a contract with Citigroup to privatize and outsource jobs to handle 15 million calls to India. In the paper this morning, Mr. Martin said that the contract was before his administration. However, that is just incorrect. The contract was renewable each year solely at the pleasure of the DHR Commissioner. Georgia Department of Human Resources Contract No. 427-93-35404. He re-authorized the contract on August 8, 2002, one year after he took the job as DHR Commissioner. He did not tell the General Assembly or the public about this program.
It was not until a year later that Democratic colleagues found out about the contract, and Democratic, not Republican, State Representative John Noel proposed a ban to this program, calling it outsourcing, and was furious that no one from DHR told the legislature or the public about the program. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, Feb. 21, 2004).
Mailing Regarding Four Categories of Rape - After Mr. Martin has continually attacked us on women’s rights issues and raised $170,000 just from one mailer and hundreds of thousands of dollars more from e-mail fundraising campaigns and phone calls based on the same tactic, we notified female voters of just one of many objectionable legislative measures authored by Mr. Martin. The legislation authored by Mr. Martin would have created four categories of rape, so that a rapist could get a lesser penalty if certain other defenses were present. However, the defenses were not defenses. They are nothing which should allow the rape of a woman to be lessened.
The head of the Fayette County Battered Women’s Shelter stated that this 1994 proposal would reverse women’s progress for years in the courtroom and would result in less convictions. She was appalled by the proposal. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jan. 27, 1994). She said the legislation made it easier to doubt the victim. Id.
The District Attorney of the Year called it the most horrible legislation he had ever seen. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, Oct. 10, 1993).
Mr. Martin could not even get the bill out of his Committee, because the Democrat controlled legislature, which was majority Democrat by far at the time, thought it was a horrible piece of legislation as well. Women’s rights group lobbied against it, as did District Attorneys and victims’ rights organizations. Not a single prosecutor testified for it as opposed to what the Martin Campaign states.
Now, people are trying to bring forward comments on a totally different bill from 1999, which had nothing to do with Martin’s 1994 legislation which did not get out of his own Committee.
Conclusion
We have counterattacked on one issue dealing with women in opposition to the multiple attacks from Mr. Martin on our position. I can assure you there are multiple pieces of legislation which Mr. Martin has sponsored and voted for which would be an affront to women, but we chose one issue only.
Similarly, with regard to the DHR Commissioner’s position, Mr. Martin went around for a year and a half explaining his tremendously effective efforts as DHR Commissioner, but the Democratic voters would be furious to find out he cannot win a statewide elected office. Ralph Reed, who has a horrible record, would be our next Lt. Governor and probably Governor, or Casey Cagle, who has a horrible environmental record would be our next Lt. Governor and Governor. Jim is just not electable in a general election and would never beat Ralph Reed.
Also, it should be noted that on several occasions we asked Jim to stop going around saying what he was saying, and doing what he was doing, explaining that at some point you cannot bite someone in the back and not expect a response.
During my time in the State Legislature, I had the opportunity as a State Senator and State Representative author and pass elder and disabled adult prevention legislation, natural gas switching rights, open government legislation, the Georgia Mentoring Act, and many other pieces of major legislation. As a Civil Rights Attorney, I worked to protect women and men in Georgia against race and gender discrimination. As an Assistant D.A., I worked to protect women from rape, child molestation, and other violent crimes. As a 16 year Alzheimer’s Center Board Member, I worked to protect the elderly and those afflicted with Alzheimer’s. As a 10 year Boy Scouts Leader and 10 year Habitat for Humanity Leader, I tried to help our youth and families in need. As a 7 year Reader to Elementary School Children, I have tried to increase the literacy of our children. As a father and husband, I care about the issues of which we are talking.
I, unfortunately, have not seen the same Jim Martin that I knew in the legislature. Obviously, right now we are at odds. I am hoping at some point our friendship is restored, but a context needed to be returned to you. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Greg Hecht
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Shirley Franklin clears her throat in a run-off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was as quiet as a church mouse with laryngitis during the Democratic race for governor.
But things change. She’s stepping into the Democratic primary run-off for lieutenant governor in a big way.
We hear Franklin will endorse Jim Martin, a former state House representative who represented the city for several years. That’s not good news for Greg Hecht, a Jonesboro attorney and state senator who finished second last Tuesday, with 36 percent of the vote to Martin’s 41 percent.
‘Newly minted Republican’ Zell Miller doesn’t cut it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If it’s 9 a.m. Monday, Democratic fax machines are whirring. In case you missed it, over the weekend Zell Miller confessed he’d picked up a Republican primary ballot for the first time last Tuesday, to vote for Gov. Sonny Perdue — and presumably for Ralph Reed, whom he also endorsed.
We haven’t seen them. But we’re sure the press releases will say that, with his Tuesday ballot, Miller officially forfeited his status as “maverick Democrat.” This will be a great lost to journalistic cliché-dom. Somehow, “swing voter Zell Miller” doesn’t have the same panache.
The guy who took aim at an icon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Much has been said about Ralph Reed’s loss last Tuesday in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor. Not enough has been made of Casey Cagle’s victory in that same race.
In many ways, the race was familiar to long-time Georgians: The high school graduate against the PhD. The stammering, unknown state senator versus the self-assured, national TV presence. Politically, this state has often served as a cemetery for the slick, the well-spoken and well-connected.
Cagle had a compelling up-by-bootstraps story, but he also had one of the best-run, best-coordinated campaigns we’ve seen in quite a while. The candidate spoke on Sunday, TV ads carried the message Monday, direct mail hit on Tuesday, followed by robo-calls on Wednesday. Easy to say, hard to pull off.
Coordination requires unity of purpose, and Cagle’s core strategists had that in spades. First, many were former employees or associates of Reed — including campaign manager Elizabeth Dewberry and consultant Joel McElhannon. Secondly, all understood that they were about to say very bad things about a Republican icon. Fail, and work in this state would be hard to find for a very long time.
Confident of his Christian base, Reed sought an alliance with mainstream Republicans on issues such as taxes and job growth. By constantly harping on Reed’s relationship with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Cagle’s strategy was to push Reed to the right, out of the reach of centrist Republicans.
Reed’s own TV ads citing his former leadership of the Christian coalition was seen as evidence that Reed had been forced to tend to his base. Then Cagle even went after that, by charging Reed with hypocrisy in a two-week TV ad blitz.
Last week, on the web site of National Review, the conservative magazine, Cagle’s pollster, John McLaughlin, called the victory “the beginning of the Republican reformation” — a metaphor loaded with images of a debauched religious order grown too comfortable with its own success.
“Georgia Republicans and conservatives … have rejected the corruption of our movement and they should be praised for their wisdom,” McLaughlin wrote.
