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Friday, August 22, 2008
Poythress heads to Jekyll Island for a little sun, and to announce for governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve picked up word that David Poythress intends to become the first Democrat to formally enter the 2010 race for governor on Monday with an announcement before a Jekyll Island gathering of the Peace Officers Association of Georgia.
Poythress formerly served as secretary of state of Georgia and labor commissioner, but only recently retired adjutant general, serving as commander of the Georgia National Guard.
One Republican, state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, has also announced.
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Ralph Reed on the Republican identity crisis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In preparation for the party’s convention in Minneapolis, the Associated Press has a piece out this afternoon about the need for GOPers to find themselves anew.
It includes this:
Even a McCain presidency, however, would not entirely heal the deep, systemic problems afflicting their party, leading Republicans say. In interviews, many of these Republicans said the party has lost its bearings. But they were nowhere near a consensus on what to do about it.
“I think the Republican Party is in the midst of a wrenching but important transition from the Reagan-Bush era into whatever comes next,” said Ralph Reed, a GOP strategist and former director of the Christian Coalition.
“Whatever comes next,” indeed, is a question that will hang over the Xcel Energy Center as Republicans meet for four days.
Even if solutions seems elusive, top Republicans find some unity on what has gone wrong. Most start with financial issues. Voters are well aware, they say, that the party that long touted itself as a champion of frugal budgets and limited government has presided over an explosion in federal spending and deficits.
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Obama campaign to open 15 more offices in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Barack Obama campaign announced this afternoon that it would open 15 more offices throughout Georgia this weekend, bringing its number of offices in the state to 27.
“We are reaching to every corner of the state, even areas that maybe haven’t voted for a Democrat before,” said Antwaun Griffin, Georgia state director for the campaign, in a press release.
The campaign currently has offices in Thomasville, Cumming, Albany, Winder, Valdosta, downtown Atlanta, Jonesboro, Augusta, midtown Atlanta, Athens, Hartwell, and Gainesville.
The locations of new offices can be found on the jump.
NEWNAN
25 E Broad Street
Newnan, GA 30263
BRUNSWICK
1919 Glynn Avenue
Brunswick, GA 31520
WARNER ROBINS
1770 Watson Blvd
Warner Robins, GA 31088
WOODSTOCK
180 Parkway 575, Suite 140
Woodstock, GA 30188
DECATUR
2752 Ponce de Leon, Suite F and G
Decatur, GA 30030
MACON
438 Cotton Avenue
Macon, GA 31201
AUGUSTA
852 Broad St.
Augusta, GA 30901
COLUMBUS
3160 Macon Road, Store 4A
Columbus, GA 31906
JESUP
189 N Brunswick St.
Jesup, GA 31546
MONROE
124 Sorrells St.
Monroe, GA 30655
LAGRANGE
411 South Greenwood St, Suite B
LaGrange, GA 30240
GAINESVILLE
1097 Athens St.
Gainesville, GA 30501
DUBLIN
1505 Rice Ave.
Dublin, GA 31021
SOUTH COLUMBUS
905 Third Avenue
Columbus, GA 31901
EAST POINT (FULTON COUNTY)
65 Main St.
East Point, GA 30344
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ICYMI: Powell back on PSC ballot, von Spakovsky lands a temp job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just in case you didn’t see these elsewhere:
— A Fulton County judge has rebuffed Secretary of State Karen Handel and ordered Jim Powell, a Democratic candidate for the state Public Service Commission running against Republican Lauren “Don’t Call Him Bubba” McDonald, restored to the November ballot. Handel’s office hasn’t made a decision on whether to appeal.
Democrats say Handel’s removal of Powell from the ballot smacked of partisan politics. She denies it. Democrats are eager to win this one. A PSC contest is one of those races where party identification matters most — just the kind of race that, from their point of view, could benefit from an Barack Obama surge.
— My Washington colleague Julia Malone reports that Hans von Spakovsky, the controversial former Fulton County Republican Party chairman who failed to win confirmation to the Federal Election Commission, has found a temporary job at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Von Spakovsky has been hired to review civil rights reports for Todd F. Gaziano, a Civil Rights Commission member who has been one of von Spakovsky’s most outspoken defenders.
Von Spakovsky’s safe harbor has spurred a new round of objections from one Civil Rights Commission member and the civil rights community as a whole — which had been highly critical of von Spakovksy’s service at the Justice Department. While there, the former Fulton County resident successfully pushed for approval of a Georgia law requiring voters to show photo ID.
Democrats have charged that such laws inhibit voting by minorities and the elderly.
The hiring “is absolutely disgraceful and speaks volumes about the political patronage still being doled out by the current administration,” said J. Gerald Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, a voting rights advocacy group and leading opponent of von Spakovsky.
Gaziano, the civil rights commissioner whom von Spakovsky will serve, said his new part-time assistant is a “great and very talented person.” He said he would be working until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 on a report about religious freedom in the U.S. prison system and also helping on a study of discrimination in housing.
Photo credit: Rick McKay/Cox Washington bureau
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Fo’ shizzle: Bob Barr turns into a stand-up kind of guy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During a tour of Pennsylvania this week, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr — the grim-faced, humor-challenged former prosecutor — was apparently hard up for venues that also offered a crowd.
He became the headline act at a “Candidates Comedy Night” put on by Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky.
This was the best part of the former Georgia congressman’s five-minute act:
“There’s also folks out there that think liberals don’t like me. Barack Obama likes me more than he likes basketball. In fact, the first call I get every morning is from Barack Obama, making sure that I’m okay.”
Barr mimicked a phone call, with a thumb to his ear and little finger to his mouth.
“‘Hello, Barack. Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you. I just got the Ludacris CDs. Yeah, man. They’re very shizzle. Barack, yes, I promise you I’m going to stay in this race ‘til November.’”
The video below was first posted on PolitickerPa.com
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