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July 2007
Part presidential primary, part lottery: This bipartisan plan assumes choosing a world leader should be a logical process
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Hill, the newspaper that covers the doings of the U.S. Capitol, has a first look at a plan by U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to create a new presidential primary structure that would divide the country into four regions.
Each region would vote in a different month.
Says the Hill:
The Regional Presidential Primary and Caucus Act, which would take effect in the 2012 elections, is a result of this year’s rush by states to the front of the line, with big states like California, New York and New Jersey moving to Feb. 5 and Florida jumping to Jan. 29.
The proposal calls for a rotating schedule of the four regions, while still protecting the “traditional” first states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
The states would be divided into the East (Region I), South (II), Midwest (III) and West (IV) regions.
A lottery would be held to determine which region votes first on the first Tuesday or within six days of the first Tuesday in March. The other regions would follow in numerical order in April, May and June. Whichever region goes first in 2012 would go to the back of the line in 2016.
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Says Handel: Bring your photo ID to September special elections
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Secretary of State Karen Handel announced this morning that the state’s photo identification requirement, subject of much state and federal court action, will be effective for in-person voting, beginning with special elections of Sept. 18.
Handel said she based her decision on a June 11 ruling by the state Supreme Court, dismissing a challenge to the law because of the plaintiff’s lack of standing.
So far as we know, the federal challenge is still pending. Look for foes of the measure, who say it discriminates against minorities and the elderly, to try and stop the secretary of state.
We’ll link you to a full story ASAP.
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Cleland’s back, and a Woodstock health company’s got him
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Forty years after he was handed a premature invitation to Kingdom Come, Max Cleland got his first job in the private sector on Monday.
He’ll be a policy advisor for Tissue Regeneration Technologies, a small Woodstock firm that’s attempting to bring shock-wave therapy — think kidney-stone smashing — into the treatment of wounded vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Two reporters and a Republican state senator — Chip Rogers, whose office was minutes away — showed up to witness Cleland’s transition. The contract to which he put his left hand will keep him busy for two years.
It was 1968 when the grenade in Vietnam stole three of his limbs. Cleland started his political career four years later, as a Georgia state senator. Then came a stint as head of the U.S. Veterans Administration in the Carter administration, followed by a few years as secretary of state in Georgia, and a single term in the U.S. Senate.
Cleland has just bowed out as a Washington D.C. director on the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a job that took his mind off his 2002 Senate loss to Republican Saxby Chambliss. Cleland has an apartment in downtown Atlanta.
Cleland is now 65, and had this explanation for his private sector virginity. ”Nothing ever came along that I was really passionate about,” he said.
Shock-wave therapy is at the heart of that machine you see hospitals advertise on TV and billboards, which explodes kidney stones while they’re still inside you. TRT CEO John Warlick says an unexpected side-effect of the therapy is tissue regeneration in surrounding areas.
The company, which employs about 50, wants to use that side effect in the treatment of wounded vets. The use of shock-wave therapy is apparently more accepted in Europe than in the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration has withheld approval. (A first study of TRT techniques is currently underway at Walter Reed Army Hospital, focusing on burns and hard-to-heal wounds that can lead to amputation)
It will be Cleland’s job to be the public face for the company, particularly when it comes to access to federal officials. Warlick said — only half in jest — that in the past the company has had trouble getting past the receptionist.
“It’s a rare and unique opportunity to get someone of Senator Cleland’s stature to lead us, because our biggest difficulty having people take us seriously. It’s somewhat of a voodoo technology in many circles. We’re talking about shock waves in medicine. It’s not accepted in the medical community,” the CEO said.
Cleland admitted he doesn’t quite understand how shock-wave therapy works, and doesn’t much care — as long as he sees results that can reduce the number of amputees coming out of the Middle East.
“We are drowning in war. Long before the expose in the Washington Post, Walter Reed was overwhelmed. First of all, the physical injuries are injuries we’ve never really seen in combat before — and having so many survive.
“The majority of wounds are due to explosive devices. I know what an explosive devise does to the body. I know what it does to the flesh. I know what it does to the bone. I know what it does to traumatize you for the rest of your life,” Cleland said.
His new job, while it could boost his profile as an advocate for wounded war vets, is also likely to reduce Cleland’s political activity, even as Chambliss gears up for his re-election campaign to hold onto Cleland’s old seat.
You’ll remember that Cleland was extremely active, and vocal, in the 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, a fellow Vietnam vet. Cleland said he intends to stay out of the political fray at least until Democrats settle on a presidential candidate late next year.
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Hank Johnson pitches his tent with the Obama camp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hank Johnson has plighted his troth to Barack Obama — the first Democratic congressman in Georgia to publicly align himself with that candidate’s presidential campaign.
As we recall, U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) sides with John Edwards. Otherwise, Democrats have tried to remain non-aligned.
Iraq is the issue for Johnson:
“Today more than ever, a fundamental change in the way we do our business in Washington is crucial,” said the DeKalb County representative in the release from Chicago. “Barack Obama, who had the sound judgment to oppose the Iraq War early on, is the only candidate who will turn the page on this disastrous foreign policy and lead our nation to a new standing in the world.”
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Max is back, working with a company exploring war-wound treatment
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nearly five years after his defeat at the hands of Republican Saxby Chambliss, former U.S. senator Max Cleland is coming home.
Cleland, a Vietnam vet and triple amputee, has quit his job as a director on the Export-Import Bank of the United States in Washington, and has signed up as a senior policy advisor for Tissue Regeneration Technologies, a Woodstock firm.
TRT is exploring new techniques to “certain combat injuries, including those sustained from improvised explosive devices,” the press release says.
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Not your father’s Republican: Broun casts his vote against prosecuting users of medical marijuana
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Washington — In one of his first votes as a congressman, Athens physician Paul Broun has given fulsome indication that he doesn’t intend to run with the Republican herd.
As midnight approached on Wednesday, hours after he was sworn in, Broun declared himself in favor of a measure sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from prosecuting those who use medical marijuana for medicinal purposes.
In doing so, Broun bucked his House Republican leadership and split with all six of Georgia’s other Republican congressmen.
“To me, it was a state’s rights vote, and a constitutional powers issue,” Broun said early this morning.
Democrat John Barrow also opposed the measure. Democrat Jim Marshall did not vote. Democrats John Lewis, Hank Johnson, Sanford Bishop, and David Scott voted yes.
You’ll note that 14 other Republicans voted ‘yes’ with Broun, including Ron Paul of Texas and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
The measure, which failed 165 to 262, is an annual rite and attracted little notice until late Thursday. Broun didn’t mention it in an interview that morning, later explaining it came during a rushed series of two-minute votes.
In a statement issued near midnight, Broun emphasized he was serious when he called for limits on federal government. Some states have authorized the use of medicinal marijuana.
He said in a prepared release:
“As I promised on the campaign trail, I would make the Constitution my primary guide on how I voted on all matters. Roll Call vote 733 was a constitutional issue pertaining to ‘restraining’ the federal government from interfering with the right of states to establish public policy on matters not specifically addressed by the Constitution.”
