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Monday, June 16, 2008
‘Daisy Girl’ ad creator dies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The man behind the “Daisy Girl” ad that did so much damage to Republican Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election is dead.
Here’s the New York Times take:
Tony Schwartz, a self-taught, sought-after and highly reclusive media consultant who helped create what is generally considered to be the most famous political ad to appear on television, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 84.
Here’s what you probably didn’t know about him:
Mr. Schwartz, who had suffered from agoraphobia since the age of 13, accomplished most of these things entirely within his Manhattan home.
And here’s his famous ad, posted on YouTube:
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Georgia Right to Life endorses Broun, but not much of the state House leadership
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Right to Life issued its endorsements on Monday. See them here.
The anti-abortion group backed Republican incumbent Paul Broun of Athens over challenger Barry Fleming of Harlem, a member of the state House, in the 10th District congressional primary.
“We always protect a previously endorsed incumbent as long as nothing has changed,” GRTL president Dan Becker said.
In state House races, the organization endorsed 67 Republican candidates and one Democrat. In state Senate races, GRTL backed two Democrats and 28 Republicans.
Significant names are missing on the House side, including: House Speaker Glenn Richardson, Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Alpharetta and House Majority Leader Jerry Keen. So, too, is the name of state Rep. Bobby Franklin of Cobb County, one the leaders of the anti-abortion movement in Legislature.
Becker said some legislators didn’t turn in questionnaires — either because they don’t accept GRTL’s one-exception approach (“life of the mother”) to abortion, rather than the three-exception approach (“life of the mother, rape, and incest”) accepted by other groups.
Others simply didn’t have opposition in the primary and skipped the primary questionnaire, which Becker admitted has gotten more complicated as the group tries to sample legislative opinion on biomedical issues.
One eyebrow-raiser: In the primary contest for the Augusta seat now held by House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin, GRTL gave its approval to Harbin, but also endorsed his primary opponent, Lee Benedict.
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On the Internet, politics, and GOP wariness of social networking
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Ralph Reed was at the Atlanta Press Club last week, he wandered onto the topic of American presidential politics and the Internet.
“2008 may be to the Internet what 1960 was to television. This could be our first true Internet election,” he said. “Whoever learns how to win campaigns with the Internet is going to dominate politics for the foreseeable future.”
It was one of the few areas in which Reed was complimentary toward Democrat Barack Obama.
By coincidence, the Pew Internet and American Life Project is out today with a new report on the Internet in the 2008 elections.
Among its findings:
“A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the Internet, e-mail or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others. And Barack Obama’s backers have an edge in the online political environment.”
And there’s this:
“Two new Internet activities have stormed the political stage: 35 percent of Americans have watched online videos related to the campaign, and 10 percent have used social networking sites to engage in political activity….”
Ten percent of all Americans have used vehicles like Facebook or MySpace for political activity:
“For young adults in particular these sites are a key component of the online political experience: 66 percent of Internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of the young profile users use social networking sites to get or share information about the candidates and the campaign.”
The Pew report found that Democrats were more adept at the social networking. Even Republicans admit that this is so.
Nathan Tabor is president and CEO of The Conservative Voice, an Internet news site that caters to Republicans. Tabor, who’s based in North Carolina, said a quick check of MySpace pages for the two presidential candidates shows the difference.
Of Obama’s MySpace page, Tabor said: “It’s professionally done.”
Of his opponent’s MySpace page: “You go to John McCain, it looks like John Smith.”
And it’s worth noting that Obama’s page lists 398,342 “friends.” McCain lists 54,648.
But we’re talking more than Democratic enthusiasm for social networking. We’re talking Republican reluctance as well, particularly among religious conservatives who — when they think of the Internet — think of porn, gambling and other sinful activities.
Tabor said he sits on the board of a crisis pregnancy organization, which tries to reach young women before they have abortions. He suggested that the group establish a MySpace page, so that when a young girl searches the word “abortion,” the anti-abortion agency would pop up as one of her choices.
“You would have thought I had horns on my head,” Tabor said.
