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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Looks like the GOP has that Hispanic vote wrapped up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mario Martinez, the chairman of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s Latino Commission for a New Georgia, was recently interviewed by Prensa Alterna, a local Hispanic publication. The conversation was in Spanish.
The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials has translated the encounter into English, and posted it on-line. What political party should Hispanics trust? Martinez was asked.
Sayeth the Republican governor’s appointee: “Neither Republicans nor Democrats. Both are the same thing with different names.
“Possibly, we need to think about a third party that changes the thematic view and doing of the government. …The Republicans want to control the expenses and the Democrats want to control the purse.
“Republicans and Democrats only know how to make noise; none would do anything in favor of Hispanics unless they are not pressed by means of the vote. I believe they all treat the community with much hypocrisy….
“To make changes from a different perspective and to remove the parties from their source of comfort, all Georgians and Hispanics should begin to think about the Libertarian party,” Martinez said.
And what did Martinez think of, say, the recent congressional hearings?
“I am completely sure that they are farces. In what is remaining of this year there will not be a way to reconcile the differences between [the House] and the Senate. Simply, it is impossible.”
And this war in Iraq — what about that?
“The United States is losing the war in Iraq. We are losing the war against terrorism and for that reason we in the United States have lost our civil liberties. We are spied upon every day and if we don’t change we will be living in a state of almost tyranny. We are not a republic, nor a democracy. We are an incompetent empire.”
Read the entire interview here. It includes Martinez’ clarification on one of his above remarks.
“My comment on Republicans and Democrats was that Republicans want to control what you do in the bedroom and Democrats want to control what you do with your money,” Martinez wrote.
See? That’s much better.
WSJ/Zogby puts Perdue under 50%, and the Libertarian pulling strong
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Wall Street Journal and Zoby are out with a poll on the Georgia governor’s race, along with many others
It shows Republican incumbent Sonny Perdue with 47.4 percent, Democrat Mark Taylor with 36.4 percent, and Libertarian Garrett Michael Hayes at 8.1 percent.
So, according to this poll, nearly one in 10 Georgia voters is prepared to vote Libertarian. While not wanting to besmirch the Libertarian cause, we wonder if something else is going on.
This might instead be the signal that Perdue and Republican strategists have dreaded — that a certain number of conservative voters are disenchanted with what the GOP has accomplished in Washington, are angry about the lack of action on immigration, and have their Republican governor into that miasma.
Taylor has yet to offer a satisfactory argument for his candidacy, and so Hayes has become a Libertarian way-station.
Heads up: Perdue to press Taylor on campaign contribution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Look for Republicans to file yet another ethics complaint against Mark Taylor and his Democratic campaign for governor.
It’s to focus on donations from MML Limited Partnership, an Albany-based investment company for which Fred Taylor, the candidate’s father, is the registered agent and sole member-manager.
