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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Blogwatch: A view of Hillary, from Manuel’s Tavern
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The videographer Grayson Daughters, known in the blogging world as Spacey Gracey, has hooked up with the Huffington Post to produce a video political diary.
The first one was recorded Tuesday evening at the Democratic bastion of Manuel’s Tavern. See it here.
The topic was Hillary Clinton.
Most of the fodder was provided by the old Government-in-Exile group of Maynard Jackson loyalists, plus a few beer-drinking groupies. You’ll see Angelo Fuster, Tom Houck, Tom Crawford of Capitolimpact.com, the AJC’s Jay Bookman, author Paul Hemphill, and many, many more.
Speaking of Idaho’s Larry Craig — Isakson isn’t
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More and more Republicans in Washington are pressing for the resignation of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, over his arrest in an airport men’s room.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson won’t be one of them. He’s on the Senate Ethics Committee, and will take up the complaint against Craig that has been lodged against him in connection with the incident.
Tim Bryant, the WGAU radio host in Athens, reminded us of the fact this morning, after he had a conversation with Isakson. When the topic of Craig came up, the Georgia senator zipped his lips.
Temporarily, the committee assignment is a blessing for Isakson — a legitimate reason not to discuss a topic that has much of D.C. cringing. But if Craig hangs around long enough, forcing the committee to take up the matter, that blessing evaporates.
Finally, Fred
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several outlets, including Redstate, are reporting that Fred Thompson will tell supporters he’s running for president during a 4 p.m. conference call.
We’ve also been assured that this is so.
MORE DETAILS: Thompson will announce Sept. 6 via a webcast video, followed by an immediate tour of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. There will be a mid-September visit to Florida, then a rally in Thompson’s hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn.
Perdue, Porter and the annual blowback on SAT scores
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today may be the day to talk about petards. As in things one is hoisted by.
Back in medieval times, a petard was a small bomb placed at the entryway or weak portion of a fortification — often via the end of a long stick. (Missiles were unavailable as a delivery system, thanks to Asia’s wise non-proliferation policy.)
“Petard” is linked to a French word for breaking wind, which might give some clue to the general explosive power of gunpowder at the time.
Nonetheless, safety and stability were not bywords when it came to fuses of the period. Accidents were common. And to say a man was “hoisted by his own petard” was to indicate that he’d been blown into the air by something intended to damage his foe.
Which brings us to SAT scores.
Back in the late summer of 2002, Sonny Perdue was yet another sacrificial Republican candidate, running against a Democratic incumbent who had proclaimed himself an “education governor.”
Then came the annual, national SAT rankings. Georgia had dropped from 49th to 50th place. Never mind that critics said comparisons weren’t fair — that greater percentages of students in some states, including Georgia, take the test than in others.
Perdue had an issue that appealed to those unmoved by Confederate symbolism. “We’re dead last in the nation in SAT scores. If that doesn’t convince you we need to try something new, nothing will, ” he said.
Roy Barnes was history.
Ever since, August and its SAT announcements have been a month of pins and needles for Perdue. Sometimes the small bombs help, sometimes they hurt.
“Like it or not, the SAT is the gold standard of educational testing, ” said Dan McLagan, spokesman for the governor, in 2003.
In 2004, when Georgia lifted itself back into 49th place — back ahead of South Carolina — Perdue declared the advancement to be “”good news.”
Last year, Georgia’s SAT scores remained the same — but the state’s ranking improved to 46th. An important, marketable piece of information in a re-election year.
This year? Georgia scores fell, but the state kept its 46th-place ranking.
The key to Georgia holding its place was the fact that national scores fell by a greater margin. “While we never like to gain ground by allowing our scores to go down, Georgia was again able to close the gap with the national average, continuing a positive trend for the sixth year in a row, ” the governor said.
In other words, Georgia kids are getting dumber, but at a pace that’s slower than the rest of America’s kids. Empirical evidence is missing, but we think it’s due to an unfair shortage of video games in our state.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), who may or may not have gubernatorial ambitions in ’10, made note of the drop in test scores with a terse statement:
“I’m not surprised. This is exactly the result I was expecting but until the public wakes up and finds out the truth behind the massive public relations campaign that these elected Republicans have been waging it will continue,” he said.
Perdue’s sensitivity on the subject can be measured by the response issued by his office on Wednesday, a lengthy six-paragraph denunciation of Porter.
Perdue’s petard was much bigger than Porter’s petard.
