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Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Edwards takes aim at drug companies, insurance companies and Hillary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fresh from his Youtube debate in South Carolina, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards drew a rush-hour crowd of about 350 to the Georgia Freight Depot in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday.
At $15 a head — it was dubbed a “small change for big change” event — this may have been a Georgia political consumer’s best chance to get up close and personal with the candidate.
As he did in the Monday debate on CNN, Edwards pressed his populist message — and his advocacy of universal health care — by focusing on James Lowe, a 51-year-old disabled coal miner from southwest West Virginia, who was born with a cleft palate. Lowe was uninsured, and lived with the condition until last year.
“This describes what’s wrong with America,” Edwards said. “For 50 years of his life, in the United States of America, the richest nation on the planet with a medical problem that was entirely fixable, James Lowe was not able to talk,” Edwards said. “When are we finally going to stand up to these insurance companies and drug companies?”
Edwards had several lines that were clearly aimed at Hillary Clinton:
— “We need big bold change in this country. Not small change. We will not have big change through compromise or triangulation.” (Most of you remember that triangulation was a favorite tactic of Bill Clinton.)
— “[People] are not interested in seeing one group of Washington insiders replaced with another group of Washington insiders.”
As in May, when Edwards addressed a state Democratic fund-raiser, one of his big applause lines was his declaration that he’d rid the country of insurance policies that refused to cover “pre-existing conditions.”
In the crowd: Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who introduced the couple; House Minority Leader Dubose Porter (D-Dublin); U.S. Senate candidate Dale Cardwell; state Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) and state Sen. Steve Henson (D-Tucker).
Never mind. Whitehead nixes recount, concedes 10th District race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Said the press release from the Jim Whitehead campaign, received late this afternoon:
“After learning today that a recount could conceivably take as long as a week, Whitehead decided to let the results of yesterday’s vote certification by Georgia’s Secretary of State to stand.”
Said Whitehead: “The people of this district have been without a federal representative since February, and that’s long enough. If this recount could be done quickly to make sure the results are correct it would be worth it, but to even take an outside chance we could drag this election out another week is unjustifiable in light of the time we have gone without a vote in Congress.
“For the good of the people of this district I will let the results stand and allow us to regain our vote in the House immediately.”
Send your congratulations to U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens).
More waiting for the congressman-elect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue has told Congressman-elect Paul Broun that he won’t sign the official paperwork to let official Washington know about the results of the 10th District race until after a recount has been completed.
That’s put on hold Broun’s plans for his swearing-in ceremony in D.C.
“We have told him them that we will hold off until the recount is complete,” said Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley.
We’re told that a representative for Jim Whitehead, who lost by only a few hundred votes, is on his way from Augusta to Atlanta to hand-deliver a recount request.
Brantley said he’s thinking that a “letter of transmittal” to the clerk of the U.S. House might occur in a window between Friday and next Tuesday.
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Has Broun’s victory got GOP incumbents shaking?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hat tip to Jason Pye for this Wall Street Journal op-ed piece on Paul Broun’s victory in the 10th District race.
Here’s the key thought from John Fund:
Columnist Robert Novak says Dr. Broun’s victory has “terrified those incumbent Republican House members who had thought themselves safe for re-election in 2008” primaries. The pro-free market Club for Growth, which helped knock off at least one pro-spending GOP House incumbent in a 2006 primary, should feel encouraged by Dr. Broun’s victory.
The total for three Democrats in the U.S. Senate race: $282,380
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Finally, financial disclosures for all three Democratic candidates in the U.S. Senate race have become available. Moneywise, they’re not an impressive lot.
Not when compared to Saxby Chambliss’ millions.
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones leads with $188,970 total raised and $154,403 in cash on hand as of June 30. Here’s the federal link to his documents.
Dale Cardwell reported $50,165 total raised, with $42,665 in the bank. For some reason, he doesn’t show up on the Federal Elections Commission web site yet, but here’s the document his campaign handed us.
And ecologist Rand Knight now reports a total $43,245 raised — but that includes a $28,000 personal loan. He’s got $21,563 in cash on hand, according to his federal disclosure.
Never mind that chaos in the GOP’s front ranks, says Perdue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue is making a bit of news today as chairman of the Republicans Governors Association.
The topic was the unsettled nature of the Republican presidential ranks. Not to worry, says our governor.
”I don’t subscribe to the notion that we have to have an identified front-runner candidate early on,” Perdue said. ”The longer you stay inclusive in the process, the more idea generation you get, the more testing, sifting that takes place among the candidates, I think that’s healthy for democracy.”
And the Democratic side of the U.S. Senate race remains at three
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s Gainesville Times, attorney Wyc Orr says he’ll give a pass to the ‘08 U.S. Senate race.
“In the last week, I came to the conclusion that it was something that I’m not interested in doing,” Orr said. “I love what I do and where I’m doing it.”
Orr is the senior partner in a law firm that includes his daughter, Kris. Money was another reason cited by Orr.
“To run for the U.S. Senate, you have to spend at least four hours a day, or more, on the telephone raising money,” Orr said. “I’m not willing to do that. I think that’s a great deal of what’s wrong with Congress today.”
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And when they finally ran into each other on the 6th hole, everyone had a darn good chuckle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Whitehead, finally declared the second-place finisher in last week’s 10th District run-off, says he’s probably going to ask for a re-count today or tomorrow.
But this is the story everyone’s talking about today. The Associated Press is reporting that the Charlie Norwood campaign spent $63,000 at a Ritz Carlton golf resort two months after he died.
By coincidence, Whitehead’s campaign held a fund-raiser at the very same place, on the very same weekend.
Says the AP:
Norwood officials said the events were unrelated and that the Norwood expenditures were for a reservation that had already been booked and could not be canceled. Although they declined requests for documentation, they said the spending did not benefit the Whitehead campaign.
While they say the events were separate, the spending illustrates the extensive mingling between the two Republicans’ political operations. At least six of Norwood’s staffers went on to work in Whitehead’s campaign. At times, they were simultaneously closing out Norwood’s affairs.
