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September 2008
Chambliss video on a Wall Street rescue: ‘Every single issue that we’ve asked to be address, has been addressed’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t want to get in the habit of posting campaign videos, but given the topic, this one by the Republican campaign of Saxby Chambliss merits an exception.
Below are remarks that the incumbent senator made this morning, at PDK airport, on the failed Wall Street bailout bill. One caveat: The video includes only Chambliss’ statement — not any responses to the questions from reporters that followed.
In his statement, Chambliss began on a partisan tone, putting the blame for Monday’s debacle “on the part of the leadership on the Democratic side, both in the House and in the Senate.”
Chambliss also managed to call the bill a “Democratic proposal,” rather than a measure initiated by the Bush administration.
But other than that, Chambliss more or less prepared Georgians for the fact that he intends to vote in favor of the measure, once it is revived in the House and moves to the Senate.
“Every single issue that we’ve asked to be address, has been addressed,” Chambliss said. “It may not have been exactly the way we liked it.
“For example, one of the things we were insistent on was the mark-to-market issue, so that community banks as well as major institutions could have the benefit of making sure that there homes were not going to be written up and deemed to be toxic loans if they had well performing borrowers,” he said.
“Mark to market” has been addressed somewhat in the bill, Chambliss said. Even so, the senator said, “If there’s a change to be made, on the House side before this bill comes to the senate, that’s an area where we can improve.”
See for yourself.
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WXIA/WMAZ poll: McCain-Obama race tightens in Georgia, Chambliss and Martin separated by 2 points
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WXIA in Atlanta and WMAZ in Macon have just put out a new SurveyUSA poll that indicates the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Georgia have tightened significantly during the economic free-fall.
Bottom line: The two TV stations say Republican John McCain, who had held a 16-point lead two weeks ago, is now polling 52 percent, with Democrat Barack Obama at 44 percent. Only 2 percent are undecided.
Margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percent, with 677 likely voters polled.
The biggest swings in the presidential race are among young voters and those with household incomes of less than $50,000.
Click here to get to some of the cross tabs.
One interesting statistic, simply because it reflects intensity:
Among the 9% of Georgia voters who say they have already voted, Obama leads by 29 points; among those who have not yet voted, McCain leads by 12.
But the real eye-opener may be the race between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. SurveyUSA says it’s now a two-point race, 46 percent to 44 percent. Libertarian Allen Buckley is at 5 percent.
That’s not dissimilar to the DSCC poll noted in this space yesterday, which put Chambliss at 37 percent, Martin at 34 percent, and Buckley at 3 percent.
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Chambliss: ‘Some’ Atlanta banks have stopped making car loans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a morning session with reporters, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said the credit crisis has already forced “some” banks in Atlanta to cut back on routine lending.
My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe filed this:
The first-term senator, who is running for re-election, said he has had confidential conversations with several bankers. Those bankers said the credit crunch and federal lawmakers’ inability to pass a rescue plan is quickly undermining their ability to do business, he said.
“There are some banks in Atlanta not making auto loans today,” Chambliss told reporters.
“Doing nothing is not the answer.”
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Olens: Georgia needs to move to odd-even gas rationing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sam Olens, the chairman of the Cobb County Commission and a prospective candidate for governor in 2010, offers some implied criticism of Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning with a suggestion that the state ration gasoline on an odd-even basis.
The following is today’s Marietta Daily Journal:
Sam Olens… spent 45 minutes on Sunday waiting to fill up the tank in his wife’s car, which was near empty. On Monday morning, Olens said he believed the state was not doing enough to address the gas crisis.
“The state should mandate an odd-even license plate or like system to discourage residents from trying to top off their fuel tank every day,” Olens said.
“What efforts are being made to solve this crisis?” he asked. “It is more than the governor. Where is the Agriculture Commissioner?”
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said Olens’ idea is a good one, having been used during the gas rationing of the 1970s. Isakson said Perdue has the power to decree an odd-even license plate system under the Emergency Powers Act.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, of Mableton, went further.
“The governor should order the National Guard to transport whatever fuel is necessary from wherever we have to go to get it,” Barnes said.
With Perdue overseas, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle was left to defend the status quo. This from today’s AJC:
At the Capitol on Monday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filled in for the governor, holding a news conference to talk about how state leaders are working with suppliers to get more fuel to Georgia.
Cagle, who is running to succeed the two-term governor in 2010, denied that state officials underestimated the magnitude of the gasoline shortage. He declined to comment when asked about the timing of Perdue’s trip to Europe.
“The crisis we are facing is severe. Nobody is more frustrated about this than I am,” Cagle told reporters.
And in the turmoil over the Wall Street bailout, not much attention has been given to this Sunday quote delivered by Newt Gingrich on ABC’s “This Week”:
”I was just in Atlanta yesterday. There is no gasoline — in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Chattanooga. It’s like a Third World country. For 35 years we have built no new refineries, it’s because we refused to invest in infrastructure.”
To top it all off, Tex Pitfield, the CEO of that Atlanta petroleum company, e-mailed the Insider this morning, wondering if — given the dismal outcome — the governor wishes he had, as Pitfield suggested, canceled the Georgia-Alabama game.
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‘Oh, my God.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the more dramatic moments of a stunning Monday in Washington occurred over the radio.
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) had just cast his vote in favor of the $700 billion Bush administration proposal to rescue Washington.
Marshall is in a Republican-leaning district, with well-funded opposition. President Bush has weighed in against him.
The day before, Sunday, at a caucus of Georgia Democrats, Marshall was adamant that he and other Democrats should support the measure. “I am willing to give up my seat over this,” he told his colleagues. It was that important, he thought, to the national economy and national security.
The quote leaked, and Marshall was a sought-after property in the hours before the House vote. The Insider talked to him at 1 p.m. Closer to 2 p.m., Marshall was on the phone with National Public Radio.
“That’s an accurate quote. I was trying to persuade my colleagues to support this bill,” Marshall told his radio interviewer.
“I don’t want to help out one whit the irresponsible people who have dragged us into this,” the congressman said. Still, Marshall called this the most important vote of his career.
“That’s truly what’s at stake here,” Marshall said.
At that point, his interview gave him the news: “This bill has just gone down to defeat in the House, and the Dow has gone down 700 points,” she said.
“Oh, my God,” Marshall said. And there was a long, long pause.
“Well,” he continued. “We voted to adjourn, subject to the chair, and I trust the speaker will be calling us back in session to see how this can be salvaged.
“I just hope that the damage that was predicted to be done if we weren’t able to pass something, does not occur. That the experts were wrong, and that we don’t see the kind of terrible problems the expert said we would see if we couldn’t pass something.”
Thus the interview ended.
Photo credit: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau
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Break out the salt shaker: Dems say Martin is within 3 points of Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While the rest of the world was fixed on the bailout — er, rescue — vote, the campaign of Jim Martin released a poll that showed the Democrat within three points of Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
The official tally was Chambliss at 37 percent, Martin at 34 percent. Libertarian Allen Buckley was at 3 percent.
The survey was conducted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sept. 24-28. Margin of error is 4 percent. The DSCC is a prime source of funding for Martin — or at least he hopes it is — so caveat emptor.
Even so, this is the poll that Martin is putting under the noses of prospective contributors. And there may be some truth in it, simply because it doesn’t necessarily put Martin in the best of lights.
In August, right after the run-off, a DSCC poll put the race at Chambliss, 42 percent; Martin, 36 percent; and Buckley, 3 percent.
In other words, the Martin campaign is confessing that, nearly two months later, their fellow has dropped slightly — but not as much as Chambliss. And a tight race is a tight race, especially in a period of economic turmoil.
The Wall Street issue is likely to dominate the final five weeks of the campaign. Chambliss has a press conference and PDK airport tomorrow morning. The topic is all but assured.
The other two candidates attended a forum in John’s Creek, sponsored by State Farm Insurance.
Martin led off the discussion by taking a shot at Chambliss, after noting the two were fraternity brothers at the University of Georgia in the 1960s, according to my AJC colleague Jim Tharpe, who was there.
“This isn’t personal,” Martin told the audience of 200. But Chambliss has been wrong for “blindly supporting” President Bush’s economic policies, he said.
“I’m disgusted with the Bush administration’s handling of our economy over the last eight years and the crisis this mismanagement has caused,” Martin said. He said he opposes the current bailout plan unless it proves more regulation for financial institutions and safeguards against predatory lending.
Buckley, a CPA and a lawyer, agreed with Martin on Chambliss’s performance, but said the Democrats are no better when it comes to dealing with the nation’s spiraling debt burden and looming financial problems. He said those problems will only multiply as Baby Boomers age and take advantage of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits.
“If there was ever a time in history you should consider a third party, it is now,” Buckley said. He added: “Jim (Martin) is a great guy, but he would just be another one of those Democrats in Congress.”
Buckley wants to close most overseas military bases, limit entitlements and get rid of the U.S. Department of Education.
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Eleven of 13 Georgia congressmen vote against Wall Street rescue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite last-minute cover offered by former U.S House speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia’s congressional delegation — both right and left — voted solidly against the $700 billion plan to rescue Wall Street.
Democrats Jim Marshall of Macon and Sanford Bishop of southwest Georgia voted in favor of the plan, which fell 205-228. Here’s the roll call.
Phil Gingrey, a Marietta Republican, told my Washington colleague Julia Malone that the House Republican leadership had called him minutes before the vote, pleading for his support.
“Our leadership weren’t elected by the people of our districts,” Gingrey said. He and other Georgia lawmakers have received a torrent of e-mails and phone calls from angry voters urging them to oppose what many considered a taxpayer bailout for firms that were guilty of greed or worse.
“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmallow stuck in the middle and I’m not going to eat that cow patty,” declared Paul Broun, the Athens Republican, as quoted in the New York Daily News.
Below are quick explanations on the vote, first from Democrats.
Said Hank Johnson of Decatur:
“Frankly, the president carries no credibility with me and that is one of the many reasons I opposed this reckless bailout proposal….The president has displayed an unnerving habit of making the wrong judgement, at the wrong time, so often that it is hard for me to believe him when he asks me to bail out his Wall Street allies to the tune of $700 billion, or more, all paid for by the American taxpayer.”
Said John Barrow of Savannah:
“There’s no doubt we need a solution to the economic crisis we are facing, but the plan that was before us today wasn’t good enough. It didn’t go far enough to prevent the taxpayers from having to foot the $700 billion bill. It didn’t go far enough to make sure that taxpayer dollars don’t end up in the pockets of Wall Street executives who ran their companies into the ground. And it didn’t go far enough to prevent foreign investors from making off with our money.”
Said David Scott of Atlanta:
“Bailing out Wall Street with $700 billion dollars of taxpayer money without a dime to help struggling homeowners is wrong,” stated Rep. Scott. “This is not just a Wall Street problem, this is a problem at the kitchen table of every family in America and this bill simply does not do enough to assist homeowners and keep their families in their homes.”
In Georgia, Jim Marshall is probably the one most exposed by Monday’s vote. His 8th District covers middle and south Georgia. It leans Republican, and he faces a decently funded candidate in Republican Rick Goddard.
At a Sunday caucus meeting of Georgia Democrats, Marshall attempted to persuade his colleagues to support the rescue plan, saying he was willing to gamble his seat on the issue.
Just before the House vote, he telephoned the Insider, and said this:
“Some members of Congress simply don’t understand the exposure and the threat. Some members of Congress don’t believe it. I’m afraid many of my colleagues understand it, but….I think it’s very unfortunate that as soon as the Bush administration presented their plan, all kinds of commentators for political gain hopped on it and characterized it as a bailout. And the public mind is sort of set….
“There is no way in hell I would bail out the jerks on either side of this. The irresponsible borrowers, the irresponsible lenders and investors. No way in hell would I do that.
“To the extend that this ends up helping them a little bit is incidental to the fact that this is needed, in my view, as an attempt to help all those bystanders, families, small businesses, individuals, retires, etc., who are just caught up in this — caught up in the mess these jerks have created.
“I’m not happy that I’m in these circumstances, but less happy that the country’s in these circumstances. And I’m just going to do what the right thing to do is, and I hope people will understand. I’ll do my best to explain it.
“Damned if I’m going to rescue these jerks. But I am absolutely willing to try to avoid almost every single economist has said — and that is an imminent crash of the credit markets. Which all economists agree means that we head almost certainly into a depression.”
Among Republicans, Lynn Westmoreland was the first to explain himself:
“I do believe that our nation faces great financial challenges right now, and I believe that Congress should act. But the House should not appropriate up to $700 billion for a bill that didn’t exist until a few days ago and that never went through one committee hearing. This legislation costs way too much to pass through Congress with so little scrutiny. If the process is broken, the product is flawed. Combined with war costs, other bailouts and the stimulus packages, we can’t afford to be wrong with a price tag this high.”
On the Senate side, neither Saxby Chambliss nor Johnny Isakson, both Republicans, seemed pleased by the measure’s failure.
Said Isakson:
“This is the most important issue we’ve faced in a half-century. Our country is struggling. Doing nothing is unacceptable. I hope cooler heads will come to the table so we can move forward with a proposal that is in the best interests of the American people, their savings and their future.”
Chambliss was slightly less critical:
“Obviously the House vote today puts everything in a state of uncertainty and complicates the issue of whether or not the Senate will vote on a financial rescue plan, and I am certainly concerned about the way the markets have responded to today’s vote. I believe failure by Congress to take action on the current financial crisis in the right way will have serious repercussions on Main Street. Something must be done, but any proposed legislation must protect our citizens and taxpayers and their economic well being first and foremost.”
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Newt Gingrich: ‘I would reluctantly and sadly vote for the bailout’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The following statement was just released by former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, who originally raised many of the doubts about the proposed Bush administration effort to rescue Wall Street — and who on Saturday called for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s resignation:
“I have sadly come to two painful conclusions.
“First, the crisis of the credit markets is real and could have horrendous consequences dislocating the world market, causing enormous economic pain, and discrediting free market capitalism for a generation.
“Second, as long as Secretary Paulson is in charge, it is impossible to get a creative or significantly better solution. The House Republicans, reinforced by John McCain, have improved this bill significantly so it is less bad than the original Paulson proposal. However, they cannot improve it more because of Paulson’s intransigence, which is an even greater obstacle to a good bill than the liberal Democrats who run the House and Senate.
“Therefore, while I am discouraged at the final collapse of the Bush Administration, and frustrated by the Democrats’ passion for the taxpayer’s money, I would reluctantly and sadly vote for the bailout were I still in office.
“I understand and sympathize with any member who votes no.
“The bill is not the best proposal for solving the crisis. It is not even a good proposal for solving the crisis.
“However it is the only proposal Secretary Paulson would support and his support was essential in this setting.”
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Creative Loafing parent company goes Chapter 11
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Creative Loafing Inc., the owner of Atlanta’s largest alternative newspaper, announced this morning that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The following is from Washington City Paper, another of its properties:
In a conference call with top company officials, Ben Eason, the company’s CEO, said that the step would allow the six papers in the Creative Loafing portfolio to establish a greater online presence while the company reorganizes its operations.
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House GOP members from Georgia likely to vote against bailout
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My colleague Julia Malone in Washington reports that House Republicans from Georgia met Sunday evening in the offices of U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta.
Aides say all seven were all leaning heavily against the bailout. Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville took the House floor Monday morning to denounce the bill as too rushed. “You cannot do this type of buyout — bailout of $700 billion without adequate hearings, without hearing other alternatives,” Westmoreland said.
Reports circulating out there say there will still be enough votes of approval among Republicans to give House Democrats comfort.
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U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall on bailout: ‘I am willing to give up my seat over this’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The vote to bailout Wall Street has become the $700 billion October surprise nobody wanted to see.
In Georgia, Republican members in the U.S. House have yet to tip their hands, but this morning’s New York Times has this — which could affect a mid-state congressional race:
Throughout Sunday, small groups of lawmakers could be found around the Capitol exchanging their views on the plan. Some said they were willing to take a political risk and back it.
One, Representative Jim Marshall, a Georgia Democrat facing a re-election contest, told colleagues in a private meeting that he would vote for the measure to bolster the economy. “I am willing to give up my seat over this,” Mr. Marshall said, according to another person who was there.
The architects of the plan said they realized they were calling on Congress to cast a tough vote since lawmakers might not get credit for averting a financial crisis since some constituents will not believe one was looming.
(Thanks to Sid Cottingham for catching the mention.)
In this morning’s Savannah Morning News, Walter Jones assesses the positions of candidates in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race:
— Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss wants a cap on executive compensation, and a panel to supervise the Treasury Department’s administration of the $700 billion. Both elements are in the current version. Chambliss also “insists that any money received from banks or investment companies getting bailed out would go entirely toward repaying taxpayers and not toward other financial mechanisms.”
— Democrat Jim Martin wants payments to mortgage borrowers rather than investment companies, which is not in the current package and isn’t likely to be. Martin also wants consumer protections against predatory lending and aggressive credit card tactics, which he says “triggered much of the crisis.” And he doesn’t think commercial and investment banks should be permitted to merge.
— Libertarian Allen Buckley agrees that some kind of action is necessary, which — given his party — needs to be noted. Buckley wants regulation of the Federal Reserve, which he said caused the borrowing spree by “dropping interest rates too low in 2001-02.” The Libertarian also says that “any person or company receiving funds from a bailout would be taxed an extra 15 percent above what they already owe until full repayment.
Finally, late Sunday afternoon, Sadie Fields, leader of the Georgia Christian Alliance, passed on some bailout demands important to social conservatives:
The current proposal is entirely unacceptable because it requires huge amounts to be skimmed off and funneled to ACORN, LaRaza, the Urban League and other leftist organizations before American taxpayers see a dime of it in the U.S. Treasury.
Obama was a “leadership trainer” with ACORN, which is the largest radical group in America and may be more radical than MoveOn.org and Code Pink. ACORN is currently under investigation for voter fraud.
Tell the following to our congressional delegation …
Delete these and similar provisions from the bail-out bill:
— Deposits. Not less than 20% of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).
— Use of Deposits. 65% shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act…; and 35% shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund…
— Remainder Deposited in the Treasury. All amounts remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.
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The case of the ‘profane’ mayor of Houston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chivalry reigns in our state Capitol. Not through a joust-happy Ivanhoe encased in polished armor, but via a bully-hating governor wrapped in a charcoal-gray suit.
Earlier this month, Hurricane Ike shouldered his way through Houston, leaving the Texas city paralyzed, powerless and sweat-soaked as residents waited — and waited — for promised deliveries of water, ice and food.
On the morning of Day 4, a Tuesday, Bill White, the mayor of Houston — a Democrat with ambition — happened upon the mustering area near Reliant Stadium and the Astrodome. He discovered a parking lot full of idling and idle trucks, loaded down with the stuff his people needed.
White has, in the words of a local reporter, a famous temper capable of breaking arms over the phone. The mayor himself confessed to a “General Patton” moment. Possibly he saw a “Ray Nagin” moment bearing down on him.
In any case, White spewed a mouthful of invective at a pair of female truck dispatchers, using many poetic phrases involving words that, appropriately enough, rhyme with truck.
The women were — and still are — employees of the Georgia Forestry Commission, part of a contingent of 36 that remain in the disaster area.
“They were angry and sort of demoralized,” said Joe Stinebaker, who came upon the women hours later. Stinebaker is spokesman for Ed Emmett, the Republican chief executive of Harris County, in which Houston sits.
Emmett, a Republican with a background in transportation logistics, personally apologized to the Georgia dispatchers for the mayor’s outburst. But Emmett would also stay in the mustering zone the entire night, reorganizing the distribution process.
Details of the incident remain sketchy, in part because Georgia officials have shielded the employees involved from press inquiries. But it’s clear that the women, who have yet to be identified, passed word of their experience to Georgia.
Robert Farris, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, described the dispatchers as highly trained professionals with experience in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“Our people are used to working with people under stress,” Farris said. “But we were disappointed in the mayor’s behavior and his assessment of the performance of our people.”
Enter Sonny Perdue, defender of the delicate flowers in our State Merit System. On Sept. 19, the Georgia governor took time away from his own state’s building gasoline crisis to send a letter of protest — not to the acid-tongued mayor of Houston, but to Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
“It has come to my attention that two of our female employees…were verbally and profanely abused by Houston Mayor Bill White,” Perdue wrote. “I would not tolerate the profane berating of Texas or Georgia volunteers here in our state and I trust that you do not either.”
Three days later, though Texas still reeled from Ike’s embrace, Perry took the time to smooth Perdue’s ruffled feathers with a reply.
The Texas governor, too, was “dismayed.” He called the women to apologize on behalf of his state, and in his letter, fervently hoped that the incident wouldn’t sour diplomatic relations between the two states.
But Perry didn’t pass word of Perdue’s written outrage to the mayor of Houston. That was left to a reporter, who somehow obtained a copy.
Upon reading it, Mayor White drafted his own letter of apology to Perdue. Kind of. Read it here.
Contrary to implications made by the Georgia governor in his complaint, the mayor said he was not carted off by law enforcement authorities after his tantrum. He left in a convoy of trucks filled with supplies.
“I apologize to anyone who believed my anger was directed at them, as opposed to the results of a supply system which simply did not work and left dozens of trailers in a parking lot, while tens of thousands of citizens, volunteers and employees waited throughout this region,” White wrote.
The morning after his performance, the mayor noted, all distribution centers were appropriately stocked.
Bert Brantley, spokesman for Perdue, gave assurances that the governor of Georgia had no motivation for writing his letter, save his outrage on behalf of two female employees.
But, of course, conspiracy theorists must have their say.
On paper, Perry may have wondered whether the cussing out of two Georgia employees would damage relations between the two states. But in reality, the governors of Texas and Georgia are close friends, and speak regularly. Perdue is the former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, a well-funded organization whose highest priority is the protection of GOP incumbents.
Perry succeeded Perdue as head of the RGA last year. The organization’s executive director is Nick Ayers, who was Perdue’s campaign manager in 2006.
And this guy Bill White, the free-speaking mayor of Houston? Talk in Texas is that the Democrat might run for governor in 2010. And Perry has said he intends to run for a third term.
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Dear Sheriff Hill: Ally-ally-out-in-free!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is puzzling. One one hand, you’ve got the Saturday edition of the Clayton News-Daily reporting that a sheriff has gone missing:
Gov. Sonny Perdue has ordered an investigation into reports that Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has abandoned his office.
Hill reportedly vacated the office when he lost his re-election bid in August. If the investigation confirms rumors of a cleared-off desk and an AWOL “chief law enforcement officer,” the governor could suspend the sheriff during the last two months of Hill’s term.
On the other hand, we know exactly where Hill was on Thursday: In federal court, tossing a wrench into a civil trial that is airing a man’s charges of false arrest. Hill blurted out information about the previous arrest record of the fellow who filed the lawsuit. A mistrial has been requested.
Photo credit: Johnny Crawford/AJC
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Tina Fey/Sarah Palin back on SNL: ‘Katie, I’d like to use one of my life lines’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tina Fey — with her Sarah Palin schtick — may be wreaking more havoc on a politician’s image than any comedian since Chevy Chase caricatured Gerald Ford as a good-hearted but bumbling fool:
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A little barnyard talk at last night’s debate?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Things may have gotten a little country during last night’s debate in Mississippi.
A YouTube video making the rounds catches Republican presidential nominee John McCain uttering an under-his-breath reference to what sounds like horse manure in response to a Barack Obama point about the prime minister of Spain.