But in many ways, the Reed-Cagle contest was yet another round in the fight for control of the Republican party, between business interests and social conservatives. Cagle matched Reed point-for-point on issues dear to religious conservatives.
But his campaign also built heavily on low-profile business networks — bankers, real estate agents, car dealers, and so on. Cagle also won the endorsements of more than 300 elected officials in Georgia.
Perhaps more importantly, in an interview over the weekend, Cagle also hinted at silent help from those who thought a Reed victory would lead to a disastrous narrowing of the Republican name brand in Georgia.
“This chapter is going to be viewed as a redefining of the Republican party. Once and for all, it is very much a mainstream party,” Cagle said.
Run this one up the flagpole
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We caught up with Ray McBerry, who got 48,444 votes in Tuesday’s GOP primary against Gov. Sonny Perdue, and asked a question that has been hanging out there all week. What are those voters going to do in November?
“What they’ve told me almost universally is that if Sonny’s folks don’t sit down with me in the very near future and put some things in writing, they’re either sitting it out or they’re voting for Mark (Taylor),” McBerry said.
For those who have come in late: Not every vote for McBerry was an expression of continuing unhappiness over the state flag controversy. On a list of issues he wants to talk with the governor about, McBerry listed immigration, eminent domain, the 2nd Amendment, the flag, abortion and the 10 Commandments, in that order.
Concerns over the proposed confiscation of firearms in natural disasters (that’s the 2nd Amendment issue) have probably edged past the flag at this point, McBerry said.
It’s also likely that some who pushed the screen for McBerry were Democrats who wandered into the room to vote against Ralph Reed in the lieutenant governor’s race.
But it is true that just about all the “heritage people,” as Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Dan Coleman called them, did vote for McBerry. And they accounted for enough votes, Coleman believes, to earn “a little bit of respect” from those who have doubted how many votes they represent.
Coleman said he’d been hearing much the same sentiment as that expressed by McBerry.
You figure the Democratic strays who voted for McBerry will be voting for Taylor. So if McBerry and Coleman are right, almost none of those votes come back to Perdue.
If Perdue’s lead stays as wide as it is at the opening bell, this may not be a great concern. If the race tightens, well…
The return of goodbyecynthia.com. Sort of.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Press Club has set 7:30 p.m., Monday, July 31 for its live, GPTV debate between Hank Johnson and Cynthia McKinney in the 4th Congressional District runoff. That means it will air just before the start of early voting.
We wonder if she’ll make it.
We’re also hearing from people who walk the halls up there, that cops at the U.S. Capitol in Washington are passing the hat for Johnson. Not sure about the amounts involved, but if Georgia cops jump in as well, it could produce a tidy sum fairly quickly.
The most intriguing news of the day comes from the office of Mark Davis and his Duluth outfit, Data Productions Inc. Davis is a Republican data miner. Four years ago, in a matter of three weeks, Davis and a few Republican friends activated a dormant political action committee and waded into the McKinney fight, on the side of Denise Majette.
Their web site was goodbyecynthia.com.
We talked to him Thursday. He’s jumping in again, but in a capacity that hasn’t entirely been sketched out yet. His main task will be to find DeKalb County voters who didn’t cast a ballot on Tuesday, and let them know — via direct mail or automated phone calls — that they’re eligible to participate three weeks from now.
But should she lose next month, Davis said, McKinney won’t be able to argue that Republicans did her in. All the hardcore Republicans in the district voted in the Reed-Cagle race on Tuesday. Which means Davis’ job will be harder, because he’ll be reaching out toward the disaffected middle.
So here’s the day’s topic for you armchair strategists out there. And remember, the following is a tactical discussion — not an endorsement:
The technology is there for Republicans. But do you pull the trigger? We’ve heard a good many people say no, Republicans need McKinney as a poster child for liberal excess. But that’s a fund-raising argument the Republican National Committee might make. The more pressing strategic argument involves the re-election of Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Say that Democrat Mark Taylor makes all the right moves, and the race for governor in late October is tight. Would Republicans rather have a happy, enthusiastic McKinney pushing all the south DeKalb County buttons at her disposal? Or would they rather have a sullen, defeated McKinney who thinks Democrats — perhaps including Taylor — didn’t do all they should have to help her?
We’ve passed this by a number of people today, and it’s produced one cogent objection: They say that McKinney’s turnout machine, like that of Ralph Reed, is highly over-rated, and is decreasing in power as south DeKalb’s middle-class wealth increases.
If she can’t keep herself out of a run-off, her involvement in Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in November aren’t worth worrying about. And so would have little impact on the outcome of the governor’s race.
Remember, one Democrat told us, that had John F. Coyne III of far-away Alpharetta not jumped into the race — and siphoned 5,249 votes from Johnson — there would be no run-off. It was Johnson who was drawn into the run-off on Tuesday, not McKinney.
The election in DeKrossover County
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Save only for the 2002 Denise Majette-Cynthia McKinney race, we’ve heard more about the impact of crossover voting after Tuesday’s primary than ever before. And once again, it’s DeKalb County where voters seem to have had the strongest urge to pick up the other party’s ballot.
If gays and lesbians in DeKalb who usually vote for Rep. Cynthia McKinney hadn’t defected to vote against Ralph Reed in the Republican lieutenant governor’s race, one of our readers writes, they might have kept her out of a runoff with Hank Johnson.
McKinney got a double crossover whammy, in fact, because at least some Republicans crossed over to vote against her, and with this low a turnout, that could have affected some GOP primary races.
Cathy Cox’s supporters believe she lost a lot of votes to Democrats crossing over to – as one of them put it Wednesday – “drive a stake through Ralph’s heart.” But the same voter said she’d also decided she would have voted for Taylor.
Note, in all this, the utter absence of political guile. Is it all that whole-grain bread?
A familiar looking sign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Every election has a few sign flaps, and this one wouldn’t be worth a mention if it didn’t involve a corporate logo and the secretary of state race.
Driving to work Tuesday morning, Randy Lewis says he spotted his first Gail Buckner sign. He and his partner in a public relations firm, Sandy Fitzpatrick, say they immediately identified the logo on the sign as identical to the one they paid a graphic artist to design for two websites they publish, the Georgia Daily Digest and Georgia Political Digest.
Lewis sent a letter to Buckner Wednesday, but the former legislator, who finished first in Tuesday’s Democratic primary and faces Darryl in a runoff, said she’d already ordered the signs to be pulled.
Buckner said her printer, who produced the sign, thought the logo was in the public domain, but she wasn’t going to contest the issue, and would change to a new yard sign. Running for an office that handles incorporations and such, this isn’t an issue you want to linger.
