Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > October > 28
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The governor’s new ride
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Say what you will about Sonny Perdue. He’s got the instincts of a great salesman.
On his first trade mission to Asia, one of the governor’s minions told us that you could tell which automaker Perdue was courting by the car he drove.
As of today, Perdue is driving a new, jet-black 2009 Kia Borrego. For the budget sensitive, spokesman Bert Brantley said the $37,500 sports utility vehicle was donated to the state by the company.
The Department of Public Safety, the official recipient, has approved acceptance of the gift, Brantley said.
Kia, of course, is building a $1 billion plant in west Georgia. And on Tuesday, a small ceremony was held in West Point to celebrate the arrival of equipment from overseas.
No doubt Kia didn’t want the governor to pull up in something from Detroit.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
A bit of back-and-forth over polls in the 8th District
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve got dueling surveys in the 8th District congressional contest between Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall of Macon and Republican Rick Goddard of Houston County.
The Goddard campaign this morning trumpeted this item from Roll Call, the D.C.-based newspaper:
A new poll conducted exclusively for Roll Call found Marshall clinging to a narrow lead over his Republican challenger, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard. And the size of the African-American turnout might determine just how close the race ultimately is.
In the poll, taken by the automated firm SurveyUSA on Saturday and Sunday, Marshall had 49 percent and Goddard had 45 percent. The poll of 634 likely voters had a 4-point margin of error.
The perception among many political observers was that Marshall had a more substantial lead over Goddard, a novice candidate despite his impressive military credentials. But the race might be closing fast, which was also the case in 2006, when the Congressman edged ex-Rep. Mac Collins (R) by 1 point, even though it was a strong year for Democrats nationally — and polls had showed Marshall with a slightly bigger lead. The Marshall-Collins race was one of the 10 closest House contests of last cycle.
This has caused Marshall’s campaign to release this afternoon, the results of an in-house survey it finished up last week, which showed Marshall leading Goddard by a more healthy 48 to 31 percent.
The Marshallites said that their “live ” — as opposed to automated — survey of 400 likely voters has a margin error of plus-or-minus 4.9 percent.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment |
InsiderAdvantage poll of Georgia: Now it’s McCain by a nose
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new InsiderAdvantage poll, conducted for Politico.com, shows the presidential race still neck-and-neck in Georgia — but that Republican John McCain has nosed ahead of Democrat Barack Obama.
In the presidential race, IA puts the race at: McCain, 48 percent; Obama, 47 percent; Libertarian Bob Barr, 1 percent; and undecided, 3 percent.
Last week, IA had Obama at 48 percent and McCain at 47 percent. (Other polling firms have disagreed, and put McCain several points ahead of Obama in the state.)
This latest poll, of 637 registered, likely voters, was conducted Monday. Like last week’s poll, the IA margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.8 percent.
Which means that, statistically, the presidential race in Georgia remains pretty much unchanged.
In the U.S. Senate race, IA still shows Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss (46 percent) headed for a run-off with Democrat Jim Martin (44 percent). Libertarian Allen Buckley has the support of 2 percent of those polled.
Says Matt Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage:
“This tells me in all likelihood that if the trend in the Senate race stays as it is, Chambliss barely misses and will be in a general election runoff with Martin.
“Obama’s failure to be on TV in the Atlanta market is causing him to lose some of the white vote and it is softening the support for Martin. Martin is up a point and Chambliss is up a point (in the latest poll) but Martin had had more momentum. It’s not going to get him over the top.
“Ironically, Obama had a better shot of winning Georgia than North Carolina or Florida but he’s letting it slip away.”
Permalink | Comments (281) | Post your comment |
A pair of hauntings: Cleland on Chambliss, and Fair Taxers dog Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Max Cleland has decided what he’ll be for Halloween. He’s going as the Ghost of Elections Past.
The former U.S. senator, defeated by current Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, has a short piece posted today on the Huffington Post, recapping that 2002 race.
You think there’s still some anger there? These are the last two paragraphs:
“I believe that justice can sometimes be delayed, but it can never be denied. I served my country to the best of my ability and I hope to serve it again. And like Jim Martin, I will serve with character, dignity and grace.
“Something I can not say about the man I pray he replaces.”
Speaking of haunting, supporters of the Fair Tax have decided that Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate in the U.S. Senate race, is worth their undivided attention.
Last night, a group of about a dozen sign-waving Fair Taxers unexpectedly met the Martin campaign bus when it pulled up for a planned rally at a law office near Lawrenceville.
Fair Taxers began shouting “Run, Jim, run!” And not as an endorsement, according to my AJC colleague Jim Tharpe, who was there.
“This isn’t a Republican issue, this is not a Democratic issue, this is an American issue,” yelled Stephen Arnold of Loganville. Martin’s handlers quickly moved his three dozen supporters inside the law offices of Andrew, Merritt, Reilly and Smith LLP, where Martin praised Barack Obama and vowed to defeat Chambliss.
The Fair Taxers were still there, and shouting, when Martin left — campaigners pulled the bus up close to help him avoid the protesters.
Martin has come out against the Fair Tax, but quietly. He’s no vociferous opponent like Libertarian Allen Buckley, who has called the national sales tax program a “sham.”