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On manners, a missing moustache, and Washington-proof briefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Notes from a short trip to Washington:
— Talked to Joshua Evans today. He’s the 24-year-old campaign manager for Paul Broun, who’s now trying to help the new congressman set up his office. He mentioned that Jim Whitehead has yet to call with his congratulations.
Don’t know what’s up with that. Republican Mac Collins has yet to concede his ’06 congressional race against Democrat Jim Marshall. Maybe graciousness has become a sign of weakness in the GOP camp.
Evans, by the way, will not be Broun’s chief of staff. He’s a city councilman in Greenbrier, Tenn., a position he’s held since he was 21.
— Passed U.S. Rep. Tom Price in a basement corridor in the U.S. Capitol, but neither of us had a chance to stop. He’s followed colleague Phil Gingrey and has ditched his moustache. Given his campaign stash, we know it’s not an attempt to duck creditors.
— One of the surprising attendees at U.S. Rep. Paul Broun’s swearing-in was state Rep. Bobby Franklin, a hard-core Republican from Cobb County who once told us that he feared the reach of Washington corruption so much that he always took the bypass when he found himself close to D.C.
He had special dispensation for this trip. Or was wearing protective underwear. One or the other.
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Not just an impartial dispenser of justice, but an ATM, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the political story that everyone’s talking about today, from the Associated Press:
HOMERVILLE, Ga. - The sheriff got a $23,485 patrol car, the tax assessor got a $2,407 computer and Homerville City Hall got its carpets cleaned for $665 - all with the stroke of a judge’s pen.
As one of rural Clinch County’s most powerful politicians, Superior Court Judge Brooks E. Blitch III has been generous over the years in ordering the county to spend money on new equipment, upgrades and repairs.
County commissioners, who control the budget under Georgia law, always complied - until they discovered the judge had ordered payments to five employees totaling $67,255. A June 8 audit report showed the money, paid out over six years, was kept off the books and was never taxed.
Soon after commissioners reported Blitch to state authorities, FBI agents executed a search warrant on the judge’s office in Homerville, the county seat, on June 26.
Clinch County commissioners say the secret payments are just one example of how Blitch, chief judge of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit, has usurped their control of the county budget - which came to only $3.5 million last year - by holding back thousands of dollars in court fines and fees and dictating how those funds are spent.
Kind of redefines the term “activist judge,” doesn’t it? Judge Blitch, as many of you know, is husband to former state senator Peg Blitch.
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In Washington: Paul Broun up close and personal with Nancy Pelosi
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Washington — Just got out of the mock swearing-in that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held with newly minted U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens on Wednesday, Immediately after the real ceremony on the floor of the U.S. House
Pelosi told Broun that — 20 years earlier — she, too had come to Congress by winning a special election. “You just jump into things,” she said.
To Broun’s wife, Niki, Pelosi said: “My husband will look forward to meeting you at the spouse’s meeting.”
Mrs. Broun responded with a generous bear hug. We don’t know why. But then, we’ve never met Pelosi’s husband.
Broun, by the way, passed on his first opportunity to vote, seconds after his induction into the club. He said he didn’t know enough about what was going on — an example which may bear duplicating by others.
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Lawmakers to state department heads: Fiddle with the budget, and pay for it in January
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re told a letter from the Legislature’s top budget writers has hit the in-boxes of the state’s agency heads today, warning them that they accept Gov. Sonny Perdue’s shifting of some spending in the current state budget at their peril.
Says the letter: “You should be aware that any expenditure conflicting with the intent of the appropriation jeopardizes our confidence in your ability to act as a proper steward of public funds. In writing the 2008 Amended Budget, we reserve the option of reducing or eliminating funding for your agency by that amount.”
In other words, cross us and you’ll pay for it in January.
The memo comes from House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter; House Majority Leader Jerry Keen; House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin; Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson; Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams and Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill.
Perdue’s redirection of funds is one of the Republican-on-Republican issues that had legislators furious in May and ready to call a special session.
For instance, the budget approved by the Legislature included $1.59 million for a decade-old foreign language program for 29 elementary schools across the state.
When Perdue signed the budget, he directed the Department of Education to instead send each elementary school in the state $1,200 for foreign language materials, a move foreign language advocates say won’t do much good.
“Obviously the House, the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate all feel that ours is an important voice in the legislative budget process,” said Clelia Davis, spokeswoman for House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
Read the entire letter on the jump.
July 19, 2007
MEMORANDUM
TO: All Agency Heads
FROM: Rep. Mark Burkhalter, House Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Jerry Keen, House Majority Leader Rep. Ben Harbin, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee Sen. Eric Johnson, Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Tommie Williams, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jack Hill, Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee
SUBJECT: HB 95 (SFY 2008 Budget) and Legislative Intent
This memo serves as our respectful notice that we expect you to adhere to the legislative intent of HB 95 (SFY 2008 Budget) passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor. The Governor has the authority to use a line item veto and he has exercised that power. And, as you know, the Appropriations Bill is a legislative document by which “the General Assembly shall annually appropriate those state and federal funds necessary to operate all the various departments and agencies.” (Constitution of Georgia, Article III, Section IX, Paragraph II).
Legislative intent contained in the language of HB 95 should be adhered to as you spend the appropriations contained in the bill. The conferees urge you to confer with the House and Senate leadership on any issues in question as to the intent of the Legislative Branch in HB 95. This is especially important where there is confusion brought about by the Governor’s “Redirect” message.
You should be aware that any expenditure conflicting with the intent of the appropriation jeopardizes our confidence in your ability to act as a proper steward of public funds. In writing the 2008 Amended Budget, we reserve the option of reducing or eliminating funding for your agency by that amount.
Please do not hesitate to contact the House or Senate Appropriations Offices or the leadership individually if you have any questions. The Senate Budget and Evaluation Office and the House Budget Office stand ready to assist as well.
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Finally, Dan McLagan allowed to speak his mind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The shackles of a state paycheck have been removed from the governor’s mouthpiece.
In today’s Associated Press story about how a fight between Democrats Vernon Jones and Dale Cardwell could make Republican Saxby Chambliss a happy man, it was time for the real Dan McLagan to stand up.
“What’s left of the Georgia Democratic Party is lurching around the state like actors in a bad zombie movie,” the Sonny Perdue’s former spokesman said.
Hmmm. He doesn’t sound very different, does he?
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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.
Second thoughts on Vernon Jones and the race for the U.S. Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are strategists who theorize that certain elected positions, however powerful, have glass ceilings.
The measures that an individual must take to hold onto the office — the arm-twisting, the rug-pulling, the ruthless enforcement of will — create resentments that sabotage any attempt at higher office.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson may be learning this lesson. Less and less is the Republican mentioned as a candidate for governor in 2010.
We may be about to find out whether the same rule also applies to the chief executive officer of DeKalb County government.
For seven stormy years, Vernon Jones has held the upper hand in DeKalb, a political cauldron bubbling in perpetual conflict between black and white, urban and suburban, north and south, Republican and Democrat.
Describing the Democrat’s reign as controversial is like saying Michael Vick demands a winning attitude from his canine squad. It doesn’t quite capture the sense of things.
Vernon Jones isn’t the first opinionated CEO of DeKalb County, a 22-year-old position with immense latitude. That honor forever belongs to a crusty bar-keep, Manuel Maloof.
