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Thursday, August 28, 2008
On the floor at Invesco
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Denver — As the anticipated throngs trickle into Invesco Field, a handful of hearty Georgians arrived early to stake out good seats.
LeWanna Heard and James Beverly III, two voting delegates, were settled into their floor seats by 3 p.m., a full five hours before Barack Obama is to expected to accept the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
It’s worth the wait, Heard said.
“It’s worth every minute of it,” said Heard said. “I’m sure I’ll be sunburned, but all the pain, sweat and hurt is worth it.”
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Just when you think it can’t get any nastier, it doesn’t
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Consider it one of the small miracles of the 24-hour news cycle.
After damning him this morning as an inexperienced greenhorn, after siccing the governor of Georgia on him this afternoon like a bulldog on a bone, Republican John McCain will let Democratic rival Barack Obama enjoy his victory evening in peace.
Below is the congratulary ad that McCain will run on national cable and in key states tonight, while Obama celebrates his nomination:
Here’s the script:
“Senator Obama, this is truly a good day for America. Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations. “How perfect that your nomination would come on this historic day. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it. But tonight Senator, job well done.”
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Sonny Perdue invites Democrats and their ‘millions and millions of dollars’ to Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From his TV set in Atlanta, Gov. Sonny Perdue said he’s picking up a sense of “buyer’s remorse” among Democrats in Denver.
“That’s palpable on the floor. The unity message is not sticking,” the Republican governor said in a conference call with reporters organized by the John McCain presidential campaign.
The McCain campaign has been anxious, particularly in TV ads, to drive a wedge between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during the Democratic National Convention.
Perdue said his reading of Democratic delegates — the governor was one of their number until 1998 — is that they’re coming to realize that the race is boiling down to “a classic case of a talker versus a doer.”
Perdue implied that he considers Obama qualified for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. But voters, the governor said, “are not prepared to send a vice presidential candidate to meet the [Vladimir] Putins of the world.”
On the Republican vice presidential front, Perdue said he isn’t one of those who insist that McCain must produce a pro-life nominee for vice president tomorrow.
McCain has clear enough anti-abortion credentials to satisfy the Republican base. “John McCain has very clear and uncloudy credentials as a pro-life politician,” the governor said.
As for talk that Georgia is in play in the presidential race, Perdue invited Democrats to come and “spend as much money as possible in this state. Millions and millions of dollars.”
The outcome will be the same and the money wasted, Perdue said. “I think they are feigning a move that won’t happen.”
Photo credit: Gavin Averill/Special
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Independent awarded place on ballot against Jacobs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It looks like state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) will have an opponent.
Secretary of State Karen Handel last month ruled that independent candidate Michelle Conlon had not gathered sufficient signatures for a petition that would have won her a place on the November ballot.
The Democratic candidate for House District 80 had already been disqualified because of residency problems. Jacobs, who switched parties last year and has been the topic of much hair-pulling by Democrats, was headed for a cakewalk.
But on Thursday, Conlon received a letter from Wesley Tailor, director of elections for the secretary of state, saying further review by the DeKalb County voter registration office had turned up sufficient signatures.
House District 80 is one of those Atlanta-based seats that could be impacted by a heavy turnout of Barack Obama voters. The question now is whether Democrats will adopt Conlon’s cause as their own.
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Lewis brings them to their feet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Denver — In a rousing morning address to a joint meeting of the Georgia and Alabama delegations, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) rallied Democratic delegates here to “march again … march on the ballot box” in November.
Lewis’ remarks this morning at breakfast were likely a preview of the speech he will make tonight at Invesco Field, in front of 75,000 people. That speech itself will advance the acceptance speech of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
Today is already awash in symbolism as it marks both the day a black man accepts a major party nomination for president and the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington. Lewis reminded the delegations that he was one of 10 people who spoke on Aug. 28, 1963. He was number six. Martin Luther King Jr. was number 10.
“For those of you who tell me that nothing has changed, I would like to tell you to come and walk in my shoes,” Lewis said. “So, I was there 45 years ago. I was there when Martin Luther King Jr. stood and said ‘I have a dream today. Out of all the people who spoke that day, I’m the only one still around.”
He said Wednesday night’s vote at the convention to nominate Obama as president, together with tonight’s acceptance speech, is “a down payment on that fulfillment of that dream.” But now the worst must begin to make it a reality, he said.
“As Democrats, black and white, from Alabama and Georgia, you must go out and work, and we must march again,” he said, slapping the podium. “But this time, in our two states, we must march in every town, in every hamlet, in every village, in every neighborhood, we must march on the ballot box and make Barack Obama the next president of the United States. You can do it. We must do it.”
The old guard is largely gone, he said, and it’s up to those here now to take up the struggle.
“Go out and do it,” Lewis said. “Dr. King is not here. Others have gone on. Let’s march for them on Nov. 4.”
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Third hand info on McCain’s vice-presidential pick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just hung up the phone with Joe McCutchen, a Republican activist up in Ellijay.
Joe says he just got a call from a buddy — a fellow in Georgia who prints political paraphernalia for a living.
The buddy — McCutchen wouldn’t give his name — said he just got a rush order from the John McCain campaign, for 10,000 bumper-stickers to be sent to Minneapolis. And what is the message?
McCain-Romney.
It’s slightly more than third-hand info. The bumper-sticker maker just called the Insider to confirm, but indeed asked not to be identified.
