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October 2008
‘You can vote however you like’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On ABC News tonight, the “Person of the Week” was — or were — the students of Ron Clark Academy, an innovative private middle school in southeast Atlanta.
Kids there have put together a “You Can Vote However You Like” video that’s everything “High School Musical 3” is not. Intelligent, for instance.
ABC doesn’t have an embedded video of the segment up, but the link is here.
On the other hand, CNN has already given the Ron Clark kids a bit of attention:
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The DSCC’s anti-Chambliss jingle: ‘Saxby economics don’t trickle down’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember the last U.S. Senate runoff between Democrat Wyche Fowler and an upstart Republican Paul Coverdell?
Coverdell had a terrible but resonating jingle by an elderly woman by the name of Margie Lopp: “Let’s put Paul Coverdell in the Senate and put Wyche Fowler out!”
Coverdell won, of course, and Lopp was given much of the credit.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, on behalf of Jim Martin, has cut loose its own country music jingle aimed at Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss. It’s called “Trickle Down.” Part of a $5 million effort to make sure Martin gets into a runoff on Tuesday.
Key phrase: “Saxby economics don’t trickle down on me.”
Don’t have time to transcribe it, but you can listen here.
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U.S. Rep. John Lewis offers to help clear the way for emergency weekend voting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This from a statement by U.S. Rep. John Lewis this morning, during a state Capitol press conference to discuss those long waits to vote:
“We are requesting that the Secretary of State [Karen Handel] use Florida and North Carolina as an example. We ask that she extend early voting in Georgia through Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We believe the number of poll workers should be increased at polling sites where a large turnout is expected.
“She must increase the number of voter registration machines at locations where there is large turnout, and we are calling on Governor [Sonny] Perdue and Karen Handel to request emergency voting rights pre-clearance from the Department of Justice to clear the path for these changes.
“My office is preparing a letter right now, advising the Attorney General Mukasey of these issues in Georgia and encouraging him to grant emergency pre-clearance, when it is requested.”
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CNN/Time poll: Broader turnout throws U.S. Senate race into a runoff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The team of CNN/Time/Opinion Research is out with a three-day-old poll on the U.S. Senate race in Georgia — leftovers from the survey that gave us Georgia presidential stats on Wednesday.
Click here to download the memo.
The good thing about this survey is that, again, the CNN team measures both “likely” voters — i.e., those with a history of participation — and registered voters. So you have performance in a restricted, more traditional pool of voters, and then a larger one that could reflect the uncertain demographics of this voting season.
The bad thing about this survey: It does not include Libertarian Allen Buckley by name. Which at this late date could be important.
Among 690 likely voters, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss leads Democrat Jim Martin, 53 percent to 44 percent, with 2 percent choosing “neither.”
But among 907 registered voters — that larger pool — the contest narrows and appears headed for a runoff, with Chambliss at 48 percent and Martin at 47 percent. Again, an important 2 percent choose “neither.”
In both scenarios, the polling margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.5 percent.
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Money to burn: Obama campaign says it’s back on Georgia TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After an absence of nearly two months, and with the state very much in play, the Democratic presidential campaign of Barack Obama says it has returned to TV in Georgia with the ad below — which appears to be aimed at expanding Obama’s support among pinched white suburbanites:
Read the AJC story on Obama’s return to the airwaves here. The campaign would not reveal the size of the advertising buy, or whether it will run statewide or in select markets.
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A robo-call for Chambliss from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You knew that the nominally non-partisan U.S. Chamber of Commerce had entered the fray to keep Democrats from reaching the 60-seat mark in the U.S. Senate.
The business group has taken its cause to Georgia this week, with a robo-call on behalf of Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Click here to listen, but here’s part of the text:
”We all know that health care is vital. As our senator, Saxby Chambliss is helping Georgia families live longer, healthier lives. Chambliss supports health care tax credits to help us pay our bills. And Saxby Chambliss opposes government-mandated health care.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Chambliss, but the automated message skirts the actual definition of a political ad, presumably to preserve the tax status of the fund that’s paying for the call. The robo-call does not ask recipients to vote for Chambliss — but simply asks them ad to call Chambliss’ office and thank him for doing a fine job.