But on Saturday morning, Jones became the first DeKalb County CEO to make a Democratic run for the U.S. Senate.
On the Marietta Square, Shan Clark, a teacher at Tucker High School, introduced Jones as a “credentialed, Ivy League public administration prodigy.” But he also made a backhand acknowledgement that the dynamics of DeKalb politics are likely to bleed into the statewide race.
“Some say he’s heavy-handed,” Clark said. “Well, I’m sorry. But the Georgia [General] Assembly and Manuel Maloof made the DeKalb County CEO a very powerful office in an attempt to solve mayor-city council management problems. [Jones] sets the monthly agenda. He takes a large role in appointments and project bids, and we have benefited.”
Politics is the continuation of warfare by other means. Two figures who have clashed with Jones, former DeKalb County police chief Eddie Moody and ex-DeKalb prosecutor J. Tom Morgan, have given cash to one of Jones’ opponent, former TV journalist Dale Cardwell. (A third candidate, ecologist Rand Knight, has also declared himself in the race for the Democratic nomination.)
Given the importance of both DeKalb and African-American women in the state Democratic primary — and the fact that he’s the only Democrat in the race with a lengthy political resume — it’s inevitable that particular aspects of Jones’ official and personal behavior will become a topic of much debate.
This first, Democratic phase of the race for U.S. Senate could, in fact, become a kind of third-term re-election bid by Jones.
Isakson: ‘It was all kinds of perfect theater’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Washington Post includes a nuanced snapshot of last week’s all-night debate in the U.S. Senate over the Iraq war, with Johnny Isakson as its focus:
When Isakson’s turn came, at about 1 a.m., he rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat, and held in his hand a copy of a Georgia newspaper article. It included an interview with Lucy Harris, mother of Noah Harris, a University of Georgia cheerleader who signed up for ROTC after Sept. 11, 2001. He died in Iraq two years ago.
“We’re talking about boots on the ground, real people,” Lucy Harris said in the article, her words recounted on the floor by Isakson. “When I think about my son, who could have done anything with his life … I just don’t want it to be in vain.”
Isakson entered the article into the record, lingered for a little while longer, then left the floor and walked home in the darkness.
DeKalb’s Jones launches quest for Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones threw himself into the Democratic contest for U.S. Senate on Saturday with searing criticisms of Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss for his stands on immigration and the war in Iraq.
“We’re in a bad situation over there, and poor leadership and rubber stamps got us over there,” Jones said. “We have to find a dignified way to get out of Iraq.”
He emphasized his support for the war on terror, but added that “fighting terrorism, and making stupid, repeated mistakes are two different things.”
The lanky DeKalb County executive made his long-expected announcement on the picturesque Marietta Square in Republican-dominated Cobb County. Jones said he chose the location because of its proximity to a national military cemetery and Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
About 150 supporters attended the announcement, many of them brought to the rally on two air-conditioned buses. Attendees included Walter Young, brother of former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, and Patricia Roberts, the mother of Jamaal Addison, the first Georgian killed in Iraq.
Jones first announced his interest in the U.S. Senate race in December. His two terms as head of DeKalb County government could give him a distinct advantage in his search for the Democratic nomination — DeKalb generates more Democratic votes than any other county in the state.
But winning a statewide general election has become a challenge for any Democrat. In the 2004 race for U.S. Senate, Denise Majette — like Jones a resident of DeKalb County and an African-American — earned only 40 percent of the vote in her loss to Republican Johnny Isakson.
As of June 30, Jones reported raising a total $188,970 for the race, and had $154,403 in cash on hand. Chambliss, facing his first re-election bid, reported $3.3 million available.
Jones mentioned Democratic rival Dale Cardwell only when prompted by reporters. Cardwell, a former Atlanta TV journalist, entered the race last month. “I’ve run a government. I’ve got a track record. I see him as an intern,” Jones said of Cardwell.
On the bandstand in the Marietta Square, before a huge American flag, the DeKalb CEO offered up his county’s improved “quality of life” as evidence of his ability. “I believe I can do for the country what I’ve done for this county,” he said.
Jones, the son of a North Carolina tobacco farmer, also pointed to his eight years as a state legislator, claiming credit for helping establish the PeachCare program, which provides health insurance for children of Georgia’s working poor.
But the crowd responded most loudly when the topic was Jones’ Republican opponent.
In addition to repeatedly calling Chambliss a “rubberstamp” when it comes to Bush administration policy on Iraq, Jones accused Chambliss of performing a “Michael Jackson moonwalk on immigration reform.”
Jones noted that Chambliss ended up voting against “the very legislation that he helped craft” — after the bill received a hostile reception among Georgia voters.
Jones insisted his critique of Chambliss would remain issue-oriented. “I think he’s a nice man. He really is. He’s just out of touch,” he said.
The Democratic candidate himself is likely to be subject to questions about his personal life. As DeKalb CEO, Jones was the center of several controversies — including a 2005 rape allegation, in which a woman alleged Jones, who is not married, had assaulted her after a night of consentual sex with her and a second woman.
After a nine-month investigation, the woman withdrew the charges, but never recanted.
Jones said he’s ready for any personal attacks. “Every single issue that’s been brought against me — every single one of them — has been proven, clearly proven, to be false and baseless,” Jones said. “My life is open. I’m open. Let’s discuss it. I have nothing to hide.”
In the 1996 presidential race, Jones noted, U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich focused on President Bill Clinton’s sex life. “He got re-elected, and Newt Gingrich is home,” Jones said.
Speaking for Giuliani: What Steve Forbes said about the South, Iraq, and Fred Thompson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the last few weeks, the Rudy Giuliani campaign in Georgia has become particularly forceful, likely in anticipation of the Fred Thompson entry into the Republican race for the White House.
Earlier this week, Giuliani operatives fleshed out much of their state network. Next week, we expect for them to name state Sen. Ronnie Chance of Tyrone as the campaign’s state co-chairman, sharing the helm with House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
(Mitt Romney’s team has also made some announcements, and we’ll get to those in a bit.)
On Thursday, publisher and two-time presidential candidate Steve Forbes just happened to dial up, to explain why his boy Rudy could compete in Georgia and other points in the Deep South.
“We’re in a situation where his strengths are going to be very appealing to the south and the rest of the country - in two basic areas. The most critical one is national security. He demonstrated on 9/11 that he can deal forcefully with an unprecedented crisis,” Forbes said.
When pitching Giuliani as the man who can handle Iraq, Forbes’ criticisms of the Bush Administration were implied, but strong: “[Giulini] would not be content — he’s said this — with broad goals of what we want to achieve there, but more specifics. How do we know we’re succeeding? What are we doing neighborhood by neighborhood? He isn’t afraid to get at the nitty-gritty details.”
Click here for Forbes’ exact words.
As for Thompson’s entry, Forbes predicted that an initial “halo effect” would be followed by close and unflattering scrutiny. “For instance, he’s very close to the plaintiff’s bar, which is not popular with the base,” Forbes said. Extended comments can be heard here.
Finally, Forbes argued that, with the way the 2008 primary calendar has shaped, Giuliani will have an advantage. On Feb. 5, Republicans in California, Florida, New York and New Jersey will be joining voters in Georgia at the ballot box.