Raw numbers: a reality check
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Tuesday – we’re using 97 percent returns here – a total of 402,764 people voted in the most heavily publicized down-ticket race in the history of Georgia for sure, and maybe of the USA.
And in what may have been the least-noticed contested Democratic primary race for lieutenant governor ever in this state, 443,226 voted. Democrats have always had bigger primaries in Georgia, but the comparison in this particular race is still striking considering the huge difference in the hype.
Many Republicans are breathing a sign of relief today that the shadow of Jack Abramoff won’t be hanging over the fall campaign, and that Gov. Sonny Perdue has been delivered up the Democrat they’ve worried about least, with a hefty lead in the polls.
But a raw-number comparison of both statewide and legislative races paints a picture of a competitive two-party state that neither Republicans nor Democrats can take for granted.
Sure, these numbers are affected by some rural counties where the big local races are still in the Democratic primary, but that’s being swiftly offset by the Republican dominance in the ‘burbs.
Speaking of taking for granted, here are the starkest numbers to emerge from the Republican primary: Ray McBerry got 48,113 in the governor’s race against Sonny Perdue, and Ralph Reed lost to Casey Cagle by 49,126 votes.
By no means does that say the flaggers, whose cause McBerry represents, elected Cagle. It does indicate Reed got into the kind of cross-issue stew that poisoned Roy Barnes.
Back in ’02, it was the flaggers plus the teachers plus the county sheriffs who defeated Barnes in many South Georgia counties. This year, it was the flaggers plus the disaffected churchgoers who hurt Reed in the same areas.
Question: What do those 48,000-odd voters do this fall?
You be the pundit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It will take us a few hours to switch into runoff mode, and in the meantime we’re opening this file for anyone who wants to take an early shot at the most important, or overlooked, or outrageous result from Tuesday’s election. If you’ve spotted a trend already, we’ve love to hear about it.
If you’re a Democrat who voted Republican today…..
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Please do us a favor and e-mail our colleagues at elections@ajc.com. Be sure to include your name and phone number so a reporter can call you. If you read below, you can see there’s some kind of effort to push Democrats to grab a GOP ballot — we’re trying to get a handle on how large it really is, and how well it’s working.
Many thanks…….
Hunting for anti-Reed crossovers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Someone’s trolling for Democratic votes against Ralph Reed. This sound clip was sent in by one our loyal readers in midtown Atlanta, caught on his answering machine Monday night.
The quality is rough — the name of the caller is hard to make out, and there’s no tagline confessing authorship. Here’s most of the script, aimed at listeners of National Public Radio:
“I was listening to ‘All Things Considered,’ and heard that Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed is using the Georgia lieutenant governor’s race as a launching pad to run for president….I found out the only shot we’ve got at keeping Ralph Reed out of the Senate and even the White House is by voting against him in the Republican primary on July 18.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll be voting Republican for the one and only time in my life, to stop Ralph Reed. I urge you do the same. If we let Ralph Reed win this election, we can kiss our freedoms good-bye.”
The Cagle campaign doesn’t claim it. “It sounds interesting,” said spokesman Brad Alexander. “But it’s not one of ours.”
The late, late entry into the lieutenant governor’s race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The answering machine had this robo-call message from “Mary Ann” on Monday night:
“You’ve probably heard that Ralph Reed worked for casinos and gambling interests. Reed even used Christian groups as a front to do that.
“But did you see that Ralph Reed was paid to lobby against protecting women in the Northern Marianas Islands from employers who pushed them into prostitution and even forced them to have abortions? Is that what you believe in?
“And to this day, Ralph Reed remains unrepentant and refuses to admit he was wrong. Paid for by Campaign Money Watch.”
This is the Washington group we told you about last week. They introduced a similar TV ad into the campaign on Friday.
One robocall away from a corker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who is Orlando Jones? In a few hours that could become a burning question.
All the heat and light in the lieutenant governor’s race has been on the Republican primary, which will be decided one way or another very shortly. But with five candidates in the race, the Democratic primary appears headed for a runoff, just when it’s getting hot.
Orlando Jones is the name used in a robocall, purportedly from Jim Martin’s campaign, which asked voters to touch the screen for Martin because of his support for gay and lesbian rights. You can hear it in this recording from the Blog for Democracy site.
Dan Browning, a reader in Decatur who emailed us after he got the call Sunday night, said he became suspicious this was a “stealth” call when “Orlando Jones” spoke of Martin’s efforts to “legalize sodomy.”
“That’s just not the way it’s presented from that side,” Browning said.
Billy Horton, Greg Hecht’s campaign manager, has taken full responsibility for two mailers sent out last week (see the Aug. 13 archives), over which the Martin campaign cried foul, and said Monday they were “absolutely true.” But he denied any connection with the Orlando Jones call.
“It’s just a little bit funny to me they knew about it as soon as the call went out,” Horton said.
Will Martin, Martin’s communications director, said the campaign became aware so quickly because dozens of supporters from around the state called in to ask whether the call was for real. He said Rep. Jim Marshall has taped a robocall for Martin, who’s also enlisted former Mayor Andrew Young as a telephone voice.
If Hecht and Martin are the two contenders left standing Wednesday morning, we’ll be hearing a lot more about this.
Reed and Cagle: It’s time for a dose of Valium
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Right up to the last moment, Georgia’s race for lieutenant governor is living up to its reputation as a local, down-ticket contest with national import.
Last week, Marvin Olasky, the editor of World magazine, wrote a column for Human Events, the national conservative weekly, critical of Ralph Reed’s campaign and his relationship with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Olasky is a Texas religious thinker considered the father of the “compassionate conservatism” that carried George W. Bush to the White House.
“Reed could have been open and honest, especially since conservatives can legitimately differ on gambling issues. Battles about gambling expansion often feature anti-gambling groups (small in size and dollars) in temporary alliances-of-sorts with existing casinos. Some anti-gambling groups accept that reality as the cost of keeping gambling from expanding. Others refuse to use gambling money. Reed could have given folks who trusted him the choice, but instead he used the reputation he then had for integrity to fool those who were too easily led.”
On Monday, Human Events published a response from Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Coalition, who has personally endorsed Reed:
“Marvin Olasky’s overwrought attempt at guilt by association is unfair and mean-spirited. He seems to argue that because Reed had a friend who did something wrong, he is disqualified from serving. That may sell magazines, but it does not reflect the redemptive love of Christ….
“I have been fighting for pro-family values for over 15 years in Georgia, and I do not appreciate outsiders telling us who we should choose to lead our state.”
Beyond that, both candidates executed multi-city fly-arounds on Monday, nearly bumping into each other in Macon. Each had scheduled a press conference at the city’s small airport at just after noon.