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Barry Fleming launches first negative TV ad of the season, against Paul Broun
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barry Fleming today has the honor of launching the first negative TV ad in the 2008 season, part of his primary bid to oust U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens from the 10th District.
“He even voted against protecting our kids from on-line sexual predators. What is Paul Broun thinking about?” Fleming asks in the 30-second spot.
That’s a reference to H.R. 3791, something called the “Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act of 2007.” Broun cast one of two votes against the bill.
I’ve got a call into the Broun camp.
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Cagle isn’t pleased by Olen’s assertion that ‘top leaders’ blocked transportation bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is taking heated exception to comments on the Legislature’s handling of a transportation bill this year made by Sam Olens, the chairman of both the Cobb County Commission and the Atlanta Regional Commission.
The Insider’s got a string of documents for your inspection here.
At issue is a column that Olens wrote for a newsletter published by the ARC, the planning arm of metro Atlanta governments.
Olens credits House Speaker Glenn Richardson and a number of other state legislators for their work this spring on the failed vote. Cagle, whose Senate defeated the measure by three votes, thinks himself mentioned only by omission.
“Our top leaders either stonewalled or actively opposed legislation to provide new funding for greater mobility in our state, and without their support, many legislators didn’t see it as a priority,” Olens wrote.
The column was a rewrite of an op-ed piece Olens had composed several weeks earlier for the AJC. But the ARC newsletter went directly to the 39 board members of the ARC, plus approximately 6,700 civic leaders throughout metro Atlanta.
Cagle met with Olens and several other leaders of the ARC on May 28. One supposes that it was a kind of peace-making confab. Coincidently, Olens’ column in the ARC newsletter was published the same day, but the lieutenant governor found out about it only afterwards.
When he did, Cagle was not pleased. And it probably doesn’t help that both Olens and the lieutenant governor are kicking the tires on a 2010 bid for governor. Last week, Cagle sent a letter to every member of the ARC.
Wrote the lieutenant governor:
“As you know, Chairman Sam Olens used the Atlanta Regional Commission’s taxpayer-funded newsletter as a venue for attacking the leadership of the Georgia State Senate.
“Unfortunately, Sam’s column - in addition to running contrary to the mission of the ARC to bring the region together - contains several erroneous statements. It is disappointing he has chosen to complain about the past instead of looking ahead to the future……
“I would encourage Chairman Olens and the ARC to be a part of this solution instead of wasting valuable time - and limited taxpayer resources - assigning blame and otherwise playing politics. We can reduce gridlock and get metro Atlanta moving, but we aren’t going to get there by attacking our allies….”
Word is that Cagle has been offered equal space in the next edition of the ARC newsletter.
Cagle mailed his letter of protest only a couple days before Gov. Sonny Perdue jumped on the transportation bandwagon. While the business community is applauding the governor, it’s worth noting that Perdue’s new acceptance of transportation as a matter of urgency has put some lawmakers in a curious position.
As recently as March 27, during the House debate on the transportation bill, representatives of the governor listed the reasons for Perdue’s opposition, which included: “Because its finances and business records are in shambles, the Georgia Department of Transportation doesn’t yet know what our state’s actual transportation funding needs are.”
Ten weeks later, the shambles have disappeared, the governor’s confidence in GDOT is high, and several lawmakers - perhaps even a lieutenant governor - may think themselves out on a limb.
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A bit of useless knowledge, in a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not long ago, NPR had a report out of China on the building sense of nationalism in that country, a reaction to both the recent earthquake and the coming Olympics.
In the background, a Chinese crowd chanted, “Jia you, Zhongguo, jia you!” — which the translator rendered as “Go, China, go!”
But that wasn’t exactly right. “Jia” means “to add” or “to increase.”
“You” means “oil” — but can also be shorthand for “gasoline.”
“Jia you!” is a phrase that the Chinese hurl at their athletes to spur them on. A more literal, Americanized — and highly ironic — translation might be, “Step on the gas!”
Which China has, more and more. And which is one of the many reasons why you mortgaged your home to fill your tank this weekend.
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