Said Forbes: “Eight years ago, he wouldn’t have had a successful national candidacy, maybe eight years from now he wouldn’t. But at this particular time, I think the man and the moment are met.”
A quick, unyielding note from the Whitehead side
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first communication from the Jim Whitehead campaign in 48 hours arrived in the e-mail queue overnight.
Perhaps it was written in response to today’s Associated Press story that essentially declared Athens physician Paul Broun the winner in the 10th District congressional race.
Wrote Whitehead strategist John Stone: “Just fyi we are still in the running on this race. This race is NOT over. The tragedy is that regardless who wins in the end it will be the decision of 6.9 pct of [registered] voters.”
Also just finished a talk with Tim Bryant, the host of a daily political talk show on WGAU-AM (1340) in Athens, who makes this excellent, ironic point:
Screwing with U.S. Rep. John Barrow, a Democrat, became official GOP policy some years back. And in a fit of re-districting (in 2006?) Republicans lopped Athens — Barrow’s home — out of the 12th District and put it in Charlie Norwood’s 10th District.
Barrow moved to Savannah. Broun got his foothold. And Athens became a community that needed to vent. And Whitehead, as state senator, voted for it all.
The Legislature gears up to take on the state DOT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One month ago, out of the blue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle warned a set of newspaper publishers gathered in Savannah to brace themselves for an overhaul of the state Department of Transportation — and the way the state of Georgia handles road-building.
How big an overhaul, Cagle wouldn’t say.
But now we know something of the scope. The week before Cagle teased the news hounds, he and House Speaker Glenn Richardson put their signatures to a letter addressed to State Auditor Russell Hinton.
Only now has the letter become available. See it here.
The two men who control the Legislature demanded a sweeping “special performance audit” of the state DOT, including:
— An analysis of “a selected sample” of DOT projects, with a focus of whether engineering specs are written with the focus of getting the maximum value out of taxpayer dollars.
In June, Cagle came close to accusing the DOT of corruption. “There was a bridge that was designed by the [DOT] in Augusta to be built, and unfortunately they designed it in such a way that it was a one-of-a-kind bridge and only one bidder could bid on the project,” he told those newspaper publishers.
— An analysis of DOT project management, with recommendations for bringing “projects to completion more rapidly.”
— A cost-comparison of DOT management practices with private-public partnerships of the same kind.
The moribund state of transportation in Georgia — particularly metro Atlanta — has been the subject of much complaint among business leaders and local government officials — not to mention the people who must travel from Point A to Point B.
For the first time we can remember, you’ve got a unified Legislature questioning the basic operation of the state Department of Transportation — in a comprehensive way that only a few governors have dared. None of them have been named Perdue.
The Associated Press was the first to come across a copy of the letter. John Abbey, director of performance audit operations for the state Department of Audits and Accounts, told the news agency that the requested review was underway. Initial results could be available by November.
The Legislature convenes Jan. 14.
Keen: The Vick case could unleash anti-dogfighting bills
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) said the Michael Vick case could give new life to efforts to shut down dog-fighting in Georgia.
“It’s horrifying. I don’t know if it’s true — it is an indictment. But if they are, it’s hard to imagine human beings being able to do that to animals,” the No. 3 Republican in the House said today in a press conference at the state Capitol. “I’ve already had calls from members of the [House Republican] caucus, asking if we’re going to address this.”
Two anti-dog fighting bills, S.B. 16 sponsored by state Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) and H.B. 301 sponsored by state Rep. Bobby Reese (R-Sugar Hill), stalled in the House during this year’s legislative session.
“I would not be surprised if one or both of those bills get some legs,” Keen said. One loophole in the current state law may be a lack of prohibitions against the training of fighting dogs, “rather than the actual act,” Keen said.
Rogers has said much the same thing about the impact of the Vick investigation on animal law in Georgia — but Keen’s remarks are more significant. S.B. 16 passed the Senate unanimously. The antagonism toward tighter restrictions has come from the lower chamber.
Jekyll Island residents say they see the shaft coming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Residents of Jekyll Island fought long and hard during this last session of the Legislature to keep the south end of their sandbar out of the hands of developers.
But they don’t see appointments to a legislative watchdog committee going their way, according to a report today by the Morris News Service.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s three Senate appointments didn’t include any of the resident’s recommendations, including their No. 1 champion, state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick). They expect to fare no better when House Speaker Glenn Richardson makes his appointments.
Blogwatch: John Edwards and wife at a “small change” rally in Atlanta next week
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Macon blogger Amy Morton of Georgia Women Vote says Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and wife Elizabeth will be at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta late Tuesday afternoon for a $15 dollar-a-head fund-raiser.
Here’s her link to the invitation.
No more shilly-shallying: Broun claims victory
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This statement from Athens physician Paul Broun came over late last night, describing his victory in the 10th District congressional seat as “a mathematical certainty:”
“I am deeply honored and appreciative that the majority of voters decided to cast their ballot for me. Yes, the election was close, but close does not mean indecisive. Historically, here in Georgia and across the country there have always been close elections.
Based on information transmitted from all twenty-one counties to the Secretary of State and to the media, with no actual precincts unreported in any county, my lead stands at 373 votes.
Having consulted with the election boards in each county, we have been informed that there only 166 uncounted military, overseas, and provisional ballots. We expect to receive a good share of those votes also.
Therefore, it is a mathematical certainty that the outcome of the election cannot be altered.
I fully understand the certification process that is the responsibility of the Secretary of State. I believe those duties will be discharged in a professional manner.
As soon as the election results are certified, I plan to go to Washington to begin energetically serving all of the people of the District from Augusta to Athens and from Putnam County northward to the North Carolina state line.
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.
Within a whisker of declaring an upset for Paul Broun and Athens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got off the phone with Paul Broun, who credits an alliance of Christian conservatives, “disenfranchised Republicans” and Democrats for what looks like an upset victory in the 10th District congressional race. “I got a lot of help out of the African-American community,” he said.
With more than 85 percent of the run-off vote counted, Broun held a shifting but significant lead over Jim Whitehead, a former state senator from the Augusta area.
Here’s your best link to the up-to-date vote spread, shamelessly filched from Secretary of State Karen Handel’s web site.
A victory by Broun, who finished a distant second to Whitehead in a June 19 election, would represent a surprising upset — and a blow to Augusta, home to the seven-term Norwood, who died in February of a lengthy lung ailment and cancer.
Whitehead, owner of a small chain of tire stores, has led in fund-raising throughout the contest and was the choice of many in the state Republican establishment.
In the race for the White House, Georgia could be turning purple
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Matt Towery’s InsiderAdvantagehas a poll out today that may turn a few heads.
In a July 12-14 poll of more than 1,000 registered voters, respondents were asked whether they were more likely to vote in a Republican or Democratic presidential primary next year.
Thirty-nine percent said they’d be voting in the Democratic primary. Thirty-seven percent said they’d choose a Republican ballot. Count the remainder, 24 percent, as undecided.
“This means that independent voters, who have for the past few election cycles trended towards the GOP, are less decided as to which party they prefer,” Towery said.