Funny thing about these ads. When the intention is to boost the guy, calls are directed to a district office, where they won’t disrupt the daily flow. When the purpose is to give him hell, the congressional number given is always to the Washington office.
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On the topic of Karen Handel and extended hours for early voting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The argument over whether Georgia should extend early voting to the weekend is showing no signs of cooling off.
In today’s AJC, Secretary of State Karen Handel made her argument against it:
[E]ven if the authority existed —- which it does not —- Georgia is covered under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which means that any changes in election procedures must be “precleared” by the U.S. Department of Justice before they can be implemented….
The facts are that Georgia voters enjoy perhaps the broadest ballot access of any state in the nation. Thanks to the 45 days of early and advance voting, approximately 1.5 million citizens have already cast ballots, and this is with the photo ID law in effect. By most measures, this would be considered a success. Even compared to Florida, our voters have much more time to vote.
…. Maybe if Florida had followed our lead, Gov. Charlie Crist may not have had to declare a state of emergency and ask counties to stay open longer and over the weekend.
According to the NYT’s blog, The Caucus, North Carolina — like Georgia, a Voting Rights state — just announced that polls would be open for four hours on Saturday:
The emergency decision affects “one-stop” registration and voting sites in the state’s 100 counties, which have experienced long lines since opening on Oct. 16. The sites can now stay open four hours later, until 5 p.m., on Saturday.
According to The Associated Press, more than 1.7 million people, just under a third of the state’s registered voters, had cast ballots by Wednesday evening in the surprise swing state.
In Georgia, an unsigned editorial on InsiderAdvantage, founded by Matt Towery, is the most flammable item on the topic out there today. It accuses Handel of digging a “Katherine Harris-style hole.”
But while Democrats have been the loudest in their demands for more time to cast early votes, the IA piece makes the argument from a Republican point of view:
GOP voters vote before work - impossible given the current lines - or after work - sorry, parking lot full; skip the vote. As it stands, her unwillingness to extend voting hours will guarantee big problems for McCain and Chambliss.
Makes you wonder why someone would want the job of running Georgia’s elections. What used to be a three- or four-month sprint has turned into a 45-day slog, with several million on-site observers.
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Atlanta not bowled over by Obama’s 30-minute ad; cost of ads during Georgia-Florida hits $1,000 a second
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some notes on the intersection of TV and Georgia politics:
— Metro Atlanta didn’t prove to be star-struck by last night’s 30-minute TV commercial featuring Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
See the overnight Nielsen chart here, posted on the rating service’s blog. Atlanta scored toward the bottom of major TV markets — 43rd out of 53. Roughly 426,000 households here tuned in.
Much can be explained by the fact that the half-hour ad wasn’t carried on WSB-TV, which has the biggest footprint in this market. My AJC colleague Rodney Ho also points out that the Neilson survey didn’t cover BET, which draws well here.
That said, the top markets that tuned into Obama were significant, from a political perspective: They included the battleground states of Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania (this preceded the final innings of the World Series, after all) and Missouri.
— If you’re a political junkie watching the Georgia-Florida game Saturday afternoon, consider tallying up all of the campaign ads you see during the broadcast. Then multiply the total by $30,000.
That’s how much WGCL, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, will make off politicians buying air time to run 30-second spots, according to my AJC colleague Ben Smith. Math majors will note that this runs to $1,000 a second.
Advertising rates vary widely depending on the time of day, the popularity of the program and the overall size of the audience for each television station.
But $1,000 a second for air time is significant change. By comparison, WGCL’s prime time ad rates run between $4,000 and $12,000 for a 30-second spot.
