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Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Who did you share your pillow with? The Senate goes to the mattresses
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You gotta read this file from Bob Kemper, our guy in Washington:
It’s the last question the official spokesperson for a United States Senator wants to hear from a reporter.
Senate flak: “Hello?”
Reporter: “Hey, I need to know where your boss slept last night.”
Senate flack: (Only the “thump” of the fainting flak hitting the floor is heard.)
This was not a David Vitter matter.
On Wednesday, after the Senate pulled an all-nighter to debate the Iraq war, a couple of spokeswomen for Georgia’s two Republican senators — Joan Kirchner from Johnny Isakson’s office and Lindsay Mabry from the office of Saxby Chambliss — not only kept their cool, but Kirchner offered up her boss to address the question directly.
“I slept in my own bed, but I didn’t do much of it,” said Isakson, who also caught a brief catnap when he dozed off in a chair just off the Senate floor while waiting his turn to speak about the war.
Chambliss, too, was able to sneak home to his apartment on the House side of Capitol Hill for a few winks, though he was up early enough to appear on CNN and offer his take on how the long night went: total waste of time.
Noting that the bill being debated including increased spending for U.S. troops in Iraq, Chambliss told CNN, “All of that has been lost and delayed by the Democrats with this procedure, as they have called [the] stunt that took place last night.”
With all 100 senators forced to be in or near the chamber through the entire night, cots were set up on the Senate floor and herds of pizza deliverymen raced around the Capitol. The World’s Most Deliberative Body, as the Senate calls itself, looked more like a frat house getting ready to party.
According to the Senate Historian’s Office, there have been only 30 all-nighters in the chamber since 1915. None of them were about an on-going war.
First the apologies to Broun, then the fight to keep what’s now his
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The necessary kissing-and-making-up has already begun in the post-wonderment period of Paul Broun’s apparent victory of the 10th District race.
“Dr. Broun is a testament to perseverance,” writes state Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) in his blog. “I stood with my Senate Republican colleagues in support of our fellow caucus member Jim Whitehead. But I am confident that Paul Broun will make an outstanding addition to the United States Congress.”
So there’s that. But we have to say, the Athens physician shouldn’t be resting comfortably, despite the miracle he’s pulled off. We’re already hearing talk — not from Shafer, by the by — that Broun’s likely to face opposition in next year’s Republican primary.
Frankly, we can’ t imagine Augusta letting that seat go without another fight. It’s worth wondering what state Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), who bowed out of the race before it began, is thinking today.
Looks like the game may be up for Whitehead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The big hole in the 10th District election results has been a single, absent precinct in Columbia County. Five other boxes in five other counties have yet to be tallied, but none of the other counties is that big.
And, of course, Jim Whitehead is the former Columbia County commission chairman.
Last night, Whitehead consultant John Stone told us the campaign was holding out hope that 1,700 absentee ballots requested in Columbia County had not been tabulated. But we just talked to Debbie Marshall, director of Columbia County elections. She says they have.
All votes, including absentees, were counted by 9:20 p.m. last night, she said. The absent precinct is merely a technical holding pen for 66 overseas military ballots that were requested, and any provisional ballots allowed on Tuesday that still need approval. Counties have until Friday to wait for the military ballots — but there won’t be any more in Columbia than the 66.
Marshall’s office is making a sweep now for any provisional ballots issue, but they’ve not found any yet.
Whitehead is down by 371, and it looks like it will stay that way — or something close to it.
Said Paul Broun of Athens, who may have just pulled off the upset of the year: “I have not declared victory yet, but I think we’ve won.”
The Giuliani operation in Georgia unfolds
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign is reaching deeper into the state Legislature to establish its Republican campaign network in Georgia.
Giuliani tapped House Speaker Glenn Richardson months ago. On Tuesday, the Giuliani campaign named additional lieutenants, each assigned specific regions:
— Mary Flanders, chairman of the Chatham County Republican party, will lead the effort on the coast;
— In charge of metro Atlanta doings will be Rusty Paul, the former state senator and ex-chairman of the state GOP; Jay Morgan, a lobbyist and former executive director of the state GOP; William Woodall, high-ranking Sonny Perdue campaigner; and state Rep. Jeff May (R-Monroe).
— The east Georgia effort for Giuliani has been placed in the hands of state Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), the House majority whip, and Gwen Fulcher Young, wife of former Augusta mayor Bob Young.
— Central Georgia is the responsibility of state Rep. Jay Roberts (R-Ocilla), who is now Gov. Sonny Perdue’s floor leader and chairman of the House Republican caucus.
Whitehead says he’ll sit and wait
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got the press release below from the campaign of Jim Whitehead, which was blind-sided on Tuesday by Paul Broun of Athens in the run-off for the 10th District congressional seat.
Whitehead says he won’t say anything more until Secretary of State Karen Handel certifies the race. The campaign says that will happen at the end of the week — which may not be right. She has a total of 14 days to do that — the counties have seven days, and she has a week on top of that.
The Friday deadline may be a reference to the fact that the 20th is the last day that overseas military ballots can be counted. Here’s the Whitehead release:
July 18, 2007 News Release Whitehead for Congress
Whitehead to Wait for Secretary of State Vote Certification
(Augusta, GA) — State Senator Jim Whitehead (R-Evans) will wait for Georgia’s Secretary of State to officially certify yesterday’s special election run-off before making further comment, based on the razor-thin margin of votes cast in the election.
The Secretary of State is expected to verify results later this week.
Vernon Jones: He says he has triple Cardwell’s cash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We still haven’t been able to find Vernon Jones’ campaign finance disclosure on the Federal Elections Commission web site. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
That said, the DeKalb County CEO himself — primed to announce his entry into the U.S. Senate race on Saturday — rang us up yesterday evening, just as the 10th District polls were about to close down.
Jones told us he’s reported a total of $188,000 or so raised, with about $150,000 in cash on hand. Dale Cardwell, the only announced Democrat in the race to unseat Republican Saxby Chambliss, has reported raising just over $50,000.
The calculator says that, together, the two Democrats have raised 6 percent of the $3.3 million that Chambliss declared this week.
Put another way, Jones and Cardwell together have spent weeks and weeks raising about the same amount of money that Vice President Dick Cheney brought Chambliss in 90 minutes on Monday.
Blogwatch: ABC News bureau in Atlanta gets the knife
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SpaceyG on peachpundit.com reports that ABC News executives on Monday put the ax to most of its news operation in Atlanta.
She writes: “Gone are all the career cameramen (one was 72 and still slinging tape for them), audio techs, bureau management, administrative staff and affiliates support team……Left to pull their own digi-weight alone are one correspondent, Steve Osansami, two field producers and one engineer.”
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Still on pins and needles in the 10th District race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Little changed overnight in the 10th District showdown between Republicans Paul Broun of Athens and Jim Whitehead of Columbia County. We’re up to 98 percent of the vote counted, and Broun has expanded his lead ever so slightly to 371, out of more than 46,000 votes cast.
We just talked to the Whitehead campaign, which is still holding its breath. They’re pinning all their hopes on a single box still outstanding in Columbia, which the Secretary of State’s office told us last night holds the county’s absentee ballots. Five other boxes, also containing absentees, remain uncounted in smaller counties: Elbert, Hart, Jackson, Madison and Putnam.
The Whitehead campaign says the Columbia box holds 1,700 votes. If the current margin in that county applies, Whitehead would pick up more than 300 votes. Expect the nail-biting to continue throughout the day.
Here’s the link to the count at Secretary of State Karen Handel’s web site.