Click here to see it. For mature audiences only.
On DailyKos, there’s defensive talk that instead of “horsestuff” — as it were — McCain said “course not,” with a sybilant “s” that sounds like “sh.”
Not that this is a huge thing — and ears can be tricky. But the Insider has done some lip-reading in his life, and the mouth muscles used to say “not” aren’t the same ones used to say, uh, manure.
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Gingrich: Bush doesn’t understand fiscal crisis, and treasury secretary should resign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, whose criticism helped spark a GOP revolt against the bail-out of Wall Street proposed by the Bush Administration, predicted Saturday that House Republicans would reluctantly support legislation that permits the federal government to purchase and isolate the tainted mortgages at the root of the current credit crisis.
But Gingrich had harsh words for President Bush, who he said doesn’t understand the situation, and for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who the former speaker said — for the first time — should resign.
The former Georgia congressman also demanded that the final version of be bill be posted on the Internet for 24 hours before Congress votes on the package.
“That will let you flush out the kind of hidden, secret deals that crop up, that the press finds two weeks after something’s been voted on,” he said.
In a solo interview during his American Solutions conference in Smyrna, Gingrich was asked whether House Republicans would bend on the basic issue of government intervention in the market.
Gingrich said:
“They may have to, in the end, tolerate some of this. Because in the end, you have the Democrats desperate for socialism now. You have an administration which, in my judgment, has lost its mind. That gives you two big elements. And you have Senate Republicans desperate to go along. I’m just being truly candid. Because I think the country ought to know what the pressures really are like.
“And you’ve got the House Republicans and John McCain prepared to stand on as much principle [as possible] — but in the end, I don’t think they’re going to be prepared to do nothing. Because they understand that next week, as long as the current situation….stays the way it is, you’re going to have a genuine credit crisis.”
In a discussion about the political impact of the House Republican revolt, Gingrich said history will view it as the moment that Republican presidential candidate John McCain took over the leadership of the national GOP from President Bush:
“I thought when John [McCain] came back, when he made the announcement he was coming back, you in effect had a transfer of leadership. Now, the president hasn’t conceded that.
“The president did a speech today, he did a speech Wednesday night, none of which I think are particularly helpful. Both because his standing now is so low, and because he’s so partisan and because I don’t think any serious person believes he understands this problem.
“Because it’s clear that Paulson and [White House chief of staff Joshua] Bolten, who are both Goldman Sachs alumni, have been giving him a very one-sided, Wall Street view of the world. I’m confident they never looked at eliminating ‘mark to market.’ And I’m confident they didn’t look at loaning rather than buying.”
“Mark to market” is an accounting measure that took effect last year, which forces companies to disclose information about the immediate market value of their assets. Gingrich says it has forced a “spiral” of devaluation; supporters of the practice say that it forces businesses to reveal poor investments, and is a mere scapegoat in the current debate.
Click here for a decent explanation of the topic from this week’s Washington Post.
One demand made by House Republicans has been a provision that gives the Treasury the power to issue government insurance for mortgage packages, as a way of reducing the upfront cost of the bail-out.
But Paulson, the Treasury secretary, has expressed little interest in this — leaving some to refer to the loan provision as window dressing needed for the sake of House Republican support.
Gingrich was not pleased by Paulson’s lack of enthusiasm:
“It’s a little bit like trying to get the car out of the ditch when the driver is determined to drive it into the swamp. I think Paulson is destructive. I think he ought to resign. I think this is bad for the country. I think his arrogance is unending. I think the fact that he’s saying publicly, ‘Well, you can give me that provision, I won’t ever use it,’ just tells you the bad faith that they have had at Treasury from Day One.
“But you end up in a reality. The reality is the current president, the current secretary of the treasury, the current liberal Democrats — and I think what you’re going to see is that a totally bad deal became marginally bad deal.
“But it’s probably impossible, without the president getting a new secretary of the treasury, to get to a good deal. Which I think’s just tragic, and bad for the country. We’re taking an immediate tummy ache, and we’re in danger of turning it into cancer.”
One year ago, Gingrich announced he would not enter the 2008 race for president.
But twice this year, the former U.S. House speaker has had a large hand in setting the terms of a national debate. This spring, it was the issue of high gasoline prices and off-shore drilling, which McCain and other Republicans have used to force concessions from Democrats.
Gingrich said he got involved in the bail-out issue after a trip to California:
“I was out in Silicon Valley Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, talking to people. It was clear to me that the entrepreneurial venture capitalists out there thought this whole thing was nuts. That Paulson made no sense to them. And I came and began work on Saturday on a series of things. I posted something on National Review Online and I sent it out to my hundred closest friends in Congress.”
Gingrich said he’s got no regrets about bowing out of a White House race. “You don’t have time to learn and think and put this stuff together if you’re the candidate,” he said.
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ABC News comes to Valdosta: ‘Let’s not let them make any hay…or dirt,’ says the mayor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Charlie Gibson and ABC News are headed down to south Georgia next week, to gauge the impact of the presidential race.
When Big Media comes to a small town, mayors get nervous. At least John Fretti in Valdosta did.
After a conversation with an ABC producer, Mayor Fretti was unimpressed. He fired off a Sept. 18 memo to the Valdosta City Council that has been circulated widely:
Gentlemen, it is obvious that ABC news is trying to create and report on a social and political train wreck in our community that isn’t happening (as far as I know).
I don’t offer any advice than this: talk to them or don’t talk to them if they call, but be very wary of their premise and tactics. She seemed disappointed that I haven’t noticed a fervor, yard signs or “fighting in the street” and I told her that she’s not going to portray our community as a Small Town in the South that is socially and politically split over a National election and that we are always cordial and polite here and our community is intact. If any of you choose to say otherwise, then that is your choice….
Let’s not let them make any hay…or dirt.
The entire e-mail can be read on the jump, as can the local Chamber of Commerce’s attempt to get the facts and smooth things over, and ABC’s declaration that they come in peace.
One thing you need to note for context’s sake: Fretti is white. Mayor pro tem Willie Head is African-American.
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From: John Fretti
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 7:04 PM
To: VLD-City Council; Larry Hanson; Mara Register; Sementha Mathews
Subject: ABC News-Charlie Gibson
Council,
I received a call today from [Caren Zucker] of ABC news wanting to come to Valdosta to supposedly take the pulse of the community regarding the upcoming Presidential election. As the conversation continued it was easy to recognize that ABC news is attempting to and I quote, “see how divided our community has become over the election”. It is also apparent that without knowing how Mayor Pro Tem [Willie] Head or I personally feel about the election that she wants to pit us against one another because, as she said “we are a mixed community and a mixed Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem and we certainly must be overtly disagreeing on this race” I was insulted. She also said that the local democratic party has stated in a youtube spot that the election will change our community forever.” I haven’t seen that spot and I certainly think that Dr. Marks and Attorney Gaskins meant that in the most positive way — if they even said that.
Gentlemen, it is obvious that ABC news is trying to create and report on a social and political train wreck in our community that isn’t happening (as far as I know).
I don’t offer any advice than this: talk to them or don’t talk to them if they call, but be very wary of their premise and tactics. She seemed disappointed that I haven’t noticed a fervor, yard signs or “fighting in the street” and I told her that she’s not going to portray our community as a Small Town in the South that is socially and politically split over a National election and that we are always cordial and polite here and our community is intact. If any of you choose to say otherwise, then that is your choice. She is asking to speak to Willie and I asked Sementha to give Willie her number — not Willie’s number to her. That is normal protocol.
If this is disturbing to you, then try to pre-[empt]this by talking to your constituents and friends.
I find it so distasteful when people try to portray us in a negative fashion as they either see in Hollywood or in their mind-having never been here. ABC news is hoping to come to Valdosta next Friday and Charlie Gibson the following Friday. Let’s not let them make any hay…or dirt.
I will try to have a follow up if needed next week.
Sincerely and respectfully,
John
From: “Myrna Ballard” [president, Valdosta Chamber of Commerce]
To: “John Fretti”
Subject: The Latest on ABC News…PLEASE READ
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:55:06 +0000
Hello everyone!
Well….if our Mayor is concerned…the Chamber is concerned.
When I received the Mayor’s email, I contacted the News Director for the ABC affiliate in Tallahassee (Keith Wheeler), who was in town earlier this week with ABC World News Producer Sean Smith and Stu Schutzman to scout anchor venues for Charlie Gibson’s broadcast on Oct. 3. I did not share the Mayor’s email with Keith (or anyone else), but I did share with Keith the Mayor’s concerns regarding ABC’s plans for Valdosta. Keith also was very concerned, and arranged a conference call with Caren Zucker, the ABC producer who spoke with the Mayor. I just got off the phone with Keith and Caren.
Caren assured me that Valdosta was chosen because we are a well-integrated community racially, which makes us a good, representative community for ‘checking the pulse’ of voters in the upcoming elections. ABC was looking for a progressive, vibrant, racially balanced community, and we fit the bill. I believe she is sincere.
Caren asked me, “How can I fix this?” I asked her to write me an email, outlining her plans for Valdosta. She seemed genuinely concerned and sorry that she had given the impression that ABC was looking for a negative story. She seemed to understand that her use of the term “battleground” could easily be misinterpreted. Please see her email below. Thanks, John, for looking after your City.
I’m ready to welcome ABC to Valdosta. Let’s show them just how progressive, vibrant, and hospitable we really are!
Myrna
BELOW IS THE LETTER FROM ABC NEWS
Dear [Myrna],
Thank you so much for contacting me and letting me know that there may have been some misunderstanding about ABC’s plans for coming to Valdosta.
Charlie Gibson and some of his producers will be taking a bus tour to some of the battleground states reporting on the upcoming Presidential elections - for example: Orlando,Florida, Dayton, Ohio, and numerous other states including Valdosta, GA. We are excited about coming to Valdosta as it is a beautiful, diverse community - that stands out in Georgia as a cosmopolitan southern town.
I was planning on coming next Friday to do some preliminary taping of general scenes of town , scenery, etc.” The Director of the Board of Elections Deb Cox suggested that I come and shoot at her headquarters as there has been a HUGE increase in voter registration. I was also planning to shoot the Wild Cat Football team Friday night, as it is a great example of how a community comes together to have the winning most HS football team in the nation.
Our plan is to come out and shoot some of the beauty and landmark areas of the town and get a sense of what the election means to this community. At this point in time we think we may have Charlie do the show in front of Valdosta State University on Friday the 3rd.. I was also hoping that you might be able to set me up with some people that Charlie could chat with on that Friday morning to get their feeling and thoughts on the upcoming election. He is looking forward to talking to people in the community .
I hope we can talk soon and set all of this up.
Many thanks for your help,
Caren
Caren Zucker
Producer
World News with Charles Gibson
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A conservative, female call for Sarah Palin to drop out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a piece now posted on National Review Online, conservative and nationally syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker is advising Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to drop out:
Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.
No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.
Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there…..
If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself….
McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate…..Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.
With this, and with Mike Huckabee saying that McCain made a “huge mistake” by raising the possibility that he wouldn’t show up, you’ve got to wonder if some lug nuts aren’t coming loose on the Straight Talk Express.
Photo credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
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McCain says tonight’s debate is on; Huckabee calls his dithering a ‘huge mistake’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just in from the Republican presidential campaign of John McCain:
“The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.”
Read the building story here.
CNN has just posted an item in which Republican Mike Huckabee, who won Georgia’s presidential primary, called McCain made a “huge mistake” by raising the possibility that he wouldn’t show up.
“You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything,” Huckabee told the Associated Press.
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Gas prices, economy making Georgia’s GOP leadership a little less likeable
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gas prices and the economy have resulted in a significant drop in approval for the state’s Republican leaders, according to a poll touted by InsiderAdvantage.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has an approval rating of 52 percent. Usually he’s at 60 percent or beyond.
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is at 49 percent (Democrat Jim Martin at 38 percent); U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, 47 percent; and the General Assembly, 29 percent.
Perhaps sensing an opening created by the financial turmoil in New York and Washington, the Democratic leadership of the Legislature late Thursday again called for a special session to handle budget woes — and demanded that the governor cancel a trade mission to Europe that begins Saturday.
“Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle say a special session to address the collapse of state revenues and the perverted spending priorities spawned by the governor’s budget choices would be too costly. But now the governor, just off the plane from a trip to Texas, is jetting off again to Europe,” said state Sen. Robert Brown of Macon. “I wonder how many of Georgia’s war veterans could be cared for with the money being used to fly the governor’s party to China, Europe, and other exotic locales.”
Bert Brantley, a spokesman for the governor, said Perdue considered “all the options that were there” — which presumably included canceling the trip.
“We actually reduced the size of the delegation going because of the budget concerns, and because of the budget cuts,” Brantley said. “But this is an essential function. There are projects in Europe that we are working with very closely. Literally, we could announcements of jobs and investments in the next few months.”
“There’s not much we can do about the timing, but it’s still the right decision to go,” Brantley said in an interview on WGAU (1340AM) in Athens.
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The Insider is all a-Twitter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Want instant notices on new postings? The Political Insider can now send you instant links to your cell phone or BlackBerry via Twitter.
Go to http://twitter.com/politicalinsidr (in this poor economy, the letter ‘e’ has gotten far too pricey) and sign-up as a follower.
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‘Drill here, drill now’ has paid off — for McCain, and for Gingrich’s group
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich hosts his second annual American Solutions gathering at the Cobb Galleria on Saturday.
Gingrich touts his group as a non-partisan, intellectual clearinghouse that just happens to provide Republican candidates a good many talking points.
Look for the Wall Street bailout to be a big topic at the free event, even though John McCain has profited more by chanting American Solution’s mantra of “Drill here, drill now.”
Gingrich hasn’t done that badly by it, either. Says the Center for Public Integrity:
The slogan “Drill here. Drill now. Pay less.” is fueling Gingrich’s American Solutions for Winning the Future, a so-called 527 group not subject to federal campaign finance law and its limits on donations. So far this election cycle, it has raised $13.1 million; only two other 527 groups, both liberal, have collected more money, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
While the sum pales beside the cash amassed by the largest of the 527s that so dominated the political landscape during the 2004 presidential race, American Solutions has raised more funds than the best-known unregulated conservative political group raised at the same point four years ago: Swift Vets and POWs for Truth. The Swift Vets, which ultimately spent $19.3 million on TV advertising attacking Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military record, had raised only $8.8 million by the end of September 2004.
Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson remains Gingrich’s biggest financial backer. He’s donated $4.6 million — of that, $750,000 came in August.
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Trouble brewing: McCain says ‘there never existed a deal’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The following statement was just issued by the Republican presidential campaign of John McCain. The key is this phrase: “There never existed a ‘deal’”…..
To wit:
To address our current financial crisis, John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington, D.C., today to help build a bipartisan consensus for a proposal that would protect the American taxpayer.
Despite today’s news reports, there never existed a “deal,” but merely a proposal offered by a small, select group of Members of Congress. As of right now, there exists only a series of principles, including greater oversight and measures to address CEO pay. However, these principles do not enjoy a consensus in Congress.
At today’s cabinet meeting, John McCain did not attack any proposal or endorse any plan. John McCain simply urged that for any proposal to enjoy the confidence of the American people, stressing that all sides would have to cooperate and build a bipartisan consensus for a solution that protects taxpayers.
However, the Democrats allowed Senator Obama to run their side of the meeting. That did not work as the meeting quickly devolved into a contentious shouting match that did not seek to craft a bipartisan solution.
At this moment, the plan that has been put forth by the Administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect that taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.
The bottom line is that as of tonight, there are not enough Republican or Democrat votes for the current plan. However, we are still optimistic that a bipartisan solution will be found. Republicans and Democrats want a deal that will protect the taxpayers.
Tomorrow, John McCain will return to Capitol Hill where he will work with all sides to build a bipartisan solution that protects taxpayers and keeps Americans in their homes.
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Petroleum exec says governor should cancel Georgia-Alabama football game to save gas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In an op-ed piece on Wednesday in the AJC, Tex Pitfield, president and CEO of Saraguay Petroleum in Atlanta, said Gov. Sonny Perdue ignored a warning from Pitfield to invoke gasoline rationing well before Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast and its refineries.
Pitfield had another suggestion today.
In a radio interview, the petroleum company chief said he’d advise Perdue to cancel Saturday’s game Georgia-Alabama, to prevent the burning of the precious gasoline required to move a hundred thousand and more people into Athens and out again.
The business executive, obviously not a Perdue fan, also takes a shot at the governor for leaving on a trade mission to Europe on Saturday. (Which means he’ll miss a tremendous game.)
You Bulldogs can rest easy. The game will go on. But you might want to make sure the tank is full before you set out for nirvana.
“The governor is not going to consider a ridiculous idea like this,” Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said late Thursday. “We’re also not going to stop living our lives. People understand there are common-sense things they can do.”
Watching Georgia-Alabama on TV is not one of them.
Tim Bryant, the radio host at WGAU (1340AM) in Athens, was kind enough to send us the sound clip of his interview with Pitfield. Listen to the interview here.
But this is the gist of the exchange:
Bryant: This town explodes on game day weekends. The roads get clogged, people pour in from all corners. What are they going to find when they get here?
Pitfield: If I was governor, I’d cancel the game. That is just a huge amount of gasoline, that this structure, this system, this state cannot handle the expenditure on right now.
That gas needs to be used for people to go to work, and for people to take care of their families. I did the same thing with my tennis team yesterday. I told them that I wasn’t going to start wasting gas to go play tennis.
And I’m sorry. I know I’ve got a target on me right now by a couple hundred thousand football fans. Game should be canceled. People need to stay home…..
Bryant: Our local economy depends so much on the dollars that are generated by that kind of traffic.
Pitfield: I don’t think we have even begun to see the blood on the streets that this is going to produce. I think you’re going to see a number of small gasoline stations fail. I would think you may see some distributors fail.
There’s no question that we’ve already seen a number of transportation companies fail. It’s a far bigger puzzle than just the cost of fuel — but the availability of fuel. People can’t hang on much longer. This is getting really bad.
I’m amazed that the governor of Georgia, who for all intents and purposes, is the president and CEO of a multi-billion-dollar corporation — and the corporation is on its knees. It’s been given the death blow.
And here he is, he’s jetting off to Europe on Saturday with complete abandon.
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Says Towery: Zell Miller considered a 2004 race for the White House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a new book about the 2008 race for the White House, Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage says that, four years earlier, Zell Miller considered jumping into the race as an independent.
The following tidbit was posted this morning:
“Zell didn’t want to hurt Bush. In fact, he thought a third-party effort might move more moderate Democrats away from Bush’s opponent … His real motivation was to push for a whole set of issues he thought the national Democrats had abandoned. That included his initiative to see the so-called ‘Black Belt’ - an area of the South that is predominantly African-American and has been stuck in poverty for generations - receive almost a ‘Marshall Plan’ degree of assistance to pull folks out of the trap of poverty, poor health care, and substandard education.”
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The people Obama needs to win: White high school graduates who may or may not go to church
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Democratic Leadership Council this morning issued a report on the swing voters Barack Obama will need to push him over the finish line in November.
Not surprisingly, says the DLC, Obama’s fate rests in the hands of “white voters with at least a high school education, but no college degree.”
The DLC, you’ll recall, is dedicated to pushing the party toward the center and has produced the likes of Bill Clinton and Chuck Robb.
Click here to read the entire document. The part that hardcore Obamites are likely to dispute is the DLC’s contention that the American voting population remains unchanged — as of 2006.
Supporters say Obama has brought a new cast of characters — younger, more people of color — into the voting process.
That said, put this in your mind: Remember that family next to yours when you grew up — the one where the wife went to church, but the husband scoffed and stayed home to catch the kick-off? That’s the swing family that Obama needs, says the DLC:
A typical female voter in that category will likely be between 30 and 59 years old, married with no children living at home, a Republican or independent, moderate or conservative, not a member of a union, pro-life, and for smaller government. She’s most likely to live in a suburb in the South and have a gun in her household. Finally, she’s more likely to be a Catholic and a weekly churchgoer.
Her male counterpart has only a slightly different profile. He’s also likely to be between 30 and 59 years old, live in a suburb or small town in the South or Midwest , and be married with no children living at home. He’s likely to be a Republican or independent, moderate or conservative, not a member of a labor union, pro-life, and in favor of smaller government. Finally, he’s most likely to be a Protestant, but not a weekly churchgoer.
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She’s taller than McCain, but otherwise you’d think they’re twins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said he won’t debate Democrat Barack Obama on Friday.
Not to worry.
A stunt double has already raised her hand and volunteered her services as a stand-in at the Oxford, Miss., forum.
“If John McCain wants to bow out, I’m willing to step in and take his podium on Friday,” said Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, the former Georgia congresswoman. “The financial meltdown won’t come any closer to a resolution because a presidential debate is postponed. Now is the best time for Americans to see how prepared their leaders are to handle emergencies.”
McKinney isn’t alone. This morning, the campaign of Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Read it here. The letter from Barr campaign manager Russ Verney says:
“Bob Barr, Libertarian candidate for president, is prepared to participate in Friday night’s planned presidential debate. Former congressman Barr is on the ballot in at least 46 states, far more than is necessary to theoretically win 270 electoral votes.
“Congressman Barr’s participation will provide a substantive and vigorous debate of the issues facing our nation.”
Ralph Nader, the independent candidate for president, has volunteered, too, according to other web sites.
Photo credit: Jenni Girtman/AJC
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Talking points emerge: Newt Gingrich takes John McCain’s side on halting debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker who’s been arguing against the Bush Administration’s bail-out plan, just came out hard in support of Republican John McCain’s call for postponing Friday’s presidential debate.
“He put everything on the line to try to put together a bipartisan sizable economic package to replace the failed Paulson bailout package,” Gingrich said in a statement just issued by his people. “This is the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate and rivals President Eisenhower saying, ‘I will go to Korea.’”
About Democrat Barack Obama’s contention that the debate should go on, Gingrich said:
“It is surprisingly irresponsible and politically dangerous for the Obama campaign to try and insist on a debate Friday night….
“The American people, in this kind of economic situation, want to see their elected leaders working to solve this crisis, not debating…I’m not sure Senator Obama has ever participated in a crisis of this magnitude at this level, but he should set aside politicking and commit to working with Senator McCain to find a solution to this problem.”
Read the entire Gingrich statement on the jump.
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Newt on Senator McCain’s Decision to Suspend His Campaign to Forge an Agreement on the Financial Crisis:
The McCain Leadership Factor
Today John McCain showed what it meant to put country first.
He put everything on the line to try to put together a bipartisan sizable economic package to replace the failed Paulson bailout package.
This is the greatest single act of responsibility ever taken by a presidential candidate and rivals President Eisenhower saying, ‘I will go to Korea.’
Every House and Senate Republican should join him in seeking the best ideas and the best solutions from across the country.
This is the day the McCain-reform Republican Party began to truly emerge as a movement which puts country first, solutions first, and big change first.
If House and Senate Republicans can help McCain put together a three part economic package history could be made.
We need:
— An economic growth component;
— An energy solution; and
— A work-out (not a bail-out) for the financial sector.
If McCain can develop this plan, bring enough Democrats to support it to get passage, and then convince President Bush to sign it, this will be one of the most amazing achievements in the history of presidential campaigns.
It will also be a great service to the country and proof of what putting country first really means.
