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Friday, November 10, 2006
‘I thought we were friends,’ says Handel
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This radio ad for John Eaves, the Democrat who won the race for the Fulton County commission chairman on Tuesday, continues to cook.
Karen Handel, the current Fulton commission chairman and future Republican secretary of state, was on “Hannity & Colmes” on the Fox network tonight.
This is the sound. Here’s a snippet of what she said:
Handel: “Look, the ad was very much blatant, to be so incendiary as to inflame and bring voters out, and it was targeted to the African-American community.
“And it was over the top, and frankly despicable, and for me, having served on the commission for the past three years, knowing the kind of partnership that I have personally struck with the city of Atlanta and Mayor Franklin, I can tell you right now the three Republicans on the board of commissioners were Shirley Franklin’s best allies when it came to doing some important initiatives for the city of Atlanta.”
Lame duck? Heck, no. ’08 presidential fodder.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In two years, remember that the tsunami started here. Or rather, here.
The chatroom at freerepublic.com has nominated Gov. Sonny Perdue as presidential timber, to replace faltering Republican planks like George Allen.
It’d be nice if they could learn to spell his name before the convention in Minneapolis, but it’s the thought that counts.
Cagle meets with Taylor, brings swatches for drapes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican Casey Cagle met with Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor on Friday, to work out details on assuming the job come January. No details to report.
Over the last few days, and in the next weeks ahead, Cagle is all about consolidation of power. We let you down Thursday, and did not tell you that Cagle issued news of a five-senator transition team.
This is the committee working out the details about how much power should be restored to the lieutenant governor’s office. And the answer is — all of it.
The five are Republicans Eric Johnson of Savannah, Tommie Williams of Lyons, Chip Pearson of Dawsonville, Chip Rogers of Woodstock, and David Shafer of Duluth.
That’s five as in three plus two. And the two are Johnson, the president pro tem, and Williams, the majority leader. The two current leaders of the Senate are on a committee in which they don’t control the majority.
This makes the press conference Johnson held Thursday more interesting, not less. Though perhaps less definitive.
Overall, Johnson predicted a minimalist agenda for the upcoming session of the Legislature:
“The public wants you to keep moving forward at a marginal pace. I don’t know that the citizens of the state want radical change and radical solutions, whether they are on the right or the left,” the Senate president pro tem said.
“It’s not like we have a lot of money, either. Even with 6 percent growth, between mid-term adjustments on education, and some sort of inflationary pay raise for employees, and continuing to rebuild reserve accounts, there’s not money out there for large tax cuts or big new spending programs.
“That’s the reality that the governor and the leadership understand,” he said.
This part is interesting. The question was about how much red meat would be tossed to the base. Johnson said:
“I think were just about at the margins as to what is constitutional on abortion legislation.
“And we’ve pushed as far as we can with stuff like the Ten Commandments and some of the social issues.
“I still think the message of this election is to focus on kitchen-table issues, and work hard. You don’t have to have all the answers. People understand that we’re not geniuses. There’s not a magic wand out there, there’s not a barrel of money.
“So long as we’re moving forward on mainstream issues, it doesn’t matter if there are some members on the right who want to do this, or on the left with minimum wage. The broad agenda for the General Assembly is going to be education and jobs and health care.”
Other notes: Johnson said he thought it might take the Legislature two years to hammer out legislation to allow developers to build “private cities,” with the power to levy taxes and issue bonds.
And Johnson declared a revival of H.B. 218 all but a waste of time. The bill, backed by the governor and the House speaker, would permit state and local development authorities to increase the secrecy surrounding industrial recruitment. Said Johnson:
“Anybody can introduce a bill, but if it were to come out of the House, it would die. I don’t see the support for it in the Senate.
“I don’t think the lieutenant governor-elect supports it. I continue to question the justification so far for that.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as [the press] seem to make it out. It’s a misrepresentation to say that a landfill’s just appear next door if H.B. 218 passes.
“But I have not the sense that the Senate sees there’s a critical need for it.”