Also, Georgia Right to Life slapped Casey Cagle on the wrist for a radio ad which says “Georgia Right to Life endorsed Casey Cagle because they know he won’t sell out Georgia’s values.”
The anti-abortion group has endorsed both candidates, with no caveats aimed at Reed. “We object, basically, to [Cagle] putting words in our mouths,” said GRTL spokesman Dan Becker. “To imply that we have questions about one candidate was just inappropriate.”
Becker did tell us that GRTL is not withdrawing its endorsement of Cagle. Cagle’s campaign, by the way, blames Reed for pressuring GRTL to put out a press release on the matter.
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.
This year, country’s cool
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. Rep. Mac Collins said something a few weeks ago that comes back to mind this last weekend trying to think of every unmentioned thing that might affect Tuesday results.
With the lieutenant governor’s race headed for a photo finish, Collins wondered whether turnout in rural counties might be affected by the Republican agriculture commissioner’s race. You can be sure this is the first time anybody’s ever conjectured about that. Tommy Irvin is the longest-serving Democrat in the state, holding the ag commissioner’s post since 1969.
But this year’s primary, in which Dee Strickland, the party’s candidate four years ago, has been joined by former Georgia Agribusiness Council President Gary Black, Cumming businessman Bob Greer and former state Sen. Brian Kemp, has been a very active affair.
Not just in the country, either. Black and Kemp have done a lot of politicking at Republican events around suburban Atlanta. Randy Lewis, who edits the Georgia Political Digest.com site, was shocked recently when responses to an online poll on the ag commissioner’s race soared past the website’s previous high.
Does an uptick in rural turnout help Cagle or Reed – or is it a wash? More on those unmentioned factors to come.
A somber note from a campaign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, one of five Democratic candidates for governor, is closing his campaign with the emotional grabber of the season. It’s a 30-second TV spot in which he recounts the 1980 kidnapping of his 8-year-old daughter, Becky.
She was walking the two blocks home from Morningside Elementary School in Atlanta, when a man pulled up to her and asked her for directions. The man grabbed her and drove off — but threw her out of the car shortly afterwards.
“I’ll never forget the way she trembled when she faced her kidnapper in court. That’s one reason I fought so hard for crime victims, and to lock up violent criminals,” Martin says to the camera.
The ad’s posted here at Martin’s web site.
Zell weighs in for Ralph Reed, again.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Matt Towery’s Insider Advantage poll has Ralph Reed bouncing back a bit in the Republican race for lieutenant governor. He’s now tied with Casey Cagle, 43-43 percent.
Comeback efforts include the Friday release of this radio ad featuring Zell Miller, in which the former governor and U.S. senator proclaims his trust in Reed’s “values and his character.”
The line that matters: “Ralph will fight those who seek to trivialize the pro-family values that are the foundation of our country,” Miller says in the ad.
Let’s ponder on Towery’s contention that this race will be a 1,000-vote contest. If that’s so, then it won’t be over until Cobb, Cherokee and north Fulton counties weigh in.
Remember that it was Jared Thomas, as campaign manager for Tom Price, who pulled the upset of 2004 with a primary victory in the GOP race for the 6th Congressional District. Which covers exactly that territory. Thomas, of course, is now directing Reed’s campaign.
Slipped over the transom
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Someone has slipped us a digitalized sheet of paper with a Waffle House letterhead, over the signature of Don Balfour, who is both a corporate vice president and chairman of the powerful Senate Rules Committee.
The letter informs district and division managers that Ralph Reed, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, has permission to put a yard sign “at every Waffle House in the state of Georgia.”
The signs weren’t allowed to go up until July 7. “No political yard signs are allowed at Waffle House without a letter from me. If other political signs go up, please take them down,” Balfour wrote.
Balfour confirmed the authenticity of the document for us, but said it does not amount to an endorsement on his part. He oversees “advocacy” and government relations, and all such letters go out over his signature. “Neither is it an endorsement by the corporation,” Balfour said.
So that’s what the letter is not. Although you might keep in mind that Joe Rogers, president of Waffle House, is a Reed supporter. And what the boss wants….
It’s an impressive gift, and gives Reed a terrific skeleton for a sign network. Waffle House is legendary for its success in selecting locations.
Oh, and for you young people. A transom is that little window above a door that’s cracked open for ventilation. Seen mostly in 1930s detective movies.
Georgia Equality says vote Democratic, but skip governor’s race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state’s largest gay rights organization wants to see more votes cast in the race for lieutenant governor and other downballot contests than in the gubernatorial races.
The plan is to use the difference to give a firm measurement of their clout in November. Read the group’s complete statement below.
Don’t vote for governor in next week’s primary. Vote in your own party’s primary but stay away from the gubernatorial race in the voting booth. Vote for every other candidate you support, but make your vote for governor count by not casting it.
The race for governor this fall will be close. No candidate will be able to take any vote for granted. In precincts with large numbers of LGBT voters, a boycott of the gubernatorial primary will show how many votes are at stake. With hard numbers to point to, our community’s conversation with the candidates will change.
None of the major candidates – Cathy Cox, Sonny Perdue and Mark Taylor – earned the votes of LGBT Georgians. Their behavior during the just-concluded court battle over the 2004 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage proved it.
After Judge Constance Russell invalidated the amendment for violating the state constitution, Perdue sensed an opportunity to enhance his reelection chances by exciting conservative voters to go to the polls.
He took the extraordinary step of threatening to hold a special session of the General Assembly to put a new marriage amendment on the November ballot if the Georgia Supreme Court failed to overturn Russell’s ruling.
The Justices wasted no time in reinstating the amendment. After the decision, Perdue generously noted that gay and lesbian Georgians are “free to work and live their lives” in the state “they’re just not free to marry.” Thanks, Sonny.
Cox, the secretary of state long thought to be a supporter of civil equality for gay and lesbian Georgians, fell all over herself to support Perdue’s call for a special session and announce her support for civil marriage discrimination. And then she stunned supporters by renouncing support for civil unions.
Taylor, the lieutenant governor, has simply been silent, other than to quietly reaffirm his support for civil marriage discrimination.
On the fundamental issue of whether gay and lesbian Georgians and their families deserve basic legal protections, all three candidates fall far short.
So keep your vote for governor in your pocket, but vote for every other fair-minded candidate down the ticket, especially lieutenant governor. Pay close attention to legislative races, as well.
Returning Karla Drenner – the state’s only openly gay member of the state legislature – and electing Allen Thornell to the General Assembly will send a powerful message. Make sure we also return our staunch legislative allies.
Georgia Equality has thoroughly screened candidates and carefully selected those who merit your support. A list of those candidates is at www.georgiequality.org.
Voting in your party’s primary – whether Democratic or Republican – ensures that other candidates who deserve your support get it.