Newt on Senator Obama Refusing to Suspend His Campaign:
As Speaker of the House, I know what being in deep negotiations is and what it takes to get members in Congress to get something done. We were able to work through welfare reform and a balanced budget. Let me just tell you first hand, what Senator McCain is proposing will take extraordinary hard work and it is going to take many long hours.
It is surprisingly irresponsible and politically dangerous for the Obama campaign to try and insist on a debate Friday night.
While both of these men are candidates for president, they are still both currently serving as United States Senators. The American people, in this kind of economic situation, want to see their elected leaders working to solve this crisis, not debating. They want this problem fixed and that will mean getting real bipartisan agreement. .All members on both sides in both houses including Senators McCain and Obama are going to have to roll up their sleeves, sit down, listen to each-other, and work very hard to get it done.
I’m not sure Senator Obama has ever participated in a crisis of this magnitude at this level, but he should set aside politicking and commit to working with Senator McCain to find a solution to this problem.
The economy can’t wait, postpone the debate. We can get back to talking later. For the moment, let’s produce a real solution for America.
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Ousted Jekyll board member alleges corruption, wants a grand jury investigation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, Ed Boshears of Brunswick got a call from the office of Gov. Sonny Perdue, informing the attorney that he would not be reappointed to the Jekyll Island Authority.
Instead, Perdue had decided to name retiring state Rep. Richard Royal (R-Camilla) to the board.
Boshears has been a vocal critic — not of the idea of redeveloping state-owned Jekyll Island — but the manner in which it is being done.
He tapped out a letter. A long letter. One that accused the Perdue administration of engineering a sweetheart deal with a big Republican donor with strong connections to George W. Bush and, now, John McCain.
Boshears calls for a grand jury investigation and demands that Perdue “cease any involvement at all in the management and control of Jekyll Island.” He wants two of his colleagues removed for unethical activity.
A spokesman for the governor said Boshears’ allegations are untrue. “None of these things are based in reality,” said Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley.
Brantley also said Boshears was not removed for any particular reason. “This appointment is about Representative Royal and the good work that he’s going to bring to the authority,” Brantley said.
Royal was unavailable for comment — he underwent heart bypass surgery this morning.
Click here to download a copy of the entire letter. The governor has been sent a copy. Attorney General Thurbert Baker has received one, too, we’re told. But in part, Boshears said this:
“This was intended to be a massive give-away of State property to Mercer Reynolds, Finance Chairman for John McCain’s presidential campaign. This would have amounted to the greatest theft of State property since the Yazoo land frauds 200 years ago.
“Now, when Reynolds and his group are preparing to offer a new plan, the Governor has decided to remove me from the Jekyll Board. The reasons for that are obvious.”
Boshears accused the governor of accepting “presumably” free vacations from a potential investor. The attorney said his colleagues on the authority secretly negotiated a deal with the owners of land once occupied by the Buccaneer Hotel.
Wrote Boshears:
These developers, like Linger Longer, have close political connections to the Republican Party. Mr. [Ben] Porter and [board chairman Robert] Krueger sought to prevent me from finding out about the terms of this agreement.
Another new hotel being built will be paying 4% of gross revenue to the Authority as rent while these developers of the Buccaneer site will be paying 0% of revenue to the Authority. This “sweetheart” deal will cost the Authority $10,000,000.00 that we desperately need.
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First thoughts on McCain’s call to delay presidential debates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican John McCain says he’s directed his staff to work with Barack Obama’s campaign and the presidential debate commission to delay Friday’s debate — because of the economic crisis.
“It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration’s proposal,” McCain said. “I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time,” McCain said.
Not to be too cynical, but here’s McCain’s dilemma:
Yes, the topic of Friday’s debate is national security, as many of you have pointed out. But given the attention that the Wall Street situation has earned, it would be unrealistic not to expect the two candidates to be questioned about it. At some point, the economy is a national security issue.
Opposition is building among conservative Republicans to a federal bailout. Newt Gingrich is among the leaders. See a previous post here.
Remember that Vice President Dick Cheney was given an earful by the House GOP caucus on Tuesday when he tried to sell the Bush package. Georgia GOP members are among the skeptical.
Presume that Democrats, because they control Congress, will get the protections they deem necessary to earn their approval. For instance, the New York Times is reporting that the Bush Administration is now willing to concede the issue of limits on executive pay.
But Republican qualms are ideologically based, and unlikely to be satisfied.
Should McCain endorse the package — as U.S. senators, both he and Obama will be asked to vote on it — then the Republican risks alienating a GOP base that was just won back by the nomination of Sarah Palin as vice president.
Vote against it, and McCain chances giving Obama the most important issue of the campaign.
CNN and ABC News is reporting that Obama is less than inclined to postpone the debate.
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Isakson, Price and Linder make ‘50 richest in Congress’ list
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and U.S. Reps. Tom Price and John Linder have made Roll Call’s list of 50 richest members of Congress.
Isakson, worth $8.2 million, came in at No. 38, behind the likes of Teddy Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat. That state’s other senator, John Kerry, topped the list compiled by the D.C. newspaper.
According to Roll Call:
Isakson reports a stable fortune, increasing his net worth less than 2 percent over his 2006 values….
The lawmaker’s assets include a mix of real estate and stocks, including Synovus, a financial services company. Isakson lists an investment of $1 million to $5 million in the company.
Price, a resident of Roswell, came in at No. 42. He’s worth $6.99 million. Despite the downturn, and with much of his money invested in annuities, Price has had a good year.
“The Georgia lawmaker’s net worth increased nearly 15 percent, or about $1 million, in the past year,” the newspaper said.
Linder, who hails from Duluth, is worth $5.67 million. He had a capital gain of more than $5 million from his 2007 sale of holdings in Grayling Industries, Roll Call reported.
All that said, the newspaper’s piece opened with this warning:
Everything that you are about to read might be wrong.
Roll Call’s annual attempt to rank the riches of Members of Congress is hampered by one fundamental flaw: It is based on the lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms, which are extraordinarily unreliable sources of information.
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Petroleum chief: Perdue ignored early call for gas rationing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the editorial pages of today’s AJC, Tex Pitfield, president and CEO of Saraguay Petroleum in Atlanta, has this barb for Gov. Sonny Perdue:
As we go to work today, the number of gas stations out of gas will have escalated and the situation won’t abate much over the coming weeks. This shortage, for the most part, was avoidable.
I advised Gov. Sonny Perdue of the impending crisis on Sept. 11, well before Hurricane Ike made landfall. I suggested that the state implement rationing of some form or, perhaps, limiting purchases at the pump. While he acknowledged my concerns, my suggestions fell on deaf ears.
Although Perdue’s office announced a waiver Friday night, allowing other gasoline into the Atlanta area, the intricacies woven into the waiver made it basically impossible for carriers or stores to benefit.
The state has now gotten approval for a broader waiver, but this should have been done weeks ago. During Katrina and Rita, this waiver was granted unconditionally and immediately, when shortages were not as apparent as they are today.
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Democrats may spank Chambliss for dumping on refinery whistleblower
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a piece posted on InsiderAdvantage this morning, Hastings Wyman says that Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss is still the safe bet in Georgia’s race for the U.S. Senate.
But Wyman also points to “some factors that suggest Chambliss’ challenger, former legislator Jim Martin, may do better than expected.”
And he also has this tidbit:
There are unconfirmed reports that the Democrats plan to attack Chambliss for his role in a US Senate hearing on the sugar refinery explosion in Savannah in which 13 workers were killed.
Some observers felt that Chambliss stuck up for the Imperial Sugar Company, rather than a whistle-blower who had reportedly warned company officials early on of potential safety problems. So far, however, the attack has not materialized.
Here’s an original post on the topic, from back in July.
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Libertarian idol Ron Paul endorses someone who’s not Bob Barr
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark down Tuesday as a tough day for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
First, the Texas Supreme Court refused to play along with Barr’s contention that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain deserved a spot on that state’s ballot.
Then, this afternoon, Barr found out exactly how badly he ticked off Ron Paul when the former Georgia congressman boycotted a kumbaya-minded press conference in Washington, called by the former Republican presidential candidate, that featured other third-party candidates.
Today, on his blog, Paul — whose devoted followers have been seen as a force that could be transferred to Barr in November — endorsed another candidate: Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party.
Wrote Paul, with a great deal of acid:
The Libertarian Party Candidate admonished me for “remaining neutral” in the presidential race and not stating whom I will vote for in November.
It’s true; I have done exactly that due to my respect and friendship and support from both the Constitution and Libertarian Party members. I remain a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and I’m a ten-term Republican Congressman.
It is not against the law to participate in more then one political party. Chuck Baldwin has been a friend and was an active supporter in the presidential campaign….
I’ve thought about the unsolicited advice from the Libertarian Party candidate, and he has convinced me to reject my neutral stance in the November election. I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.
Some of you are asking why all this fuss about a third-party presidential bid. Who cares? you ask.
Barack Obama cares.
The Insider had occasion to talk to one of his supporters today about the Democratic presidential candidate’s diminished — at least for the moment — prospects in Georgia.
When the Obama campaign went into Georgia this spring, three ingredients were eyed, this supporter reminded the Insider: Money, volunteers and Barr.
Obama found cash enough in Georgia. Volunteers were no problem. But what’s been missing is a Barr campaign capable of wheedling from Republican John McCain enough votes of protest to put the state in play.
That was never in Obama’s control. In large part, Barr’s fate has been in Paul’s hands.
In Georgia and elsewhere, the economy could yet give Obama an edge that Barr hasn’t been able to. But it would be a much easier road for Obama were Barr the candidate that Paul might have made him.
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House Republicans from Georgia voicing qualms about bail-out plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta was the voice of doubt this morning, after Republican congressmen heard a sales pitch from Vice President Dick Cheney on the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
Cheney met behind closed doors with all House Republicans today to urge support for the administration’s plan to buy troubled investments from financial institutions to prevent a lending freeze. Some Republican lawmakers said the caucus wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Hardly anyone in that room has decided yet how they’re going to vote on this,” said Representative Phil Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, after meeting with Cheney in the House Cannon Office Building.
This issue, like others, has highlighted a division between Georgia’s two senators and House Republicans.
“I believe congressional action is not only necessary but essential,” Isakson said Monday. Saxby Chambliss said something similar.
But here’s U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens: “I am extremely skeptical about the federal government nationalizing a huge section of our financial services. … Socialism has never worked and will not work.”
And Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County: “If this is rushed through without scrutiny, I will oppose this bill.”
And Jack Kingston of Savannah: “I’m leaning against it.”
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Let’s you and him fight over school vouchers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Poythress called. The only announced Democratic candidate for governor wanted to pick a fight with Eric Johnson over school vouchers.
“To re-direct public money from public education into unregulated private entities with the magical expectation that somehow the private sector was going to remedy all the education problems in the state — that’s just wrong. It’s not going to happen,” Poythress said.
Johnson, currently the Senate president pro tem, has seized on the voucher issue as a likely ticket to the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010.
To set the stage:
Johnson is to propose legislation in January that would put Georgia in the forefront of the school-choice movement. The current budget shortfall forcing a sharp contraction of state services won’t deter him, a staffer said this afternoon — since there would be no increase in funding.
How much parents would receive to send their darlings to the school of their choice is a bit fuzzy. Figures have ranged from $4,000 to $10,500. The latter figure is the averaged total invested in each Georgia student — a combination of federal, state and local dollars.
In a July speech, Johnson said this:
”We must maximize school choice and allow tax dollars spent on education to follow the child.
“Imagine this - What if every child’s parents were given a debit card (an “E-card” like the health care card that many have) with $10,500 on it for a year’s worth of education?
“Most of it would go to the school selected by the parent, but some could go to tutoring, books and computers. We can assign a personalized budget to each child and then let the parent use it to buy the best school and resources available for their child.
“That’s not how we do it now. Today, the state funds the local systems and the systems fund programs. We do not fund children. ….
Poythress uses somewhat different dollar figures, but nonetheless calls hogwash:
“I wouldn’t say that there’s absolutely no voucher system that would ever work. I would say that the one he is proposing is very, very unworkable. And in my judgment, extremely counterproductive.
“For one thing, it would produce two classes of schools. There would be private and wealthy schools, and there would be under-funded public schools. I think that is extremely bad as a matter of strategic public policy.
“See, the trap in this thing is, the $5,000 that is being proposed is not enough to cover private education. I don’t know of any private school that costs [only] $5,000. So the only people who would be in a position to take the $5,000 are people who are already well-off enough to pay the difference….
“The result is you’d have taxpayer money falling into the hands of the more well-to-do population, so they could send their children to private schools. And everybody else would end up sending their children to public schools, which would be correspondingly under-funded.
“It is plainly a recipe for failure.”
Poythress, of course, is a retired adjutant general and will have no say-so in the matter within the confines of the Legislature.
Other Democrats — who also have 2010 ambitions — will have a better view. House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin, for instance.
Which makes Poythress’ entry into this particular fray, from the outside, an interesting development.
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Texas says Barr can’t appear alone on its ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Texas Supreme Court has just thrown cold water on Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr’s dream of shoving Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain off that state’s ballot.
Here’s the first report from our sister paper in the state capital, the Austin American-Statesman:
The Texas Supreme Court this morning rejected Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr’s request that the court toss the major-party nominees off the Nov. 4 ballot in Texas. Barr argued that the candidates weren’t yet nominees before a state deadline for submitting the names of nominees to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
The court’s ruling came without an opinion….
The action came less than a day after parties to the challenge, including political parties and the state, filed briefs objecting to the removal of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain from the ballot.
Click here to see the very brief decision for yourself.
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Guns in churches: Penalties would drop from a felony to a fine for trespassing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Testimony from members of the clergy should dominate a Senate hearing today on proposed changes to state laws that now limit where concealed weapons can be carried by permitted owners.
Firearms are currently prohibited at most public assemblies, a situation some Republicans would like to change.
Gun groups and many GOP lawmakers would like to see gunowners (again, we’re talking only licensed) carry concealed in churches and universities — citing recent massacres in those locales.
In fact, one of those expected to speak is Peter Berg, senior rabbi of The Temple in Atlanta — which was bombed in 1958 by white supremacists. But Berg will speak against permitting concealed weapons in houses of worship.
The committee appears headed toward a legislation that would include an “opt out” clause that would still permit owners of private property — including churches — to bar firearms. Otherwise concealed firearms would be permitted.
“Personally, I feel we ought to be able to give churches the option, if that’s what they want to do,” said Senate committee chairman Mitch Seabaugh of Sharpsburg in an interview before the hearing began.
This would be a significant legal shift. Walking into a church with any weapon, for instance, is currently a felony. The state carries the burden of enforcement.
Under the legislation now being contemplated, if a church bars weaponry, and a gun is carried onto its property, the gunowner would be open to a charge of trespassing, and a fine, if he/she refuses to leave. The burden of enforcement would fall on the church, Seabaugh said.
The committee chairman said he didn’t know if the same scenario would apply to other properties — such as university campuses. Georgia’s university currently have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons. The Board of Regents opposes any changes to the current law.
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Jim Martin gets lively on the topic of Chambliss and economy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The video below was posted on YouTube about five hours ago, presumably by the Democratic campaign of Jim Martin for U.S. Senate.
This is Martin’s first attempt to tie Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss to last week’s Wall Street meltdown. Don’t know — yet — how much airtime Martin can afford to give it:
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More NRA stuff: The gun group has endorsed Marshall, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Turns out that the National Rifle Association didn’t just endorse U.S. Rep. John Barrow.
The gun group is also backing that other embattled white Democrat, Jim Marshall of Macon. Marshall’s office just shipped us the letter.
John Stone, who’s running against Barrow in the 12th District race, disagrees with the assessment below, which characterized the NRA endorsement as “a significant blow” to the Republican’s campaign.
Stone wrote the following this afternoon:
”’A significant blow’? Hardly. Everyone involved in this race fully expected the NRA to endorse Barrow from the start, as they search for token Democrats to counter charges the organization favors Republicans.
“Gun rights supporters know full well that a vote for Barrow is a vote for Nancy Pelosi’s anti-gun agenda, and for Barack Obama’s plan to overturn the recent landmark Hellar decision with far-left Supreme Court appointments. Barrow publicly supports both Pelosi and Obama.
“Real Second Amendment voters see this as a “significant blow” against the NRA’s political credibility.”
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One more time: Gingrich says fight over president’s Wall Street package will be ‘much bigger than he expected’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newt Gingrich, the former Georgia congressman, has again put himself out front as an opponent of the $700 billion bail-out of Wall Street proposed by President Bush.
On Saturday, it was in the Washington Post. Now, this is in a just-posted New York Times piece:
But Mr. Bush may find that members of his own party are among the holdouts. Some conservative Republicans criticized the plan, raising the stakes for Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who has been trying to persuade lawmakers and an increasingly frustrated American public that the rescue package was needed.
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, said he expected Republican lawmakers to oppose the plan in increasing numbers. “I think this is going to be a much bigger fight than he expected,” Mr. Gingrich said, referring to President Bush, who called again for swift action on Monday morning. “I think this bill is a long way from done,” Mr. Gingrich added.
Here’s the question: Gingrich was spot on when he identified this spring’s rising gasoline prices as an entry point for a pro-consumer, GOP comeback. “Drill here, drill now,” etc.
But regardless of the point of free-market principle involved, would it be smart for Republicans to align themselves against a raft of consumer/voters who see their pensions and 401(k)s at risk?
Just asking.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Cagle: Consider passing T-SPLOST as a bill, with Perdue’s support
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle met with the membership of Get Georgia Moving, a business-oriented group devoted to moving public officials off the dime when it comes to transportation.
The locale was just as important: downtown Atlanta, at the headquarters of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
Last spring, both the Metro Chamber and Get Georgia Moving lined up behind legislation to permit regions (such as greater Atlanta) to levy a penny sales tax on themselves to relieve traffic congestion.
The measure, a proposed constitutional amendment that was to appear on the ballot this November, passed the House but fell three votes short of the required two-thirds majority in the Senate.
Today was about getting past that debacle, which ticked off the business community mightily, and making sure it doesn’t happen again.
After his meeting with transportation enthusiasts, Cagle walked across the street to hold a press conference in Centennial Park to declare that transportation and traffic congestion, which costs jobs and time, “is a very high priority of mine.”
“The reality is that in Georgia we’re going need about an additional 4,000 new [lane miles] that’s going to cost about $50 billion,” the lieutenant governor said.
Now, how to get there in the middle of a budget crisis. “We are behind the eight ball to some degree,” Cagle admitted.
Two bits of news could be dug out of Cagle’s press conference:
First, the lieutenant governor mentioned that the State Road and Tollway Authority could be used as a clearinghouse for private/public ventures — such as tolled HOV lanes. Cagle cited the authority’s bonding capacity, but also pointed out that Gov. Sonny Perdue, House Speaker Glenn Richardson, and himself all have seats on the authority. Gena Evans, the Department of Transportation commissioner, serves as executive secretary.
In other words, the tollway authority could act as a place where the giants can hash out their differences without involving the entire Legislature.
Cagle also had some suggestions about a special local option sales tax for transportation, which he also supports — in some form.
“One option, obviously, is whether to continue down the path with a constitutional amendment,” Cagle said, “or to do it with a general bill through intergovernmental agreement.”
Because a proposed constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers, all kinds of people need to be cut in on the deal. Democrats, for instance.
It also wouldn’t go into effect until after November 2010, the next opportunity to put it on a general election ballot.
A general bill permitting regions to levy a TSPLOST would require a simple majority vote in each chamber. And it could go into effect immediately, winning back the time lost in last year’s meltdown.
But a general bill would also demand the signature of the governor, who has expressed his opposition to a transportation sales tax.
Persuading Perdue would be someone else’s problem, Cagle said. “That’s the coalition’s desire, to get the governor on board. They will have to make that case,” the lieutenant governor said.
Asked which approach he preferred, Cagle said, “It makes no difference to me. Either process gets you to the end that you’re looking for.”
But the lieutenant governor urged the business community to have a largely agreed-upon plan before the Legislature convenes in January.
One sticking point he expects to be discussed in great detail: Say a group of counties vote to levy a tax, and it receives a majority vote in favor. But in one county, or two, the sales tax fails.
Are the citizens in the counties that disapproved the tax still obligated to pay it?
Photo credit: John Spink/AJC
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The NRA endorses Barrow over Republican challenger in the 12th District race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My Washington colleague Julia Malone sends word that the National Rifle Association has just endorsed the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. John Barrow, the Savannah Democrat.
Read this as a significant blow to Barrow’s Republican challenger, John Stone.
It’ll be next week before the influential gun group posts all of its endorsements.
Meanwhile, Barrow’s campaign is touting the contents of a letter from the NRA Political Victory Fund that says this:
During your tenure in Congress, you have consistently supported the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen, demonstrating a strong commitment to our Second Amendment rights and hunting heritage… We urge our members and other gun owners and sportsmen in the 12th Congressional District of Georgia to vote for you on November 4th.
Certainly not by coincidence, Barrow was a co-sponsor of legislation to overturn the District of Columbia’s restrictions on gun ownership. The bill passed the House last week.
By the way — U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, the Democrat from Macon, was also a co-sponsor of the D.C. gun bill.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Charles Walker sent to Mississippi to help with Facility Group investigation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, the Augusta Chronicle had an excellent piece on the role of a prominent local boy, former state lawmaker Robin Williams, in the federal pursuit of three executives with the Smyrna-based Facility Group.
Williams is now in prison.
But the real news was the fact that the Chronicle also pinned down the rumor that former Senate majority leader Charles Walker, another Augustan public official behind bars, had also been moved to an Oxford, Miss., jail to help with the investigation.
Williams was convicted in 2005 of bilking $2 million from a mental health center. Walker was convicted the same year on tax evasion, mail fraud and conspiracy charges.
Facility Group chairman Robert Moultrie, who has resigned his position with the company, has pleaded guilty for giving an illegal gratiuity to a public official — presumed to be then-Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. Two other executives did the same.
Wrote the Chronicle:
In his grand jury testimony, Mr. Williams was asked by a juror whether the official knew Mr. Moultrie was holding a fundraiser for him before the contract was signed. Mr. Williams said “they had done their deal.”
“On the phone this is what was told,” Mr. Williams’ testimony reads. “We got the contract. I’ve (Moultrie) got to do a fundraiser for the (public official). I’ve got to raise $100,000 .
“He said we’re going to be in Smyrna at my home. I need you to bring some money,” Mr. Williams continued.
At a July fundraiser, Facility Group employees were told to donate $1,000 each, then were reimbursed $1,500 by the company. They raised $25,000, and Mr. Williams provided a check for $25,000 to the Democratic Governors Association, court documents say.
The company created a political action committee and gave two more contributions of $20,000 and $25,000, for a total of $95,000. Later, The Facility Group billed the state for false labor expenses, trying to recoup the campaign donations and the money spent reimbursing employees, documents say. It also submitted invoices for Mr. Moultrie’s travel and dinner at the meeting arranged by Mr. Williams.
The newspaper was less sure about Walker’s value to prosecutors:
Mr. Walker’s name doesn’t come up in case filings, but campaign disclosures say Mr. Moultrie donated $1,000 to his filed Senate campaign in 2002 and $1,000 the same year to the failed congressional campaign of his son, Charles “Champ” Walker Jr.
Champ Walker said he doesn’t know what his father had to do with the Mississippi prosecutions, nor does he know Mr. Moultrie.
Both Walker and Williams are back in a federal prison in Estill, S.C.