The minority leader’s comments were “ indicative of his bigotry of low expectations and a culture of negativity among Democrats,” the governor said.
“Representative Porter’s comments yesterday were disrespectful and insulting to Georgia teachers, administrators, parents, and most of all, our high school students, who have worked hard to improve their SAT scores over the last four years.”
Besides, the governor noted, the comparison of SAT scores is a flawed game. “Approximately 66 percent of public school students in Georgia take the SAT while an average of only 42 percent of public school students nationwide take the SAT,” he said.
Read the governor’s response in its entirety on the jump.
For his part, Porter said he didn’t insult teachers or students. Just Republicans.
“Here’s a governor who has just cut a third of the students out of HOPE and he is bragging about education. He has cut $1 billion out of education funding and forced local systems to raise property taxes,” Porter said Wednesday.
“He raised class sizes after running for office on smaller class sizes, so what do you expect? “
STATE OF GEORGIA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Sonny Perdue GOVERNOR
For Immediate Release Contact: Office of Communications Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Rep. Porter Fails SAT Response Test Democrats’ reaction shows lack of belief in Georgia’s students
ATLANTA - Today Governor Sonny Perdue issued the following response to House Minority Leader DuBose Porter’s statement yesterday regarding Georgia’s SAT scores:
“For more than 130 years, Democrats like DuBose Porter and his pessimistic friends presided over an educational system that was failing our students. Our graduation rates were dismal and our rankings on tests like the SAT were dead last.
“Representative Porter’s comments yesterday were disrespectful and insulting to Georgia teachers, administrators, parents, and most of all, our high school students, who have worked hard to improve their SAT scores over the last four years.
Specifically, his comment ‘I’m not surprised. This is exactly the result I was expecting…’ is indicative of his bigotry of low expectations and a culture of negativity among Democrats.
His reference to a ‘massive public relations campaign’ minimizes the hours, weeks and months of hard work and effort that Georgia teachers, students and parents have put forth to result in closing the gap with the national average.
“Today, four and a half years after I was elected, Georgia is steadily closing the gap on the SAT national average. Since 2003 the gap between Georgia and the national average has shrunk by one-third, from a 42 point gap to only 28 points. Georgia’s minority students are even outpacing their counterparts around the nation with higher scores in most areas of the test.
“In terms of participation rates, Georgia public schools beat the national average by 20 percentage points. Approximately 66 percent of public school students in Georgia take the SAT while an average of only 42 percent of public school students nationwide take the SAT.
“Thanks to our high school and middle school graduation coaches, our graduation rates have increased by almost eight points. Georgia teachers continue to be the highest paid in the Southeast.
“As I said yesterday, despite all our gains, I will not be satisfied with Georgia’s SAT scores or ranking until these indicators become a true reflection of the quality of education that is being provided to students in our state every day.”
#Why, bless his heart: Romney learns about Southern manners
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ric Mayfield of Georgians for Romney sends this video link to the Republican candidate’s fund-raising luncheon in Buckhead on Wednesday.
You’ll be able to watch Mitt Romney speak and U.S. Rep. Tom Price eat, all at the same time.
The video runs eight minutes or so. Romney’s best line is about his education in Southern manners and the fact that the region’s people are “most gentle with their choice of words.”
“People in the South have a way of saying things. Like ‘I can’t stand you and I hope you rot in hell.’ That’s said by saying, ‘Bless your heart,’” Romney observed.
Jones and Cardwell say yes to domestic partner benefits for federal employees
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Southern Voice, the weekly Atlanta newspaper that targets gay and lesbian readers, has an early, substantive breakdown on gay rights and the U.S. Senate race — specifically focusing on two Democrats.
Neither DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones nor former TV journalist Dale Cardwell were ready to pass judgment on the use of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in the American military.
Jones says he voted for the 2004 state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Cardwell says he voted against it.
But both Democrats say domestic partnership benefits should be given to federal employees.
Here’s the gist:
In 2001, [Jones] and the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners legislated domestic partner benefits for county employees. He said he supports extending the benefits to federal employees.
“That doesn’t endorse someone’s lifestyle,” Jones explained of his support for domestic partner benefits, which differs from his stance on gay marriage.
“That just says I want to have the type of benefits that attract the best employees,” he said.
Like Jones, Cardwell pointed to the expanding number of companies that offer domestic partner benefits to employees. Cardwell says he supports offering domestic partner benefits to federal employees.
“Why in the world should the federal government be hamstrung by not being able to recruit the best candidates in any field?” he asked.
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