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Thursday, June 12, 2008
Ralph Reed: ‘Jeremiah Wright has energized conservative grassroots more than any individual this year.’ Um, that would include John McCain.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ralph Reed spoke at the Atlanta Press Club on Thursday evening.
The occasion was a book-signing for his new political thriller. But apparently, Reed also recognized that this would be his first appearance before a squad of local journalists since his 2006 campaign for lieutenant governor.
A number of his close friends and supporters were summoned, and in fact everyone behaved. All questions focused on the future. None dwelled on the past.
Reed had plenty to say about the current presidential contest, and especially about Barack Obama.
Here’s a chunk of it, mostly verbatim:
“If this election is about style and personality, I think it will be very difficult for John McCain to win. If it’s about substance, I think it will be very hard for Barack Obama to win.”
The ground favors a Democrat, as does the issue mix.
“Left to their own devices, the American people desperately want to elect a Democrat. But it’s very unclear that they want to elect Barrack Obama. The sheen has really come off of him.
“More than anybody else, I think Jeremiah Wright probably did more to energize the conservative grass roots and bring them home to McCain than any other single individual this calendar year.
“Not just him and the things that he said, but frankly the way Obama mishandled it. First of all, sort of half-jokingly saying, hey, everybody’s got a crazy uncle in the family that they don’t agree with.
“And then saying, well, I wasn’t there for any of those statements. Which then raised the question of how often he was there. And then giving the race speech in Philadelphia in which he said I could no more disown Reverend Wright than I could disown the African-American community — which I thought was a fairly startling statement.”
Reed said further attention should be paid to Obama’s Chicago connections, and his rating by the National Journal as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate.
I think that if John McCain is prepared to run a campaign where he will lay out the stark contrasts between where he stands on the issues and where Obama stands on the issues, and if he’s prepared to define Obama in a general election environment on those terms, I think McCain can win.
The electoral college contest is already close, Reed said, “with Obama, I would argue, as strong as he’s ever likely to be.”
No Democrat, from the age of Jackson through the ’04 election, has ever been elected president without carrying at least four Southern states. Clinton did it twice. He did it in different states, but he did it….
“While I know Obama says he’s going to be more competitive in the South, I challenge anybody to show me the four states he’s going to carry. I think he’ll make Virginia very competitive. I don’t think he’ll take Georgia. I don’t think he’ll win Mississippi. He’s trailing today in Alabama by 24 points.”
I think you’ll agree that “if [McCain is] prepared to define Obama in a general election environment” is the key phrase in Reed’s analysis. He’s telling the Republican nominee that the only way he can win is to run a harsh, unsparing campaign. It’s going to get ugly.
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Perdue on transportation: He endorses commuter rail, and discovers a sense of urgency
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After six years as governor, Sonny Perdue on Thursday got down to the details on transportation — telling reporters he was ready to support a test case for expanded commuter rail.
Specifically, he endorsed an Atlanta-Griffin route, a project that has federal funding lined up, even though it might not have the ridership as rail on Atlanta’s north side might have. “If it [succeeds], there are certainly other areas of Georgia that can benefit,” he said.
Listen to his 10-minute press conference here. Yes, it’s that important.
Perdue talked about a possible need for “additional resources.” He didn’t use the word “taxes,” but he talked about the need to consider transportation spending as a long-term “investment.” In the past, that has been how some Republicans make the leap.
“I think we need more transit options,” the governor said, pointing to overcrowded buses as a result of $4-a-gallon gasoline.
Perhaps the most significant shift in Perdue’s outlook is this: Months ago, the governor was a “first that, then this” kind of guy on traffic and transportation. Fix the Department of Transportation, then we’ll talk about more transportation funding.
Today, the operative quote from his press conference was this: “We’ve got to fix it while we’re flying.” Urgency was the one thing missing from his past statements on transportation, and it was a centerpiece of this one.
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Might speaking up for the Confederacy eliminate Webb from the Democratic veep search?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Politico has raised the question of whether Jim Webb’s defense of the Confederacy might disqualify the Virginia senator as a running mate for Democratic presumptive Barrack Obama.
Webb, a descendant of Confederate officers, has addressed the topics in books — and they’re being scrutinized.
Says the Politico:
Webb expanded on his sentiments in his well-received 2004 book, “Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America,” which portrays the Southern cause as at least understandable, if not wholly laudable.
“The venerable Robert E. Lee has taken some vicious hits, as dishonest or misinformed advocates among political interest groups and in academia attempt to twist yesterday’s America into a fantasy that might better service the political issues of today,” he wrote.
“The greatest disservice on this count has been the attempt by these revisionist politicians and academics to defame the entire Confederate Army in a move that can only be termed the Nazification of the Confederacy.”
Among the article’s conclusions:
There’s nothing scandalous in the paper trail, nothing that on its face would disqualify Webb from consideration for national office. Yet it veers into perilous waters since the slightest sign of support or statement of understanding of the Confederate cause has the potential to alienate African-Americans who are acutely sensitive to the topic.
If nothing else, Webb as a running mate might relieve Republican John McCain from explaining the several positions he’s taken on that pesky battle flag on the lawn of the state capitol in South Carolina.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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In the 8th District, there are certain people you’d rather not be seen with
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Out of Washington, the Associated Press has a story today on the 14 or so Democratic members of Congress who have refused to endorse Barack Obama.
Naturally, Georgia’s own is among the first names mentioned:
Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat and Vietnam veteran who won his last election by about 1,800 votes, said he admires both Obama and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., but feels no obligation to state a preference.
“If it turns out one of them is an ax murderer or something like that I’ll make a choice,” he joked. Otherwise, “I don’t think I need to get involved.”
Actually, the 8th District congressman’s lack of involvement in presidential politics could go even deeper. Asked last week if Marshall would go to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, spokesman Doug Moore replied, “That has yet to be determined.”
We could be headed for Herman Talmadge territory here. The late governor and U.S. senator habitually scheduled alleged “fishing trips” that conflicted with Democratic conventions, in order to avoid public association with people the folks at home deemed questionable.
But it is only fair to point out that Marshall’s Republican challenger this year, former Air Force major general Rick Goddard, has his own associations to worry about.
On June 23, Vice President Dick Cheney will be the featured guest at a fund-raiser in Perry. Cheney still carries great weight as a magnet for campaign cash within the GOP.
The price of a photo with you and the important but widely unpopular man has been set at $1,000.
The question becomes whether Goddard himself will be using any images of himself paired with Cheney during the campaign.
Pose that possibility to Tim Baker, spokesman for the Goddard campaign, and this what you get: “Georgia is a special place, and people still respect the presidency and the vice presidency.”
But again, will the Republican candidate for Congress blanket middle Georgia with Goddard-Cheney photos?
That’s a strategic matter that’s not discussed with journalists, Baker said.
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Why all demonstrators in Denver will be equipped with an emergency roll of TP
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This from the election news site on foxnews.com:
Political activists planning protest rallies at the upcoming Democratic Convention in Denver have their stomachs in knots over a rumor about a crowd control weapon - known as the “crap cannon” - that might be unleashed against them.
Also called “Brown Note,” it is believed to be an infrasound frequency that debilitates a person by making them defecate involuntarily.
Mark Cohen, co-founder of Re-create 68, an alliance of local activists working for the protection of first amendment rights, said he believes this could be deployed at the convention in August to subdue crowds.
“We know this weapon and weapons like it have been used at other large protests before,” he said.
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