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A surfeit of undecided black voters in the U.S. Senate race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com, a Democratic site — though not rabidly so, makes this statistical point today about polls in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race:
Very quick observation about Georgia’s senate race, which along with California’s Proposition 8, may be the thing to watch on Election Night in the event of an Obama blowout. The polls, from what I can tell, are showing a fairly high undecided vote among the African-American population. Rasmussen’s most recent poll, which had Saxby Chambliss up by two, shows that 12 percent of black voters are undecided in the senate race. Were those voters to split 4:1 to Jim Martin, that would be worth a net of around 2 points to him, making the race a tie. SurveyUSA, likewise, shows a higher rate of undecideds among black voters (7%) than among whites (3%).
Related thought: it’s very difficult to imagine what a Chambliss-Obama voter looks like. It’s pretty easy to imagine what a McCain-Martin voter looks like. So if the Georgia polls have Obama down by 4 or 5 points, but Martin down by 2 or 3 points (as they do), something doesn’t quite seem right; I’d think the gap should be a bit wider.
Basically, I think this race is a true toss-up rather than a Lean R. African-American voters might be unfamiliar with Jim Martin, who didn’t become the nominee until August, but the ‘D’ beside his name is worth a lot.
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Georgia Supreme Court: Powell will stay on ballot in PSC race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a unanimous decision, the Georgia Supreme Court today affirmed the place of Democrat Jim Powell on the Tuesday ballot as a candidate for Public Service Commission, rebuffing Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Handel had appealed a Fulton County Superior Court ruling that sided with Powell, and overturned her decision that found Powell ineligible to run based on his residency.
Powell is running against Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, a former PSC chairman, for the open seat left by Republican Angela Speir. In an election already showing a surge of Democratic votes as a result of the presidential contest, the high court’s decision opens the opportunity for Democrats to reclaim one of five seats on the utility commission.
Handel argued that a homestead exemption Powell had claimed in Cobb County was irrefutable proof of legal residence. The PSC seat at issue requires residency in north Georgia, where Powell declared he was shifting his household.
The court found that the Georgia code lists 15 specifications for determining a residence, of which seven applied to Powell. , “The Secretary’s decision did not take into account any of the applicable rules other than the homestead exemption rule.
“We agree with the superior court that the secretary committed an error of law that authorizes reversal of the secretary’s decision,” wrote Justice Robert Benham, for the entire court.
Stan Wise, a 13-year member of the PSC, called for the Legislature to rethink the concept of district residency:
“The PSC residency law has only been on the books for ten years, yet there have already been three challenges heard by the Georgia Supreme Court [Mac Barber, Bobby Baker, and Jim Powell]. The law has proven to be both unenforceable through the judiciary and impractical considering some members maintain a district home and another near the office.
“While the initial intent of the law had some merit - that being to encourage more rural representation; the effect is that four-fifths of the population is prohibited from running for an open seat. The General Assembly should repeal the residency requirement.”
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Marshall decides to play in the Atlanta media market
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Marshall must have money to burn. Either that, or the 8th District incumbent’s congressional campaign lacks common sense.
In the past week, the Macon Democrat has ordered more than $210,851 in 30-second spots to air on Atlanta TV stations. That means viewers all across north Georgia can see them.
But Marshall’s message matters only to voters in four counties: Butts, Jasper, Newton and Monroe. The 18 other counties in Marshall’s central Georgia district get their TV feeds from Macon and Albany.
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Nunn: ‘Not interested’ in a spot in an Obama cabinet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former U.S. senator Sam Nunn held a press conference in the downtown Atlanta law offices of King & Spalding on Wednesday. The obvious question was whether he would be serving in a Barack Obama administration, should it come to pass next week.
Nunn was in Virginia with the Democratic presidential candidate last week, and said Obama had made clear that he wouldn’t make any early decisions that presumed victory.
