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Friday, October 13, 2006
‘Warmest regards, Sonny Perdue, Bonaire, Ga.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this week, this space featured Gov. Sonny Perdue’s tete-a-tete with the sports gurus of radio’s 680 The Fan, over Journal-Constitution coverage of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Perdue was accused of having more important things to do than to complain about headline writers in a sports department.
“I wrote that letter as a citizen. The paper’s the one making a big deal out of it. I wrote what I felt,� the governor protested. “I signed it ‘Sonny Perdue, Bonaire, Ga.’�
Well, not really.
At least, not the part about signing it as a simple man from a simple hometown. And not the part about writing it as a citizen. Unless most citizens have a state-salaried Boswell at hand.
We talked to Dan McLagan, the governor’s spokesman And the information we’ve gleaned is useful as a lesson in how political events happen.
Fact 1: The governor witnessed an excellent first half by the Bulldogs last Saturday — in person, from the president’s suite.
Fact 2: On Sunday morning, the governor picked up the sports section, and took offense. The headline in question: “Dogs get put in their place.�
Fact 3: That afternoon, Perdue and McLagan conferred about a letter of protest to the AJC. The governor, who has been on the receiving end a few AJC headlines lately, outlined a few thoughts for McLagan to fill in.
Fact 4: McLagan sent the governor a draft. It was signed, per the governor’s instructions, “Sonny Perdue, Bonaire, Ga.� We have a copy of the draft, and hereby acknowledge that it was written during an employee’s off-hours, in the middle of a three-day weekend.
Perdue, on his way to Lynchburg, Va., to visit the Rev. Jerry Falwell, apparently didn’t like much of it. An aide sent McLagan a much-changed revision, via a campaign BlackBerry. Without “Sonny Perdue, Bonaire, Ga.�
Fact 5: McLagan bounced the e-mail to the editor of the AJC’s op-ed pages, with this message: “Gov wanted to submit this.� And no mention of “Sonny Perdue, Bonaire, Ga.�
Ever the faithful servant, McLagan has fallen on his sword in the matter. The governor thought he was writing as a simple man from a simple hometown. It was his director of communications who forgot.
