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Wednesday, June 27, 2007
How peace came to Belfast before it came to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle described the situation to reporters on Wednesday.
“Here are two individuals that were arch-enemies, and they came together to form this new government about peace,” he said.
“You could sense that here were two individuals that had an awful lot of things that they disagreed on, but their focus was really to unite their country around peace,” Cagle said. “To do that, they had to say, these are the things that we can agree on. We have people depending upon a stable economy, that are depending upon a safe environment in which they can raise their kids.”
Gov. Sonny Perdue and House Speaker Glenn Richardson? Alas, no. Merely Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, the leaders of the Protestant-Catholic partnership government in Northern Ireland.
Cagle was on the state trade mission to Europe, but left early and had just returned home. Perdue finishes it out this week.
But Cagle did say he and the governor had some conversations about the melt-down in the Legislature this session.
“We did have an opportunity to converse. I don’t know that the situation has improved a lot,” Cagle said. “I think you’ll see the governor most likely reaching out to both the Senate and the House, to try to find some common ground, particularly on budgetary issues.”
Cagle, by the way, hadn’t heard of the furor Vice President Dick Cheney had stirred up in Washington by declaring that he was no longer a member of the executive branch.
Even so, Cagle was asked whether lieutenant governor, who presides over the Senate but is next in line to succeed the governor, is fish or fowl.
“I kind of straddle the fence,” Cagle admitted. “I guess my salary’s paid as an executive branch member.”
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Not again. Another state lawmaker, after bowing in, bows out of race for Macon mayor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Somebody in Macon is distributing wishy-washy pills that, if aren’t illegal, should at least be clearly labeled.
Twice this season we’ve been misled on what Democrat might be willing to jump into the this year’s race for mayor in the city.
First it was Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown, who bowed out for health reasons. We can understand that.
But over the last two to three weeks, state Rep. David Lucas, who sits in the Legislature as a Democrat, has put himself forward as the alternative candidate. An independent. On Monday, he tried and failed to talk his way into a forum for Democratic candidates — Macon being one of those cities where elections remain partisan.
But this morning, according to the Macon Telegraph, he pulled out of the contest.
Lucas “decided he didn’t want to ‘challenge the system’ and split local Democrats,” the newspaper reported.
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The 10th District debate: From Athens, the digitally delayed version
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans Jim Whitehead and Paul Broun met this morning in their first one-on-one debate, broadcast from Athens on WGAU (1340 AM). The two men are locked in a run-off that will be settled July 17.
Radio host Tim Bryant, who served as moderator, was kind enough to send us two hefty sound clips — one on immigration, and another on accusations that Broun was raising money for the contest before its occupant, the terminally ill U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, was dead.
In both, Broun sought to rally insurgent Republicans to his side. Whitehead, the front-runner, made no gaffes, but did seem somewhat defensive on the immigration issue.
Click here for the five-minute segment on premature electioneering, in which Broun — an Athens physician — protests his innocence.
“I began preparing for a congressional race in 2010 when I thought that Charlie Norwood would run for governor,” Broun said. “When his health issues surfaced, I stopped making preparations for a season, but then I realized — as his health degraded — that if I did not start making those preparations, that the political hierarchy in Atlanta would try to anoint a candidate — as we have seen happen with Mr. Whitehead. My preparations were all about giving voters a choice.”
Said Whitehead, a former state senator from Columbia County: “The FEC says close to $5,000 was collected in January and February before Charlie ever came home.” But Whitehead does say that Broun came to his tire store in Augusta two years ago, to solicit Whitehead’s support for his candidacy for the congressional seat.
Asked if he made any pre-mortem preparations, Whitehead replied, “Absolutely not.”
Click here for the seven-minute segment on immigration.
In it, Whitehead accused Broun of twisting his position on immigration. Perhaps a dozen times, Whitehead declared himself against any legislation — the current Senate bill in particular — that offered what he called amnesty.
Whitehead cited his support by activists on the issue, include former candidate Bill Greene. “I am the right man to go to Congress and fight against illegal immigration,” Whitehead said.
But Broun brought up a recorded statement that Whitehead made on the issue at a previous forum. “We have 12 million immigrants in this country, and we need to make them legal,” Broun quoted his opponent as saying. “He’s said that in multiple venues. It’s not a flippant remark. It’s not a slip of the tongue.”
Said Whitehead: “I don’t know how many times I have to say I will not vote for amnesty.”
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And in Augusta, where a day without a perp walk is like a day without sunshine….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Augusta Chronicle reports today that the son-in-law of former state senator Don Cheeks has been indicted on felony charges in connection with a 2002 land deal.
The indictment revolves around a $240,000 profit that Ashby and Donna Krouse made on the sale of some swampland to the state. No joke.
Neither Cheeks, a Democrat who switched to the Republican party during his last years in office, nor his daughter, Donna Krouse, face charges.
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That Oconee endorsement of Whitehead? Consider it undone.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember that item about the Oconee County Republican party endorsing Jim Whitehead in the July 17 run-off for the 10th District congressional seat?
Never mind.
The party’s executive committee met Monday to rescind their Friday endorsement, according to today’s Athens Banner-Herald.
The endorsement had been an embarrassment to Paul Broun of Athens, who took the No. 2 berth in the June 19 vote. Oconee, which borders Athens/Clarke County, was one of six counties where Broun outpolled all other candidates.
Poll: Chambliss, Isakson get wrist-slap for immigration; Thompson grabs lead from Giuliani
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented public affairs and polling firm in Atlanta, says it has a poll in hand showing that Georgia’s two U.S. senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, have seen a slight decline in their job-approval numbers as a result of the immigration debate.
Of some 800 voters surveyed, 50 percent said they approved of Chambliss’ performance in office, while 52 percent said they liked what Isakson was doing. Gov. Sonny Perdue’s job-approval rating was 55 percent.
David Johnson, head of Strategic Vision, attributed the decline to the disenchantment of conservative Republicans.
That said, Chambliss had 55 percent margins and greater in hypothetical match-ups with Democrats Vernon Jones and Dale Cardwell in his re-election contest next year.
The three-day poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points. We’ve asked for cross tabs, and have been told we’ll soon get them. The SV press release can be found here.
The poll also indicates that, among Georgia voters, Fred Thompson has ripped the lead away from Rudy Giuliani in the Republican race for the White House.
The field looks like this:
Thompson — 25 percent;
Giuliani — 20 percent;
John McCain — 11 percent;
Newt Gingrich — 7 percent;
Mitt Romney — 6 percent;
Mike Huckabee — 5 percent;
Sam Brownback — 4 percent;
Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul — 2 percent;
Tommy Thompson, Chuck Hagel, Jim Gilmore, Duncan Hunter — 1 percent.
On the Democratic side,
Hillary Clinton — 29 percent;
Barack Obama — 26 percent;
John Edwards — 18 percent;
Bill Richardson — 7 percent;
Joe Biden — 4 percent;
Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich — 1 percent.
