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Wednesday, September 6, 2006
The day the immigration president didn’t come to Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week, Republicans in Washington took a gamble. GOP leaders in Congress dropped an agreement on immigration as an achievable, pre-election goal. Instead, they decided, the party mantra would be national security.
They rolled the dice, and hoped that no one would notice. But Sonny did.
In his Wednesday morning press conference, Governor Perdue announced a plan to make it harder for illegal immigrants to use fraudulent documents to get government IDs and driver’s licenses.
Not a big event, but something to show what side of the issue he’s on. Something to separate the Republican governor from those other Republicans in D.C.
This is what Perdue said about illegal immigration, on the day before he was to introduce President Bush to a crowd of supporters in Cobb County:
“People who don’t address the concerns that are important to people really don’t deserve to govern. That’s why we’re here. I don’t need a poll to tell me the people of Georgia are anxious and concerned,” the governor said.
To whom are you referring? reporters asked. What people don’t deserve to govern? Perdue didn’t answer.
The Big Guy goes back to what’s worked before
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Taylor on Wednesday returned to the topic that’s given him the most campaign success over the years: crime.
In this new, dark-toned TV ad — they’ve dubbed it “Big Priority” — Taylor promises to a constitutional amendment to abolish parole for violent offenders.
He’s taking a page out of the Republican playbook. Taylor could easily have said he’d press for legislation to keep criminals in prison. A constitutional amendment demands a statewide plebiscite — and becomes a rolling issue that pays dividends for two years.
Think of the way Republicans used the issue of gay marriage.