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An economic crisis forces a truce in the Republican oil fight; T. Boone Pickens jumps into the gap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wall Street wasn’t the only thing that collapsed last week.
So did the Republican intramural fight over oil.
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the senior GOP partner pushing the “Gang of Ten” bipartisan energy bill, announced late Friday that the legislation would be placed on hold until after the November elections.
Debate over a $700 billion bail-out of America’s financial system will suck every cubic inch of oxygen out of this final week of Congress.
As it should. If you’re in your 40s or better, you can’t argue that the high cost of putting gasoline in your tank — when you can find it — pales in comparison to the gutting of your pension fund or 401(k).
In Georgia, the “Gang of Ten” proposal set the state’s two senators against most of its House Republican members. The Senate plan traded a Democratic goal, the funding of incentives for renewable energy, carbon mitigation and energy conservation, for a GOP insistence on offshore drilling in some coastal regions.
House Republicans, led in part by U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Roswell, insisted that election season was no time for deal-making.
The basic sin of the “Gang of Ten” energy plan, as Rush Limbaugh and Neal Boortz explained, was that it dulled a national wedge issue by acknowledging the power of Democrats in Congress, through their superior numbers, to set a limit on where oil wells might be sunk. That piece of tundra in Alaska, for instance, was to remain off-limits.
Indeed, GOP presidential candidate John McCain, to his own great benefit, reversed his opposition to offshore drilling and embraced “Drill here, drill now!” — the motto first espoused this spring by Newt Gingrich and his intellectual clearinghouse, American Solutions.
But even the former U.S. House speaker recognizes that a change in tone has occurred. His annual American Solutions gathering in Cobb County, scheduled for this Saturday, was intended to focus squarely on the oil issue.
That’s been superceded by the former House speaker’s outrage over President Bush’s Wall Street intervention. A spokesman said Saturday’s program would be tweaked to allow Gingrich to “directly take on the federal power grab.”
So we’re done fighting over oil and energy, right? Not hardly. Certainly not here.
Last week, billionaire entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens set loose a pair of operatives in Georgia. Hired out of the Brock & Clay firm of Marietta, the two have been assigned the task of identifying and building grassroots support for Pickens’ national energy plan.
The hedge fund master has a two-fold strategy to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. Pickens wants to construct hundreds of electricity-generating wind farms in a corridor that stretches from west Texas to North Dakota.
Since Georgia’s winds are largely confined to interior of the state Capitol, this venture does not concern us. “The bigger part of it is getting more automobiles into the natural gas realm,” said Brian Noyes of Brock & Clay.
A delivery system and a network of fueling stations available to the average driver would have to be constructed. That would require an underpinning of government regulation, national and state, which in turn would require voter enthusiasm.
Pickens’ presence in Georgia could shield Chambliss and Isakson from further darts thrown by their Republican friends — the ones who shout “Drill, baby, drill!”
The Texan has already launched a series of national TV commercials on energy strategy. “This is one emergency we can’t drill our way out of,” says Pickens, no environmentalist.
Pickens’ effort is aimed at the next Congress and the next president. Chambliss is up for re-election. Even so, the senator, who calls Pickens a friend and an occasional hunting buddy, is to meet this week with the billionaire — in anticipation of the fight to come.
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Because you can’t stay awake past 10 p.m.: ‘I’m John McCain and I approve this message’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Apparently, the economic collapse on Wall Street was moving so fast that NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” didn’t want to gamble on the topic for its opening skit. So instead, we got this:
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Gingrich: Bush ‘exhausted’ and Cheney ‘marginalized’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of all the major newspapers, this morning’s Washington Post may have given the starkest ideological interpretation to President Bush’s decision to intervene in Wall Street’s business:
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a historic $500 billion bailout of financial firms that would let the government rather than the cold judgment of the marketplace decide the winners and losers from the crisis that has shaken the U.S. economy for the past year.
Other news sources are going with a cost of $700 billion. Even so, figures on the right are baffled. From another Post article:
“I believe that the president is exhausted and the vice president has been marginalized, and what you now have is the Washington interests … dominating the administration,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said in an interview yesterday. “We have now launched big-government Republicanism. If we saw France do this, Italy do this, we would have thought it was crazy. We would have had pious speeches about the folly of bureaucrats running businesses.”
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‘Gang of Ten’ energy bill put on hold until after November
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With Washington swamped by the crisis on Wall Street, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic partner have pulled the plug on their bipartisan “Gang of Ten” energy bill until after the November elections.
Chambliss phoned this evening with the news.
But before the Senate adjourns next week, the Georgia senator said a revised version of the bill will be unveiled — one that will feature expanded territory for offshore oil drilling.
Chambliss, a Republican up for re-election, had formed an alliance with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) this summer. Support had grown from the original 10 senators to 20.
“When you look at the atmosphere that’s in Washington right now — all of a sudden, the focus is on the financial side rather than energy. Kent and my thought is that this issue is such a critical issue, that it deserves a lot of time, a lot of thought, a lot of debate,” Chambliss said.
A House energy bill passed this week would go nowhere in the Senate, Chambliss predicted.
Republican members of the “Gang of Ten” — who include Georgia’s other senator, Johnny Isakson — had been criticized for working with Democrats on the bill, which mixes increased territory for drilling with incentives for conservation and the development of alternative sources of energy.
The “Gang of Ten” plan expanded offshore drilling into much of the Gulf of Mexico,and the Atlantic coasts of some southeastern states — but not Florida.
Both House Republicans and presidential candidate John McCain had adopted the call for nearly unlimited drilling in American territory, as espoused by former House speaker Newt Gingrich with his slogan of “Drill here, drill now.”
Even so, Chambliss said his “Gang of Ten” approach deserves credit for moving many Democrats, including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, from a hardened stance against offshore drilling.
“Now you look where everybody is — they’re trying to out-offshore drill one another,” Chambliss said. “We decided that, if the ball has moved down the court, we’re changing our proposal.”
Chambliss skimped when it came to details of a revised “Gang of Ten” bill. But the senator said another reason for the delay was the loss of a means to pay for much of it.
In the original version, the “Gang of Ten” proposal envisioned repealing a 6-year-old, $30 billion tax credit for oil companies. That money would have gone to pay for alternative energy incentives. On talk radio and elsewhere, this was condemned as a tax increase.
The tax credit will in fact be repealed next week, Chambliss said. But now it will be used to help pay for the Wall Street bailout.
“Republicans are going to be voting for that on a wholesale basis,” Chambliss said. “Go figure.”
Photo credit: Jenni Girtman/AJC
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Barr loses first round in fight to keep Obama and McCain off the Texas ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has lost the first clash in his strange Texas fight to keep John McCain and Barack Obama off the ballot in that state.
Campaign manager Russ Verney put out word this afternoon that the Barr campaign’s request for an emergency stay, to block the mailing of ballots to overseas military personnel, has been rejected.
The Texas attorney general successfully argued that an order to halt the shipping of ballots would violate the voting rights of those in the armed services.
Barr contends that the Democratic and Republican nominees are disqualified from appearing on the Texas ballot because they missed the state’s Aug. 26 deadline to certify candidates. Obama was not formally named the Democratic candidate until an Aug. 27 vote in Denver. McCain claimed the Republican nomination on Sept. 3 in St. Paul.
Barr, who was kept off the West Virginia ballot because of a missed deadline, says turnabout is fair play.
The news media has been tentative with this story, uncertain whether the Barr lawsuit is a legal move with profound implications — Texas has 34 electoral votes — or another wispy courtroom sideshow.
But the Dallas Morning News on Thursday had these paragraphs:
The Supreme Court has refused to dismiss the case outright and has asked all parties to file their response to the lawsuit by Monday.
Part of the legal basis for the suit is Bush vs. Gore, by which the U.S. Supreme Court held that “the clearly expressed intent of the legislature must prevail,” and that election laws must be uniformly applied and interpreted.
“Sound familiar Mr. Bush? Sound familiar Republicans?” Mr. Barr said, adding that the state law is unambiguous.
“The Libertarian Party like other parties and independent candidates always face a struggle to get on the ballot and are sometimes excluded from the ballot for the most minor of details,” said state party chairman Patrick Dixon. “We may not like the rules, but we have to play by them.”
Meanwhile, Republicans in Pennsylvania have decided to appeal a judge’s decision last week that permitted Barr to remain on the ballot in that state.
• Full election coverage: News, photos and more
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But if Tom Price is powerful enough to topple Wall Street, shouldn’t he be able to raise more than a measly $1 million?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Jones, the Democratic in the 6th District congressional race, has been out-raised nearly 5-to-1 by incumbent Tom Price. The district is heavily Republican.
Nonetheless, Jones has embarked on a unique path to victory: Persuade your opponent to leave the race.
Jones on Thursday declared that Price was at least partly to blame for this week’s Wall Street meltdown because he sits on a House subcommittee that oversees, according to its title, “Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.”
It’s a subset of the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
“Families and small investors are watching their home values plummet and their retirement savings shrink because congressmen like Tom Price have been derelict in their duties,” Jones declared.
He called on the Roswell Republican to “step aside for the good of our country.”
So far, Price — who had $1 million in the bank as of June 30 — has rejected the advice. And may continue to do so. Price has also declined comment. Whether out of a sense of guilt or befuddlement, it’s hard to say.
See, there’s the legitimate question of whether the other 48 members of that one particular House subcommittee should also be saddled with responsibility for the current economic debacle.
Say, for instance, U.S. Rep. David Scott of Atlanta, a Democrat.
Jones told my AJC colleague Ben Smith: “I’ll leave that to the voters in their districts.”
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Olens heads to Europe to tour military bases, collect passport stamps
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County commission, is off to Europe today to learn about the U.S. military and national defense.
Might the trip not also burnish Olens’ leadership credentials if he decides to run for governor later this year?
“No,” the chairman told my AJC colleague Dan Chapman on Thursday. “It has nothing to do with that. The reason they want folks in this program is for there to be individuals more knowledgeable about the military and to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the military. It’s not for political gain.”
So Olens must be aiming higher. Possibly the vice-presidency. In any case, this trip is proof that he owns a passport and isn’t afraid to use it.
The tour of U.S. military bases — which will include government, business and civic leaders from across the country — is sponsored by the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference and is run out of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Olens will use $4,000 from his commission campaign fund to pay a portion of the trip. The Pentagon will cover the rest.
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Isakson on the meltdown: Maybe it’d be better if Congress left town
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As of late Thursday, Congress was making noise about the need to postpone its adjournment for the fall campaign season.
One can’t criticize President Bush for not keeping you informed if one isn’t in town to be informed. Another reason: Should Democrats abandon Washington, Republicans, especially those in the House, might decide to hold another rump session — like they did in August over the energy issue.
But according to Bloomberg, at least one member of the Georgia delegation was having none of it:
Senator Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican active on housing issues, scoffed at suggestions that lawmakers postpone adjournment to rewrite laws governing the financial markets.
The last thing you need,'' he said,are 535 people, not many of whom are that well-versed in financial markets, trying to do quick fixes to a market correction that’s one of the more significant that we’ve ever seen.”
Photo credit: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau
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Poll positions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hmmm. Of course, this morning 11Alive put the presidential race at 16 points in Georgia, in favor of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
But InsiderAdvantage, in the late Thursday hours, said McCain has already withered in anticipation of a November victory.
Says IA: 51 percent for McCain versus 43 percent for Democrat Barack Obama. The IA poll has a margin of error of 4.3 percent, plus or minus.
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Democrats call for special session — and say that a veterans’ home should have a higher priority than ‘Go Fish’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Democratic leaders of both the state House and Senate on Thursday called for a special session of the General Assembly to pull the state back from what they called “the brink of fiscal disaster.”
The call for an unscheduled meeting, to oversee budget cuts, comes days after reports that state revenue in August was down 7 percent from last year.
The Democratic leaders in the two chambers, Sen. Robert Brown of Macon and Rep. DuBose Porter of Dublin, said across-the-board budget cuts were forcing those at the top of the state’s bureaucracies to make illogical decisions.
In a joint press release, Brown and Porter said:
“Perhaps most galling, when our country is fighting two wars, Governor Perdue believes it is acceptable to evict 81 veterans from the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville, for a savings of $2.7 million. Meanwhile, projects such as a $7.3 million horse park expansion at the Agri-Center in Perry and $19 million for the Go-Fish program, both in the Governor’s home county, continue to move forward.
“These people volunteered to serve their country and put their lives on the line for our freedom, but instead we are going to let them go homeless while we make boat ramps and horse shows a priority during a budget crisis. Those are not the values of Georgia’s citizens or Georgia Democrats,” Brown said. “This is no longer just a fiscal issue. This is a moral issue.”
The only off-note can be found in this post below, from a press conference Thursday with state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, vice chairman at the state Democratic party, who apparently didn’t get the memo:
On budget cuts, Thurmond said he has no problem with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s call for 6 percent, across-the-board cuts.
“I believe Governor Perdue’s strategy so far is the proper one,” he said.
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Thurmond on Obama in Georgia: ‘He has a chance.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michael Thurmond, the state labor commissioner, was the focus of a press conference on Thursday, where he talked talked about the Georgia’s stark unemployment numbers and budget cuts.
But the formal purpose of his appearance was to tie these economic hard times to the presidential prospects of Democrat Barack Obama.
With Obama down 16 points in Georgia — see the 11Alive poll item below — Thurmond said this week’s meltdown in Washington should give the Democrat an opportunity to climb back into voters’ good graces.
“Americans feel more comfortable with Democrats and Senator Obama on economic and domestic policy,” he said.
Was Thurmond bold enough to predict an Obama win?
“No. I’m not that bold. But he has a chance. And all you can ask for in politics is a chance,” the labor commissioner said.
On budget cuts, Thurmond said he has no problem with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s call for 6 percent, across-the-board cuts.
“I believe governor perdue’s strategy so far is the proper one,” he said.
The labor commissioner said that the problem is that his department’s workload increases in hard times. Thurmond said his 4,000-worker staff will adjust by shifting to a four-day, 10-hour work week that will allow them — by using flexible hours — to keep department offices open longer by one hour each day.
“No. 1, it’s going to help my employees save gas. This is important, because they’re not getting a 2.5 percent [cost-of-living] increase,” Thurmond said.
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Republican Angela Speir says Democrat Jim Powell should replace her on PSC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Specifically citing the elimination of the state office that advocates for consumers in utility cases, Republican out-going Public Service Commissioner Angela Speir on Thursday endorsed Democrat Jim Powell to replace her.
Powell faces Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, who has served as chairman of the utility board.
The Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, in response to Sonny Perdue’s demand for across-the-board 6 percent budget cuts, defunded the Consumers Utility Counsel.
When she was elected six years ago, Speir was an unknown Republican who won the office — but spent hardly any money on her campaign.
But in an interview with the AJC’s Margaret Newkirk, Speir — who declined to run for a second term — said the election of the Democrat in the race “is important. It’s really important, especially with the elimination of the Consumers Utility Counsel and energy prices skyrocketing.”
“If you look at Bubba McDonald’s [financial] disclosure, it reads like a Who’s Who list of utility lobbyists and lawyers. If Georgia consumers want to have a voice that is not beholden to the utilities, then I firmly believe that Jim Powell is the best candidate,” Speir said.
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11Alive: Obama trailing McCain in Georgia by 16 points
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yet another poll shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain with a commanding lead over Democrat Barack Obama in Georgia.
The new survey — commissioned by WXIA-TV (11Alive) in Atlanta and WMAZ-TV in Macon, and conducted by SurveyUSA — puts McCain at 57 percent , with Obama trailing at 41 percent.
The same poll puts the U.S. Senate race thusly: Republican incumbent Saxby Chambless at 53 percent; Democrat Jim Martin at 36 percent; and Libertarian Allen Buckley at 8 percent.
The fortunes of Chambliss and McCain are linked. This is from the 11Alive analysis of the survey:
The poll shows that McCain holds a 3-to-1 lead among white voters in Georgia, while Obama has a 23-to-1 lead among black Georgia voters.
The poll shows McCain with a double-digit lead among both men and women, among those of all age groups and educational levels across the rest of the state of Georgia outside of Metro Atlanta.
According to the polling data, Obama’s strength in Georgia comes among moderates, where he is up 5 in Metro Atlanta. Obama also leads by 5 points across Metro Atlanta in general.
Among pro-choice voters, Obama’s lead stretches to 14 points. Among lower-income voters, the two candidates are tied. Among voters who are focused on the volatile economic situation facing the nation, Obama trails McCain by 3 points, but among voters who think alternative sources of energy are more important than off-shore drilling, Obama leads McCain by a 2-to-1 margin.
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Biden and the abortion issue comes to Georgia Catholics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A reader has sent us a copy of a flyer distributed Sunday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Macon that goes after Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden for his statements on abortion and public policy.
To read it, click here.
If the same message is being distributed in other parishes, we’d be interested in hearing about it.
Biden, a Cathloic, personally opposes abortion, but in a “Meet the Press” session two Sundays ago, the Delaware senator said he doesn’t believe in “telling everyone else in the country that they have to accept my religiously based view that it’s a moment of conception.”
See for yourself below:
The flyer handed out at St. Joseph’s was penned by Charles Chaput, the archbishop of Denver, and James Conley, an auxiliary bishop in Denver.
Chaput was one of several Catholic clegymen who rebuked Biden after the “Meet the Press” program.
Below are excerpts of the flyer handed out at St. Joseph’s:
Although NBC probably didn’t intend it, “Meet the Press” has become a national window on the flawed moral reasoning of some Catholic public servants.
On Aug. 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, describing herself as an ardent, practicing Catholic, misrepresented the overwhelming body of Catholic teaching against abortion to the show’s nationwide audience….
On Sept. 7, Sen. Joseph Biden compounded the problem to the same “Meet the Press” audience.
Senator Biden is a man of distinguished public service. That doesn’t excuse poor logic or bad facts. Asked when life begins, Senator Biden said that, “It’s a personal and private issue.” But in reality, modern biology knows exactly when human life begins: at the moment of conception….
As the senator said in his interview, he has opposed public funding for abortions. To his credit, he also backed a successful ban on partial-birth abortions. But his strong support for the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade and the false “right” to abortion it enshrines, can’t be excused by any serious Catholic.
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Red meat for the eminent domain crowd
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s AJC article on the state Department of Transportation’s $456 million deficit includes the fact that the department has been seizing rights-of-way to no purpose:
In one case, for a project on Ga. 316 and Ga. 81 in 1999, DOT told a man it needed land that he had bought less than six months before, intending to build a gas station.
It usually takes years for a project to arrive at the construction stage, and the man asked DOT if it would let him build his station and make what profit he could until the agency was ready to build its ramps.
DOT refused, saying the project was “imminent,” and condemned his land.
“Eight years later, GDOT continues to have no formal construction plans for the project and the project is not on GDOT’s Long Range Program,” according to the audit.
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Jack Kingston offers a little pinch of reality to leaven the rhetoric
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Railings by Republican presidential candidate John McCain against earmarks in the federal budget border on hyperbole, certain members of his own party admit.
This is on Politico.com:
Rep. Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican and member of the Appropriations Committee, says he understands McCain’s desire to crack down on wasteful spending and kill the latest “bridge to nowhere.”
But if a McCain administration suddenly started shooting down every spending bill, lawmakers on both sides might revolt.

“The realistic outlook is for a great reduction in earmarks and a real discussion about earmarks,” Kingston said.
Because Congress has failed again to finish its spending bills on time, the new president will likely receive a new omnibus spending bill just after taking office. If McCain makes good on his campaign promise, “he could veto it, and we’d probably override” the veto, Kingston said.
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Georgia unemployment figures are about to go presidential
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This afternoon, state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond issued the straight press release on August labor figures.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in August, the highest in 15 years.
Officially, Thurmond told Georgians to buck up.
“We’re in the midst of a very challenging job market,” he said. “And finding a job is difficult, but not impossible. I encourage all job seekers to keep the faith and continue their job search efforts.”
But come tomorrow, Thurmond will be telling Georgians why they should be ticked off as well.
The labor commissioner has a noon presser at the state Capitol, where he’ll “discuss the economic hardships of Georgia residents and the impact on the presidential race” — on behalf of the Barack Obama campaign.
Photo credit: William Vasta/AJC
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Jimmy Carter’s close call in Denver
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It came to light only after everyone left town, but Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had a close encounter with a drunk driver while tooling around Denver last month.
The following was posted last night on the web site of television station CBS4 in Denver:
Denver law enforcement authorities are refusing to release any information related to a DUI crash that came close to the motorcade of former President Jimmy Carter during the Democratic National Convention.
A CBS4 investigation previously reported that a suspected DUI driver, Amber Voiles, came close to colliding with the former President’s motorcade on the night of Aug. 26. Carter had appeared at the convention the previous day.
The former president and his wife, Rosalynn, were being driven through downtown Denver and were stopped at a red light when the 31-year-old Voiles apparently hit a car in front of Carter’s motorcade. The incident occurred in the 1200 block of 17th Street at about 10:30 p.m.
Voiles was a production assistant working on a documentary about Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and the convention. She was working for the mayor’s cousin, George Hickenlooper, the filmmaker behind the documentary. Voiles is not a city employee and was not driving a city vehicle, according to aides to Mayor Hickenlooper.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Ouch.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This was just issued by the state labor department:
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 6.3 percent in August, the highest in 15 years. The jobless rate was up 1.9 percentage points from 4.4 percent at this same time last year. During the same period, the number of payroll jobs decreased 37,700 or nine-tenths of one percentage point.
The last time Georgia’s unemployment rate reached this level was in March of 1993, and there has not been an over-the-year decline in jobs this great since June of 2003.
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House votes to override D.C. gun laws; Broun and Lewis take opposite sides
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Late last night, the U.S. House voted to rewrite the District of Columbia’s rules on gun ownership. Two Georgia congressmen took part in the argument.
The bill was sponsored by a Democrat, newly elected Travis Childers of Mississippi, and was backed by the National Rifle Association.
This June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the district’s 32-year ban on handguns, and the district’s requirement that other home firearms be stored disassembled, or bound by trigger locks.
In response, the District’s local government set up a registration process for revolvers, but continued to ban most semiautomatic pistols — and kept the requirement that guns be stored in pieces, or trigger-locked.
The House legislation was prompted by Second Amendment advocates who accused D.C. officials of giving only lip-service to a Supreme Court decision that for the first time declared possession of firearms to be part of an individual right to self-defense.
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens) jumped in on the side of gun advocates, coming out against not just robbery or rape, but pillaging, too. Which was no doubt a reference to the lobbying industry.
Said Broun:
”It’s inane to think that somebody can’t have a gun and own that gun and have it loaded.
“It’s inane to think that somebody has to have a gun unloaded or locked or taken apart because if somebody’s breaking into your house, if they’re robbing, raping, pillaging, you don’t have time to put those firearms together, even the loaded firearm.”
The Athens congressman was followed by U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who offered a defense of the District’s right to make it’s own rules:
“Some of my friends have fought tooth and nail against too much government intervention. So how could you suggest tonight that Congress circumvent, disregard, and disrespect the rights and freedom of the citizens of this city?
“D.C. residents have made it crystal clear they want to limit the proliferation of guns in Washington to protect all of its citizens, including members of Congress, staffers, even the president of the United States, who all live and work in this city.
“The amendment would nullify the will of hundreds of thousands of voting Americans like they don’t even exist. They are citizens of America. They are human beings.