Some have argued that LGBT voters should take part in the Republican primary to support Casey Cagle against Ralph Reed for lieutenant governor, but that tactic might mean fair-minded Democratic candidates will lose votes – and maybe elections. You can’t vote against Reed in the Republican primary and for a good candidate in the Democratic primary or Democratic primary runoff.
And there’s no way to measure the effect of LGBT crossover votes in the Republican primary. If we all vote in our own party’s primary, but skip the governor’s race, we can show where more votes were cast for “down ticket” races than for governor. And that will make a difference this fall, and in the future.
So here’s the strategy: Check out Georgia Equality’s candidate endorsements or the endorsements of any LGBT-friendly organization or person you respect.
Do vote in your party’s primary and vote for the candidates you support.
Don’t vote for any candidate for governor.
Do vote for lieutenant governor, state House, state Senate and local candidates.
And take a few friends to the polls with you when you go. Pass it on. Make your vote count!
The real mud flies on Wednesday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While everyone’s been watching the mud fly in the Republican lieutenant governor’s race, what had seemed a relatively civil Democratic lieutenant governor’s race has erupted this week into a pretty nasty affair with two mail pieces from Greg Hecht’s campaign that are right up there with the other team in terms of negativity.
Over a photo of a wan-looking girl on the first piece, a blotter-type headline says “72 children died when Jim Martin was the head of Georgia’s DFCS… why should we trust Jim to be protecting our kids now?”
Billy Horton, Hecht’s campaign manager, acknowledged the piece was “a more visible escalation,” but said the race already was becoming more negative, and in any case, the piece was “tame” compared to what Martin might expect from either of the Republicans.
“It’s just been his chipping away at us for the last three, four, five weeks, and saying one thing after another, that brought us to the point where we felt like we had to respond,” Horton said.
He cited what he said was Martin’s misrepresentation of one of Hecht’s Senate votes on a SPLOST issue, and his “outright, blatant misrepresentation” of Hecht’s record on abortion issues.
“If that’s what they’re calling an attack, judge that in comparison to this mail piece,” said Will Martin, Jim Martin’s communications director. “Jim’s position is that every child’s life is precious. For Greg’s campaign to attempt to score points over their deaths is outrageous.”
The timing is critical here. The DFCS piece was mailed at the beginning of the week, timed to drop in mailboxes less than a week before the primary. But Horton didn’t mention, and Martin didn’t know about until late Thursday afternoon, a second piece that went out Wednesday – the last day the post office guarantees a political mailer will be delivered before next Tuesday.
It screams even louder.
“2000 women are raped in Georgia every year. Jim Martin said some of these women ‘should have known better’,” a headline says, over a color negative of a frightened woman with a hand over her mouth. Quoting Martin from an AJC story, it says “She was in a bar, should have known better, wore a short skirt.”
This has to do with a 1994 bill sponsored by Martin when he was in the House which failed to win passage. It would have created different categories for the crime of rape, and was favored by many prosecutors and rape counseling groups.
As for the quote, we’ll give you the full version from the AJC and let you judge for yourself. Martin is talking about how the Georgia law made it hard to prosecute rape cases:
“If there are any factors – such as, she was in a bar, should have known better, wore a short dress – some juries are unwilling to prosecute the crime as rape. The hope is we will get more convictions.”
An outside group weighs in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Washington-based group Campaign Money Watch on Friday jumps into Georgia’s Republican race for lieutenant governor, with a 30-second TV ad attacking Ralph Reed.
The ad employs the same topics used by Reed’s GOP rival, Casey Cagle, charging that Reed worked on behalf of casinos, and helped defend an economic system on the Northern Marianas Islands that fostered prostitution and forced abortions.
David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch, said that — despite the resemblance of his group’s ads to those run by Cagle — there was no contact with the campaign of Reed’s rival.
Donnelly wouldn’t tell us the size of the buy, but would only say that the ad will run Friday and Monday on WSB-TV and WXIA-TV. That leads one to assume that it’s a fairly small one.
View the ad here.
This is the same group that set loose a radio ad against Reed last May, when Rudy Giuliani was in town. We can’t remember the specifics, but that ad wasn’t crafted in a way that Republican voters would buy into it.
This new one is, asking constantly, “Is that what we believe in?”
The sounds of Sunday’s GPTV debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Click here for a listen to some of the best parts of the Atlanta Press Club/GPTV debate from Sunday, between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle, the two Republican candidates for lieutenant governor.
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Rudy’s duty, a Cagle pdf, and Reed cries foul
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Truly, is this a great item or what? Where else can you get a triple click in one stop? We’re working on the latte that goes with it.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, did his part for Ralph Reed’s race to the finish for lieutenant governor last night. The ex-mayor left this message for moderate Republican voters, endorsing Reed on issues such as taxes, the federal budget, crime and immigration.
The line that matters: “I know leadership when I see it.”
Also, Peachpundit.com has done everyone a favor by obtaining a scanned version of the Casey Cagle flyer on the Northern Marianas issue. Think of this in coordination with the TV ad, and automated phone calls.
To answer Cagle, Reed’s campaign has sent us this phone message from the candidate himself. The line that matters: “To suggest that I, the former head of the Christian Coalition, favor abortion and prostitution is a low blow in a Republican primary.”
Marshall in double-digit lead?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says its polling shows incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall in a solid lead over Republican challenger and former congressman Mac Collins.
According to the poll, conducted July 8-10 by the Democratic firm of Hamilton, Beattie and Staff, Marshall leads Collins 58-32 percent, with 10 percent undecided. Doug Moore, Marshall’s communications manager, said it was his understanding the poll has Marshall leading both in those parts of the Central Georgia district he represented formerly, and those that are new to him.
According to the poll, Marshall’s favorable rating is 50 percent, with only 7 percent unfavorable. Pollster Dave Beattie said his firm didn’t poll in Georgia’s other hot congressional race, the 12th District battle between Democratic Rep. John Barrow and Republican former Rep. Max Burns.
The newest Cagle ad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Casey Cagle’s aggressive attitude continues in his newest ad. It’s his third TV attack against Ralph Reed in 10 days, in the Republican race for lieutenant governor.
Key line is a Cagle-to-camera moment: “Ralph Reed’s false attacks? Well, that’s just politics. But the way he sold out our values? That’s wrong.”
Click here, then report back.
Two polls say Reed dropping
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The idea of a nationally watched race for lieutenant governor is silly enough. But the fact that the contest could turn on an argument over the minimum wage on an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean is downright incredible.
Two polls out today say that support for Ralph Reed is dropping in the Republican race for lieutenant governor, thanks to a ruthless push on the ground and in the air by Casey Cagle.
