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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Edwards raises money, and a new star rises
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
About the same time Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was announcing the formation of his exploratory committee Tuesday, former Sen. John Edwards was greeting Atlanta supporters at a fundraiser at the Capitol City Club.
According to one of the hosts, Steve Leeds, the event went well and raised a nice chunk of change for the ’04 vice-presidential candidate.
With Obama in the race, he’ll need it. Edwards - who has taken a more outspoken position on getting out of Iraq than most of his potential rivals, and who made a big hit with his King holiday speech at the Riverside Church in New York - has as much to lose from an Obama candidacy as any Democrat.
Incidentally, expect a Georgia Obama group to be up and running by the end of the week. We spoke Tuesday afternoon with Parag Mehta, a 26-year-old IT consultant from Decatur who’s been involved in the group’s formation. Several hundred Georgians have expressed an interest in the campaign, and a core group is moving toward some kind of official launch, he said.
The last presidential campaign only offered a taste of how quickly a campaign can get up and running in the internet age. The Iowa caucuses may still be a year away, but trust us, it won’t seem like a long time.
Shades of Sinclair Lewis: Not a city, not a county, but a ‘town’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle named David Adelman of Decatur, a Democrat, as head of the newly created Senate Urban Affairs Committee.
Such bipartisan gestures need to be vetted before they’re declared more than window-dressing, though Cagle’s seem real enough. Democratic senators tell us that already they find that their Republican colleagues aren’t as nervous about being seen with them.
The first real test may be the bill Adelman has in hand, nearly ready to drop, aimed at putting a lid on this mad dash toward the creation of city after city — the one that began with Sandy Springs.
Adelman wants to create towns. Not generic, dictionary-definition towns. But statute-specific towns, a half-way stop between cities and counties.
Georgians now have only two choices for residency: Unincorporated portions of counties, or cities. Both forms of government have extreme powers of taxation, and the responsibility to provide for law enforcement and to regulate land use.
Adelman would create a third choice: Towns, with a tight cap on taxing powers — no more than half a mill. Elected but unpaid mayor and board of supervisors. No law enforcement powers.
But under Adelman’s statute, towns would have the power to regulate land use. Zoning powers, in other words. At bottom, most initiatives to create cities are about land use, he reasons. County taxes wouldn’t be affected — and county governments would still be responsible for major services.
Adelman said his approach is strictly bipartisan, and likes to remind people that he supported the creation of Sandy Springs. He said his idea has already gotten the attention of communities such as Vinings in metro Atlanta, and St. Simons Island on the coast.
Both are chock-full of Republicans trapped between the dream of self-government — and the high tax cost of citification.
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More on Sunday sales, for those with a finger to the wind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, it was noted that many lawmakers are waiting for a high sign from Gov. Sonny Perdue before they commit to a bill that would permit grocery stores to sell beer and wine on Sunday.
Here’s one possible hint: Advocates for the measure, which would allow localities to hold referendums on the issue, have hired Derrick Dickey, of Dickey Strategic Relations, to help them communicate. Until November, Dickey was the spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue’s re-election campaign. Before that, he was part of the governor’s state-paid press staff.
And here’s another: We’re told that, as a state senator in the 1990s, just before the Olympics came to Georgia, Perdue cast a vote in favor of allowing local communities to decide whether restaurants should be allowed to serve alcohol on Sunday. The measure passed.
Opposition stirred, not shaken, on Sunday alcohol bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peachpundit.com has reported that a pair of studies is circulating through the state Capitol, showing the impact of New Mexico’s 1995 decision to repeal its Sunday ban on the sales of beer and wine.
The direct link is to a page hosted by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, which noted a “29 percent increase in alcohol-related crashes and a 42 percent increase in alcohol-related crash fatalities on Sundays since New Mexico lifted its ban on Sunday sales of packaged alcohol.”
From what we’re told, even if the bill to repeal of Georgia’s blue laws passes the Senate, the House won’t move on it until Gov. Sonny Perdue gives some indication of where he stands.
House leaders say they don’t want to have their membership out on a limb if the governor intends to saw it off with a veto.
And don’t count your money if you’re still at the table
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s probably better for U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson that Washington D.C. isn’t a haven for country music fans.
Last week, a front-page piece in the Washington Post described the confrontational hearing between Secretary of State Condi Rice and members of the Senate Foreign Relations staff.
Isakson, just appointed to the 21-member panel, was Bush’s sole defender. The Georgia senator said Iraqis must pay heed to that ultimate gamble, Kenny Rogers: “You got to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. It’s time for them to deliver on the hand that they’ve dealt.”
Over the weekend, only one national blog picked up on the next line in the song: “Know when to walk away, and know when to run.”
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