His firm put out polling data on Monday showing that Fred Thompson was the leading choice among Georgia Republicans, while Hillary Clinton maintained a slight edge over Barack Obama among Georgia Democrats.
The best-laid plans of mice and Republicans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Things have been going so swimmingly for Republicans in Georgia, it’s sometime difficult to spot the fly in any soup.
Mac Collins may be that particular winged creature. After years of prodding, GOP leaders were finally able to lure Rick Goddard, a former Air Force major general, into a federal race.
Goddard is out to present yet another challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon), and has raised not quite $152,000 for the effort — compared to Marshall’s $631,000. in cash on hand.
But as of now, it doesn’t look like Republicans have been able to clear the field for the 8th District race, which could become important down the road.
Collins, who came so tantalizingly close to defeating Marshall in ’06, has loaned his own campaign organization $130,000, according to his financial disclosure. One has to presume he’s still interested in re-taking the seat he once held.
The Macon Telegraph has made note of the fact, as well as Congressional Quarterly.
Report: Swindall funneled money to Atlanta city councilwoman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dale Russell with WAGA (Fox) had an intriguing piece last night, dwelling on two men who say they helped former congressman Pat Swindall make an illegal $8,000 contribution to Atlanta City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd.
Sheperd says she doesn’t know Swindall, and has asked Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard to investigate. Russell reports that the GBI has joined in as well.
The men quoted by Russell claim Swindall wrote an $8,000 check to be divided up into eight individual checks of $1,000 — to be sent to Sheperd.
Swindall, a real estate investor in downtown Atlanta, denies any wrongdoing, and says he’s the victim of an extortion attempt.
Swindall was a two-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives whose political career ended with a perjury conviction arising out of a federal money-laundering investigation.
Notes from a Republican breakfast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Republican Foundation had a breakfast meeting in Cobb County this morning, the first hosted by the new state GOP chairman, Sue Everhart.
The gathering was worth a few notations:
— The Foundation is a collection of reliable GOP donors, and attracted many of the same people who would truck down I-75 later in the morning for the Saxby Chambliss fund-raiser with Vice President Dick Cheney.
All except one, perhaps.
That was state Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham, who was seated at the same table with Chambliss and his colleague in the U.S. Senate, Johnny Isakson. Benham is up for re-election next year, just like Chambliss, and — while his seat is non-partisan — he’s clearly trying to blunt any GOP-sponsored effort to unseat him, like that faced by Justice Carol Hunstein in ’06.
— Chambliss urged attendees to pick up a CD that explained his stance on issues, including immigration, which is still a touchy subject. “You sent us to Washington to solve problems, not to let problems hang out there for the next generation to solve,” he said.
— Isakson gave a brief rundown on the situation in Iraq, dividing his remarks into “good news and other news.”
He and Chambliss would vote against any effort to revisit Iraq strategy before the well-advertised date of Sept. 15, Isakson said. “When you let the world know what your game plan is, the dumbest thing in the world you can do is change it.”
— On the federal program known nationally as SCHIP, and in Georgia as Peachcare, which provides health insurance for the children of the working poor: Isakson faulted the Bush administration for waivers that allowed the program to spin out of control, but also condemned Democratic attempts to widen the program.
Current Democratic plans, he said, are a backdoor attempt at a national health insurance program that would expand eligibility to anyone within 400 percent of the federal poverty level “whether or not they have children.”
“It’s a dangerous, precipitous path that we’re on,” Isakson said.
Isakson said he and other Republicans are working on an alternative plan that would give every American a $4,500 tax credit for private health insurance policies they purchase.
The poor, who don’t pay that much in taxes, would receive a $4,500 voucher with which to purchase insurance.
Cheney: ‘Veni, vidi, I raised $200,000’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vice President Dick Cheney dropped in at the north Atlanta home of Aaron Rents founder Charlie Loudermilk on Monday afternoon, as the main draw for a fund-raiser that netted U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss a cool $200,000, according to his re-election campaign.
The press was barred, except as witnesses to the fact that Cheney did in fact touch down at Dobbins Air Reserve Base near Marietta.
About 120 Republicans attended the event, including U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey of Marietta and Tom Price of Roswell. We were assured that no furniture was trashed or damaged in the frenzy to shake the vice president’s hand.
Cheney’s visit was more about status than a fervent need for cash on Chambliss’ part.
In federal campaign disclosure documents due to be posted today, Chambliss will report $3.3 million in cash on hand for the ‘08 race. His target is $5 million by the end of the year.
Democrat Dale Cardwell reports just over $50,000. We’re still waiting on Democrat Vernon Jones’ numbers.
Georgia by the numbers: In the race for the White House, the New Yorkers aren’t doing so well
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a pretty cool New York Times site that allows readers to track presidential contributions from Dec. 3 through June 30, state by state.
The designates North Georgia as Zip Codes 30000 through 30999. In that area, the leading fund-raisers over the past six months or so were Democrat Barack Obama, with $721,900, and Republican Mitt Romney, with $694,763. Democrat John Edwards was third in North Georgia, taking in $465,813.
The New Yorkers didn’t fare as well. Democrat Hillary Clinton was fourth, raising $383,015, followed by Republican Rudy Giuliani, with $340,100.
Says Broun: Apologizes for his wife’s comments about Whitehead and religion, but says his campaign wasn’t involved
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got an e-mail from Paul Broun, one of two Republican candidates in tomorrow’s run-off for the 10th District congressional seat.
In the note, Brown disavowed an e-mail he says that his wife Niki sent out to Christian friends — and said he would apologize to rival Jim Whitehead for portions of the message that raised questions about Whitehead’s faith.
In the e-mail first published at peachpundit.com, Niki Broun wrote:
It is not my place to judge Jim Whitehead’s spiritual condition but I’ll just tell you that a pastor in Hartwell invited Paul and Mr. Whitehead to speak at his church.
Paul accepted gladly, as he has in many churches. Mr. Whitehead said he felt uncomfortable speaking in churches and didn’t think you should mix church and state.
In this morning’s note, which references this post, Paul Broun wrote:
The facts are these:
The Paul Broun Committee absolutely did not send that e-mail.
Independent of the campaign, in a loving attempt to help me, my wife e-mailed a few of her friends. She was basically asking them to pray for us and to do what they could to get their friends to turn out and vote. This is a wise thing in a mid-summer special run-off election projected to have low voter participation. Niki never meant for her email to be for widespread distribution.
I am glad that Niki, my wife of almost 23 years, loves me and was trying to help. The portion of the e-mail that shares our testimonies [and which you did not include] is accurate.
However, in her zeal to be helpful, and feeling the pressures that come with a political campaign (which may be tougher on the spouse than the candidate), she went beyond what she should have. Appearing to question Mr. Whitehead’s spirituality was inappropriate. She and I have discussed this matter. We feel an apology to Jim and Peggy is in order. And I do apologize to them.
I make no apology for being a Christian or for representing the Christian perspective on issues when such issues arise. However, I have a genuine commitment to fairly represent every citizen and every community of the 10th District. That commitment, indeed, that responsibility, goes beyond political party, ethnicity, socio-economic status or place of residence.