“We all heard the news of a few weeks ago: 11 people were shot, wounded, some even died on the streets of Washington in one night….You may believe what you will. Maybe you truly think that when everyone bears arms, the city will really be safer. You have a right to your opinion, but we are here tonight to say the people of the District of Columbia do not agree.
“And they should not have your way of life, your viewpoint, your amendment forced down their throat. “
The bill passed easily, but has an uncertain future in the Senate. But it did allow some Democrats the November protection that comes with supporting a pro-NRA bill.
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Got a problem with the business community? Put a chamber head in charge of your campaign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since the meltdown in the Legislature this spring and the Senate failure to pass a transportation bill, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s relationship with the business community has been in need of repair.
But Harris Blackwood of the Gainesville Times points out that the lieutenant governor now has a significant liaison to the economic set:
Charles K. Tarbutton, assistant vice president of the Sandersville Railroad Co., is chairman of Georgians for Cagle, the official name for the gubernatorial campaign committee.
Tarbutton, who was a supporter of Cagle in his 2006 bid for lieutenant governor, is also current chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Blackwood also makes this observation:
The only other Republican in the race, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, holds the post of chairman and treasurer of his own campaign committee for governor. Oxendine held the same posts in his campaign for his current office and for his brief run for lieutenant governor.
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ICYMI: An anticipated pile-up at the polls, Barr wants McCain and Obama off the Texas ballot, and Sebelius claims Obama is black
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some of today’s essential reading:
— In today’s AJC, there’s talk that Georgia pollworkers could be overwhelmed by voters in the presidential election:
As local registrars prepare for absentee voters, a new report by a government watchdog group suggests Georgia may not be able to handle the large crowds expected in November.
In a report released Tuesday, the group, Common Cause, said Georgia was among the least-prepared states it studied. The group warned of long lines, confusion —- and the possibility that some voters will be denied ballots.
“The voting process is going to be tested like it has never been before in its history,” said Tova Wang, who wrote the report and is Common Cause’s vice president for research.
Common Cause is a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s voter ID law. That lawsuit is still pending.
Karen Handel, Georgia’s secretary of state, “disagrees with a number of the conclusions [in the report], which appear to be based purely on subjective criteria that Common Causes supports,” said a spokesman, Matt Carrothers.
— Bob Barr, who this week survived a GOP attempt him to remove him from the Pennsylvania ballot, is out to return the favor:
Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr’s campaign filed suit Tuesday seeking to remove Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama from the ballot in Texas, alleging that the two major candidates missed the deadline for officially filing to be on the ballot.
The lawsuit by the former Republican congressman from Georgia claims that neither McCain nor Obama met the requirement of Texas law that all candidates provide “written certification” of their nomination “before 5 p.m. on the 70th day before election day,” because neither had been formally nominated by their respective parties in time. The suit was filed in the Texas Supreme Court in Austin.
That would have been Aug. 25. Obama did not accept his party’s nomination until Aug. 28, McCain his on Sept. 4.
— And at an appearance in Iowa, the governor of Kansas publicly wondered whether Barack Obama’s African origins might be a factor in this year’s close presidential contest:
“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.”
The remark, delivered in the governor’s low key, folksy, out-from-behind-the-podium style, raised a couple chuckles but few eyebrows in the downtown Iowa City crowd, but Republicans took offense and responded in short order.
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The more competitive arena sucking up Obama workers from Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CQPolitics this afternoon changed its rating of the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina:
While [Democratic] state Sen. Kay Hagan, their nominee, once appeared a distinct underdog to [Republican incumbent Elizabeth] Dole, there are multiple signs that this is emerging as one of the year’s key battleground races.
Because of these shifts, CQ Politics has changed its rating on the race, which was “Republican Favored,” to its tossup category of “No Clear Favorite.”
Dole herself raised some eyebrows when she decided to skip the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
There are two reasons to make note of this.
David Plouffe, campaign manager for Barack Obama, generated local headlines last week when he said some Obama workers would be shifted out of Georgia into more competitive arenas.
North Carolina was one of the states Plouffe had in mind.
Secondly, there’s the reassuring voice of the Dole campaign.
Dole spokesman Dan McLagan …. added that Dole is doing fine in the race and the support she is receiving “absolutely would be enough” to secure victory in November. “We’ve withstood a barrage of over $3 million in negative ads from Kay Hagan and her Washington pals, and our polling shows us climbing,” he said.
Yes, he’s that Dan McLagan, former official larynx for Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.
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‘America’s Most Wanted’ host wades into Dunwoody race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How intense are these six council races for the new city of Dunwoody?
Hot enough that, in the contest between Mallard Holliday and Robert Wittenstein, famed TV bad-guy hunter John Walsh of “America’s Most Wanted” has weighed in.
Via a robo-call to local residents. The calls went out Monday afternoon.
Apparently, Walsh and Holliday have worked together before. “Mallard Holliday and I have worked together for years, making this world safer for our children,” Walsh says in the endorsement.
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Turns out keeping your tires inflated isn’t a Democratic ruse
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five weeks ago, Republicans in Cobb County — a Marietta congressman among them — planted themselves at a gas station to mock Barack Obama’s emphasis on energy conservation.
Inflate your tires, indeed.
But with the panic over Hurricane Ike sending gasoline in Georgia well past $4 a gallon, Gov. Sonny Perdue just put out a list of things that drivers can do to lessen the impact of high gas prices and improve fuel efficiency.
Tip No. 4?
“Inflate your tires: Keeping tires properly inflated improves gas mileage.”
See the entire press release on the jump.
Simple Steps Help Georgians Conserve Fuel
Fuel Conservation to Lessen Impact of Hurricane Ike
ATLANTA - Governor Sonny Perdue today asked Georgians to help with fuel conservation in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike by taking practical steps to improve fuel efficiency.
With gasoline prices rising and crude oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico temporarily disrupted, fuel conservation is a necessary tool to help manage the supply of fuel and reduce the impact of higher fuel costs.
“Georgians have been through this before with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and we’ll manage the temporary effects of Hurricane Ike through common sense and conservation,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “We can all help by reducing unnecessary travel, carpooling and using mass transit, telecommuting, driving a little slower, and fueling only when low on gas.”
Some practical fuel efficiency tips for drivers include:
— Drive sensibly: Speeding, rapid acceleration (jackrabbit starts), and rapid braking lowers gas mileage.
— Choose the right vehicle: If you own more than one vehicle, drive the one that gets better gas mileage whenever possible.
— Decrease speed: Gas mileage decreases rapidly when driving more than 60 miles-per-hour.
— Avoid idling: Idling gets zero miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas while idling than cars with smaller engines.
— Inflate your tires: Keeping tires properly inflated improves gas mileage.
Commute alternatives are also a useful way to conserve fuel, including telework, carpool and transit options, and flexible work schedules. More information is available about commute alternatives at www.CleanAirCampaign.com.
Fuel efficiency tips are provided by the Drive Smarter Challenge. The Drive Smarter Challenge (www.DriveSmarterChallenge.org) is a partnership between the Alliance to Save Energy and the National Association of State Energy Officials.
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On Sarah Palin: David Brooks, Carly Fiornia — and about that tanning bed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Below are the last two paragraphs in today’s column by David Brooks of the New York Times, widely judged as a well-spoken conservative:
Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.
The idea that “the people” will take on and destroy “the establishment” is a utopian fantasy that corrupted the left before it corrupted the right. Surely the response to the current crisis of authority is not to throw away standards of experience and prudence, but to select leaders who have those qualities but not the smug condescension that has so marked the reaction to the Palin nomination in the first place.
If you’ve lost Brooks, you’ve lost someone important.
National blogs are also passing around an audio clip of an interview with former Hewlitt Packard CEO Carly Fiornia. Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic says the source is KTRS radio in St. Louis, Mo.
The sound is below. Here’s the transcript:
KTRS: “I want to ask you a question about experience — [as] somebody who has worked her way up from a secretary to run Hewlett Packard. Sarah Palin — John McCain obviously thinks she has the experience to become president of the United States. Do you think she has the experience to run a major company like Hewlett Packard?”
FIORINA: “No, I don’t. But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.”
Now, on the same topic: some of you who prefer your politics at lower altitudes have mentioned news that, in one of her first acts as governor of Alaska, Palin installed a tanning bed in the state mansion. Paid for the bed herself.
An account of this first appeared yesterday on something called the Narco News Bulletin. The same info has since shown up on web sites operated by the L.A. Times and Politico.com.
Comparisons to John Edwards’ famous $400 haircut were immediate.
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Republican-leaning group goes after Chambliss, Isakson for ‘Gang of Ten’ efforts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson are catching flak from a Republican-leaning group for their participation in the “Gang of 10” bipartisan energy bill.
American Future Fund has taken out ads in eight Georgia newspapers, including this one, and has a radio spot up on 18 stations — including WSB and WGST. The ads criticize the limits the “Gang of Ten” proposal keeps on offshore drilling in most areas of the country. The group also interprets the proposed removal of a $30 billion tax credit for oil companies, used to pay for some environmental initiatives, as a tax hike.
Click here to see the newspaper ad. Click on the box below to listen to the radio ad.
American Future Fund is Iowa-based, with strong ties to Mitt Romney. Fund President Nicole Schlinger ran Romney’s straw poll effort during the Iowa primaries.
The group began business this spring with a TV spot in Minnesota, coming down on the side of Republican incumbent Norm Coleman.
The Georgia ads mark the first time they’ve entered a fight against Republicans, spokesman Tim Albrecht said. “Just because we think it’s a flawed proposal,” he said.
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The warm and fuzzy side of Saxby Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite the millions in campaign contributions he’s gathered up for his Senate re-election fight, Republican Saxby Chambliss took a beating in this space yesterday — first from Democrat Jim Martin, then Libertarian Allen Buckley.
So we’ll start off Tuesday with a warm-and-fuzzy ad the Chambliss campaign put out late last night. It’s his third TV ad, and features an endorsement from his 91-year-old mother.
“Saxby was a good boy, but he was a red-headed devil,” she says. Otherwise, the ad is filled with expository material you’ve seen before. Given its two-minute length, the spot will probably be chopped up into pieces before you see it on television:
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Bob Barr wins his fight to stay on the ballot in Pennsylvania
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has beat a Republican attempt to keep him off the Pennsylvania ballot this November.
The decision could have profound implications if the presidential race continues to tighten.
This is from the Associated Press:
HARRISBURG, Pa.—A Pennsylvania judge’s ruling that keeps Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr on the ballot will force Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama to take him seriously in a key battleground state, a Barr campaign spokesman said Monday.
The major-party candidates “will have to compete for the votes of Pennsylvania citizens instead of taking them for granted,” said Russell Verney, Barr’s campaign manager said in a statement.
The challenge to Barr—a former Republican congressman from Georgia who some GOP strategists fear might siphon votes from McCain—was filed by Harrisburg lawyer Victor Stabile, who is also chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party.
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Buckley ads: ‘Have you been to the emergency room lately? Did you bring an interpreter?’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If this guy Allen Buckley had any real money, he might be dangerous.
The Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate is distributing four volatile radio ads across the state, each aimed at Saxby Chambliss — tying the Republican incumbent to the federal deficit, the presence of immigrants in Georgia, and special interest spending.
These are not ads that politely disagree with Chambliss, as do those of Jim Martin, the Democrat. These skewer and bludgeon, in a Republican-primary, kitchen-sink sort of way.
Hat-tip to Creative Loafing, by the way, which found them first.
Here’s one of the Buckley ads, played in a boot-camp cadence:
Does Saxby Chambliss work for me?
He darn sure will not work for free.
Who the hell is paying him?
It’s a long list so listen in.
Big law lobbyists and big oil, too
He ain’t concerned what’s good for you
Illegal immigrants at my door.
Saxby says make room for more.
Georgia, Georgia, can’t you see?
Saxby ain’t what he seems to be.
Buckley says the ads will be run locally on WGST (640AM), in Rome on WRGA (1470AM), and in Thomaston on WTGA (1590AM). But at the same time, Buckley also confesses he doesn’t have much money.
Republican activist Joe McCutchen of Elijay is one of those scrounging for money to buy more air time, Buckley said.
Saxby Chambliss spends your money like a drunken sailor — $3 million for golf lessons, $110 million to help Gallo wines and Sunkist advertise.
The U.S. government is running a $470 billion deficit this year. Did you know that Saxby’s campaign has collected $2.5 million in special interest money? That shouldn’t be a surprise. His son is a lobbyist.
Maybe your money would be safer with a drunken sailor. No offense to drunken sailors.
And another, very angry script:
Have you been to the grocery story lately? Like paying more for less? Thank you, Saxby.
My 401K is in the toilet, my house is worth half of what it was a year ago. Thank you, Saxby. It’s going to be cold this winter, and energy costs are only going to go up. Thank you, Saxby.
Have you been to the emergency room lately? Did you bring an interpreter? Thank you. Do you know what a fiscal conservative is? Neither does Saxby.
Again, note that these radio ads are getting only limited exposure.
Photo credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
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Martin aims a second ad at the middle class
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for Senate, has another ad in the works.
His campaign hasn’t said yet whether the spot will be on TV — Martin’s financial resources are limited — but it was posted on YouTube early this morning. You’ll see that it has a heavy middle class focus.
Click on the box below:
Says Martin:
“I don’t have to tell you the middle class is hurting in Georgia. I won’t insult your intelligence. But apparently we do have to tell Saxby Chambliss.
“We need to reverse the George Bush economic policies that Saxby’s been voting for all these years, crack down on the Wall Street oil speculators, stop the wasteful spending, and we can’t afford to continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
“I approved this message because Saxby won’t do that in the Senate. But I will.”
Martin makes one off-note reference to oil that most people are unlikely to notice.
The economy may be going to hell, and a post-Ike panic may be sending gas prices to $4.50 a gallon, but the price of oil dropped to a seven-month low today, selling for $96 a barrel.
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Fifty days out, it’s the economy, stupid.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s time to push the governor of Alaska to the back burner.
The 2008 presidential campaign took another sharp turn on Sunday, and again the economy has become the dominant issue.
America’s banking instability could upend the final 50 days of the presidential campaign, with both candidates forced to confront a calamity that has gotten only glancing attention during the first 20 months of the race for the White House. Red flags about the nation’s economic infrastructure have been popping up at least since the collapse in March of the investment bank Bear Stearns.
But neither Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) nor Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has talked in detail about the potential consequences for voters and the government.
For your backgrounding purposes, Business Week has this take on a disturbing 24 hours:
The day will face the fallout from the decision by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to let Lehman fail instead of having it taken over by another bank in a deal backed by the government.
Paulson and Bernanke made it clear this summer that they had reluctantly arranged the March acquisition of failing Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase (JPM). They feared permitting Bear Stearns’ bankruptcy would throw Wall Street into chaos because Bear had untold credit derivatives contracts in place with countless other banks and hedge funds.
Now the regulators have apparently decided that Wall Street has had time to control its risks with Lehman. The New York firm’s creditworthiness has been subject to question since early this year and has been in serious doubt for weeks. The warnings on Lehman and the six months since Bear was gently put down gave Wall Street time to conduct a drill for the bankruptcy by a major investment bank.
And a swallow-that-castor-oil piece from the Wall Street Journal:
When Japan was mired in economic crisis, the U.S. urged it to take decisive action to deal with its ailing banks. Japan didn’t follow the advice and the crisis dragged on for years. Now, it is the U.S. that is mired in crisis and facing the prospect of swallowing the bitter medicine it once proffered.
Japan’s stock-market bubble began rapidly deflating in 1990 and its property bubble followed suit shortly afterward. Many borrowers were unable to make payments on their debt and bad loans piled up on bank balance sheets. A long period of lackluster economic growth made a tough situation worse.
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Heads up: Huckabee filling in for Boortz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is filling in for Neal Boortz on WSB Radio today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
If memory serves, the former governor of Arkansas has a background in the medium.
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The backstory of the state’s ban on campaign smear sheets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We prefer our electioneering to be conducted along something like the Marquess of Queensberry rules. Clean punches thrown above the belt.
So quite a ruckus erupted this summer when it was learned that state Sen. John Wiles, a conservative Republican from Kennesaw, had slipped through the Legislature a provision that deleted a state ban on anonymous political literature.
Under Georgia law, it is now legal to assault tens of thousands of mailboxes with scurrilous descriptions of the other candidate — perhaps he does terrible things to pigs with lipstick, perhaps she is eager to declare war on Russia — and never sign your name to the accusations.
Secretary of State Karen Handel, the Republican sponsor of the legislation that Wiles hijacked to enact the change, has pronounced herself extremely disturbed. Ditto several lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, who say that an American sense of fair play requires repeal of the Wiles measure.
But no one is talking about this: Long before this summer, Attorney General Thurbert Baker — a Democrat, let’s remember — was advising state officials that Georgia’s ban on anonymous political literature was unconstitutional and couldn’t be enforced.
In other words, like it or not, Wiles and smear sheets may have the U.S. Supreme Court on their side.
Neither Baker nor Handel will discuss the matter. We know Baker’s opinion is contained in a letter he sent to her in April 2007. But the attorney general says he can’t discuss legal advice given to a client, and the secretary of state has declined to divulge the letter’s contents.
We do know that last December, Mike Jablonski was half-asleep in his usual back pew at a meeting of the State Election Board. Jablonski, 57, is the general counsel for the state Democratic party and an adjunct professor of political communication for Georgia State University.
The election board was droning through a case against an Avondale group that had failed to list the organization’s officers on campaign signs — which under the law qualified as “literature.”
Jablonski was startled awake when he heard an official for Handel’s office declare that, based on Baker’s opinion, prosecution wasn’t recommended.
The minutes of the meeting back Jablonski up. “We should not attempt to enforce this law as [the U.S. Supreme Court] has indicated it is inappropriate,” Shawn LaGrua, inspector general for Handel, is quoted as saying.
The 1995 Supreme Court case cited by Baker is McIntyre v. Ohio. It concerns a woman who was fined $100 for distributing anonymous flyers against a school tax. She’d forgotten to add her name to some of the sheets.
The McIntyre case has already been used to shut down a 1996 Georgia law that — if enforced today — would require bloggers on the Internet to use their real names.
“Under our Constitution, anonymous pamphleteering is not a pernicious, fraudulent practice, but an honorable tradition of advocacy and of dissent. Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority,” wrote Justice John Paul Stevens for the McIntyre majority.
Antonin Scalia was one of two dissenting justices. “I can imagine no reason why an anonymous leaflet is any more honorable, as a general matter, than an anonymous phone call or an anonymous letter. It facilitates wrong by eliminating accountability, which is ordinarily the very purpose of the anonymity,” Scalia wrote.
We’ll see a local version of this split in January.
Handel, who is eyeing a run for governor, has just begun a “transparency in government” program.
Regardless of the attorney general’s advice, she is “adamantly” opposed to what Wiles has wrought, and will work with both the House and Senate to restore the ban on anonymous political literature, a spokesman said.
Wiles points to his friends on the U.S. Supreme Court. “I will not support any effort to regulate anonymous political speech,” he said.
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Tina Fey as Sarah Palin: ‘I can see Russia from my house.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those who couldn’t stay up to watch “Saturday Night Life” last night:
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ICYMI: The Golden Rule makes Southerners think twice about torture
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A survey commissioned by Mercer University, shows that Southern evangelicals are more likely to approve of torture than the average American.
But it also shows that, if evangelicals are reminded of the Golden Rule, opposition to torture grows substantially.
The survey was released at the opening of the National Summit on Torture on the university campus in Atlanta. Here’s the AJC piece on the topic.
Click here to see a summary of the poll plus graphics. The following is from a press release:
Among the findings of the poll: close to six-in-ten white evangelicals in the South say that torture can be often (20 percent) or sometimes (37 percent) justified in order to gain important information. This compares to roughly half (48 percent) of the general public who believe that torture can be justified, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll (February 2008).
A majority (52 percent) agree with the Golden Rule argument against torture—that the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers. This movement represents a 14-point increase from the 38 percent of white evangelicals who initially said that torture is rarely or never justified. Appeals to three other moral and theological frames did not significantly influence views on torture.
A majority (53 percent) of white evangelicals in the South believe that the government uses torture as part of the campaign against terrorism, despite repeated claims made by government officials that the U.S. does not engage in torture. Only about one third (32 percent) say that the U.S. does not use torture as a matter of policy.
Among white evangelicals in the South who are registered voters, 65 percent support Republican John McCain, 14 percent support Democrat Barack Obama, and 21 percent remain undecided. These findings are consistent with the recent Time Magazine poll (Aug. 4) that showed 66 percent supporting McCain, 17 percent supporting Obama, and 17 percent undecided among white evangelicals nationwide.
Two thirds of John McCain’s supporters say torture can often or sometimes be justified, compared to only 46 percent of Obama supporters and undecided voters.
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Grover Norquist; ‘Gang of Ten’ plan breaks any anti-tax pledge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have now run afoul of the anti-tax crowd with their “Gang of Ten” attempt at a bipartisan energy bill.
This is on the CBS web site:
Several Republicans who have tried to break gridlock on the energy debate and signed on to an $84 billion energy package have broken their anti-tax “pledge,” according to a powerful watchdog group.
Americans for Tax Reform, led by anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, say that Republicans who have signed on to the Senate “Gang of 10” plan _ which has grown to 20 sponsors _ are violating their no tax increase pledges because the legislation would increase taxes on oil companies.
“On net, this ‘compromise’ is a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because it increases net income taxes” on oil companies, the group said in a statement released this evening.
On the other hand, a Washington Post editorial today gives them kudos for trying:
…the bipartisan “Gang of 20” in the Senate has tried to bridge the differences between Democrats and Republicans to reach a compromise on broad energy legislation. It is sorely needed.
The energy crisis facing the United States and the questions about how to address it without exacerbating global warming require a comprehensive approach that will include expanded offshore drilling, nuclear power and increased reliance on wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable sources of energy. Until Congress can find the political courage to make tough decisions, such legislation will never become a reality.
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So a vice presidential candidate walks into the vet’s office….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Someone in Washington decided that, after all the somber ceremonies of 9/11, a few laughs were required on Thursday night.
So they held a contest for the funniest politician.
According to the ABC News web site, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr said this:
“Does anybody know what the difference between a bulldog and a hockey mom is?” the former Georgia congressman asked. “The bulldog gets vetted.”
Badump-bump.
But the winner was former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who declared himself disappointed that he wasn’t picked as the vice presidential nominee.
“John McCain didn’t even vet me,” Huckabee said. “But he didn’t vet Sara Palin either.”
You’ve probably noticed a certain theme here.
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Alan Abramowitz’ bar bet: Barack Obama by 54 percent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democrats hyperventilating about the September rise of Republican John McCain should find a paper bag and relax, says Alan Abramowitz.
Barack Obama has this one in the can, the Emory University political scientist says. Abramowitz’ call for November: A popular vote of 54.3 percent for Obama versus 45.7 percent for McCain.
Which would “certainly” translate into an electoral college victory, the professor says.
Abramowitz says he’s got a “time for change” data model that fits the popular vote winner, within two percentage points, for the last five presidential elections.
The keys: The state of the economy, presidential approval ratings and the number of terms a party has been in power.
Details will be published in the October issue of “PS: Political Science and Politics.” Some excerpts:
— “While factors outside of the model, such as rising partisan polarization and resistance to an African-American candidate by some white voters may result in a somewhat smaller popular vote margin for the Democratic nominee, the combination of an unpopular Republican incumbent in the White House, a weak economy and a second-term election make a Democratic victory in November all but certain.”
