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Friday, May 16, 2008
The Georgia GOP grabs itself by the lapels, and gives the misbehaving so-and-so a good shake
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — It was called a Victory Dinner. Said so right on the program. But it had the feel of an intervention session for a pill-popping, booze-chugging family member who was about to drag the rest of the clan down.
It’s time for a de-tox tour of Betty Ford Land, each speaker seemed to say, in his own particular way.
Republicans in Georgia are in good shape, thanks to a so-far hapless opposition. Nationally, it’s another story.
The loss of the congressional seat in by-God Mississippi was only Tuesday. Before that it was Tom Delay’s seat, then former House speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat, then the one in Louisiana.
None of the first three bothered him, said U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal. But the north Georgia congressman, a former Democrat, was the most despondent voice of the evening.
These are his exact words:
”I’m concerned about the Mississippi election, because I think it could signal a reversal of the process that the South has been a part of — and that is the power of the Republican party being swelled and invigorated by people who normally would have, in the past, been Democrats — myself being one of them.
“Now we have seen our state and our South make the transition to the Republican party. It was one of those phenomena, in my opinion, that started at the top and came down…..
“The reform of party affiliation, I think, took great momentum in the South in particular with [Clinton’s] presidency. And now, I think we’re seeing the reversal of that process — and we cannot allow it to happen — and that is a reversal of the process from the bottom up.”
Deal was followed by U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, who alluded to the failure of some GOP congressmen to keep their zippers secure:
“You’ve got to set the kind of example that the American people can look up to. And I’m talking about in regard to personal integrity and, yes, family values. These things are hugely important.”
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who was not on the original agenda, gave the formal welcome. He didn’t talk about taxes, but he did complain — rightfully so, many thought — about the undercooked green beans.
Richardson’s thought about GOP health could have come from Chairman Mao, in the sense that he thought the Republican party needed to maintain its revolutionary fervor:
“I’m convinced that it’s not enough to win. You’ve got to keep doing something. Sometimes along the way you offend people. But I’d rather offend people doing something than offend people by doing nothing.”
The main speaker of the evening was Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, an African-American and a Roman Catholic. He’s now the chairman of GOPAC.
Steele told the story of his 2003 swearing-in, on Martin Luther King’s birthday. He was informed that his office had once been occupied for several months by Thomas Jefferson, when Annapolis served as the U.S. capital.
Let Steele tell the story from there:
”I thought, Thomas Jefferson must be thinking to himself, how did a brother wind up in my office. And I would think about it, and I realized, Sally Hemmings knows how I wound up in that office.
“It’s the story of America, folks. And it is the story of our party. It is a story, I’m afraid we have forgotten. We’ve forgotten how to tell it, we’ve forgotten how to share it, and we’ve forgotten how to live it. We have come to Washington, and we have become consumed by Potomac Fever.
“We have come to Washington, and we’ve become like those we were sent to replace. And in 2006 the people of this country replaced us.
“And my fear is, if we do not get our act together, if we do not reform ourselves, and remember who we are and why we are, we will continue to be replaced to the point where we will be irrelevant.”
Two events were scheduled after the Victory Dinner and intervention. One was a “praise meeting” where wayward Republicans could come clean.
The other was a party where, in the din of loud music and with the help of some inebriants, the fear of November could be pushed aside.
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Watch what you say, says Cagle. And watch your back, warns another
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Other tidbits from a brief Friday afternoon session of the state GOP convention:
— “We can’t forget that the words that we say cannot be taken back,” said Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, whose masculinity was questioned by House Speaker Glenn Richardson during the past legislative session — in the middle of a confrontation over a failed tax cut package.
Incidentally, looking through the convention program, Richardson apparently doesn’t have a speaking role. Majority Whip Barry Fleming of Harlem, in a primary fight with U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens, will be speaking on behalf of the state House Republican Caucus.
— Despite much happy talk, those three lost U.S. House seats — the last came this week in Mississippi — were on everyone’s mind.
“We must return to our core values quickly, if we are to survive as a party,” said Jason Shepherd, chairman of the Georgia Young Republicans.
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Chambliss: Bush veto of farm bill a ‘huge mistake’ that could hurt McCain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he’s told President Bush that vetoing the $300 billion farm bill would be a “huge mistake” that could hurt Republican presidential candidate John McCain in November.
“He and I have had a couple personal conversations about that. I think it’s a huge mistake for him, politically and otherwise,” said Chambliss, a Republican who himself faces re-election this year.
Chambliss said he pointed out to Bush that the states in the South and West that gave him his strongest support all had agricultural economies.
“These are people that want to vote for John McCain. If they get turned off by Republicans, it’s going to make it tough,” Chambliss told reporters after a speech to
The House and Senate both passed the massive bill this week by veto-proof margins. Both Chambliss and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson have promised to help override a presidential veto.
But in the House, five of Georgia’s seven Republican House members voted against the bill. And more conservative Republicans in Georgia have balked at the spending.
Last year, Chambliss faced the state GOP convention just as an immigration bill was unveiled in Washington. He and Isakson had participated in the negotiations, and Chambliss received a round of boos from delegates.
On Friday, at a sparsely attended afternoon session, Chambliss took no chance that the farm bill might also provoke the crowd’s displeasure. He made no mention of the farm bill, or immigration.
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McCain stops in Savannah on Monday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — Just settled here at the state GOP convention. U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will be up in a few minutes.
In the meantime, Steve Croy, who’s in charge of finances for John McCain in Georgia has sent notice of a Monday night fund-raiser featuring the presidential candidate, at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront.
Click here to see the invitation and details.
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Roy Barnes: It’s time for Hillary Clinton to leave the race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One day after his favorite endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race, former Gov. Roy Barnes called on Hillary Clinton to make a quick exit.
“I think for the good of the party, she needs to come out,” Barnes told Larry Peterson with the Savannah Morning News at a Thursday fund-raiser for Democrats in the harbor town.
“Barack Obama is the nominee,” Barnes said. “I don’t see any way mathematically Hillary Clinton can win.”
Barnes was a supporter of John Edwards. The former North Carolina senator and ex-presidential contender endorsed Obama on Wednesday.
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Barr on gay marriage: California decision is how it’s supposed to work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr says that when it comes to gay marriage, what happens in California is California’s own business. He’s a states’ rights man.
Here’s the statement Barr’s issued, which — one week before the Libertarian national convention in Denver — is likely to generate some talk:
“Regardless of whether one supports or opposes same sex marriage, the decision to recognize such unions or not ought to be a power each state exercises on its own, rather than imposition of a one-size-fits-all mandate by the federal government (as would be required by a Federal Marriage Amendment which has been previously proposed and considered by the Congress).
The decision today by the Supreme Court of California properly reflects this fundamental principle of federalism on which our nation was founded.
“Indeed, the primary reason for which I authored the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 was to ensure that each state remained free to determine for its citizens the basis on which marriage would be recognized within its borders, and not be forced to adopt a definition of marriage contrary to its views by another state.
The decision in California is an illustration of how this principle of states’ powers should work.”
Photo credit: Associated Press
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