We talked to John Stone of the Whitehead campaign this morning. He said the Broun campaign has made no contact with the Whitehead campaign, but says Whitehead in fact appeared at the Hartwell church in question, on Father’s Day — but only to speak about his father.
Campaigning for votes in church does, in fact, make Whitehead uncomfortable, Stone said. He quoted his candidate as saying, “I just feel it’s the money-changers-in-the-temple thing.”
Vernon Jones jumps into the U.S. Senate race on Saturday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Added at 12:45 p.m.: Here’s the announcement on Vernon Jones’ campaign blog.
Haven’t gotten confirmation yet, but Georgia Politics Unfiltered is reporting that DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones will jump into the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Saturday morning.
The locale is said to be the Marietta Square in Cobb County.
Paul Broun trying to rally ‘real’ Christians to his side
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peachpundit.com has snagged an e-mail it says was sent out by the Paul Broun campaign — part of an effort to bring out conservative Christians in Tuesday’s run-off election for the 10th District congressional seat.
The e-mail, which appears over the name of Broun’s wife Niki, declares that rival Republican Jim Whitehead is “uncomfortable” speaking in churches.
Here’s the gist:
It is not my place to judge Jim Whitehead’s spiritual condition but I’ll just tell you that a pastor in Hartwell invited Paul and Mr. Whitehead to speak at his church.
Paul accepted gladly, as he has in many churches. Mr. Whitehead said he felt uncomfortable speaking in churches and didn’t think you should mix church and state.
”Team Whitehead“ (as they like to call themselves) also told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution on June 20, the day after the election that forced him into a run-off with Paul, in an apparent threat to us (we live in Athens) ”We’re coming to Athens and hell is coming with us.“
Saxby versus Dale: $3.3 mill against $50 thou
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When he unveiled his flashy new campaign web site, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss declared he had a $3.3 million stash ready to spend on his re-election effort next year.
Put that figure next to what Democratic challenger Dale Cardwell has raised: $50,165. There’s a serious shortage of zeroes on that side of the equation.
See Cardwell’s report here. Interesting contributors include former DeKalb County district attorney J. Tom Morgan, who tossed $500 Cardwell’s way.
The Federal Elections Commission web site is acting a bit funny this morning, but I’ll post the numbers put up by Democrat Vernon Jones, the DeKalb County CEO, as soon as they’re made available.
Says Cardwell, making the best of a difficult situation: “I am excited to have raised over $50,000 in less than a month,” he said. “It is clear the people of Georgia want an independent voice in Washington who will serve only them, not the special interest PACs that are funding the campaign of my opponent.”
The Insider’s back: Clark Howard on a statewide run
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Associated Press has a piece today on Clark Howard, the WSB consumer guru, and his political ambitions.
Howard repeats what he told us last month: “He puts his odds of running at about one in three — saying he’s concerned about giving up a radio and book-writing gig that already does a lot of good for people.”
Most often, Howard has been mention as a possible candidate for mayor of Atlanta in ‘09. But lately he’s also been talking about statewide office. Elsewhere, he’s talked about running for lieutenant governor in 2010.
In the AP article, he speaks of running for governor. But this is the newsy bit: “If he does run for [statewide] office, Howard says he’ll do so as an independent.”
Howard may be no Ross Perot, but that route would make for some interesting calculations among both Democrats and Republicans.
Isakson for governor in 2010? It could happen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Note: With this posting, the Insider will take a much-needed break. Enjoy the week.
Never mind the ’08 race for the White House.
In Georgia, the climbers, the ambitious, the men and women who see themselves as the Admiral Farraguts of politics — damn the focus groups and full speed ahead! — are all about the campaigns that will peak three years hence.
In 2010, the state will elect a governor, a U.S. senator, and innumerable constitutional officers — not to mention the usual crop of congressmen and members of the state Legislature.
For the last few months, back-room conversation has been building around the one Republican widely seen as the lead domino in the chain of decisions that will determine the look of the GOP field in ’10.
That would be U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
Isakson’s first term as senator expires in 2010. He’s in a safe seat. He’s made a significant mark in Washington, despite his junior status. The odds — plus good poll numbers and an efficient fund-raising machine — say his way to re-election would be greased.
But certain voices, particularly in Georgia’s business community, have begun talking up Isakson as a successor to Gov. Sonny Perdue.
The speculation has increased since the Legislature’s untidy finish this spring, which ended with a raft of vetoes from Perdue and an effort — since abandoned — by lawmakers to call themselves back into session for revenge.
“I hear a lot of quiet talk,” said Kessel Stelling, president of the Bank of North Georgia and a close Isakson ally. “If he was willing, I’d be for it. Johnny’s style of leadership would be very helpful and productive to our state.”
In particular, says Stelling and others, they’re looking for someone who’s willing to tackle head-on the issue of transportation north of I-20.
An Isakson entry in the race for governor would cause turmoil in Republican ranks. He would immediately inherit the mantle of front-runner.
But those who might be squeezed out by Isakson’s presence would have a major consolation prize that should put a sock in any whining: A rare, open U.S. Senate seat.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Sharpsburg) is among those considering the 2010 race for governor. “Lynn’s already told Johnny, ‘If you run for governor, I’m with you,’” said Westmoreland’s chief of staff, Chip Lake.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle also has his eye on the office. But he’s only 41, and can afford to bide his time. Brad Alexander, Cagle’s chief of staff, said it’s too early to speculate about such matters.
“Senator Isakson and the lieutenant governor are close friends, and there’s no doubt they’ll continue to maintain that relationship and communicate on a regular basis,” he said.
That’s politi-speak for “When Isakson makes his decision, my boss will be among the first to know.”
Talking to some of Isakson’s closer associates, the decision facing the senator is a mixture of the personal and professional. On the personal side, he’s got seven grandkids in Georgia, and a job that requires non-stop commuting.
But Isakson has also built up a small cache of clout in Washington as a skilled negotiator. He maneuvered a Bush-approved stem cell bill through the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate this spring. For a time, he was at the center of negotiations over the immigration reform bill.
For this, Isakson took some heat from his party’s right. But when Isakson — and his senior partner, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss — walked away from the deal, the bill’s fate was sealed. Other Southern Republicans quickly joined the stampede away from the measure.
In D.C., a proven ability to make or break a bargain speaks volumes.
The key question may be whether Isakson’s talent for forging compromise in Washington will be nearly as valuable after the ’08 elections. For the moment, Democrats rule the Senate with a single vote to spare.
Next year, 33 Senate seats are up for re-election. Only 12 of them are held by Democrats. Republicans must defend 21. Given the war in Iraq and conservative disappointment with President Bush, early guesses are that Democrats could pick up three or four seats.
Which could marginalize Isakson — or at least make deals harder to cut. Then, of course, there’s also the matter of who wins the White House.
Risk is another factor. The Senate race that Isakson won in 2004 came after two failed statewide efforts.
Don’t expect a decision from Isakson before November of next year. But if you’re looking for a clue, watch what happens when the Legislature convenes next year in Atlanta.
“If you have another session like [last year’s], it’ll be hard for Johnny not to run,” said Lake, aide to Westmoreland.