But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee used Chambliss’ support of the Fair Tax in its first TV attack against the Republican.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment |
A petition for those against shifting teacher pension increases to manual override
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Critics of a plan by Gov. Sonny Perdue to eliminate automatic cost-of-living raises for participants in the Georgia Teacher Retirement System have started an online petition to oppose the move.
Their goal is 5,000 signatures, which shouldn’t be difficult considering almost 80,000 former teachers, school administrators and University System staffers receive pension payments.
According to my AJC colleague James Salzer, the board that supervises the pension is set to meet Nov. 19 on the proposal, which would force the board to approve cost-of-living adjustments in the future. Since 1969, retirees have received automatic, twice-a-year, 1.5 percent COLAs.
Perdue’s case has been strengthened in recent weeks by the stock market collapse. Since June 30, the state’s two largest pension programs have lost $11 billion in value.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment |
Hmm. Cops in Augusta area gear up for Election Day — with riot training
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This from today’s Augusta Chronicle:
Deputies in Richmond and Columbia counties are preparing for any civil unrest or overexuberant celebrating that might take place after next week’s presidential election, officials confirmed Monday.
Although they were quick to say that no problems are anticipated, authorities said as many as 60 deputies will undergo an eight-hour training course Thursday — learning crowd control and disbursement techniques.
Richmond County sheriff’s Col. Gary Powell said the department will not have deputies stationed at local polling centers Nov. 4, but they will be ready to respond if necessary.
“We just want to be prepared in case something does happen, but I don’t really anticipate something here,” Col. Powell said.
Since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, the department has issued road patrol deputies riot gear, including gas masks, but most have not undergone “formalized training,” Col. Powell said.
Permalink | Comments (68) | Post your comment |
Barr on Palin: ‘I was a soccer dad. I don’t think that qualifies me to be president.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bob Barr was up in Athens on Monday, trying to foment rebellion among University of Georgia students.
According to this morning’s Athens Banner-Herald, the Libertarian presidential candidates was particularly hard on Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
“I was a soccer dad,” Barr said. “I don’t think that qualifies me to be president.”
The Libertarian argued that, if Palin’s two terms as mayor of a small town and 20 months as governor of Alaska qualifies her to stand a heart-beat away from the president, then his four years as a federal prosecutor and eight years in Congress makes him doubly suited for the job.
The article continued:
Barr raised the [experience] issue as part of an hour-long speech on the growth of government power, declining personal freedom and mainstream candidates’ unwillingness to face scrutiny from the press and the public - trends he said are tied together.
Palin openly defied moderator Gwen Ifill and refused to respond to questions during her debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Barr said. Instead, she stuck to her talking points, “thumb(ing) her nose” at voters, he said.
If candidates aren’t pushed out of their comfort zones, voters will never know the depth of their knowledge on issues or how they’ll react when tested, Barr said.
“They’re going to be at - dare I say - a distinct disadvantage sitting across from or on the phone with one of these foreign leaders,” he said.
Barr is apparently settling on his home state of Georgia as one of the states in which he can affect the outcome on Election Day. He’s got a 3:30 p.m. Wednesday appearance at Kennesaw State University. In the Burruss Building. Room 151.
Can’t get more specific than that.
• Full election coverage: News, photos and more
• Get instant notification of Political Insider updates: Sign up on Twitter
Permalink | Comments (30) | Post your comment |
Of filet mignon, the Holocaust, and other state budget matters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, members of the Senate budget subcommittee continued their exploration into where heavy trims can be made in an economy teetering on the brink.
My AJC colleague James Salzer sat through the tortuous session, first noting the grilling — char-broiling, perhaps — of state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.
Oxendine is running for governor in 2010. One of his likely Republican opponents will be Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who commands the state Senate.
Oxendine also ruffled a few legislative feathers earlier this year when he criticized lawmakers for passing legislation allowing companies to hike auto insurance rates without his approval. Gov. Sonny Perdue signed that bill into law, ignoring Oxendine’s protests.
Oxendine’s $19 million-a-year state agencies hasn’t had an increase in the number of jobs in the past five years, and he’s already given workers temporary furloughs to help meet Perdue’s call to cut spending 6 percent. But Oxendine told committee members he hasn’t started giving permanent pink slips to workers.
“At $45,000 a pop, you’re going to have to lay off a lot of people to save $1 million, $2 million,” Oxendine said. “We don’t have a lot of $100,000 employees to lay off.”
He then added, “I guess you could lay me off, but the Constitution says you have to have me.”
Oxendine urged the subcommittee not to take a cleaver to his department, which hasn’t seen much of an increase over the past decade. “When you’ve got filet mignon, it’s hard to cut the fat off,” he said. “If you have rib-eye, you’ve got some fat you can cut off.”
Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), the subcommittee’s chairman, had this response: “We can’t spend what we don’t get. Right now, the gettings is slim. Sacred cows can be made into hamburger, too.”
Also appearing on Monday was Sylvia Wygoda, executive director of the Georgia Holocaust Commission.
The commission’s budget is in the $300,000 range, so it seems like small potatoes in $21 billion annual state budget. But just in case, Wygoda told subcommittee members these are dangerous times, not completely unlike the era that spawned the extermination of millions of Jews, Gypsies, and millions of others during the Nazi era.
The rotten worldwide economy, Wygoda told the sub-committee, “affects a lot of people adversely in their thinking because they are looking for a scapegoat. There is so much hate-speech going on. The conditions that brought along the Holocaust are ripe now.”
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
