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Thursday, September 28, 2006
The chairman mingles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean made a quick trip to Atlanta Thursday to speak at a private reception at the National Black MBA Association convention – so quick, we only found out about it about an hour before Dean spoke.
He was making a point of being there, Dean said, to send the message that the party isn’t taking African-Americans like them for granted.
He wasn’t worried about African-Americans who were “65 to 70 years old, go to church every Sunday and don’t believe in same-sex marriage,� Dean said, because those voters have a long, deep connection to the Democratic Party. Instead, he said he was concerned about holding younger African-American professionals who want to know what the party has done for them lately.
“You have the right to ask for more than a pass,� Dean said, and promised his party would deliver more in terms of assistance to small business, health care and education.
Asked about the fall elections, Dean said that if they were held tomorrow, Democrats would regain control of both the House and Senate and pick up four or five governorships. But he said he expects “an enormous amount of negative campaigning� from Republicans.
“I’m optimistic, but we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us,� he said.
You might call them flaggers with ears. Or feathers.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was the ambush that didn’t happen.
Democratic pranksters dressed as non-copyrighted versions of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy planned to disrupt the National Rifle Association’s press conference Thursday at the state Capitol, but were discovered beforehand and booted by Capitol police.
The NRA was endorsing Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue’s re-election bid. Democrats want the spotlight on what they say was his sweetheart deal on property near Walt Disney World in Orlando. Perdue bought the property from a developer who has contributed to his campaigns and who was appointed to a state board by the governor.
The guerilla theater didn’t come off as planned, so the pranksters took their antics outside where state Democratic Party spokesman Emil Runge — not in costume — taunted the governor.
“Apparently, he’s scared of Mickey,” Runge said.
It’s clear that Perdue can expect more appearances from the Disney trio before the Nov. 7 election.
Nothing like goring a few sacred cows to start a conversation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re a new anti-tax, budget watchdog group, the best way to announce your presence is to mention the cultural icons that you think could stand trimming.
The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust for one. The Georgia Civil War Commission for another.
The scene was the interior of the state Capitol on Thursday afternoon. The topic was the establishment of the Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
The players all had connections to Ralph Reed, the former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. Tim Phillips, the national president, served as the long-time, loyal right arm at Reed’s public affairs firm, Century Strategies.
Jared Thomas, the AFP’s new director in Georgia, was Reed’s campaign manager. And Virginia Galloway (who insists she is no relation to either of the above writers) was Reed’s grassroots organizer in his campaign. She’ll do the same for this new group.
The group intends to offer budgetary insight to the Republican-controlled state Capitol — in particular, some concise thoughts on a mid-year surplus estimated at somewhere between $700 million and $1.3 billion.
“The question is what you do with that money. With us it’s black and white. You either spend the money or give it back,� Thomas said. “We want to open up a dialogue about how our state is spending money. What are our priorities?�
Which brings us to the 20-year-old Georgia Holocaust Commission, with its three staff members and $278,412 annual budget. “With all due respect to the tragedy that was the Holocaust, I just don’t know if Georgia should be in the business of employing people full-time to devote to that,� Thomas said.
The civil war commission? Thomas noted that the group gets $30,000 a year from the state, then raises $2 million from private sources. “Why do you need the $30,000 from the state if you’re able to raise $2 million privately?� Thomas asked.
Those two examples aside, the Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity was all about diplomacy. “We’re not here to throw bombs, we’re not here to attack people,� Thomas said.
That statement had a lot of history behind it. In 2003, newly sworn-in Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed a series of tax hikes — reduced in the end to an increase in the state tobacco tax — to cope with a budget shortfall and a sinking economy.
Another, similarly named group, Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform, backed by Grover Norquist, raised holy hell over the increase. Especially since many Republican legislators — though not Perdue — had signed the organization’s pledge never to raise taxes.
The lawmakers ended up in a crossfire between the governor and Norquist. Those same GOP lawmakers were also more than a little miffed when, a year or so later, they learned that the anti-tax group was underwritten in large part by Phillip Morris, the tobacco concern.
We asked Thomas if Americans for Prosperity intended to ask state lawmakers to sign any pledges.
Not this year, he said.
One last thought on those remarks about the Georgia Holocaust Commission. We doubt they’d be endorsed by Reed, who’s very tight with Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, and several pro-Israel groups.
In South Carolina, the names don’t change
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have to admit that when we saw an announcement that Carroll Campbell and Strom Thurmond have agreed to be the South Carolina co-chairs for Sen. John McCain’s PAC, Straight Talk America, we thought it was another one of those South Carolina longevity jokes.
Upon closer inspection, we saw it was Strom Thurmond Jr. and Carroll Campbell III, the sons of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond and former Gov. Carroll Campbell, who have thrown their support to McCain.
The names still count for something in South Carolina, although Mike Campbell, another son of the former governor, lost a primary runoff challenge to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. Even though Bauer was the incumbent, that was a big upset — Campbell led him by eight points in the primary.
Wonder which Republican Bauer will be backing?
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