Insider Advantage numbers will be out this afternoon. Strategic Vision, a Republican public relations firm, this morning put Cagle on top for the first time, but barely: 42 to 41 percent.
On Monday, Cagle began a coordinated TV ad/direct mail assault on Reed, connecting the ex-Christian Coalition leader to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s efforts on behalf of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
The Cagle TV ad, and Reed’s response, can be found below. On Tuesday, the air assault was followed by a direct mail piece that was just as incendiary. The opening message: “When investigators discovered child prostitution and forced abortions on the Marianas Islands, Ralph Reed was paid to cover it up.”
The issue is a pamphlet that Reed’s firm printed to support then U.S. Rep. Bob Riley (R-Alabama), who is now governor. Riley had cast a 1999 vote against applying U.S. labor law to the Marianas enclave several hundred miles east of the Phillipines.
Reed says the legislation was a Democrat-backed effort to extend control of labor unions to the islands, and that the measure included “amnesty” for foreign workers which, once granted, would allow them to work anywhere in the U.S.
Cagle says Reed’s work amounted to support for sweatshop conditions that include the aforementioned child prostitution and forced abortions.
“This is off the charts,” complained Jared Thomas, Reed campaign manager. “This is beyond the pale. This is a bill that had nothing to do with human rights abuses.”
The troubadour and the general choose sides
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic secretary of state candidates Shyam Reddy and Scott Holcomb, who are both up with new ads, have picked up support from a couple of well-known names.
Indie fans will notice that the voice in the new Reddy ad is that of singer-songwriter Shawn Mullins, an active member of “Team Reddy,” according to a press release.
Many of those the voice is speaking to might not recognize it. The ad’s about protecting seniors by fighting investment fraud and nursing home abuse, in addition to “protecting our right to vote,” which is a hot topic this year.
Meanwhile Scott Holcomb, who has emphasized his military experience, released an endorsement letter from former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, Gen. Wesley Clark.
“Scott Holcomb served our country proudly, deploying in support of conflicts in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Now Scott is answering another call to public service, and I am pleased to endorse his effort and candidacy for Georgia Secretary of State,” Clark’s endorsement says.
By the way: Is Holcomb’s new ad the first this year to deal specifically with electronic voting?
The TV ad war of the season?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve got a nuclear exchange going between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle in the Republican race for lieutenant governor.
After a 24-hour lag, Reed just went up with his response to a brutal ad from Cagle, accusing Reed of helping Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff go to bat for the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory that operates under its own labor laws. The ad cites reports of child prostitution and forced abortions.
Reed’s response is a three-pronged attack, accusing Cagle of failure to pay the proper payroll taxes for his campaign staff, of making a $1,000 donation to Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, and of using his legislative seat to benefit his banking business.
No mention of the Marianas Island issue in the Reed ad. For the moment, the Reed campaign appears to be depending on print and e-mail for that.
Even so, Reed still squeezes some face time into the 30-second ad to declare: “I’ve always worked for what we believe in: faith, family and freedom. That’s why the liberal media and others attack me. Because I’ve stood for you and our conservative values.”
With a week to go, this remains very much a fight for control of the base.
Both campaigns appear to be closing in on saturation, buying points in the statewide range of 1000 to 1,200 points — meaning you’ll see each ad nearly a dozen times.
More details to come later. Obviously, the ads are tied to the release of this week’s financial disclosures. For now:
Cagle’s attack.
And Reed’s post and riposte.
Watch, then come back and tell us who won.
Reed and Cagle at or near parity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The two Republican candidates for lieutenant governor filed their June 30 disclosures late Monday, and they’re at near parity in the final days of the campaign.
Ralph Reed raised $846,940.86 over the quarter, but that includes a $500,000 loan from the candidate. Total raised to date is $2.9 million, but remember that figure contains some cash that can’t be spent until the general election. Cagle likewise has some money earmarked for the general, but not as much.
Casey Cagle reported raising $1,083,312 over the last three months — as he points out, triple the amount that came from Reed donors. Cagle puts his fund-raising total at $2,520,027.
Details to come. The State Ethics Commission system is swamped, and we’ve been unable to download the actual documents.
These figures come from the campaigns, and neither side has yet disclosed the most crucial bit of information: Cash on hand.
For the poll hungry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just to review, here’s Insider Advantage’s latest numbers on the Democratic governor’s race:
— Mark Taylor stands at 49 percent, up two points from a week ago. — Cathy Cox remains at 41 percent, with no change from a week ago. She and Taylor are splitting the female vote down the middle, which could spell trouble for her.
That also has implications in the Republican race for lieutenant governor:
— Casey Cagle was at 27 percent, and has moved up to 37 percent. If you need to ask why, check out the TV ad below. Here’s something to note: Cagle’s latest ad has been out 18 hours as of this writing. A full news cycle has passed with no response from the other side.
— Ralph Reed has moved up as well, from 32 to 37 percent, for a dead heat with Cagle. You have to wonder whether this race hinges on suburban women who have decided give up on the Cox-Taylor race, and will stick with a Republican ballot.
Insider Advantage also has new numbers out on the Republican races for secretary of state and commissioner of agriculture.
In the Republican SOS race: It’s Karen Handel 38 percent, Bill Stephens 26 percent, Charlie Bailey 11 percent, and Eric Martin 1 percent. Undecideds rank third at 24 percent. Stephens has shot up to second place since last week.
In the Republican ag race: Gary Black and Brian Kemp are neck-and-neck with 28 and 29 percent, respectively. Others lag far behind…..
The sights and sounds of the Reed-Cagle race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the Republican race for lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle has crossed into Point of No Return Land. There’s no shaking hands and wishing best of luck after a TV ad like this. Obviously, it was coordinated to go off today, after the Sunday night debate on GPTV.
Meanwhile, Ralph Reed has brought Zell Miller into the race to speak well of him. Says Zell: “He’s a man of character, integrity and conservative principles….I know him and I trust him, and I wanted you to know, so can you.” Listen to the entire sound clip here.
Miller also made a church appearance with Reed up in Forsyth County over the Fourth of July weekend.
Something for the Muggles in next week’s primaries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cynical hacks have condemned Georgia’s summer primaries as mammoth political decisions made by a small pool of people too stupid, too poor, too old, or too stubborn to escape on vacation.
Perhaps that goes too far. But it’s true that primaries are exclusive affairs. Just above one-fourth of the state’s registered voters participated in the 2004 contests — about 15 percent of the population.
The angel on your shoulder — your good-government angel — condemns this as a mass shirking of civic responsibility. They won’t say so, but many candidates are quite satisfied with the situation.
In a shrunken pond, the fish are easier to drive into the net. Bait is less expensive, too.
