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Monday, June 4, 2007
Says Cardwell: Chambliss is ‘a borrow-and-spend pawn of the special interests.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dale Cardwell, former journalist turned first-time Democratic politician, jumped into the U.S. Senate race with both feet on Monday, condemning Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss as “a borrow-and-spend pawn of the special interests.”
The former WSB-TV reporter becomes the first Democrat to formally announce for the seat, and in his debut meeting with journalists — many his former colleagues — struck a populist note, and focused specifically on the man he hopes to meet on the ballot in November ’08.
“You need to know that most of your elected officials no longer work for you,” Cardwell said. “They’ve been busy looking for the special interest groups that fund their campaigns and send them on fancy vacations all over the world. Our current senior senator, Saxby Chambliss, is no different.”
Cardwell made no mention of Vernon Jones, the CEO of DeKalb County and the only other Democrat who has expressed interest in the race. But standing behind Cardwell at his announcement was Eddie Moody, the former DeKalb County police chief who said he was ousted by Jones in 2004.
With a message aimed at swing voters and disaffected Republicans, Cardwell has provoked early — and extremely high — interest among key Democrats. As consultants, he’s hired on Jeff DiSantis, former executive director of the state party, and Emil Runge, former spokesman for the party. Another former executive director of the party, Jon Anderson, is doing direct mail for Cardwell.
But most interesting was the presence of a half-dozen union officials, including Richard Ray, president of the AFL-CIO in Georgia. “He’s got some good ideas. Some I’m kind of shaky on,” said Ray. “He’s got an uphill battle.”
“This is no endorsement. We’d like to hear what he has to say,” said Ben Myers, political and legislative director of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 613.
Cardwell again promised he would take no money from special interests, but said his name recognition in metro Atlanta would help overcome his financial disadvantage. “I kind of get to start on the 30-yard line,” Cardwell said.
Again, there was the populist message. “This may be our last chance to take our government back. This may be our last chance to elect an outsider who will stay an outsider,” Cardwell said. “I’m going to be able to draw money and raise money from people who have never been politically active because they don’t trust Washington. They know they’re being lied to.”
Cardwell also indicated he would be relying on credentials earned as a watchdog journalist. “I pursued [errant politicians] like a hound dog, grabbed their pants leg, and I didn’t let go until I got the truth. That’s what I will continue to do for you,” he said.
The former investigative journalist declared himself pro-choice, anti-IRS, pro-Second Amendment, opposed to the current immigration reform bill, and in favor of a tougher line on Iraq and its government.
Cardwell said he began thinking of entering the Senate race in December, and made his final decision two months ago. His last day at WSB-TV was Friday.
Among the highlights of the press conference:
— “Georgians want the truth. They want an honest person, an independent thinker who will not be the lapdog of their party when their party is wrong,” Cardwell said. “When asked about the war in Iraq, Mr. Chambliss, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told us, ‘I don’t know what was wrong with our strategy, or who was responsible for it.’ My fellow Georgians, it’s time to change that.”
But Cardwell said he was not in favor of withdrawing from the region. He wants the Iraq government held to benchmarks. “If they fail, we will redeploy our troops, but we will never surrender a security perimeter, a beachhead if you will, that we’ve earned with the blood of American lives,” he said. “We’ll maintain a base, we’ll make it safe from insurgents, and we’ll use that base to launch attacks against al-Qaida.”
But withdrawing would lead to chaos, he said. “Within five years, within three years, my 19-year-old son is going to be drafted to go to Iraq to go to the Middle East, to keep oil lanes open. We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Cardwell said.
— He spoke of abolishing the IRS, and replacing the current system with something more “simple.” Whether the so-called “fair tax” or a flat tax, Cardwell said he hadn’t decided.
— Cardwell said he’s in favor of a tougher immigration reform bill, and demanded the immediate construction of a wall across the southern U.S. border. He accused Chambliss of helping to write a bill that favored “amnesty.”
Cardwell said he favored tougher criminal and financial penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants.
While he said he didn’t like the guest-worker provision of the immigration reform bill, because it doesn’t allow the federal government to accurately track those workers. But he did concede that some guest worker program was necessary.
We contacted Chambliss’ office for a comment from the senator.
His spokeswoman replied, “He is preparing for a serious and spirited campaign in 2008. Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be formidable and Senator Chambliss looks forward to a serious dialogue on the issues.”
Perdue ‘pulled the rug out from under me,’ says Conyers senator
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Updated at 5:54 p.m. Monday. See paragraphs at bottom.
Add state Sen. John Douglas (R-Conyers) to the list of those put out by Gov. Sonny Perdue and his many vetoes of last week.
In a letter to constituents, Douglas complains of being “blind-sided” by the governor’s use of a his line-item veto powers to delete $2 million toward the expansion of a public library in Conyers.
This after Douglas had declared himself a Perdue ally in the governor’s fight with the House over the budget bill.
“He has pulled the rug out from under me and other Republicans in the Senate who would have voted to sustain his budget veto of the 2007 supplemental budget,” Douglas wrote. “That apparently didn’t carry much weight with Governor Perdue.”
