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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Vernon Jones: ‘Obviously, the Democratic party loves to recruit losers’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones jumped into the Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate in unique fashion on Tuesday, by loudly announcing that his party — which recruited one of his opponents — has a taste for defeat.
“Obviously, the Democratic party loves to recruit losers,” Jones said. “In the past we lost both United States senate seats, we’ve lost the governor’s race, the lieutenant governor’s race, the secretary of state’s race, the last Democratic public service commission race. The Democratic party has constantly put up liberal candidates and they’ve lost election after election after election. And Vernon Jones and the people of Georgia want a winner.”
Jones is the second Democrat to qualify for the chance to unseat Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss. Jim Martin, backed by Democratic recruiters in Washington and Georgia, paid his qualifying fee a day earlier.
Though last to enter the race, Martin has already outpaced other candidates in contributions. But Jones pointed out that he, too, has raised significant cash. “I’ve been able to raise a lot of money without the endorsements from the losers in the Democratic party,” he said.
Facing a scrum of reporters and cameras, with prominent Republicans as spectators, Jones declared Martin to be “a nice guy.”
“But you know what? He’s a veteran of the Vietnam war of the past. The war right now is at the gas pump,” Jones said. The DeKalb executive emphasized his fiscal conservatism, and the economic problems facing the country. Jones declined to take a position on Iraq until he studied the issue.
Jones mentioned how humbling it was, to think that a North Carolina farm boy could run for the U.S. Senate. He mentioned Sam Nunn and Richard Russell as his models. His comments of the day may have brought Zell Miller more to mind — but Zell did not rate a mention.
Dale Cardwell, a former TV journalist, is to qualify Wednesday and has repeatedly pointed out that Jones has admitted that he twice voted for George W. Bush.
Asked to respond on Tuesday, Jones said, “This is not about Dale Cardwell. This is about people losing their homes. It’s about high gasoline prices. People can hardly pay for their food now.”
But Jones did go on to explain his votes for Bush.
“[Neither Democratic presidential candidates] John Kerry nor Al Gore came to Georgia,” Jones said. “They never invested in Georgia. They never wanted to ask us for our vote. They didn’t care about Georgians. They turned their back on Georgia. And anybody who turns their backs on Georgia, turns their back on me and others.”
Reporters, being impolite slobs, of course mentioned the certain controversies that Jones has endured as head of DeKalb County government. The Senate candidate said his success in DeKalb had silenced any criticism.
“That’s why the voters turn a deaf ear to the news media, who create baseless controversies. They’ve responded by not only electing me twice, but at the same time passing four bond initiatives. DeKalb County is better run than the federal government,” Jones said.
“Every one of those so-called controversies that you guys have reported have turned out to be baseless and reckless and erroneous and just false.”
Jones declined to say whether he supports Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the race for president, but said he had friends on both sides of the fight. “And I support my friends,” he added.
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A North Carolina ad that’s likely to keep Jim Marshall on the fence
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You know about the TV ad that Republicans in North Carolina are running, which links two white Democratic candidates for governor with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, through the person of Barack Obama.
In essence, the North Carolina ad is intended to force Democrats to drive a wedge between the African-American surge generated by Obama and the white swing voters who are just as necessary for Democratic victories in the South.
Think about the implications for Georgia.
Skip the U.S. Senate race for now — that contest has yet to prove itself close enough to matter. But at least one of two white Democratic congressmen could be vulnerable to a similar ad in November.
U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Savannah has endorsed Obama, though — fortunately for him — Republicans in the 12th District have yet to rally behind a single, financially viable candidate.
On the other hand, now you begin to understand why U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall has been so reluctant to make a public choice between Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Marshall is the only elected Georgia Democrat with superdelegate status who hasn’t picked a side in the presidential contest. The North Carolina ad is likely to reinforce his indecision — as a tactic that deprives Republicans of a clear target.
If you haven’t seen the North Carolina spot, here’s the YouTube version.
“For 20 years Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor,” begins the ad, paid for by the North Carolina Republican party.
Then comes the familiar clip of Wright saying, “No, no, no. Not God bless America.” Et cetera, et cetera.
Republican John McCain has asked the state party to yank it. Ben Fry, spokesman for the Georgia Republican party, said, “We’ve been asked by the McCain campaign not to go down that road. Behind the scenes, it’s been reiterated, do not do this. It’s not a wink-wink, nod-nod.”
But in this day of 527s, it’s hard to guarantee that Wright won’t make a local appearance.
On the other hand, North Carolina has a history of racially edgy TV spots. The “hands” ad used by U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms to beat back a 1990 challenge by Harvey Gantt, remains one of the most controversial in American political history.
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DeKalb lawmakers may fight creation of Dunwoody
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State lawmakers in DeKalb County are dropping very large hints that they’ll file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice to stop the creation of the city of Dunwoody.
State Rep. Stan Watson, who is now running for DeKalb County CEO, said this to CrossRoadsNews, a south DeKalb weekly:
“We have eight attorneys who are actually legislators in the House and they are working on it as we speak. We should have a statement that we can send to the press in the next five to 10 days.”
Dunwoody legislation passed the General Assembly this spring and was immediately signed into law by Gov. Sonny Perdue. But before a July 15 referendum can occur, the process must pass Justice Department scrutiny.
This sounds like the gist of the complaint:
Watson said that the vote on the bill should have been taken only by the 26-member DeKalb delegation — not all 236 members of the General Assembly. The bill passed the House 106 to 60.
“The legislators understand that home rule was violated,” Watson said. “They took a local piece of legislation and made it a general bill that allowed the people from all over the state of Georgia from Valdosta to Rome to Columbus to vote on DeKalb County, and they don’t pay property takes here.”
In other words, a General Assembly controlled by white Republicans thwarted the will of African-American legislators who dominate the DeKalb delegation.
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Mac Collins says he’s out of the 8th District congressional race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia congressman Mac Collins has decided to give the July primary a pass.
He’s told the Macon Telegraph that he won’t run fight Republican Rick Goddard, the favorite of the party establishment, for the right to go after U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, the Macon Democrat.
“I’m just going to sit this one out,” Collins said in a succinct voice-mail left with the newspaper.
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Because we need someone to supervise that group session with Sonny, Casey and Glenn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You can’t help noticing that the first Democrat to sign up for House District 93, the corrupted Ron Sailor’s former kingdom, has an occupation that might be peculiarly useful to the Legislature.
Jim Sendelbach is a board-certified psychotherapist.
If memory serves, Sendelbach was also a congressional candidate in last year’s 10th District race. But he was a Libertarian then. Sanity comes in many forms — some of them unrecognizable to the layman.
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A position that still has possibilities, as any high school senior knows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In 1995, Time magazine put Christian political strategist Ralph Reed on its cover, a salute to his impact on the national political stage. This week, the publication’s blog quotes Reed on his first novel, “Dark Horse,” due out June 4:
It has sex in it, he said, “but not explicit… it’s like the literary equivalent of both of them having one foot on the floor.”
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