But it also means that the final days of campaigning before the July 18 vote will be conducted mostly out of sight, aimed at the small pool. Niche marketing rules, and TV ads don’t tell half the story.
If you don’t listen to black radio, chances are you won’t know what’s happening in the Democratic race for governor between Mark Taylor and Cathy Cox.
If you’re not a proven Republican voter, who hasn’t missed a run-off in four years, your mailbox is unlikely to sizzle with dastardly (or depending on your point of view, saintly) deeds of Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle, the two candidates for lieutenant governor.
If you’re the average Georgian, the statistics say you are a mere Muggle in a Harry Potter world. A vicious war between good and evil is being waged. Spells fly back and forth. Curses melt faces. Broomsticks plunge to earth and rise again.
It’s just that none of this is happening in the dimension that you live in.
So here’s a quick run-down for the next week, for those who feel left out:
— Cox will continue to attack Taylor for his alleged hostility to issues dear to black voters. She can’t afford not to. African-Americans now rule the Democratic primary.
We’ve seen a memo drawn up by her supporters that focuses on Lee Parks, the lawyer for the Taylor campaign.
Parks “has made legal history by successfully challenging the constitutionality of federal school desegregation orders as well as racial weighting in school admission policies” and affirmative action.
— At last word, Taylor has enlisted Brooke Jackson, daughter of late Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson, to participate in a radio ad that reminds voters of a tussle between Cox and Alpha Phi Alpha, a black fraternity conducting a voter registration drive.
As secretary of state, Cox had rejected a bundled packet of registration forms submitted by the fraternity, saying that they had to be submitted individually. A lawsuit resulted.
— Just in time for church, a flyer from Cagle, the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, hit the mailboxes of Republican voters on Saturday.
“Ralph Reed sold out Christians for millions from casinos” was the headline on a devilishly red brochure. You can tell things are getting serious when the name of the candidate responsible for the mailing appears only in fine print.
— Only a day before, it was a Karen Handel piece on Bill Stephens, a rival in the GOP race for secretary of state.
The flyer spokes of fines levied against Stephens by the State Ethics Commission.
But more importantly, the hit piece took Stephens to task for his (partial) sponsorship of the infamous S.B. 5 in 2005, which was withdrawn after critics damned it as a measure to let slip the dogs of eminent domain.
Stephens is the second Republican candidate to be bitten by that legislation. Remember that, in the race for lieutenant governor, Reed took a chunk out of Cagle on the same issue a week or so ago on TV.
A history lesson on immigration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peachpundit.com has broken some ground on the 1996 attempt by Congress to restrict immigration, both legal and illegal, and Ralph Reed’s involvement. Check it out here.
Just in time for church
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two Republican campaign pieces scorched the mailboxes this weekend, both as personal as you can get. You can tell things are serious when direct mail includes the name of the candidate sending it — but only in the fine print.
On Friday, it was a Karen Handel piece on Bill Stephens, her rival in the GOP race for secretary of state.
“He fails the character test,” was the headline. It included info about fines levied against Stephens by the State Ethics Commission, and some info about defaulted loans.
But the flyer also took Stephens to task for his sponsorship of the infamous S.B. 5 in 2005, which critics damned as a measure to loose the dogs of eminent domain. Stephens is the second Republican candidate to be bitten by that legislation. Remember that Ralph Reed took a chunk out of Casey Cagle for it a week or so ago on TV.
The second mail piece is return fire from Cagle. This is bottom-line stuff, aimed at core evangelical Republican voters. It’s Abramoff-based. “Ralph Reed sold out Christians for millions from casinos,” is the headline. On the back: “Oppose hypocrisy. Vote no to Ralph Reed for lieutenant governor.”
You don’t get more brutal than that.
The wild man from Sugar Creek who killed a mockingbird
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, one of five Democrats running for lieutenant governor, on Wednesday put up the first TV ad of his campaign.
It’s an introductory spot that focuses on his childhood fight against polio, and creates the feel of Georgia in the 1950s, or earlier. That sense is magnified when the camera focuses on Martin himself.
Maybe it’s just us. You can judge by clicking here. But doesn’t Martin — with the straight dark hair and glasses — strike you as a cross between Gene Talmadge and Atticus Finch?
It’s the heat, not the humidity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, we told you about the House District 178 race down in southeast Georgia, and Speaker Glenn Richardson’s decision to endorse Mark Williams of Jesup in the GOP primary — at the expense of the other Republican candidate, Kay Godwin of Blackshear.
This contest is rapidly becoming a test of the continued clout for Christian evangelicals within the state GOP. Sadie Fields, chairman of the state Christian Coalition, has cut a radio ad for Godwin — putting herself in opposition to the speaker.
No, she does not use the name of her organization in the ad.
There is no Democrat in the race.
Reed answers Cagle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the Republican race for lieutenant governor, Ralph Reed on Wednesday accused his opponent, Casey Cagle, of improperly profitting from his service as a state legislator.
The 30-second TV ad comes two days after Cagle put out a round of TV spots highlighting Reed’s relations with convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. We’ll try to get to a point-by-point analysis of the two ads later this week.
In the meantime, see the Reed-attacks-Cagle ad here. The Cagle-attacks-Reed ad is still posted below.
The Fourth and a straw poll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you were Republican and running for statewide office on Tuesday morning, you were in the parking lot of the Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta. That’s where the city’s Fourth of July parade began.
Candidates without opposition were sent to the front. Those with opposition were positioned in the rear, to sort out their differences amongst each other.
Bob Greer, one of several GOP candidates for agriculture commission, showed up with a beat-up, used tractor to tow his float. Gary Black, a primary rival, had a new air-conditioned one.
Casey Cagle was No. 62 in the parade. Ralph Reed was No. 72. A world of difference lay in between.
Afterwards, all adjourned to Jim Miller Park for the annual gathering of the Cobb County Republican party and its straw poll. We present the results below, along with the following observation: They mimick last week’s Insider Advantage poll by Matt Towery & Co.
The same crowd that endorses Ralph Reed for lieutenant governor also gives the nod to Karen Handel for secretary of state. Strange.
Cagle, by the way, was his normal aggressive self. His campaign sent a fellow calling himself “Mr. Chip” through the Republican gathering in a green visor and black vest, impersonating a cardshark. He handed out poker chips.