— “Economic conditions have a substantial impact on the outcomes of presidential elections. For every additional percentage point of real annual [Gross Domestic Product] growth during the second quarter, the candidate of the president’s party can expect to receive an additional 0.6 percent of the vote. Thus, the difference between running with a stagnant economy and running with a booming economy is substantial.”
— “A candidate from the president’s party running in a second- or later-term election suffers a penalty of more than 4 percentage points compared with a candidate running in a first-term election… Regardless of the popularity of the president or the state of the economy, it is simply much more difficult for the president’s party to retain its hold on the White House.”
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Poll: McCain steps out to an 18-point lead over Obama in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A poll by InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position says that Republican presidential nominee John McCain has jumped out to an 18-point lead over Democrat Barack Obama in Georgia.
Click here for the details released by InsiderAdvantage. McCain is getting 73 percent of the white vote in Georgia, while only 19 percent say they prefer Obama. McCain is also supported by 61 percent of those who describe themselves as independent.
But the big difference is among party stalwarts. Ninety-four percent of Republicans polled said they would choose McCain. But only 76 percent of Democrats said the same about Obama.
The poll of 506 likely voters was taken Wednesday, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points. No crosstabs of the survey were made available.
On its web site, WSB-TV quotes Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage as saying that the steep decline for the Obama campaign likely explains why the candidate is moving resources out of Georgia.
Poll Position, by the way, is the new polling arm that InsiderAdvantage is launching.
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ICYMI: Powell residency case goes to Supreme Court, Barr wants Paul on his ticket, and perhaps a last word on pigs and lipstick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just in case you didn’t see these:
— The Savannah Morning News reports that the Georgia Supreme Court has agreed to hear Secretary of State Karen Handel’s appeal of lower-court ruling that reversed her decision to remove Democrat Jim Powell from the ballot in the race for the fourth district of the Public Service Commission. Powell, a Democrat, claims partisan politics influenced Handel, a Republican, to disqualify him - a charge Handel denies.
— On Wednesday, former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul urged voters to vote for third-party candidates in the presidential contest. Any third-party candidate. An offended Libertarian candidate Bob Barr didn’t attend the Paul press conference.
Nonetheless, Barr invited Paul to be his running mate. My AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin has the full story.
— In what it called “a highly scientific survey of the Congressional Record,” the newspaper Roll Call counted up the number of times that pigs and lipstick were mentioned in the same breath by current members of Congress.
Sixteen, the newspaper reported. Six times by Democrats, and 10 times by Republicans. Apparently it’s a Southern thing. Our own U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland was responsible for three of the GOP references.
For Westmoreland, two of the three times were during energy policy debates. So far as is known, presidential campaigns were offended.
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MSNBC weighs in on Rick Goddard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On a radio/Internet/cable TV program in Macon last week, 8th District congressional candidate Rick Goddard called a black MSNBC reporter “uppity” for posing to Newt Gingrich a question about Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s qualifications.
MSNBC answered last night.
Keith Olbermann, back to full-time commentating after being dumped as one of two anchor’s for the network’s political news nights, declared Goddard — who’s challenging Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall of Macon — to be “the worst person in the world.”
At least on Wednesday.
How much weight the left-of-center Olbermann swings in middle Georgia is open to dispute. But you can see the clip below.
On the same topic, Goddard did pick up some cover from Herman Cain, the former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who now hosts a talk show on WSB Radio.
Cain, who is African-American, was questioned by Travis Fain of the Macon Telegraph:
Telegraph: Can you use the word uppity to refer to anyone who’s black and have it not be — is that automatically a racial term or a racist term?
Cain: No. It is not automatically a racist or a racial term… I’m not familiar with that incident, but the word uppity, it does not suggest that it’s being used in a racial context in my opinion. I know some uppity white people. Okay? Just like I know some uppity black people. It is a term, in my opinion, and I grew up here in Atlanta, that refers to anyone who thinks that they are all that and a bag of chips, as my son would say.
Telegraph: Would Barack and Michelle Obama qualify?
Cain: As being uppity?
Telegraph: Yes sir.
Cain: Some people might think that they do, but I don’t really see that. … These labels, in the end, I think, do more harm than they do good and I don’t think that any of these labels… have any real solid meaning to them.
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A sobering start to the political season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond just issued this:
The Georgia Department of Labor announced today that 59,090 laid-off workers filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance benefits in August, an increase of 72.1 percent from August of 2007.
From July to August, the initial claims declined from 59,165, a drop of one-tenth of one percent.
“The August increase is the largest over-the-year increase in initial claims since October of 2001, when we began experiencing significant layoffs following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,” Thurmond said.
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Paul Broun, his primary scare behind him, declares that debates are so 2007ish
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks like U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens) has decided he’d rather not talk about his office budget.
The following has been posted on the web site of WGAU(1340AM) in Athens, says radio host Tim Bryant:
A spokesperson for the campaign of Congressman Paul Broun Jr. says the 10th District Republican will not take part in any local debates.
The Athens Press Club — comprised of News-Talk 1340 WGAU, The Athens Banner-Herald, and Flagpole Magazine — had been working to organize a forum with Rep. Broun and his challenger, Jackson County Democrat Bobby Saxon.
Broun campaign spokesperson Jessica Morris tells WGAU that not only will the congressman not participate in an Athens Press Club event, he will not participate in any debates in his hometown of Athens.
Broun won a narrow victory in last year’s special election after criticizing his runoff opponent, Columbia County State Senator Jim Whitehead, for his decision to duck debates in Athens.
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Gingrich on oil and energy: ‘We fundamentally changed the national debate’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Exactly one year ago, Newt Gingrich was mulling over the possibility of a Republican run for the White House.
On Wednesday morning, Gingrich celebrated the fact that, in his own small way, he had given GOP nominee John McCain the summer-time tool he needed to claw his way back into the presidential contest.
No, not Sarah Palin. Gingrich was pushing Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal harder.
It was oil. “Drill here, drill now.” “Drill, baby, drill.” That club.
Said Gingrich:
“We launched ‘Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less’ on May 14. By June 20, we had fundamentally changed the national debate.”
A book coming out later this month will allow him to continue to stoke the issue. So does he take credit for McCain’s resurgence? Answered Gingrich:
“I wouldn’t put it that way. I’d give McCain credit for figuring out it would work. And for being prepared to look at reality. As he has said, people at $4 a gallon have a different attitude than people at $1.50 a gallon. Energy suddenly became a bigger deal and a more important topic….
“It’s a little bit like being the general manager or coach of a sporting team. I’m not on the field. I’m not out there, all day, playing. What we can do is we can develop better plays, we can show people the scouting report of where the American people are.”
The “we” in Gingrich’s answer is American Solutions, his organization, a 527, that he says is dedicated to generating “tripartisan” discussions on the big issues — energy, health care, the budget.
Gingrich had a series of Solution Day seminars in Georgia this time last year. He has another set planned for Saturday, Sept. 27. The locale again will be the Cobb Galleria, but you can also catch it on the Internet — where it will be simulcast in Spanish — or on satellite TV.
Readers are free to decide for themselves whether Gingrich’s operation is genuinely non-partisan, or a thinly veiled GOP think-tank.
But you cannot question Gingrich’s ambition. The job of American Solutions, the former Georgia congressman said, is merely to
“…create a framework of solutions large enough to enable the United States to be successful of the next 25 to 30 years….
“It starts with the premise that existing institutions — litigation, regulation, education, taxation, health, energy and infrastructure — are not capable of competing with China and India as they evolve.”
Other topics naturally came up. Gingrich’s thoughts on pigs, lipstick, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears have been posted here.
In response to questions, Gingrich also said that the Obama campaign made two serious mistakes this summer, largely out of a sense of hubris. First, Obama failed to name Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential partner:
“Frankly, you probably wouldn’t have gotten Governor Palin as the vice presidential nominee because it would have been impossible for her to compete with a vice presidential Hillary Clinton.”
Then there was the European leg of Obama’s overseas venture:
“He goes to Berlin and tells 200,000 Germans he’s a citizen of the world. Almost no Americans wake up and say, ‘I want my commander-in-chief to be a citizen of the world. They want him to be an American. They gave nationalism to McCain in that one sentence.”
Gingrich had this to say about Obama in Georgia:
”When they were at their hubritic, most excited, they were going to compete everywhere. They were in Montana, they were in — I think they opened four offices in North Dakota. They’re in Virginia, they’re going to go everywhere.
“Well, it turns out in the real world, as the tide starts to recede, they’re not going to carry Georgia. It’s just not going to happen. Governor Perdue, Saxby Chambliss, the Republican organization are going to carry Georgia…
“They’re not going to carry Florida. [U.S. Sen. Joe] Lieberman’s entire speech was about one thing: Fort Lauderdale. And Lieberman has been campaigning in Fort Lauderdale.
“This is goofy, because if they’d never come into Georgia to start with, they wouldn’t be pulling out. So you wouldn’t have this sense of the declining Obama campaign.”
And what about Sarah Pailin, the governor of Alaska?
“I underestimated her dramatically. I was for her, I was excited, I was thrilled that Friday. She is so much better than I expected. She is so much more charismatic….
“She can go to any campus and compete head-to-head with Obama now. She’s as exciting, as interesting as Obama is.”
But he is worried about the vice presidential debate with U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. “I’m concerned. She cannot beat Biden so badly that she generates sympathy for him,” Gingrich said.
All jokes aside, the former U.S. House speaker seriously questioned the “Gang of Ten” initiative, backed by Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republicans, to push through a bipartisan energy bill.
As described by Chambliss, environmental initiatives would be funded by rescinding tax credits currently enjoyed by oil companies.
Said Gingrich:
”I was very disappointed in that bill. It doesn’t provide for serious drilling for anywhere except the Gulf of Mexico. And it has a huge tax increase, which is totally unnecessary….
“Other than appeasing a bunch of Democrats who are passionate to raise taxes, I don’t understand why the ‘Gang of Ten’ has a tax increase. It’s unnecessary, it is destructive in this economy, and it’s a fundamental violation of McCain’s position, which is not to raise taxes…
“Sometimes if you get in a room and begin chanting bipartisan, you adopt two or three really dumb ideas because that makes you bipartisan. I think being destructive in a bipartisan way isn’t particularly helpful.”
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Newt Gingrich: On pigs, lipstick, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich had a session with local reporters this morning.
More details will be posted later, but since lipstick and pigs seem to be the topic of the day, here’s what Gingrich had to say about it — as part of a larger discussion about the tone of the presidential campaign:
“My personal guess is, for example, that [Barack] Obama probably wasn’t referring directly to [Sarah] Palin. He was referring to McCain’s policies. But that Palin’s use of the hockey mom-pittbull story had lodged in the back of his head the lipstick idea.
“And it surfaced in a way that’s now gotten him 24 hours of really dumb — I watched last night at one point on [Fox News’] ‘Hannity and Colmes.’ When you have a 12-minute debate over whether lipstick on a pig refers to a demeaning comment about the vice presidential candidate, you know we’re not talking about health reform, we’re not talking about energy policy, we’re not talking about balancing the budget.
“And you know, it’s fairly stupid. And I give the news media a fair amount of credit for this…
Yet Gingrich was willing to cut at least one presidential candidate some slack when it comes to putting the feed down low enough so that the goats can get at it.
He continued:
“On the other hand, the candidates are going to respond to market realities. It’s a market reality that the 30-second McCain commercial with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears stopped the Obama campaign in its tracks. That it somehow magically caught, in a very common cultural phenomenon, an instinct people had.
“I would have, frankly, tried to elevate the debate, because I think you can beat Obama on big issues rather than clever gimmicks. But it was a gimmick that clearly, literally, stopped the momentum of the campaign. And they’ve never fully recovered from it.”
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Cagle files his paperwork for the 2010 race for governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has just become the second Republican to enter the 2010 race for governor. And the 2009 session of the state Legislature has just gotten a tad more complicated.
Cagle joins fellow GOPer John Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner, and David Poythress, a Democrat and former adjutant general.
My friend Harris Blackwood over at the Gainesville Times got the first word from Cagle:
The Chestnut Mountain Republican announced formation of an exploratory campaign committee and began the process that will allow him to accept campaign contributions.
In deference to the current state budget crisis, Cagle quietly shared his decision with his hometown newspaper, The Times.
“I am strongly considering a run for governor in 2010, and today we filed paperwork to begin that process by forming an exploratory committee,” Cagle said. “We did this in order to ensure every step we take is fully in compliance with the campaign disclosure requirements of Georgia law. In the months between now and the legislative session, our steering committee will be actively working to build a sound financial and organizational footing for future campaigns.”
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Allen Buckley: Saxby Chambliss has put a cap on debates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Allen Buckley, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, is a bit ticked off.
You’ll recall that, on Aug. 5, the day of the Democratic run-off vote, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss invited Buckley and that Tuesday’s victor to a series of debates.(Read the invitation here)
The three camps met late last night, to discuss a schedule. A representative for Democrat Jim Martin suggested weekly debates, either here or in Washington — the latter location to fit Chambliss’ schedule.
Eight to 10 meetings, in other words. See the Martin proposal here.
Buckley said there was an agreement. But it looks like Chambliss has put the cap at five debates. Here’s the Chambliss response. It lists the debates in which the Chambliss campaign is willing to participate.
Buckley is calling foul. This is his account, put forward in a press release:
On the morning of Friday, August 22, 2008, Brian Jackson, campaign manager for the Buckley for Senate campaign, met with Ellery Gould and Justin Tomczak, the campaign managers for the Martin and Chambliss campaigns, respectively.
Ellery Gould proposed weekly debates starting immediately, running through the election providing for a minimum of eight to ten debates.
Subject to hammering out details, an agreement was reached that additional debates should be held, preferably weekly, providing eight to ten debates; to include three previously scheduled: the Perry Fair, GPTV/Atlanta Press Club and Fox 5 News.
Brian Jackson said: “I left the meeting with the understanding that we had agreed upon several additional debates, with only the details to be worked out. To accommodate Mr. Chambliss, we’d even discussed having one or more debates in Washington D.C., if his schedule would not allow this many debates in Georgia.”
…A week after the August 22nd meeting, Justin Tomczak of the Chambliss campaign sent an email to Mr. Gould and Mr. Jackson, confirming only the events that had already been booked, and speaking generically about events “we will also consider” in the future.
Further attempts by Brian Jackson to clarify which events, or to schedule additional events have not garnered any concrete dates, events or even a date to discuss additional events. With the election now less than two months away, this series of delays represent a retraction of the eight to ten (or weekly) debate agreement….
It is clear that the email from Mr. Tomczak has the objective of minimizing debates. This action is inconsistent with the previously alleged desire of Mr. Chambliss to debate, because debates are “a crucial part of the process”by which Georgians can distinguish their United States Senator from the other candidates.”
Buckley said: “Saxby is running from his record.
“His goal is clear: to minimize debates and blast the airwaves from now until the election with commercials stating that he ‘represents our conservative values.’ He doesn’t represent my values. Let’s debate as much as possible. I ask the media to help schedule debates.”
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Jim Martin leads with Max Cleland in his first TV ad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has decided that the first image you’ll see in his general election campaign will be the face of Max Cleland.
Cleland, of course, was ousted in 2002 by Saxby Chambliss, now the Republican incumbent. Democrats are still smarting over a TV ad that Chambliss used in his campaign, which included first an image of Osama bin Laden, then one of Cleland.
Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, doesn’t mention the Chambliss ad in this TV spot for Martin. But the ex-senator does make a sly reference to Chambliss’ lack of military service.
“In times like these, we need people in Washington who’ve served their country,” Cleland says. “Jim Martin served with distinction as an Army officer in Vietnam, and he’ll do the same thing in the U.S. Senate.
Click below to watch.
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Goddard goes up on TV in the 8th District congressional race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rick Goddard, the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, has launched himself on TV today with an introductory 30-second spot.
The ad focuses on the retired Air Force general’s 33-year career in the military. Click below to watch.
You can find the script on the jump.
Announcer:
Rick Goddard.
He flew 227 combat missions over Vietnam, was decorated for valor. And, after 33 years, retired as a major general.
From his days in the cockpit to those of his final command, …
…Rick Goddard was sustained by love of family, devotion to country, and a strong faith in God.
Rick Goddard. A leader who will use his conservative values to make Congress work for you.
Rick Goddard:
I’m Rick Goddard and I approve this message.
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Plouffe: Obama campaign shifting Georgia resources to North Carolina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Plouffe, campaign manager for Barack Obama, held a session on Monday with reporters traveling with the Democratic presidential nominee.
The commitment to Georgia, which the Obama campaign has insisted was a battleground state, was one of several topics discussed. The Obama campaign in Georgia released a transcript of the meeting this morning.
Just like the banking industry, Obama troops in Georgia are drifting toward the more friendly territory of North Carolina. Here’s the relevant portion:
Plouffe: We are serious about all of the states we’re in. We are, we are currently not [inaudible] Georgia, that’s correct. But we [inaudible] for over two months. It helped us register, I believe, over 150,000 voters. We are, we’ve got a terrific ground game there…
Questioner No. 1: Are you pulling people out?
Plouffe: We are leaving all of our leadership there, and we’re, in fact just this past weekend, last weekend we registered somewhere over 15 or 20,000 people.
Questioner No. 1: But you’re closing down some of the offices, the field offices…
Plouffe: Not the offices, no.
Questioner No. 2: So what are you, you doing nothing in Georgia?
Plouffe: We’re just not on the air right now.
Questioner No. 2: You’re not on the air?
Plouffe: We’re not on the air.
Questioner No. 1: The people that were there are staying there.
Questioner No. 2: So you said you were leaving leadership…..
Plouffe: We are moving some staff into like North Carolina. But we’re keeping most everybody in Georgia. We are, you know — Montana, the red states that are most often [inaudible] — Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, full speed ahead in all three of them.
Now North Carolina is a state that the Republicans [inaudible], and now they’re on the air there with television ads. So they clearly see the threat. North Carolina is a very real situation, as is Indiana, as is Montana. So we are, we as in terms of the balance, we’re just playing a lot more offense then he is right now.
And that’s important from a ratio perspective. And you heard a lot in the beginning of the year about their desires on places like New Jersey and even California, Washington state, Oregon, and they’re not on the air in any of those states. Nor are we, because right now they’re not in a state of high competitiveness.
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Did the Barack Obama campaign in Georgia just blink?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Los Angeles Times has Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama shifting “some” troops out of Georgia.
The most relevant section of the article, published today, is marked in bold:
If the map [of the U.S.] were a roulette table, Obama would be dropping chips all over.
In Georgia, a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 16 years, Obama maintains a paid staff of more than 100. He has opened more than 30 offices, attracted nearly 5,000 volunteers and registered more than 92,000 new voters there, according to the campaign. A nonpartisan study of TV advertising released at the end of July showed that Obama had aired more than $1.8 million worth of ads in Georgia over the previous seven weeks, compared with nothing for McCain.
McCain has no field office in Georgia, using instead a Florida-based office for the Southeast. Yet he has reason for optimism: An aggregate of public polls compiled by the website Pollster.com shows McCain with a 6-point lead in Georgia.
In a possible suggestion that Obama is shifting his bets, his campaign recently returned its advertisements to the air in several states, after removing them during the recent party conventions. But Obama’s ads have not gone on the air again in Georgia or Alaska.
Plouffe told reporters Monday that the campaign was moving some staff out of Georgia and into North Carolina — a state that offers another illustration of Obama’s expansive view of the map.
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ICYMI: Martin hits the airwaves today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After making only sporatic appearances since his victory in the Aug. 5 run-off, Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, goes up on TV today.
The full story by AJC writer Ben Smith can be found here, but here’s the gist:
Democrat Jim Martin’s first television ads for the fall U.S. Senate campaign will begin running Tuesday on five Atlanta broadcast stations.
Martin ordered roughly 2 1/2 hours of broadcast airtime to run a total of 294 commercials through next Tuesday.
The cost is $224,445, a heavy buy for a week’s worth of political advertising.
But the sum pales in comparison to the $2.76 million Martin’s incumbent opponent, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie, spent to run ads all the way to Election Day. Chambliss’ ads began airing in late August, according to records kept by the Atlanta broadcast stations.
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A word from Shirley Franklin on the death of her ex-husband
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Franklin, former husband to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, died today.
Here is the AJC take on his life and death.
But this evening, Shirley Franklin sent out a more detailed obituary to her friends. Read it here in its entirety:
Atlanta native entrepreneur and entertainment attorney David McCoy Franklin died today of natural causes at age 65. His family has lived in Georgia since the early 1800s starting in Sparta. He was one of the greater-than-life Atlanta citizens whose lives defined the Civil Rights era, beginning as a youth member and organizer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. David made significant contributions in business and politics.
Attorney David Franklin
Highly successful during his lifetime, Franklin managed the careers of Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Miles Davis, Cicely Tyson, Lonette McKee, Luther Vandross, Lou Gossett, and Richard Pryor.
He was also co-founder of the prestigious Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, which now has over 600 members.
Committed to education, he made significant contributions to Morehouse through his service on the Morehouse Research Institute Advisory Board. His love of art was reflected in his collection, which at times included artists such as Romare Bearden and Ernie Barnes.
It was through his financial support that the statue “Expelled Because of Their Color” can be found on the state Capitol grounds. A voracious reader, he enjoyed everything from L.A. Dodgers Fact Book and the daily Notre Dame Blue and Gold Report to everything James Baldwin wrote.
The outspoken and frequently controversial Franklin always had a love of politics and an interest in the Civil Rights movement. Although he never ran for office, he is often cited by political observers as being instrumental in Maynard Jackson’s political operations. In 1973 Jackson was elected Atlanta’s first black mayor and exploded on the national scene. In every subsequent municipal Atlanta election, the game plan and strategy was built on the Jackson model.
Franklin’s professional political career [began], when at age 29, he returned to his native Atlanta from Washington D.C. as a partner with the law firm of Jackson, Patterson and Parks. At that time, Maynard Jackson was vice mayor, with his sights set on making history as Atlanta’s first black mayor.
As one of Jackson’s chief strategists in 1973, Franklin utilized entertainment contacts to raise thousands of dollars for the race, including a fund-raiser at the Omni starring Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, and Gladys Knight. Franklin is credited with helping to run a shrewd campaign.
On Election Day he carefully choreographed the “get out the vote” campaign with hundreds of volunteers, transporting thousands of black voters to the polls throughout the city.
Reared in Atlanta by his mother, Jean McCoy Moore, and his grandmother, Kate Dickson McCoy, Franklin attended Turner High School. Franklin’s interest in current events and business were sparked by an extraordinary curiosity and the dynamism of the African-American business leadership of the time.
After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, he moved to Washington D.C., where he took a position with the Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance. He attended American University law school at night and passed the Washington D.C. bar. It was during this period that he met and — some years later — married Shirley Franklin.
The Franklins have three children Kai, Cabral and Kali — all current residents of Atlanta.
Franklin’s entertainment career began in Washington DC where he met the then-unknown Donny Hathaway. Franklin’s keen negotiating skills on behalf of his artists soon brought him a reputation of gaining the best deals in the industry — attracting the many high-profiled artists.
Working with Ahmed Ertegun of Atlantic Records, he was the first black attorney to negotiate six figure contracts for his clients. He later worked on behalf of Richard Pryor, negotiating the first multi-performance contract for a black comedy artist on network television.
