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Monday, August 28, 2006
And we’re back. Just in time for the Georgia Litter Summit.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Honest. That may have been the hottest press release that crossed the desk on Monday.
So we’re not out of the doldrums of August yet. That said, serious intrigue of a political nature is afoot. Or could be.
For instance, we’ve been directed to the fact that a group calling itself Hawks for Georgia, with a working address of a Sandy Springs apartment complex, has reserved the following domain name on the Internet: www.glenninten.com.
The implication, of course, is that someone’s thinking that House Speaker Glenn Richardson might be a willing Republican candidate for governor in 2010.
Richardson says he knows nothing about the web site — which remains inactive. “It could be a joke, or wishful thinking,� said Michelle Hitt Grasso, his spokeswoman.
“Hawks,� you’ll remember, are those roving House members — a Richardson innovation — who can swoop down at a moment’s notice to cast deciding votes in committee meetings.
Then there was last week’s overlooked announcement by the leader of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, that his group would disassociate itself with the fading national organization once led by the Rev. Pat Robertson and his young protégé, Ralph Reed.
The Alabama chapter is the third to split from the Christian Coalition of America this year. This could matter to Georgia politics. John Giles, leader of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, is close to his Georgia counterpart, Sadie Fields.
Which raises the question of whether Fields might also take the Christian Coalition of Georgia independent. If she does, how might that affect the Georgia GOP’s get-out-the-vote efforts in November?
We’ve got a call into her, and will let you know.
Finally, there is the news that Republicans have selected Georgia’s 12th Congressional District as a battleground to maintain control of the U.S. House.
President Bush will host a Savannah area fund-raiser for Max Burns, the one-time incumbent trying to grab his seat back from Democrat John Barrow.
Burns is a good candidate — knowledgeable and well-spoken. And Barrow’s rookie status alone makes him vulnerable.
But the 12th is 40 percent African-American. That’s a black population 7 percent higher than any congressional district now held by Republicans. If the 12th is fertile ground, worth the plowing by a sitting president, one fears to contemplate the rocky acreage the GOP faces elsewhere.
Let’s hear from you on any or all of the above.