Dissing the local barbershops: In Atlanta, Edwards out-sourced his stylist — to the tune of $1,250
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Washington Post has an interview with Joseph Torrenuev of Beverly Hills, the hair stylist for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
The article has these paragraphs:
Torrenueva said one haircut during the 2004 presidential race cost $1,250 because he traveled to Atlanta and lost two days of work.
“He has nice hair,” the stylist said of Edwards in an interview. “I try to make the man handsome, strong, more mature and these are the things, as an expert, that’s what we do.”
Broun weighs in on the Athens-Augusta feud
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You know that on Monday, Jim Whitehead, the front-running Republican candidate in the 10th District congressional run-off, declared that the July 17 vote was a contest to see which city would stay in the driver’s seat: Athens or Augusta.
Whitehead complained that he couldn’t get a fair shake in the Athens newspapers, who treated him as a spawn of Satan.
Today, the editorial page of the Athens Banner-Herald disparages Whitehead’s characterization of the race as a “shameless attempt to get votes.”
Meanwhile, Whitehead’s opponent, Paul Broun of Athens, also a Republican, said Whitehead’s remarks “prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mr. Whitehead is a regional candidate who is not interested in representing all of the people. I got my M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta,” Broun said. “And thoroughly enjoyed the time I lived there.”
As far as Whitehead’s treatment in the newspapers, Broun reminded all who would listen that one of Whitehead’s political consultants said after the first round of voting last month, “We are coming to Athens and bringing hell with us.”
Broun has two tasks over the next 12 days: First, to generate outrage among disaffected Republican voters and move them to the polls. Secondly, to do the same among Democrats who think they have no dog in the hunt.
A Fourth of July straw poll for Republicans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Year after year, the Fourth of July gathering by the Cobb County GOP is one of the largest in the state. On Thursday, 247 cast votes in a presidential straw poll.
To no one’s surprise, Fred Thompson — who has a fund-raiser in Atlanta on Friday — was the leader. But the fact that Ron Paul and Mitt Romney finished second and third may be significant. Possibly. It was just a straw poll.
Jason Shepherd, the Cobb coordinator of the Georgia Draft Fred Thompson Committee, sent us the break-down:
Fred Thompson: 30 percent;
Ron Paul: 17 percent
Mitt Romney: 15 percent
Mike Huckabee: 13 percent
Newt Gingrich: 12 percent
Rudy Giuliani: 10 percent
John McCain, Tom Tancredo, Jim Gilmore: 1 percent
Whitehead: It’s all about Athens versus Augusta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Whitehead, the Republican front-runner in the run-off for the 10th District congressional race, says the contest is a regional tug-of-war between Augusta and Athens, the Augusta Chronicle reports today.
Whitehead, a former state senator from Columbia County just north of Augusta, said he knows which side he’s on. And by a strange coincidence, his opponent in the July 17 election is Paul Broun of Athens, also a Republican.
“I don’t think you realize that the people in the middle of this state that are trying to win this seat will tell you up front - that we don’t need somebody representing this area. We need somebody in the Athens-Clarke County area, so they can get things moved there,” Whitehead said.
The newspaper said Whitehead has heard this said so many times that he’s “frankly sick of hearing it.”
Said Whitehead of his poor treatment by Athens and its editorial voices: “If I was somebody who went just by newspapers, I would swear Jim Whitehead was Satan reincarnated in Athens-Clarke County,” he said. “And I wouldn’t vote for me, either. It’s unbelievable the things they will go to and the things they will say just to try to get somebody in this position for Athens-Clarke County.”
Regionally, Augusta usually serves up slightly more voters in an election than Athens. But Athens’ voter roll has more Democrats, who may not show up.
Gator tags for Georgia drivers: A Senate leader says cars on blocks don’t need ‘em
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Word is getting around fast that the Atlanta Gator Club, the official organization for University of Florida graduates, has submitted its application to the state Department of Revenue for a special Georgia license plate.
The club is now looking for the required 1,000 auto owners willing to slap the tag on the rear-end of their cars.
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| Atlanta Gator Club |
| What the Gator tag might look like. |
Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is not one of them. He copied us on a letter to state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, with an ever-so-subtle suggestion that — if Graham’s agency could hide a month’s worth of state income for Gov. Sonny Perdue — perhaps it could also make a few requests for Gator tags disappear.
All tongue in cheek, of course. Here’s the evidence:
Dear Commissioner Graham:
This is absolutely unacceptable for our state!
A Gator tag will cause accidents. Gator fans cannot drive or read traffic signs. A car up on blocks cannot move. And it will lower our quality of life. In fact, my children used to have nightmares because we lived dangerously close to the state of Florida.
If state law allows this to occur then we need to change the law. Please delay any approval until the next session when we can amend the law to ban any tag for a university with more national championships than the average IQ of their alumni. A delay in processing their application should not require much of an effort since they cannot write either.
If it takes a 1,000 signatures to create a tag, can we have a regulation that 1,000 e-mails AGAINST a proposed tag kills it? If you agree, please count this as e-mail # 1…..
Please keep me informed as to the progress of this outrage. I am counting on the GEORGIA Department of Revenue to handle it appropriately. (wink-wink)
Sen. Eric Johnson
Richardson on Grady: ‘There’s a case to be made’ for state help
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some important points to come out of House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s press conference today on Grady Memorial Hospital.
— For the first time since Democrats lost the Capitol, a ranking Republican has acknowledged that the state of Georgia might bear some responsibility for keeping Grady afloat. Richardson said he didn’t know exactly what that responsibility was. “But I think there’s a case to be made for it,” he said.
— The idea to wade into the issue was hatched at the House Republican Caucus’ gathering at St. Simons Island over the weekend. “Doing something to help Grady was of significant interest to the leadership,” Richardson said.
“This is not something you’d expect me to do,” the Speaker said — but reminded reporters that, four years ago, he’d been taken to Grady with a concussion after a car wreck on the interstate.
— In terms of heft, Richardson had Gov. Sonny Perdue beat on Monday. After the speaker announced his decision to wade into the Grady issue, Perdue’s office served notice that the governor will announce a new tournament Tuesday as part of his “Go Fish Georgia” program.
To be fair, the governor is just back from a two-week trade mission to Europe. And, thinking crassly, Richardson is in greater need of an opportunity to play the white knight than is the governor.
— To fund Grady’s expenses, and those of trauma units elsewhere in the state, the Speaker broached the possibility of a surcharge on 911 service. Not a tax increase, he said, because it would be a payment for new services rendered — liked Enhanced 911. Those in need of emergency help could “not only be located, but medicated,” he said. We’ll let the ideologues sort that one out.
The Speaker jumps into the Grady Hospital issue, promising ‘new life’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an intriguing bit of legislative initiative, House Speaker Glenn Richardson just announced that he’s appointed a special committee to dip into the mess that is Grady Memorial Hospital — with the expressed purpose of keeping the trauma center alive.
“If you, like me, have been in a car crash, you will be taken to Grady. If you are burned, you will be taken to Grady. If you live in the metro area, you’ll be taken to Grady. If you’re anywhere in north Georgia, Grady is the only Level 1 Trauma Care Center. Most of Georgia’s medical residents train at Grady Hospital,” Richardson said in a press release.
Grady has been begging for state attention — more specifically, financial assistance.
