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Saturday, May 17, 2008
And it’s over.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — The state GOP convention adjourned just a few minutes ago, after electing what Republicans officials were calling a “unity slate” of delegates to the national convention.
A good bit of fractiousness erupted on the floor during the adoption of resolutions, as some delegates — many of them Ron Paul supporters — questioned a ruling on a voice vote by convention chairman Randy Evans.
Several delegates began shouting from the floor. And a large shout erupted from the floor when one delegate announced from the mike that he would vote against a resolution in support of the Iraq war because, he said, the conflict had nothing to do with the internal security of the United States.
Things settled down after when the convention got down to the business of electing the delegates. Rebels on the floor wanted a delegate-by-delegate selection process. But once Evans called for insurgents to stand and show their numbers — perhaps 10 percent or more of the convention — things settled down.
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Gingrey and Westmoreland on the farm bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — By early Saturday afternoon, the only two members of Congress left at the state GOP convention were U.S. Reps. Lynn Westmoreland and Phil Gingrey.
One voted for the farm bill this week, and one voted against it.
“It was a tough bill,” Gingrey said. And from a national perspective, it probably does look “bloated.” But in the end, the Marietta representative said he supported the $300 billion measure because of the benefits it sends to Georgia.
Although some subsidies need to be trimmed back, Gingrey admitted, some of the subsidies required his support. For cotton, for instance. “I’ve got a textile mill in one of my counties. It’s the only employer in the county. If they go down, the county goes down,” Gingrey said. In other words, a vote against the farm bill was a vote against those jobs.
That $451 million federal bio-terrorism lab that the University of Georgia is trying to land was another concern, Gingrey said.
The farm bill contains a demand for a new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. This new operation would take over research on hoof-and-mouth disease and other nasty things, which is now confined to a laboratory on Plum Island, off the northern tip of Long Island, N.Y.
UGA is one of six sites still being considered. It would be difficult to keep Georgia in the running if the entire congressional delegation opposed the farm bill, Gingrey said.
As it stood, five Georgia House Republicans voted against the farm bill, while Gingrey, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, and U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss supported it.
In his speech to the convention, Westmoreland warned that the GOP base was tired of party leaders who say one thing and do another. Afterwards, he reluctantly discussed his opposition to the farm bill.
“You have to look at what the entire bill did. I can’t get over having direct payments of over $40,000 to somebody that doesn’t put a seed in the ground or put a drop of fertilizer in the soil,” Westmoreland said. “If we’re trying to help the farmer, let’s help the people that are farmers. That, to me, sealed the deal.”
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Oxendine: Pass the Fair Tax via an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, the only announced candidate in the 2010 race for governor, drew one of the biggest rounds of applause at the state GOP convention this morning when he promised to start a movement to convert the U.S. taxation system to a national consumption tax via a constitutional amendment.
If elected governor, Oxendine he’d gather the nation’s governors to Georgia to start the process. “I’m calling upon the states to join together in a constitutional convention to adopt the Fair Tax,” he said. “If congress won’t do it, the people in the states will do it.”
Oxendine also had some harsh words for the three men who now run the state Capitol, though he didn’t mention any names.
“The problem with Georgia is, the taxpayers have paid the price for certain people playing politics as opposed to offering real leadership,” Oxendine said. “At the end of the session, Georgians have no tax cut, are still stuck in traffic, still have no economic development projects, and still trail Alabama in school test scores.”
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Stay away from the gimmicks, warns Sonny Perdue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — Gov. Sonny Perdue warned state GOP conventioneers — and the office-holders in their midst — Saturday that voters can see through gimmicks.
Democrats, Perdue told the several hundred Republicans gathered for the convention, lost power because voters “were smart enough” to see the GOP as the answer.
“They saw all the Democrats offered based on their positions of power,” Perdue said. But six years later, Perdue said, “the roles are reversed. It is is our mission to ensure we do not fall into the same trap. The people of Georgia are still smart.”
He warned Republicans to eschew “short-term gimmick made at long-term expense.”
That “will not fool the voters,” Perdue said. “Slick mail pieces and commercials can’t buy enough votes.”
Afterward, Perdue told reporters he wasn’t speaking of anyone in particular. “It was aimed toward Republicans in general,” Perdue said. “All of us, every elected Republican in Georgia.”
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Tomorrow’s thoughts on a Bob Barr candidacy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — Sunday’s Washington Post will have this op-ed piece on the problems that Libertarian presidential hopeful Bob Barr could create for Republican John McCain, by Micah Sifry, an expert on third-party candidacies:
“While the former Republican congressman from Georgia isn’t going to become president, his run is no joke. Barr might well inherit the sizable support garnered by Rep. Ron Paul during his own run for the Republican nomination — and leave McCain sputtering the sorts of epithets usually uttered by Democrats talking about Ralph Nader.”
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Farm bill? Never heard of it.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbus, Ga. — There are times when you have to listen for what’s not said to understand what’s important.
The second day of the state GOP convention has begun. The third big meeting of Republicans, a buffet breakfast, is over.
Speaker after speaker has taken the microphone to lament the prospects of November. But no one has mentioned the $300 billion farm bill that has split Republicans in Washington — the one President Bush has promised to veto because of alleged overspending.
The one that has divided the Republican delegation from Georgia.
The two speakers at this morning’s breakfast were U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, who voted for the farm bill, and U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who voted against it. Both have been mentioned as potential candidates for governor in 2010.
Gingrey offered his fellow GOPers some practical advice. Nationally, the generic Democratic brand is beating the generic Republican brand. Which means Republican races in Georgia need to focus on the candidate and close-to-home issues.
“Keep things local. We don’t need to nationalize an election when Democrats have an advantage,” Gingrey said.
Westmoreland followed, but dealt in ideology and theory. The problem with the Republican party, he said, is that it’s been infiltrated by those who aren’t true-believers — by imposters who are merely attracted by the GOP’s success.
“It goes back to the city council, or the school board. Because if that city council doesn’t act like Republicans…then that may discourage somebody voting for the county commissioner because he’s Republican,” Westmoreland said. “And then if you’ve got a county commission that doesn’t stand up for Republican principles, it makes it hard for that state legislator to get elected. And then if you don’t have state legislators that act like Republicans, it makes it hard to win that congressional seat.”
You see it coming.
But the needle skipped.
“And then you make it harder for someone to win the presidency,” Westmoreland quickly concluded.
Again, it’s often what’s left unsaid that’s important.
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