As Mayor Jackson’s law partner, coupled with the continued success of his high-profile entertainment clients, his skillful entrepreneurial and political talents became the basis of the development of the Atlanta’s minority joint venture and business enterprise program soon to become a national standard.
He worked as a strategic political advisor on the regional and national level. The numerous campaigns ranged from former Vice President Mondale and Senator Edward Kennedy to Ellis Arnall and Governor Roy Barnes.
One of Franklin’s successful business ventures was Franklin & Wilson Airport Concessions (FWAC). After initial negotiations with Ed Elson of Airport News, his became the first African-American retail concession in the history of the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Later he started a strategic partnership with worldwide airport news concessionaire, W.H. Smith in 1994, and Ronald W. Wilson, a long-term friend and business associate.
During his life, Franklin was known as a strong competitor with a razor sharp mind combined with extraordinary foresight and an amazing ability to make deals.
Franklin will be fondly remembered by many for his political acumen, business savvy, and assured confidence. An ardent supporter of black and progressive candidates for public office, Franklin was also a proud father who instilled in his children the importance of education, entrepreneurship and self confidence.
In addition to his three children, Kai, Cabral (Candice) and Kali, he is survived by three grandchildren, Kaci, Kori and Keson; two sisters, Michaele Jean Franklin Jackson, Valerie (Ronald) Knight and four nephews, Ronald Jr., David, Michael and Jules.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11 at Radcliffe Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Morehouse College Scholarship Fund in honor of David Franklin.
Photo credit: Rich Addicks/AJC
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An ‘uppity’ second look at the word
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So over the weekend, there was much discussion over the word “uppity” — and whether its segregation-era connotation still lingers when applied to African-Americans.
Last Thursday, in a conversation with reporters, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland applied the term to Barack and Michelle Obama. The Coweta County congressman later explained that, in the Southern mill village where he grew up, the word was racially neutral.
And as it turns out, Westmoreland may be a victim of selective persecution.
For that very morning, hours before Westmoreland made his gaffe in Washington, 8th District congressional candidate Rick Goddard of Houston County, the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, used the same phraseology over the radio. Just not about Obama.
It was on the “Kenny B. and Charles E. Show” down in Macon, a strange hybrid of a morning news show that was only on its third broadcast. The program can be found on the Macon Telegraph web site, on 100.9 FM, and — for an hour each morning — on WPGA-TV. All at the same time.
Goddard was just back from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
This is the sound clip sent to us by the Telegraph. Here’s what Goddard said:
“I’ll tell you one thing, I think we’re going to have a very, very strong, capable president in John McCain. Last night, Newt Gingrich disarmed a very uppity newscaster who tried to question him on the capabilities and leadership of Governor Palin. There’s simply no comparison between a governor and a community organizer….”
Now, you could say that Goddard was referring to media elitism, a topic that was all the rage up in St. Paul last week. Then again, you could also say that Ron Allen, the MSNBC reporter in question, is African-American. See the clip in question below.
Tim Baker, spokesman for the Goddard campaign, had this:
“A member of the media dropped all pretense of objectivity during an interview with Newt Gingrich to arrogantly launch an attack on Gov. Sarah Palin’s experience, to which Rick came to her defense and simply evoked a word — that by definition — described the reporter’s demeanor as being superior, arrogant and presumptuous.
“To try and smear Rick’s character by suggesting that he meant anything other than the definition is ludicrous.”
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Perhaps the newest headquarters for “Go Fish Georgia”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue knows exactly how many houses he owns. He just forgot to tell the right people about the newest one.
Creative Loafing, this city’s alternative publication, just posted this:
According to the Butts County Tax Assessor, Perdue and his wife purchased two lots on [Jackson] lake in Sept. 2007. There’s one problem: He never claimed it on his annual financial disclosure, which would be a no-no according to the State Ethics Commission.
The Jackson Progress-Argus, the county’s local newspaper and legal organ, reported Perdue’s wife requested water and sewer service at the lake house on Sept. 28. Neighbors interviewed by the paper said the couple moved into the home in November. Since then, it’s apparently been a vacation spot for Perdue and his family.
On their personal blogs, the couple’s grown children refer to the home and posted photos of family gatherings there….
After being contacted by CL on Monday in regards to the property, Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley checked with his boss. He said it was a “complete oversight” and that the governor’s office would file an amended report today.
My AJC colleague Ben Smith tapped some computer keys and came up with a purchase price of $550,000 for the new slice of Perdue real estate, based on the transaction documents available on-line.
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There’s the myth, and then there are the statistics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over at InsiderAdvantage this morning, Dick Pettys explores a declaration that Secretary of State Karen Handel made last week in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention.
The topic was the alleged surge of new, Barack Obama-driven voters in Georgia. “It’s a myth, y’all,” Handel said.
Writes Pettys:
Statistics on her web site show that between January and August of this year, black voter registration rose by 149,840 (from 1,226,426 to 1,376,266 - an increase of 12.2%).
During the same time period, white voter registration increased by 159,650 (from 2,967,199 to 3,126,840 - an increase of 5.38%).
That’s 309,490 newly-registered voters during the time period, 51.5 percent of them white and 48.4 percent of them black.
Whatever it is - or is not - it’s different from what was happening four years ago.
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Another trip across the aisle for Isakson, this time for high-speed passenger rail
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It would be incorrect to call Johnny Isakson a reckless adventurer, a seeker of confrontation and controversy.
But he is by no means shy.
Already the Republican senator has taken flak for engaging — along with colleague Saxby Chambliss — in a bipartisan attempt at an energy bill. Election season is not the time for kumbaya measures, the Rush Limbaughs of America have screamed.
Undeterred, Isakson is about to reach across the aisle again, this time to John Kerry, the Democrat from Boston. The purpose: A revival of this country’s rail system, which — with luck — could give birth to a high-speed passenger train that would careen from Birmingham, through Atlanta, to Washington.
For Isakson, energy is again a motivating force. It takes less of the stuff to push a load of people sideways than to raise them to 35,000 feet — and then push them sideways. Also, high-speed trains can be powered by electricity that’s generated by coal, natural gas, or — if one prefers — nuclear energy.
Oil be damned.
This is no small thing, however. We’re talking the largest reshaping of American infrastructure since Dwight Eisenhower ordered up a duplicate of the German autobahn.
Fiscal conservatives, and Republicans in particular, have wrinkled their noses at passenger rail. Amtrak, the current system, is a corporation wholly owned by the federal government. Operating deficits are picked up by you and me. And there are always operating deficits.
“The funding mechanism is broken. It’s a totally subsidized mess,” Isakson said.
Kerry’s office would not offer any details of the bill that the Massachusetts senator intends to drop sometime this month. But at least one draft is already floating around Atlanta business circles.
Isakson said the bill would fundamentally alter our method of capitalizing rail transportation, putting it on a footing similar to the way we fund airports, freeways and seaports. Governments, a combination of state and federal, would acquire the right-of-way and build tracks. User fees would pay for upkeep, levied by private rail corporations that would live or die on their own performance.
By some accounts, the Kerry legislation also permits the raising of $200 billion via bonds to finance a limited number of high-speed rail lines across the country.
Isakson said he intends to sign on as a co-sponsor to the Kerry measure. It fits neatly with his advocacy of high-speed rail in the South, which stretches back to his days in the U.S. House. He has long envisioned a line from Birmingham to Atlanta through the Carolinas to Richmond, thence to Washington.
“You’ve got to have a spine that’s the backbone,” Isakson said. Lines to places like Chattanooga and Savannah would be the ribs.
Last year, Isakson pushed through a $2 million allocation — matched by state cash — to determine the economic viability of such a line. The study isn’t yet finished.
The Georgia business community is high on the idea. The missing ingredient in any discussion of rail has been political will. But that is changing, fueled by this summer’s waltz with $4-a-gallon gasoline. Gov. Sonny Perdue recently signed on to the concept of commuter rail in the direction of Macon.
The Republican platform approved in St. Paul last week calls for a resolution to America’s dependence on foreign oil “not by changing our lifestyles but by putting the free market to work.”
The wording is inartful at best. Weaning ourselves off the Middle East will require fundamental changes in our lifestyles. In the way we heat our homes, power our television sets and computers and blenders, but most particularly in the way we move from Point A to Point B.
“We’ll never see $2 -a-gallon gasoline again,” Isakson said.
Photo credits: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau, Associated Press
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Marshall: Drill, but first strike a better bargain with oil companies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon has teamed up with a Republican, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, to pen an op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post that includes these paragraphs:
The controversial bans on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have preserved precious oil and natural gas reserves owned by the public. Thank environmentalists for this unintended gift.
But for these bans, we would have wasted the reserves without a strategic plan. Leasing and drilling would have lowered world oil prices by a few cents, benefiting more foreign consumers than Americans….
We hope this price crisis prompts the adoption of a strategic plan to use the remaining value of our federally owned oil and natural gas reserves to fund a clean, affordable and independent energy future for America, a goal worthy of short-term environmental concessions and risks.
Virtually all general drilling bans should be lifted. We should permit drilling offshore and in the ANWR and require that it be done with appropriate care.
Before granting additional drilling rights, however, we should fundamentally change the terms of future oil and gas lease agreements to ensure that taxpayers capture more of the revenue from our remaining reserves.
Today’s agreements provide exceptional profits for leaseholders when prices rise, so much so that leaseholders have a significant financial incentive to delay production until prices rise. That must change….
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The cost of criticism
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My AJC colleague Ben Smith just called from WAGA headquarters, where he’d been nosing into ad buys for the fall campaigns. Still no sign of Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
Anyway, Smith was able to put a price on that single, 30-second ad that state Rep. Rob Teilhet (D-Smyrna) has purchased to chide state School Superintendent Kathy Cox in the middle of her appearance tonight on Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”
Click here for the original post with a Youtube version of the ad.
Meeting Jeff Foxworthy: Priceless. The cost of a video raspberry: $2,550. No doubt they come cheaper when purchased in bulk.
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Jesse Jackson down with food poisoning — after a trip into Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia might have made Jesse Jackson sick. He’s not sure.
This week, while conducting voter registration drives in Ohio and Georgia, the 66-year-old civil rights leader was stricken with food poisoning. He’s now at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he was diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis and severe dehydration.
But Jackson was resting comfortably enough to engage in a telephone interview with my AJC colleague Susan Abramson, where he said his doctors expect a full recovery.
From his bedside, Jackson said he has not been able to pin down where he became ill.
He was in Ohio over the weekend, and in Athens on Labor Day. On Wednesday, he was signing up voters in Atlanta. “Two days ago I began to feel stomach anxiety and pain and by yesterday it was very intense,” he said.
Jackson said he was in Georgia, in part, because he is concerned about the “growing impact of poverty.”
“We need a plan to end the war and to end poverty at home,” he said.
Barack and Michelle Obama are ‘uppity,’ says Lynn Westmoreland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who was born and raised in the South, said Thursday that he’s never heard the word “uppity” used in a racially loaded fashion — and meant nothing more than “elitist” when he applied it to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
“If anyone read more into it, no undercurrent was intended,” Westmoreland spokesman Brian Robinson said this evening.
In a Washington D.C. conversation with reporters, the two-term Sharpsburg congressman was discussing the speech of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin when he was asked to compare her with Michelle Obama.
“Just from what little I’ve seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they’re a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they’re uppity,” Westmoreland said, according to The Hill, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill.
When asked to clarify, Westmoreland said, “Uppity, yeah.”
The Hill immediately posted the incident on-line, where it zipped around the Internet, causing Westmoreland’s office phones to ring off the hook.
The incident underlines the cultural minefields that come with a presidential campaign that features the first African-American to win the nomination of a major political party. Republicans say they’re merely trying to portray Obama as out of touch with working Americans, but some Democrats say the GOP is speaking in cultural code.
For decades in the segregated South, “uppity” was a word applied to African-Americans who attempted to rise above servile positions.
“It was only a matter of time before Republican officials shifted from oblique racially-charged language to brazen racially-charged language,” wrote Steve Benen, author of a blog for Washington Monthly magazine.
Though raised by a struggling, single mother, Obama studied at both Columbia University in New York and Harvard University. Michelle Obama was raised on Chicago’s rough south side, the daughter of a city pump operator — but she attended both Princeton and Harvard universities.
This spring, Obama apologized for his “poor word choices” at a California fund-raiser in which he described small-town Americans as “bitter” over the souring economy and clinging to religion and guns in response.
Citing that gaffe, Hillary Clinton sought to apply the “elitist” label to Obama in the Democratic primary. Republicans have tried to do so during their national convention in Minnesota.
“In small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening,” Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP nominee for vice president, said Wednesday in her debut speech.
A spokeswoman for the Obama campaign in Georgia declined comment.
In the article published by The Hill, the national Obama campaign did not note any racial context in the Georgia congressman’s remarks. “Sounds like Rep. Westmoreland should be careful throwing stones from his candidate’s eight glass houses,” said Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Robinson, Westmoreland’s spokesman, said the Obama response proved that no offense was intended. “They saw it as the way he meant it,” Robinson said.
Westmoreland, who is contemplating a 2010 run for governor, released the following statement:
“I’ve never heard that term used in a racially derogatory sense. It is important to note that the dictionary definition of ‘uppity’ is ‘affecting an air of inflated self-esteem — snobbish.’
“That’s what we meant by uppity when we used it in the mill village where I grew up,” Westmoreland said.
Considered one of the most conservative members of Congress, Westmoreland represents the 3rd District, which covers much of central and western Georgia, from Henry County to Muscogee County. He was first elected to Congress in 2004, after beating Republican primary rival Dylan Glenn, an African-American.
Glenn was supported by several high-ranking Republicans, including former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, who argued that the state GOP needed more diversity. That prompted DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, a Democrat who is also African-American, to jump into the campaign on Westmoreland’s behalf.
Both Jones and Westmoreland were first elected to the state House in 1992. Westmoreland later became the House minority leader.
Preview of 2010 gubernatorial race?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — The line-up of speakers at this morning’s Georgia delegation breakfast could have been a preview of the upcoming 2010 gubernatorial race.
One announced candidate, one expected candidate and several other possible challengers all addressed a crowd of more than 100 Georgia Republican delegates and activists.
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is the only announced GOP candidate for governor, but Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is expected to run. Secretary of State Karen Handel is a potential challenger, House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) is considered a long-shot to run and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson earlier said he was not going to be a candidate for governor.
But all spoke at breakfast this morning.
A common theme among most was how terrific vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin did in her speech to the convention last night.
But there were elements of potential stump speeches as well.
Cagle, in particular, seemed to have prepared his gubernatorial talking points down pat.
“Raising taxes is not an option but making government more efficient is,” he said to big applause.
He vowed to work, as leader of the Senate for now, to address Georgia’s issues, including education and transportation.
Oxendine’s remarks were shorter, and focused more on the race for president (as well as a pitch for Atlanta to make a bid for the 2012 Republican convention, which, if he’s elected governor, would make him the convention host). But Oxendine also sponsored a reception on Wednesday for state party chairwoman Sue Everhart.
Handel, who fired up the crowd with energetic praise for Palin and McCain, said that as Secretary of State she’ll be on the watch for voter fraud in November. But Handel also said her office’s research shows that rumors of a huge surge in voter registration for Democrat Barack Obama is wishful thinking for Democrats.
“It’s a myth y’all,” she said. “It’s a flat out myth.”
Handel said voter registration increases from 2000 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2008 are not vastly different, which could indicate an absence of a renewed surge.
(U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), incidentally, told the same crowd on Tuesday that since he was first elected in 2002, there are 1 million new voters in the state.)
Isakson, too, focused mostly on the race for president and said that Palin has had a remarkable effect on McCain.
“The John McCain before last Friday (when Palin was announced as his VP choice) and the after last Friday is remarkable,” Isakson said. “He’s 10 years younger.”
Richardson had, perhaps, the most personally compelling comments. Focused almost entirely on Georgia issues, Richardson also said the past few years have been difficult for him personally, something he said he shares with Palin, who has seen details of her family’s life play out in the media.
“I awoke one day and I realized I had learned a lot in four years of being speaker,” Richardson said. “Unfortunately. there’s no book on how to be speaker. I watched Sarah Palin. I have a special place for her, I just wish I could spend five minutes with her and tell her I understand what she’s going through. The arrows come.”
Richardson has gone through a high-profile divorce and had very public disputes with Gov. Sonny Perdue and Cagle.
Richardson said Thursday that he won’t change who he is: “I will not play along just to get along.”
But he said he will work to remember something his mother said, and to live it, too.
“I am going to do my best, to follow this one phrase that my mother told me years ago, ‘Glenn, just because you think it doesn’t mean you have to say it.”
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Oxendine eyes 2012 convention in ATL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine wants to explore the possibility of an Atlanta bid for the 2012 Republican National Convention.
Speaking to Georgia delegates to the current convention, Oxendine said between Phillips Arena, the Georgia Dome and the World Congress Center, Atlanta has more than enough facilities. The city has also the hotel capacity to avoid what delegates here face, which is a 30- to 45-minute bus ride to the convention in St. Paul.
“Let’s see if we can go ahead and put a bid together and let’s take a serious look and weigh the options,” Oxendine said. “We can do a better one in Atlanta. Why don’t we take a look at doing that?”
Atlanta last hosted a national party convention in 1988 when Democrats gathered in the city.
The response from delegates at this morning’s breakfast was not effusive, but it came more than an hour into a marathon session.
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A televised rebuttal to Cox’s ‘Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader’ appearance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once Republicans close shop in Minnesota tonight, the next political drama available to tube-captive Georgians will be the Friday night appearance by state School Superintendent Kathy Cox on Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”
State Rep. Rob Teilhet, a Democrat from Smyrna, calls the Republican school superintendent’s appearance “ill-conceived, at best.” And he announced Thursday that he’s purchased a 30-second raised eyebrow that will be aired on WAGA-TV sometime during the broadcast.
To watch Teilhet’s spot, click on the box below.
Here’s the script:
“Tonight, Georgia State School Superintendent Kathy Cox will try to prove that she’s smarter than a fifth grader. But even a fifth grader would have to wonder what she’s doing on a game show in Hollywood, while students are struggling here in Georgia.
I’m Representative Rob Teilhet. I believe it’s time to stop playing Hollywood games, and reduce our class sizes, expand pre-kindergarten, and support the parents and the teachers who are working so hard to improve our public schools.”
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T. Boone Pickens sells plan to hungry Georgians
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — Famed oil man T. Boone Pickens spoke to the Georgia delegation to the Repbublican National Convention on Thursday morning to tout his plan for American energy independence.
It was a hungry crowd. A breakfast buffet was set up, but was not being served, until after Pickens’ address. A few people are starting to edge toward the food.
Still, delegates seem equally hungry for details on his plan, which would encourage creation of massive wind farms across the Great Plains to produce electricity and would push domestically produced natural gas to fuel automobiles.
Pickens has spent more than 50 million on national television advertising campaigns to tout his plan, and spoke last week to Democrats gathering for their convention in Denver.
The 80-year-old Pickens said he has also presented his plan to both Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican hopeful John McCain.
“You can’t drill your way out of the problem,” Pickens told delegates, many of whom have chanted “drill, baby, drill,” at the nightly sessions of the convention here. But, Pickens said, drilling can help and he supports it.
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In which Newt Gingrich comes darn close to endorsing Sarah Palin for president
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich stopped by Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” last night to defend Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.
Click below to watch.
Here’s a compressed transcript:
Stewart: You wanted Governor Palin three months ago. What is it about her that appealed to you?
Gingrich: I always thought that either [Louisiana] Governor [Bobby] Jindal or Governor Palin, who were young, aggressive reformers, just brought a whole new breath of fresh air and life to the Republican party. We’re at the end of a cycle where people were fed up with congressional Republicans, basically fired them in 2006. If this campaign is about politics as usual, then the fact is that Obama and Biden are going to win.
Stewart: Have they made mistakes in the way they rolled her out? Have they given her a chance to succeed?
Gingrich: Look, I think some people thought, Introduce her, say, with a moose hunt. Or some other uniquely Alaskan thing that she can do that probably Biden couldn’t do. You know, that would have set a different standard. But I think that was going too far.
Stewart: Vote Palin — she’ll bring your insulin over the Northwest Passage to Grandma.
Gingrich: There you go. But I concede that, in this day and age, that’s a bit much.
Stewart: So McCain makes his campaign that Barack Obama is dangerously inexperienced. Then he chooses Governor Palin who — is it because she’s intriguingly inexperienced?
Gingrich: I think he picked Governor Palin because when he starts to talk about her inexperience, running an $11.5 billion state with 15,000 employees compared to a $4.5 million Senate office with 69 employees, you begin to realize —
Stewart: Although he’s run the presidential campaign as long as she’s been governor. Is it —
Gingrich: He’s actually run the presidential campaign seven years longer than she’s been governor.
Stewart: It seems that experience was made the centerpiece of a campaign, and it seems to undercut it…..
Gingrich: Democrats now have to argue that her lack of knowledge and experience for the vice presidency is a real threat in case something happens to McCain. But we’re going to put Obama, who has a similar lack of knowledge and experience in the presidency….You can’t find a single executive decision that either Obama or Biden has made in their entire career.
Stewart: Or that McCain, by that definition.
Gingrich: That’s exactly right.
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Kingston wants Bush to join Democratic drill-down with a veto
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With cries of “Drill, baby, drill” still echoing through the convention hall in St. Paul, don’t think for a moment that Republicans will stop hammering Democrats on the issue of off-shore searches for oil.
In fact, Investor’s Business Daily is reporting this:
Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., is circulating a letter among House members that strongly urges President Bush “to veto any spending bills that would continue the moratorium on [Outer Continental Shelf] drilling.”
So far, the letter has 100 GOP signers, not enough to sustain a veto. A veto risks a government shutdown, which Kingston concedes “is dicey. Most people up here are sensitive to a possible shutdown.”
Republicans don’t want to get blamed for cutting off aid to the poor and elderly. But voters also could focus their anger on Democrats for being willing to shut down the government to maintain an unpopular drilling ban.
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Updated: Who’s going to cast Georgia’s vote? It’s a secret
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — When the roll call of the states happens late tonight, someone will announce how Georgia votes.
But who that is is a mystery. Or, better, it’s a secret.
State party director Ben Fry said just a few moments ago that they’re going to “just see what happens” at the roll call.
I’ve got one source telling me who it’s going to be, but won’t post it here without more confirmation. Feel free to speculate in the comments about who you think it might be, and what variation of “the great state of Georgia” will be used.
Before this week’s poll rankings came out, someone could have said, “home of the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.”
UPDATE: It was party chairwoman Sue Everhart, with Gov. Sonny Perdue standing right beside her.
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The difference between Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Tuesday night speech by U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, only eight years ago the Democratic nominee for vice-president, on behalf of Republican presidential pick John McCain brought up a half-dozen comparisons to Zell Miller’s role in the 2004 convention that nominated George W. Bush for a second term.
(Governor, if you’re reading this, we really did try to call you. Give a shout.)
The Los Angeles Times blog was most fulsome in drawing a comparison:
Miller took the stage at Madison Square Garden to launch a frontal assault on the Democratic nominee trying to deny President Bush reelection. He eviscerated Kerry’s voting record on defense systems, suggesting that if the senator from Massachusetts had his way, the U.S. military would be armed with spitballs.