Said Richardson: “Our goal is not to bail Grady out and simply fund the financial shortfall, but rather to examine the current situation with a fine-toothed comb and come back with a plan to give new life to Grady Hospital.”
Richardson appointed four Republicans to his committee, including Sharon Cooper (R-Marietta), a nurse and chairman of the House committee on health matters; Ben Harbin (R-Evans), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
He named one Democrat — Pam Stephenson of Atlanta, who currently chairs the authority that oversees the hospital.
ICYMI: Atlanta’s population grows by two. Involuntarily.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, Alabama newspapers reported that former Gov. Don Siegelman and fired HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy had been shipped to the federal prison here in Atlanta to start doing their time on bribery convictions.
Siegelman, 61, a once-popular Democratic governor, was sentenced to seven years and four months. Scrushy, 54, a multimillionaire executive, was sentenced to six years and 10 months.
Click here for the AP report carried by the Decatur, Ala., Daily.
Sigh. How quickly fame goes to their heads.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We told you last month of the new book, “The Political Brain,” by Emory University psychologist Drew Westen, and of his advice to Democrats.
The man made the Huffington Post this morning. The item includes video of Westen giving his spiel on how LBJ used his gut-punching rhetoric for the benefit of all mankind.
If nothing else, you’ll be able to recognize Westen well enough to buy him a beer. Or, if you’re Republican, to politely cross to the other side of the room.
Giuliani declines to cede Georgia to Fred Thompson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rudy Giuliani appears intent on stealing a slice of Fred Thompson’s thunder on Friday.
The Savannah Morning News reported this weekend that Giuliani will be on the coast that day, while Thompson is raising money in Atlanta.
Giuliani’s affair is to be a town hall-style meeting at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront.
Last week, Strategic Vision, the Republican-oriented polling firm in Atlanta, reported that Giuliani was no longer the favorite among GOP voters in Georgia — that Thompson had taken his place.
We hope to bring you crosstabs on that poll later this week.
A Cagle strategist moves to the Thompson camp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As a matter of efficiency, it’s not odd for a national political operation to digest whole campaign structures at the statewide level. Fred Thompson seems to be doing this in Georgia.
We’ve gotten word that Joel McElhannon, the Republican political consultant who helped put Casey Cagle in the lieutenant governor’s office and Jim Whitehead into a run-off for the 10th District congressional race, is being gobbled up by the Thompson campaign as some sort of Southern coordinator.
McElhannon confirmed the move, but referred all other questions to the campaign. Thompson has a fund-raiser here on Friday, one of his first events after the former Tennessee senator’s presumed entry into the race on Thursday.
Other Georgians in Thompson’s camp include Tom Bell, CEO of Cousins Properties and a lifelong friend to Thompson; Steve Croy, a coastal developer who served as Cagle’s campaign treasurer; and lobbyist Raymon White, a native Tennessean who represents the National Rifle Association and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce at the state Capitol.
Cardwell and Howard: Not quite peas, but once they were in the same TV pod
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In December 1995, WSB-TV advertised for a producer to assist the top-ranked consumer reporter in the South.
A fellow from a Nashville station applied, and got the job. And so, for the next three years, Dale Cardwell and Clark Howard worked side-by-side.
In June, Cardwell became a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. More speculatively, Howard is considering a run for mayor of Atlanta in ’09.
Perhaps their joint employment is coincidence, but it’s a coincidence worth some examination. (For the benefit of conspiracy theorists, we hereby reveal that this newspaper is owned by the same company that owns WSB-TV.)
Both Howard and Cardwell consider themselves non-ideological outsiders to political systems they describe as broken. Both own philosophies that don’t fit well with standard views of what makes a Democrat, and what constitutes a Republican.
Cardwell, who describes himself as a Truman Democrat, was as fervent as any Republican in his denunciations of the immigration reform effort that died last week. He also wants to see the Internal Revenue Service disappear.
Howard calls himself a “mountain-state Republican.” He’s made campaign contributions to both U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a conservative Republican, and Cathy Woolard, a lesbian and liberal Democrat who ran for Congress in 2004.
“I give money to politicians all over the spectrum. You can’t put me in a box, because I don’t think like an ideologue,” Howard said.
Howard and Cardwell split up in 1998. Cardwell went on to establish himself as an investigative journalist for the TV station. Howard, then as now, has a syndicated radio program that serves as his primary platform.
The two speak well of each other, but don’t appear to be overly close. Howard was as surprised as anyone else about Cardwell’s candidacy.
In many ways, Howard and Cardwell couldn’t be more different. Howard, who is Jewish, grew up in Atlanta, with — his phrasing here — “a silver spoon.” Cardwell is bedrock Southern Baptist, with a hard-scrabble biography as the son of a coal miner and his wife.
In separate conversations, Cardwell and Howard agreed that they didn’t talk about politics much when they worked together — not in the sense of Democrat versus Republican. Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell may have been another matter.
“[Cardwell] was working with me when I briefly considered running for mayor in ’97. I was as serious as a heart attack then,” said Howard.
It’s indisputable that each learned enough to take the other’s measure.
Said Howard of Cardwell: “He is a true, old-line Southern prairie populist.”
Said Cardwell of them both: “I hope I’m not speaking for him inappropriately, but I think we both came to the conclusion that people were not being served by their government. He’s a big believer — and I am too — in empowering people to make change for themselves. Because the government is not going to do it for you.”
There are differences, of course. “I may be more socially conservative than he is,” Cardwell said. But the biggest thing that separates the two, one-time colleagues is the fact that Cardwell has jumped into pool. He could face DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, who has not formally announced, in a primary.
Howard is still unsure.
“As far as running, I’m no more than 30 percent toward running for mayor,” Howard said last week. He intends to decide by August 2008.
As much as he’s been encouraged by people at the grass-roots level to run, Howard said he’s been warned by insiders that City Hall in Atlanta is an insular world with its own rules — and that even if he won, he might be so isolated that he couldn’t accomplish a great deal.
He’s given thought to something more ambitious than conquering the city limits of Atlanta. “I’ve been strongly discouraged from running for mayor, and strongly encouraged by people to run for something at the state level,” Howard said. “I have a couple problems with that. First, I have to have a political party.”
And a mountain-state Republican might not sell so well in the Georgia lowlands.
But perhaps the most important thing to remember about Howard is that he owns his radio show, and the syndication rights that come with it. If he runs for public office, that disappears — along with the 14 people he has working for him.
“I’m already helping people, which is something that’s important to me, and I’m already doing well with it,” Howard said.
Isakson: It could be time to look at steroid use in pro-wrestling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks like U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is circling the pro-wrestling ring.
In the aftermath of the murder-suicide of Chris Benoit, his wife and son, the Associated Press is reporting today that Isakson has “instructed his staff to begin gathering information on the issue to determine if a hearing before the Senate Health Committee — on which he sits — might be warranted.
Isakson said his main concern is steroid abuse.
“I’m not going to start speculating on federal regulation of wrestling,” he told the AP. “The issue is anabolic steroids, which are a significant problem and are known to cause significant difficulties. It’s a health issue that’s appropriate for us to discuss, regardless of the profession.”
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