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Perhaps when Barack Obama first met Ralph Reed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The New York Times had this paragraph about Barack Obama in a profile of the Democratic presidential nominee as auto-didactic:
Nearly a decade ago, Mr. Obama joined luminaries like George Stephanopoulos and Ralph Reed for regular seminars, organized by Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard and the author of ”Bowling Alone,” about the deterioration of American community ties. As a young state senator from Illinois, Mr. Obama was one of the less prominent members of the group. But soon everyone was referring to him as ”the governor” — a friendly smack, said Mr. Putnam, at Mr. Obama’s precocity and drive.
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Brothers tout unity through accessory
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Denver — A pair of Georgia brothers, hoping to capitalize on the excitement surrounding Barack Obama’s bid for the White House have created and are marketing a commemorative wrist band they’re dubbing the “unity band.”
Hodari and Bakari Brooks, of Cobb County, created an organization called Kids Rock for Barack, which Bakari Brooks said is geared toward “engaging families in the political process by showing their support for Senator Obama.”
The idea, he said, is that Obama has engaged kids and young people in the process, “even though they’re not a voting bloc, he’s engaging them in the process. He understands they represent our future.”
Selling the wrist bands, which go for $4.99 each with discounts for large purchases, is an attempt, Hodari Brooks said, is to “inspire discussion.”
Hodari Brooks, an orthopedic surgeon, said it’s he and his three daughters relate to politics and each other.
Check out the Kids Rock for Barack Web site to buy one of the black and white wrist bands.
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Blogwatch: A Jim Martin spotting, and Obama-watch parties
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is stepping out a little more.
Earlier week, he made an appearance in Denver at the national convention.
Jon Flack over at Tondee’s Tavern now has gotten a note from Martin, saying he’ll put in an appearance at what is likely to be one of tonight’s larger Obama-watch parties in Atlanta. Here’s the address:
Amsterdam Bar & Cafe
502 Amsterdam Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
(But if you’re under 21, don’t bother trying to come through the door.)
More Obama watch parties can be found on the jump.
ATLANTA
The Cascade Club
2890 Continental Colony Parkway Atlanta, GA 30331
Host: Alvelyn Sanders
ATLANTA
Dugan’s Sports Bar and Grill 5299 Memorial Dr.
Stone Mountain, GA
Host: Chad Klein
SAVANNAH
Moon River Brewery
21 West Bay Street Savannah, GA 31401
ATHENS
265 East Clayton Ave.,
Athens, GA 30609
Host: Greg Ligon
MACON
202 Virginia Ave Warner Robins, GA 31088
Host: Wayne Cartwright
WOODSTOCK
Taco Mac
9020 Highway 92 # 100,
Woodstock, GA, 30189
ROME
Burrell Center
41 Washington Dr,
Rome, GA, 30161
AUGUSTA
Jamestown Community Center
4637 New Karleen Rd.
Hephzibah, GA 30815
COLUMBUS
Spices Caribbean Restaurant,
4022 University Avenue,
Columbus Georgia
ALBANY
Albany State University
East Hall Lobby
504 College Drive
Albany, GA 31705
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The Republican rain on Barack Obama’s campaign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It used to be that each party would retreat behind its entrenchments during the other’s national convention — a kind of gentleman’s truce.
But this is now, not then.
Barack Obama tonight will accept the Democratic nomination for president, the first African-American to win such a prize, in an outdoor stadium in Denver that seats 70,000.
Republicans are trying their best to rain on the event. Below is the morning assault from the John McCain campaign, a compendium of criticism of Obama from the Democratic primary.
But this web-only video is different in that it closes with a clip of Obama addressing questions of a presidential run in 2004:
“I am a believer in knowing what you’re doing when you apply for a job. If I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate. Now there are some people who might be comfortable doing that, but I’m not one of those people.”
Click below to watch:
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Olens and Johnson join the GOP pile-on against governor’s plan to erase property tax credits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Candidates for statewide office in 2010 should be sending Sonny Perdue a thank-you note.
The governor’s suggestion that the state solve a building deficit by doing away with a $428 million tax credit for homeowners — which could cause many local governments to send out a new round of tax bills — has provided a significant pulpit.
Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, eyeing a 2010 race for governor, joined a list of Republican leaders throwing cold water on Perdue’s idea with an op-ed piece in today’s Marietta Daily Journal.
Says Olens:
Governments need to reduce spending rather than raise taxes or deflect their pain on sister governments. Surely with the state budget having risen approximately $6 billion in the last six years, other options are available.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has on six occasions retained his predecessor’s Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant. The significant state revenue shortfall should not be the catalyst to force local governments to issue a second property tax bill that hinders our residents and businesses
In today’s AJC, Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson, who isn’t quite ready to announce for lieutenant governor, has penned a similar piece.
Says Johnson:
When revenues decline, government shouldn’t look to burden taxpayers to bail out its spending habit with a tax increase. They are already suffering in this economy. A tax increase is not the Republican way.
What makes the GOP brand different from Democrats’ is that Republicans stand for reducing the tax burden and cutting government bureaucracy. Voters know that no matter what, Republicans are more trustworthy with public funds and can always find wasteful spending. And when times get tough, the GOP can be trusted not to seek tax increases that hurt the economy and citizens.
Instead, as state policy-makers work with the governor to make tough choices about the projected $1.6 billion budget deficit, it should pledge no new taxes to balance the state’s spending plan.
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