Lieberman, by contrast, came to Minnesota more to praise John McCain than to attack Barack Obama. And for the voters both camps are targeting — independents — there’s a good chance Lieberman’s message will resonate more effectively.
At the least, it ought to lay the groundwork — if any was really needed — for Lieberman to land a high-ranking post in a McCain administration (after all, his welcome in the Democratic Senate caucus is bound to grow even more strained than it already is).
This is the key difference between Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller. The former Georgia senator, while vilified by his former Democratic colleagues since that address, has been warmly embraced by Republicans, here in Georgia and elsewhere.
For at the heart of Miller’s shift was a late-in-life religious transformation that included a new opposition to abortion. Republicans still seek his support — U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss being the latest.
But Lieberman has undergone no such conversion. His alliance is with McCain, not the Republican base. It’s a matter of friendship and foreign policy — and, as the Connecticut senator said last night, country over party.
David Yepsen wrote this for the Des Moines Register:
It took courage for Lieberman to deliver such a speech. His fellow Democrats in the Senate suffer him only because they need him to control the place. If Democrats make gains in the 2008 election, as seems likely, look for an effort to be made to strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanships.
While McCain likes Lieberman and may have even wanted to put him on the GOP ticket as his running mate, rank-and-file Republicans have made it clear that can’t stomach Lieberman’s left-of-center positions on social issues.
So what you saw Tuesday night was a courageous, politically homeless man giving an address that assures he’ll likely wander forever in the wilderness.
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An evangelical voice of, if not doubt, then caution when it comes to Sarah Palin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Throughout this afternoon and beyond her speech this evening, Republicans will be emphasizing their confidence in Gov. Sarah Palin as the GOP candidate for vice president.
Evangelicals have been especially supportive of the Alaskan governor, but not to a man.
Mark DeMoss, a Christian publicist with an office in Buford, was Mitt Romney’s liaison to Southern evangelicals during the Republican primary.
Steve Walden, editor-in-chief of Beliefnet, documents DeMoss’ qualms in a posting today:
Mark DeMoss, former chief of staff to Jerry Falwell and now a leading Christian public relations executive, is hoping that Palin turns out well but has been shocked and worried by the reflexive Christian embrace of her.
“Too many evangelicals and religious conservative are too preoccupied with values and faith and pay no attention to competence. We don’t apply this approach to anything else in life, including choosing a pastor.”
Imagine, he said, if a church was searching for a pastor and the leadership was brought a candidate with great values but little experience. “They’ve been a pastor for two years at a church with 150 people but he shares our values, so we hired him to be pastor of our 5,000-person church? It wouldn’t happen! We don’t say, ‘He shares our values, so let’s hire him.’ That’s absurd. Yet we apply that to choosing presidents. It blows my mind.”
….To be clear, DeMoss isn’t saying Palin is unqualified. “The reality is, we don’t know - and neither does McCain if he only met her once.” The other Christian leaders who rallied around her didn’t know much either. “I’m not hinting something’s amiss but we don’t know her and the people who gave her glowing response Friday didn’t know. The euphoric rush to anoint without knowing — it’s a dangerous thing.”
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Boortz not among those cutting Palin’s daughter any slack
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most every conservative soul at the Republican National Convention has been in lockstep on the topic of Gov. Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter: It’s the family’s business, a private matter. The less said the better.
But Neal Boortz apparently didn’t get the memo. The syndicated radio talk show host, based here in Atlanta at WSB Radio, spent the morning from his booth in St. Paul giving the young lady a very public spanking — not surprising when you remember that Boortz often rails against local teenage drivers when their cars go astray, doing injury to themselves and others.
Boortz’ focus was on a photo sent to him, featuring Palin’s daughter and her husband-to-be, wearing faux gang garb and sporting a half-gallon bottle of what appears to be whiskey.
Listen to the sound clip here. Here’s a sampling:
Boortz: Jamie [Dupree] sent me a picture last night of Sarah Palin’s daughter. Is she 16? She’s 17 now, isn’t she? And her boyfriend. And, oh, boy. From the looks of this picture you can only draw the conclusion that Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is a twit. First of all, her boy friend — he’s wearing a do-rag, a little wannabe rapper. He’s wearing his do-rag, and then he’s got an oversized baseball hat on sideways.
Belinda Skelton: Holding a huge thing of liquor.
Boortz: Holding a gallon jug of some kind of — well, it ain’t iced tea. And it’s about two-thirds empty…..That picture will probably end up going everywhere, and it’s not going to help anybody.”
Photo credit: William Berry/AJC
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A Bob Barr sighting — inside the GOP convention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just showed up on a Reuters blog:
Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has crashed the Republican convention.
Barr, a former Republican congressman now running for president on the Libertarian ticket, was spotted inside the Xcel Center on Wednesday morning, near the talk-radio jocks on “Radio Row.”
What was he doing here? How did he get in? What did he think of Sarah Palin?
Barr said it wasn’t a good time for questions.
“I have to visit the men’s room,” he told Reuters.
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Perdue: Dems say ‘Dang!’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — Gov. Sonny Perdue said Wednesday that Sarah Palin’s selection as the GOP vice presidential nominee has made Democrats second-guess their own choice for president.
Speaking at the Georgia delegation’s breakfast meeting here, Perdue said the governor of Alaska was a great pick for GOP presidential hopeful John McCain.
“This is a woman that the more America knows of her, gets to know her, the better they’re going to like her, and boy the Democrats hate it,” Perdue said. “I talked about buyer’s remorse at the Democratic National Convention. You could see it, you could feel it. They chose the wrong candidate, and add Sarah Palin on top of that and they say, ‘Dang! They beat us to the punch.”
Perdue was speaking of Democrats’ selection of Barack Obama, and not Hillary Clinton, to be their nominee.
The governor said that Palin will help McCain, whom, Perdue admitted, “probably has offended all of us at one time with some of his decisions.”
Still, Perdue said, “he’s done what he thought was right.”
Perdue challenged delegates to help back up his own words from months ago about Obama competing to win Georgia.
“I wrote a check that I’m going to ask you to cover,” Perdue said. “I said, ‘Bring it on.’”
“Let Obama and Joe Biden come to Georgia, spend as much money as they want and have their say and we’re still just going to wax them,” he said. “So bring it on, bring it on and let’s go to work.”
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The Sarah Palin Chronicles: Part II
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Day 3 of their national meeting in St. Paul, with her speech only hours away, Republicans insist that the media should treat GOP vice presidential pick Sarah Palin more gently. Like they treated Hillary Clinton.
— Former presidential candidate Fred Thompson, the TV actor and ex-senator from Tennessee, set the tone last night:
“Some Washington pundits and media big shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit. Well, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who has taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union — and won — over the beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week.
“Let’s be clear … the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. She is a courageous, successful, reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment.”
— In this piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, we learn that the man in charge withheld his charms from CNN because of its alleged rough treatment of Palin:
Republican presidential nominee John McCain abruptly canceled a scheduled appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Tuesday in retaliation for an earlier interview on the network, in which an anchor raised questions about vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s foreign policy credentials.
— And then the Washington Post had this:
Sen. John McCain’s top campaign strategist accused the news media Tuesday of being “on a mission to destroy” Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by displaying “a level of viciousness and scurrilousness” in pursuing questions about her personal life.
In an extraordinary and emotional interview, Steve Schmidt said his campaign feels “under siege” by wave after wave of news inquiries that have questioned whether Palin is really the mother of a 4-month-old baby, whether her amniotic fluid had been tested and whether she would submit to a DNA test to establish the child’s parentage.
— Los Angeles Times outlines today’s talking points for Republicans:
With some GOP strategists worried that the Palin pick has undercut McCain’s argument that Obama is too inexperienced to be president, internal campaign talking points obtained Tuesday by The Times signal that Republicans will try to retake the experience argument — drawing a direct parallel between Palin and Democratic nominee Obama.
“Obama’s ‘experience’ is running for president,” read the talking points, distributed Tuesday to campaign surrogates who appear on radio and television talk shows. “Gov. Palin’s experience is bringing people together to get things done.”
Another document distributed to GOP delegates urges them to discuss Palin’s knowledge of energy issues as governor of an oil-producing state — and exhorts the delegates in their discussions of Palin: “STAY POSITIVE when talking to reporters.”
— Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich didn’t observe the “stay positive” part, but he made all the other points in this MSNBC video below:
— Palin’s past support of Pat Buchanan’s presidential bid has made some Jewish leaders and supporters of Israel nervous. The Alaskan governor has been kept out of sight at the convention, but the Wall Street Journal noted this meeting on Tuesday:
She had private sessions with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and members of the pro-Israel group AIPAC, said people familiar with her schedule. An AIPAC spokesman said Gov. Palin told its members she would “work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel.”
— On the background front, the Washington Post reports that the veep-vetting process was more rushed than the McCain campaign has let on:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.
— In a profile of her Christian-oriented term as mayor, the New York Times notes that family ties aren’t everything with the GOP candidate for vice president:
When Ms. Palin completed her second and final term, in 2002, her stepmother-in-law, Faye Palin, was running to succeed her. It seemed like a good idea, except that Faye Palin supported abortion rights and was registered as unaffiliated, not Republican, people who remember the race said. Sarah Palin sided instead with Dianne M. Keller, a religious conservative and an ally on the City Council. Ms. Keller won.
— This will endear her to the South: Quoting a 2006 opposition research report by Democrats, The Politico says that Palin once filed paperwork to start a consulting firm. She named it Rouge Cou. That’s French for “redneck,” she explained.
— And just because it seems more relevant now than it did two weeks ago, here’s a link to an Insider post from last month:
An Atlanta actuarial firm says both presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama “can reasonably be expected to serve two full terms in good health.”
But just barely.
The 30-year-old Bragg actuarial company, which specializes in morbidity and mortality calculations, gives 71-year-old McCain a “healthy expectancy” of 8.4 years, taking into account his four bouts with melanoma of the skin.
Barack Obama, who turned 47 [on Aug. 4], can expect 21.9 years of good health — a forecast shortened by 10 percent or so by his history of cigarette smoking.
Photo credit: Bloomberg News
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Busy day for Georgia GOP
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — With the Republican National Convention back in full swing, Georgia’s GOP delegation has a busy day ahead.
Gov. Sonny Perdue and Secretary of State Karen Handel were both scheduled to speak to delegates and their breakfast coming up in about an hour. An update from federal officials follows.
State Sen. Judson Hill (R-Marietta) will be one of three panelists at 11 a.m. at a luncheon on health care sponsored by Congressional Quarterly. Hill will discuss strategies for helping the uninsured gain access to health care.
From 3 to 5 p.m. this afternoon, state party chairwoman Sue Everhart will be feted at a reception in her honor. (Incidentally, that reception is sponsored in part by Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine who has made clear his intention to run for governor in 2010.)
But the biggest event of the day will be the convention session, itself. It’ll be a long night. Unlike Democrats, who started their convention in Denver by 3:30 p.m. (that’s 5:30 in Atlanta) and were done by 9 p.m., Republicans choose to go into the night. Tonight’s session begins around 6 p.m. and will go past 10 p.m. again.
Look for the roar from the convention crowd when vice presidential pick Sarah Palin comes out to give her speech tonight. These delegates are jazzed for her.
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Certain takes the stage
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — The Rev. Robert Certain’s moment at the Republican National Convention came moments after U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) banged down the gavel to begin the convention’s second day.
Certain, pastor at The Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Marietta, delivered the invocation for the day.
Certain asked God to “grant wisdom and grace” to President Bush and other U.S. leaders and that John McCain and Sarah Palin, and other candidates, to be granted the “courage to face the rigors of the campaign, honesty and integrity to cast a vision of unity, progress and liberty.”
Finally, Certain asked God to “teach our people to rely on your strength, and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may put country first, elect trustworthy leaders and make wises decisions for the well-being of our society.”
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Bob Barr goes to Minneapolis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABC News caught up with Bob Barr in Minneapolis this afternoon.
The Libertarian presidential candidate, who was in Denver last week, stopped by Ron Paul’s “Rally for the Republic,” but told the news outlet he’s not ticked off by Paul’s refusal to make an endorsement in the November general election.
Wrote the network’s blogger:
Barr, a former [Georgia] GOP congressman, told ABC News he respects Paul’s intent not to make an endorsement in the general election, and is “here today because there are thousands of people who believe we need to shrink the power, the size, the scope of the federal government…..”
“Ron has chosen to work within the Republican Party, I’ve chosen to work through the Libertarian party through the electoral route, but we all want the same thing,” he added.
Barr will be hanging around the Republican National Convention the rest of the week. His campaign says the Libertarian has a 9 a.m. appearance tonight on Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”
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Republicans making phone calls for Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Barack Obama campaign in Georgia says that tonight it will host groups of Republican converts to the Democratic presidential candidate.
They’ll be participating in phone banks, speaking GOP to potential voters.
See the list of metro Atlanta gatherings on the jump.
Golden Spoon Jamaican Cuisine Restaurant
1360 Dogwood Drive
Conyers, GA 30013
6pm
Campaign For Change field office
3245 Lawrenceville Suwanee Road, Suite S
Suwanee, GA 30024
7 pm
Paccino’s Pizzeria
4081 Redan Road
Stone Mountain, GA 30083
6:30pm
Campaign for Change field office (this is also an office opening)
1200 Cobb Pkwy North, Suite 700
Marietta, GA 30062
6:30 pm
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The Sarah Palin Chronicles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A compendium of instant literature on Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin:
— A NYT piece on Palin and the Mommy Wars.:
“How is this really going to work?” said Karen Shopoff Rooff, an independent voter, personal trainer and mother of two in Austin, Tex. “I don’t care whether she’s the mother or the father; it’s a lot to handle.”
— A Washington Post article on federal earmarks secured by Palin as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.
— A Chicago Tribune column by John Kass on keeping the kids out of it:
Have American presidential politics become so hateful that a pregnant 17-year-old girl has to have the intimate details of her life exposed to the nation by character assassins?
— A Washington Post column by Ruth Marcus on why you can’t keep the kids out of it:
As a parent, I sympathize. But as a parent in the media, I also know that the Palins assumed this risk. Anyone who watched coverage of the Bush twins’ barroom exploits knew that the avert-your-eyes stance toward candidates’ children has its limits.
— An article in The Politico on the fact that a pregnant 17-year-old isn’t news in Alaska:
“I heard that rumor a long time ago,” said Pat Forgey, political reporter for the Juneau Empire, a few hours after Palin’s statement that her daughter was five months pregnant. “I probably would not have wasted any time on it.”
— Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic Monthly on the four-hour media-training session the Alaskan delegation in Minnesota underwent on Sunday, before news of Palin’s grandmotherhood broke on Monday.
— A Newsweek interview with Palin — the date of the comments is not clear — on her discomfort at the way Hillary Clinton flinched under press scrutiny, has now been posted on YouTube. It can be seen below:
Says Palin:
“I think fair or unfair — and I do think it is a more concentrated criticism that Hillary gets on so many fronts, I think that’s unfortunate — but fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it. You’ve got to plow through it….
“When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism or you know maybe a sharper microscope put on her I think, Man that doesn’t do us any good.”
Links to other articles are certainly invited.
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Chambliss: Palin fixes ambivalence
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
St. Paul, Minn. — U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) on Tuesday acknowledged that some Republicans had “ambivalence” toward John McCain’s presidential campaign, but said his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate has electrified the party’s base.
Speaking to the Georgia delegation here for the Republican National Convention, Chambliss said the governor of Alaska was a great pick for the GOP ticket.
“When he made that choice, wow,” Chambliss said. “Man did the enthusiasm rise to the level of where now people are feeling good about where we are.”
Chambliss also said he is taking nothing for granted in his re-election campaign this year and feels the need to reintroduce himself to Georgians.
“Believe it or not, since 2002 we have had a million new voters come into our state,” he said. “You take those million new voters, plus the Obama factor, which we don’t know what that’s going to be, and you combine that, there’s every reason for us to be concerned about our campaign. We are concerned about our campaign.”
Chambliss faces former Democratic lawmaker Jim Martin in November.
“Georgia is a red state, not because we have that many Republicans,” Chambliss said. “Georgia is a red state because we believe in conservative values.”
On a lighter note, Chambliss said everyone back home is watching Tropical Storm Hanna. Chambliss hopes that sucker comes right to Georgia.
“We hope Hanna comes our way, but only after the winds die down to about 15 mph and drives that rain directly to Lake Lanier,” he said.
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The Republican platform and the damage left by Katrina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even before Hurricane Gustav, Republicans headed for Minnesota were sensitive to the legacy of Katrina.
On Monday, the Republican National Convention formally passed its platform, which includes a section on disaster response. The language dealing with the topic of Katrina was overseen by House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Johns Creek, and is a stiff rebuke to President Bush, who is expected to address the crowd via satellite tonight.
It reads:
Americans hit by disaster must never again feel abandoned by their government. The Katrina disaster taught a painful lesson: The federal government’s system for responding to a natural calamity needs a radical overhaul. We recognize the need for a natural disaster insurance policy.
State and local cooperation is crucial, as are private relief efforts, but Washington must take the lead in forging a partnership with America’s best run businesses to ensure that FEMA’s Emergency Operations Centers run as well as any Fortune 500 company. We must make it easier for both businesses and non-profits to act as force-multipliers in relief situations. We believe it is critical to support those impacted by natural disasters and to complete the rebuilding of devastated areas, including the Gulf Coast.
Read the entire platform by clicking here.
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Denver and St. Paul: A word about security
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
St. Paul, Minn. — It’s thus far difficult to make an accurate comparison between last week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver and this week’s Republican event here, because of the impact Hurricane Gustav has had on the GOP’s party.
But even before Republicans moved to truncate Monday’s opening session, some things were clear.
Both Denver and the Twin Cities have done tremendous jobs to welcome the tens of thousands of people descending for the conventions. But there have been differences. In Denver, for example, the police presence was overwhelming. Platoons of officers in all-black riot gear were stationed across the city and were a concentrated presence at the Pepsi Center, the convention hall.
Here, it’s been a bit different. There appear to be less police, even near the Xcel Center. This is interesting, of course, given Monday’s protest that turned violent.
Maybe there were was less violence in Denver because of the police presence, or maybe it’s completely unrelated.
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David Poythress and the long tail of history
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The inestimable Dick Pettys at InsiderAdvantage reminds the world of this bit of bygone that Democrat David Poythress may have to grapple with as he fleshes out a 2010 race for governor:
When Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell was forced to resign from office in 1984, then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris turned to Joe Tanner to dismantle the machine Caldwell had built and restore it to its original mission. When Miller was elected governor in 1990, he asked Tanner to return to the Department of Natural Resources and appointed an old pal from his Senate days, Sen. Al Scott, to the labor helm.
Whatever other qualities Scott may have had, he was not your typical glad-handing, outgoing politician. Far from it. But Miller, then in the early days of his term, was putting his full power behind Scott’s bid to keep the job in the 1992 race. Poythress had let it be known he would challenge him, and the issue of race quickly arose. Poythress is white. Scott is black.
Poythress won, but failed to parlay that victory into a 1998 nomination for governor.
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A word about Georgia’s seats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
St. Paul, Minn. — You might remember there being some question as to the quality of the seating arrangements for Georgia Democrats in Denver. They turned out to be pretty good.
But Georgia’s Republicans’ are enjoying an even better view at their convention here.
Georgians are located right behind Arizona, home to nominee-to-be John McCain, and are just to the left of the stage. It’s going to be a pretty nice view once this thing gets back to full speed.
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One Georgian reached the podium
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
St. Paul, Minn. — While congressional hopeful Rick Goddard saw his slot vanish at today’s session of the Republican National Convention, another Georgian did get a moment at the podium.
Alec Poitevint, John McCain’s Georgia chairman, delivered the report of one of the RNC’s standing committees. While his entire appearance was perfunctory and lasted all of three minutes, Poitevint was the only Peach Stater to address the crowd at the Xcel Center.
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Goddard still hopes for speaking slot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — Georgia Republican congressional hopeful Rick Goddard was a casualty of today’s shortened session of the Republican National Convention.
Goddard, who is trying to knock off U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) in November, was originally slated for a prime speaking time during the opening session of the convention. But when the RNC and John McCain’s campaign decided to significantly scale back the day’s activities out of respect for the Gulf Coast, Goddard’s spot at the podium disappeared.
On the bus ride back to the delegation hotel this afternoon, however, Goddard said he’s still hoping for a slot Tuesday or later in the week.
“We haven’t heard anything, yet,” Goddard said.
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Proof that the Palins are an average, American family
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
His advisors say Republican presidential candidate John McCain knew about this when he named the Alaskan governor his running mate, which might imply that the timing of the announcement — while the nation is focused on Gustav — isn’t an accident:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant.
A statement released by the campaign said that Bristol Palin will keep her baby and marry the child’s father.
“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents,” Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement.
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Save the barbs for tomorrow, Everhart says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis— Georgia GOP chairwoman Sue Everhart told her delegates this morning that the Republican National Convention will not be canceled due to Hurricane Gustav.
Beyond, that, however, information on what will happen the next three days is still unclear.
“None of us know exactly” what will happen, she said.
Most of today’s convention schedule has already been scrapped, although Everhart told delegates they need to be in their seats for this afternoon’s session, which begins at 3:30 p.m.
But it won’t be a party, she said, and asked delegates to dress appropriately, meaning no funny hats or outfits that are staples of political conventions. And as for Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, be nice was her message. At least for now.
“Don’t be too hard on the other side today,” she said. “We’ll go after him tomorrow.”
The focus, at least for now, she said, should be on those affected by Hurricane Gustav.
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Breakfast is on, and then …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Aaron Gould Sheinin asheinin@ajc.com
Minneapolis — So far, we know this much: Breakfast will be served to Georgia’s delegation to the Republican National Committee. Beyond that, the first day of the GOP national convention is likely to be fairly quiet.
Delegates who ventured out to dinner Sunday night returned to find a letter from Georgia chairwoman Sue Everhart under their hotel room door. Everhart wrote:
“Let me begin by asking you to keep our neighbors on the Gulf Coast in our thoughts and prayers,” she began.
She reminds the delegation that the RNC has significantly scaled back the day’s events. The convention will convene at 3 p.m. (that’s Central time, i.e., 4 p.m. in Georgia), but it will be a purely perfunctory session, meaning delegates will approve business items such as the report of the credentials, rules and platform committees. They plan to adjourn by 5 p.m.
The decision to scale back the first-day of the convention was made Sunday as we all await the impact of the now category 3 Gustav. What happens to the planned four-day event is still very much up in the air.
The move here to take a wait-and-see approach to the convention was applauded by Georgia delegates and officials.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) said Sunday that it was “an appropriate response to a bad situation.”
John White, the Georgia GOP parliamentarian added that “Republicans are caring people. When Americans are a risk, we’re there to help.”
National Republican Party officials, along with nominee-to-to-be John McCain has encouraged delegates to turn their attention to helping those affected by the storm.
McCain’s wife, Cindy, will still address delegates and current first lady Laura Bush will, as well. They are both expected to relay ways convention-goers can help victims of the storm. Planned appearances by President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were scrapped, however, as both men will remain on duty, monitoring the storm and its aftermath.
“This is another example of John McCain putting nation before politics, regardless of the political implication,” said Georgia GOP executive director Ben Fry. “This is the right thing to do where our focus is on coming together. (Georgians) are going to do whatever we can to be helpful. We’ll adjust our schedule to accommodate the needs of the residents of the Gulf Coast.”
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