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Thursday, July 24, 2008
Perdue declares himself neutral in a GOP state Senate run-off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the July 15 Republican primary, state Sen. Nancy Schaefer of Turnerville finished second to Jim Butterworth in the District 50 race — not a good sign for any incumbent.
Looking toward the Aug. 5 run-off, Schaefer — who registers strongly among conservative Christians — put out a flyer that tied her to Sonny Perdue, who remains a strong, popular figure among Republicans, with a quote from the governor: “Nancy Schaefer is a strong voice in the Senate for northeast Georgia and I count on her integrity and commitment in the state Senate.”
That sounds like an endorsement. But on Thursday, on Martha Zoller’s WDUN radio show, Perdue denied choosing sides. He didn’t deny the statement — just the endorsement.
For a closer look at a portion of the flyer in question, click here.
Dick Pettys of InsiderAdvantage did the transcribing of Perdue’s statement:
“I trust the people of that Senate district to make their decisions. I don’t think they need a governor sitting in Atlanta from middle Georgia trying to tell them how to make those decisions. I know I had a few calls over a mail-out that was done.
“It was unfortunate. I had not had any conversation with either of the candidates - either of the three candidates - in there regarding any kind of endorsements, and some people felt I had chosen sides and it was not the case and it’s not the case today,” he said.
The question was raised a few minutes later in the program by a caller, and Perdue reiterated that he had “absolutely not” endorsed anyone in the race. “If I were up there, I could be a little offended if the governor was trying to tell me how to elect my legislative representative.”
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Saxon on Broun: ‘We’re all disgusted by the amount of mail’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democrat Bobby Saxon, who’s running against U.S. Rep. Paul Broun in the 10th District congressional race, was quick to jump on news that the Republican incumbent has busted much of his annual congressional budget — on communications with constituents in the run-up to the July primary.
Tim Bryant, radio host of WGAU (1340 AM) in Athens, was kind enough to send a sound clip of his interview with Saxon today. Listen to it here.
Said Saxon:
”We were all disgusted by the amount of mail and phone calls that we received back in the spring. Everyone questioned the validity of those mailings and those phone calls, and the actual reason behind them.
“Mr. Broun continued to bash the Democrats the whole time — in practically every one of his pieces back there….
“He has continuously voted against programs or funding for things that would benefit people in this district, such as the SCHIP, the PeachCare program, funding for the Phil Campbell Ag Center, and funding for veterans.
“Yet he has no problem in maximizing or, possibly, over-maxing his congressional budget to help himself get re-elected.”
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Golden says he, too, is looking at the 2010 governor’s race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As tepid as the Democratic race for U.S. Senate has been this year — low interest and little money — the number of Democrats lining up for the 2010 race for governor is a little surprising.
On Thursday, state Sen. Tim Golden of Valdosta became the third prominent Democrat to express interest in the race.
“It’s not something I’m thinking about lightly,” Golden said. The centrist Democrat — his political career goes back to an internship with U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn in the 1970s — has spent 10 years in the state Senate and eight years in the House.
He’s unopposed this year, but still expects to make a decision on 2010 sometime after November.
This spring, House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin, a newspaper publisher, began his public consideration of a run for governor.
Earlier this month, former adjutant general David Poythress, who headed the Georgia National Guard, said he would begin raising money soon for the Democratic contest.
Why this liveliness among Democrats, aimed at two years hence? The guess here is that some people are anticipating a win by Barack Obama in November — and that a friend like Obama in the White House could put a statewide victory in Georgia within reach.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Something for those turned off by the conservatism of Barack Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader comes to Georgia on Friday, for a rally at the University of Georgia.
(It’s a 5 p.m. gig at Master’s Hall on South Lumpkin Street.)
In honor of the event, and to drum up much-needed attention, Nader gave a quick call on Wednesday — pointing out differences he has with both Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney and Democratic presidential presumptive Barack Obama.
Here’s a large portion of the exchange:
Insider: You’re not going to be on the ballot in Georgia.
Nader: No. Georgia’s one of the worst obstructive states in the country, as some litigation in Georgia has tried to point out from time to time.
Insider: If you’re not going to be on the ballot, what’s the purpose of the Athens meeting?
Nader: The write-in. It is a fund-raiser, actually. There are actually only two states that say write-ins are not counted at all. That’s Oklahoma and Oregon.
We’ll get a write-in in Georgia, and it’s important to go into a state and point out how undemocratic it is for independent and third-party candidates rights. It’s comparable to a Jim Crow law, it’s so obstructive…..
So it’s a very difficult state, and we’re not the only candidacy that’s pointed that out.
Insider: You’re walking into both Cynthia McKinney and Bob Barr’s territory.
Nader: Are they going to be on, do you think?
Insider: Barr will definitely be on. Cynthia will not be on. Libertarians met the threshold two years ago. What are the differences between you and Cynthia?
Nader: Our campaign goes into issues she doesn’t usually go into, like taxing security derivatives — basically, taxing first the things that our society likes the least, or dislikes the most, before you start taxing human labor and necessities.
I don’t think she gets in there at all. Then there are military budget issues that, I think, we go further than she does in specificity. Then there is consumer protection, which has been my bailiwick. So basically, if you put our issues over her issues, they would go beyond her issues.
There are more of them, and a different emphasis…I don’t know if she talks about corporate personhood much. Or has our record of trying to challenge the debate commission, which is a private company created by the two parties, and dominated by them.
She doesn’t talk about Taft-Hartley, I talk about Taft-Hartley. It’s not that she doesn’t cover these issues, but she has a different approach. If you listen to her speeches, they use different language than I use. But generally, both progressive agendas…..
Insider: If you are a liberal or progressive, and you see Barack Obama on a ticket, why in the world would someone vote for Ralph Nader?
Nader: Because he’s a corporate Democrat….Look at FISA, look at his back-tracking on Supreme Court decisions, his supporting the credit card industry. No one in Washington associates Barack Obama with a major, serious, energetic agenda to deal with the abuses and exploitations of the lower 100 million Americans on the income ladder.
Never mind going into the areas of exploitation in the ghettos — predatory lending and all that. He’s probably said some things on this, but look at Jim Webb. Jim Webb is a freshman senator [from Virginia]. He really did it seriously on veterans’ education. That’s what I mean, you know?
I’ve talked to thousands of Obama supporters, obviously, going around the country. Almost none of them associate any major policy initiative with him in Congress. And as a state senator, he even voted to cap pain and suffering damages of medical malpractice victims to $250,000. That’s pretty inexcusable.
He’s weak on the civil justice system, which is the principle way defrauded and wrongfully injured people challenge corporate power….
He’s never met a weapons system he didn’t like. He’s not challenged the military-industrial complex at all. And he gets a huge amount of money — more than [Republican John] McCain has got — from corporate interests and corporate attorneys….
For him, nuclear power is still on the table — which is very insensitive, given that some of his major backers are nuclear power executives in Chicago.
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The trials and tribulations of Clayton County
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thomas Wheatley of Creative Loafing has an extensive look at Clayton County’s troubled transition from majority-white rule to majority black.
Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell, the former Atlanta police chief, figures prominently into a piece that focuses on the problem posed by those seeking a quick route to power.
Here’s a tidbit:
“We came out of an era as separate but unequal, creating greed among ourselves,” Bell says. He references the fact that Africans once sold rival tribesmen into slavery. “Remember who sold who into slavery. We are no different now than we were then, just a bit more sophisticated. Isn’t it ironic amongst our own community, [people] came out and said, ‘They got theirs, and now I want mine.’ And they want it without the effort that goes with it.”
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