“What we have seen,” said Douglas, who can be blunt, “is poor leadership in action.”
But what really miffed Douglas was the fact that not “even the lowest member of the Governor’s staff” called to let him know. Not even Ed Holcomb, the governor’s chief of staff, who lives in Rockdale County.
Read the entire letter on the jump.
ADDENDUM: Apparently the letter had some effect. Shortly before 6 p.m., Douglas sent us the following note:
“In an effort to keep you informed, I had the opportunity to speak to Ed Holcomb, the chief of staff, this afternoon to discuss the matter in more detail.
As you recall, the point of the original e-mail was that I had not be notified before hand of the coming veto and vented about how it would have been more professional to have known ahead of time.
In our conversation today, Ed tells me that few if any advance notices were given on any of the vetoes in the budget. He also said that the priority ranking of the library $2M was not as high as some of the other projects and it was that reason that the money was removed from the budget.
I accept that explanation as I have seen that sort of mechanism used on a number of other occasions in the budget process.
I appreciate the difficult and sometimes thankless job both Ed and the Governor have in Atlanta. I look forward to continuing to work with and support them on matters of importance in the future.”
June 2, 2007
Dear Rockdale Friends and Supporters:
It seems the Governor has vetoed the $2M in the FY 08 budget for expansion of the library in Conyers.
The money was inserted into the budget by the Senate after the House failed to appropriate the amount asked for by local library and community leaders.
Both Senator Ron Ramsey and I worked hard with Senate budget writers to get and keep that money in the budget.
When the budget went to House-Senate conference committee negotiators to hammer out a final version, the money remained and we celebrated what would be a great addition for local library patrons.
Now we have been blind sided by the veto of Governor Perdue.
After having supported him in every instance other than his first ill advised attempt to raise taxes in 2003, he has pulled the rug out from under me and other Republicans in the Senate who would have voted to sustain his budget veto of the 2007 supplemental budget.
I had already told the Senate leadership that I would vote to sustain his veto and work with him to craft a better use of tax payer dollars. That apparently didn’t carry much weight with Governor Perdue.
I had no warning whatsoever that he was even considering this veto.
I first heard a rumor on June 1 that some library money had been vetoed and then read the Citizen article June 2 to confirm that he had indeed killed this project.
At no time did any person on his staff, including his Rockdale Chief of Staff, Ed Holcomb, contact me or speak to me about a potential veto.
I deeply regret this turn of events. What we have seen is poor leadership in action.
Just the courtesy of a call from even the lowest member of the Governor’s staff to warn of the impending veto would have satisfied me. But that didn’t happen and we will deal with the aftermath.
I apologize for what has happened but cannot tell you it won’t happen again. Thank you for your support and consideration.
John Douglas
The Big Guy resurfaces for John Edwards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, will add a second stop in Georgia on Tuesday. She’ll be in Savannah, then head for a Macon fund-raiser.
(Barack Obama’s wife Michelle is in Atlanta for a fund-raiser on June 6.)
In the meantime, the Edwards campaign has released a new list of Georgia supporters and it includes former lieutenant governor Mark Taylor. “He is definitely the most electable candidate in 2008 and we need a Southerner who is committed to providing good paying jobs with benefits for all Americans,” Taylor says in the release.
Taylor was among those in attendance last month at the Jefferson-Jackson Day fund-raiser for the state Democratic party. Edwards was the keynote speaker. Cathy Cox, who was Taylor’s rival in the primary race for governor last year, was there as well — but so far as we know, hasn’t made her presidential preferences known.
Other Edwards supporters announced Monday:
— State Sen. Valencia Seay of Riverdale;
— State Sen. Steve Henson of Tucker;
— State Rep. Wade Starr of Fayetteville;
— Jeff Carter, associate director for the Conflict Resolution Program and son of President Jimmy Carter
— Stephen Leeds, Atlanta attorney, party insider, and close ally of former U.S. senator Max Cleland;
— Michael Moore, former state senator and Middle Georgia attorney;
— John Moore, former state representative and former chairman of the Polk County Democratic party;
— Nick Giles, former Taylor County sheriff and past president of the Georgia Sheriffs Association;
— Ashley Bell, former DNC executive committee member and former national president of the College Democrats of America.
First a rocker, and now a developing environmentalist
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the surprises of this past session of the Legislature was the strong support that protectors of Jekyll Island were able to generate.
A combination of environmentalist muscle and concern for economy-minded vactioners — for whom the island was established — produced a bill that drew a literal line in the island’s sand.
Jekyll’s southern end will be protected from development.
The fight apparently made an impression on certain people.
Within 24 hours of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s signing of H.B. 214, the state issued a request for contract proposals from developers to re-make the rest of Jekyll.
The Jekyll Island Company, of course, is highly interested.
And it just added three new members to its board of directors.
One of them is Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for — among others — Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and the Allman Brothers Band. Leavell is making a name for himself as an environmentalist, and this spring donated a 300-acre conservation easement near Macon to the state.
Says the press release from the Jekyll Island Company:
“As members of the board, these individuals will help The Jekyll Island Company principals expand its eco-friendly coastal development expertise to projects like the redevelopment of Jekyll Island.”
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