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Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Dear Ms. Obama: Feel free to stop by for a bit of roast hog
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One rumor making the rounds declares that a certain Democratic presidential campaign wants Michelle Obama — who will be in town on Sunday — to attend that evening’s Wild Hog Supper in downtown Atlanta.
The Wild Hog is a feast of boar meat that has become the traditional opening event for each year’s session of the Legislature. The event is an easy way to meet nearly every lawmaker in the state. The gathering is also the province of state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, a Democrat who has declared for Hillary Clinton.
But that’s not a problem, Irvin said. Barack Obama’s wife would be greeted with open arms. “If she wants to come, we’ll get her a ticket. Matter of fact, I’ve got one in my pocket,” he said this afternoon.
Supreme Court eyes Indiana voter ID law
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments on the state of Indiana’s voter ID law. Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, an observer, left the session believing her state’s law mandating photo identification will remain intact.
“I thought it went extremely well,” Handel said.
The Indiana law taken up by the Supremes is even more restrictive than Georgia’s. Lawyers on both sides were pummeled with questions about whether such laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and whether requiring would-be voters to provide a government-issued photo ID has actually prevented anyone from voting.
Parts of Georgia’s voter ID law are modeled on the Indiana law, Handel said, with several key exceptions.
Indiana requires a photo ID to get an absentee ballot. Georgia does not. Indiana has stricter requirements for voters seeking a voter ID card. Georgia provides an ID card free to anyone who is registered to vote but lacks a driver’s license.
Bottom line: If Indiana’s law survives, Georgia’s should too. But even if the Indiana law is struck down, Handel said, odds are still high Georgians will stil be required to show ID cards at the polls.
“Whether or not the Indiana law stands,” Handel said, “I feel very optimistic about Georgia’s law.”
Shirley Franklin says she’s ‘150 percent’ for Barack Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With New Hampshire over, the Georgia primary began in earnest this morning.
On an Atlanta morning radio show, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin just declared Barack Obama to be her choice in the Democratic race for president — putting herself opposite John Lewis, her mentor Andrew Young, and members of the Maynard Jackson clan. They’re on the side of Hillary Clinton.
Here’s the two-minute sound clip, courtesy of WVEE-FM. Franklin was on the station’s “Frank and Wanda Morning Show.”
“There’s no question that Hillary is a strong candidate. What I like about Obama is that he is reaching - he is energizing a population that is not typically energized. There’s a lot of talk about whether he’s got enough experience,” the Atlanta mayor said. “It’s as if we’ve forgotten that Dr. [Martin Luther] King was a global leader at 34.”
So much for Clinton’s comment that Obama was no MLK.
“So I am 150 percent pulling for Barack Obama. Now, that is a new position for me,” Franklin admitted.
The mayor had heretofore declared herself a neutral in the fight, citing her position as one of the co-chairs of this summer’s Democratic National Convention in Denver. Bottom line, this means Georgia will be watching Franklin on one side of the Democratic presidential race, and two lions of the Civil Rights movement on another.
Franklin’s declaration was foreshadowed on Monday by an endorsement of Obama by state Sen. Kasim Reed, one of her top political strategists.
In the same interview on V-103, Franklin also plugged a local option sales tax for the city sewer system — which will also be on the Feb. 5 ballot.