Below are the results of the straw poll, courtesy of Cobb County GOP chairman Anthony-Scott Hobbs:
Governor:
Sonny Perdue 89%
Ray McBerry 11%
Lt. Governor:
Ralph Reed 64%
Casey Cagle 36%
Secretary of State:
Karen Handel 50%
Bill Stephens 41%
Charlie Bailey 9%
Eric Martin 0%
Commissioner of Labor:
Brent Brown 82%
Chuck Scheid 18%
Public Service Commissioner:
Chuck Eaton 69%
Mark Parkman 31%
Public Service Commissioner:
Stan Wise 79%
Newt Nickell 21%
Commissioner of Agriculture:
Gary Black 66%
Bob Greer 3%
Brian Kemp 26%
Deanna Strickland 5%
State School Superintendent:
Kathy Cox 75%
Danny Carter 25%
Attorney General:
Perry McGuire 100%
Commissioner of Insurance:
John Oxendine 100%
Cobb Republican party ballot questions:
Do you support guest worker programs for illegal aliens?
Yes 37%
No 63%
Do you support the “Fair Tax” plan which is a federal national sales tax to replace the income tax?
Yes 91%
No 9%
Do you believe the Cobb County school board term of office should be changed from four years to two years to increase accountability?
Yes 53%
No 47%
Do you believe that SPLOSTS (special purpose local option sales taxes) should only be held during he general election so as to maximize voter participation?
Yes 83%
No 17%
2008 Presidential Straw Poll
George Allen 17%
Bill Frist 3%
Newt Gingrich 38%
Rudy Guliani 22%
Mitt Romney 11%
John McCain 9%
Minority report from Grover Norquist
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Hill, a Capitol-oriented daily in Washington, presents the contrarian view of last month’s report by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on the doings of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The spokesman is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, the group that served as the intermediary funding institution between pro-gambling outlets and Ralph Reed.
Norquist focuses on John McCain, the Arizona senator and Republican chairman of the Senate committee.
“He has exhibited personal animus toward me,” Norquist said. “McCain, who’s running for president and is ostensibly the front-runner, takes time and effort to throw a punch at me and Ralph Reed. Why? He has told people we stopped him in the presidential election last time, and he thinks we might do it again. He is delusional. George W. Bush beat him in South Carolina. But that’s high praise of the taxpayer movement.”
Read the entire article here.
Cagle introduces Jack Abramoff to the body politic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the Republican race for lieutenant governor, Casey Cagle has formally raised the topic of rival Ralph Reed’s relationship with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in a 30-second TV ad in which poker cards provide the dominant visual.
Click here to see, then come back and discuss.
Nothing like a national title in an election year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just in time for a tough November election, Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker has been elected president of the National Association of Attorneys General, the first African-American to hold the top post in the nearly 100-year-old legal institution, according to the Associated Press.
The announcement was made at last week’s annual meeting of the states’ top lawyers in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Baker faces Republican Perry McGuire of Douglasville in the general election.
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On the life-span of revolutionaries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Blackshear, Ga — The Fourth of July weekend is a proper time to reflect upon the fact that the Molly Pitchers of a revolution don’t always share in its spoils.
Kay Godwin is a dental hygenist and wife of a body shop man here, and a long-time Republican activist. She’s an essential part of the conservative, evangelical base that brought the Georgia Republican party to power.
Godwin has been characterized as strident, single-minded and driven. Such traits served her well when, in 2002, she and a partner, Pat Tippett, rounded up south Georgia and drove it into Sonny Perdue’s camp. The new Republican governor handed Godwin a trophy for her work.
The grandmother-activist is now running for House District 178, a sweltering, three-county monument to scrub pine, sand, and hard-scrabble living — just off the Georgia coast. It’s an open seat.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, a fellow Republican and in many ways a beneficiary of Godwin’s efforts, came to her hometown last week. But it was to endorse her GOP opponent, Mark Williams, a civic-minded fellow with a real estate business 30 miles north in Jesup.
A “common-sense,” well-credentialed Republican, Richardson called him.
Let us translate for the speaker: Post-revolutionary times call for post-revolutionary attitudes. At some point, ideology must give way to the practicalities of governing.
Like generations of firebrands before her, Godwin could find herself a victim of her own success in the July 18 primary.
The Democratic primary was once the be all and end all for rural Georgia. With no Republican candidates, political contests were settled in the July primary.
Georgia’s Republican revolution is moving toward a mirror image here. In the House 178 race, there is no Democratic candidate. In Jesup and Blackshear, African-American neighborhoods are festooned with signs for Williams.
“I’m going after everybody,” Williams said. Local Democrats invited him to speak at one of their meetings. The black vote in the district is roughly 15 percent, but it could make a crucial difference in a tight Republican primary.
That fund-raiser the speaker threw for Williams? It was held in a black neighborhood, at a recreation center that would like to see a little state funding for its at-risk kids.
Williams is right with the Republican core on all the crucial issues, including abortion and gay marriage. The difference is in tone. “I’m a Christian and will boldly state that,” he said. “But I’m not going to wear it around and keep bragging and bragging. The moral issues are settled.”
While Godwin emphasizes a pro-family agenda, Williams points to his experience on nearly every important board and charity his community has to offer. His business community has lined up behind him.
Godwin is unfazed by the speaker’s endorsement. “I’ve been in politics long enough to know there’s very little loyalty,” she said. “I’ll just do my best and let God sort it out.”
Godwin isn’t convinced that July’s Republican primary has yet become the giant voice that settles all political issues in her territory.
Democrats are still on the ballot in Wayne and Brantley counties, and will drain away voters. Two years ago, she said, her own Pierce County swamped the 2004 Republican primary with two-thirds of the vote.
But if Godwin is wrong, this small contest in Georgia’s sandy plains has terrific implications for the rest of the state. The reassertion of a single-party — this time Republican —political system in rural Georgia would make Democratic affairs the exclusive concern of a few counties in metro Atlanta.
It could even more telling for Republicans. A broader party means more people, which means more power — but less influence for the core of true-believers who made it happen.
Reed leads Insider Advantage poll
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ralph Reed holds a five-point lead in the Republican lieutenant governor’s race, with a lot of voters still sitting on the sidelines, according to an Insider Advantage/Majority Opinion poll released at the end of the week.
The June 26-27 poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters has it this way:
Casey Cagle: 27%
Ralph Reed: 32%
Undecided: 41%
With margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percent. That makes it a pretty close race.
“Those who are shocked at the large undecided percentage in this survey should understand that these two candidates have only been up on broadcast television for under a week. As we’ve noted in the past, Reed may be well known in political circles, but the average voter has little if just a hazy idea of who he is and what office he is seeking. And Sen. Cagle suffers from the same anemic name identification,” writes Insider Advantage CEO Matt Towery.
It would appear this high-profile race, which has attracted intense interest from politicos around the country, has yet to turn on the people who’ll decide it. And, Towery writes, that helps Reed.
“Understand that, in the last week of a race, most who claim to be undecided tend either not to vote, or vote at basically the same ratio as the last polls indicate. Reed’s goal will be to keep the undecided level well above the 10-to-15 point margin in the last week,” he writes.
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