But for himself, Nunn gave an unsurprising answer:
“I’m not interested in going back into government. I’m happy in the private sector, and I’m confident this is where I’m going to stay. But I will be happy to help him, if he asks me, in some sort of advisory capacity. But I have no interest in going back into government.”
But Nunn’s other stray thoughts were more compelling. First, the 70-year-old former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the next president’s first priority would be the economic crisis — which he said defies any strict ideological approach:
”Nobody knows precisely what the answer is today. There’s not any magic formula sitting there waiting. There’s not any magic philosophical position that addresses these financial problems we have. We haven’t been in this territory before.”
It was, he reminded all, the current Republican administration that has introduced the nationalization of banks into the rescue formula.
Nunn said he thought Obama, whom he endorsed this spring, had a chance to carry Georgia, which he said was being transformed from a red to a “purple” state. He said this about the Obama strategy:
”This is one of the most confident campaigns that we have seen in the history of this country. From a financial point of view and from an organizational point of view.
“The Internet has sent us back to the future. When I was campaigning, we had to have headquarters in counties all over Georgia. Guess what? We’re back to that day now. We went through a whole period of time when we said everything was on television or radio. No longer. They’ve have organized campaign headquarters all over Georgia.”
Finally, Nunn got into his decision to back Obama over Republican John McCain. He came within a hair of the territory that retired general Wesley Clark entered earlier this year:
“Senator McCain’s got a lot of experience. And as I’ve said, he’s a strong and courageous individual. I think it comes down to judgment. I’ve seen people that have had tremendous military experience that I really wouldn’t want to be president of the United States. But they deserve all sorts of medals for their military service.
“So Senator McCain has got a lot of experience, but when you look at the two of them on debate[s], when you are basically around them a good bit, and you see which one would have the better judgment, which one would be calmer and cooler and more collected when there’s a real crisis, I come down on Senator Obama’s side on that.”
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David Scott on his black GOP opponent: Honeycutt ‘doesn’t even seem to like us’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Scott is suggesting that Deborah Honeycutt doesn’t like black people.
The Democratic congressman on Wednesday released a blistering radio ad highlighting Honeycutt’s Republican party label and her opposition to Barack Obama.
“Worst of all, Republican Honeycutt doesn’t even seem to like us. And she certainly doesn’t want to be around us,” states a narrator in the ad.
Scott and Honeycutt are both African-American. So are a majority of 13th District voters. The district is also overwhelmingly Democratic.
But Scott supporters worry that many voters aren’t aware of Honeycut’s GOP party affiliation, according to my AJC colleague Ben Smith, who’s been covering the race. They accuse Honeycutt of trying to dupe them into casting ballots for her by veiling her true political leanings in campaign mailers and cable TV ads.
The Scott campaign has already filed a formal complaint against Honeycutt for paying for a flier distributed by a group called “Democrats for Good Government,” instead of putting the flier in her own name.
The radio ad contains remarks Honeycutt made at a recent press conference, when the candidate told reporters she supports John McCain for president, even though most voters in the 13th District probably don’t.
“I would rather be with someone who shares my same values and principles than be with people who might look like me that I have nothing in common with,” says Honeycutt in the ad.
The Honeycutt campaign plans to hold a press conference on Thursday to respond to the ad.
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Allen Buckley and the ‘mysterious memo’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Across the border in the AJC editorial department, columnist Jay Bookman has an item on a “mysterious memo” that could prove interesting.
He writes:
It is the fate of most Libertarian candidates to be ignored. That may not be the fate of Allen Buckley, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate here in Georgia. In fact, if you believe a leaked memo attributed to …. a national Republican polling and research firm with offices in Virgnia and New York, Buckley may be about to hit the big time, drawing the kind of attention that only the big boys get.
He’s got a PDF of the document in question posted on his site.
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CNN/Time: Georgia’s on a razor’s edge — Barr, first-time voters could make the difference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The latest version of a Georgia-oriented CNN/ Time/ Opinion Research Corporation poll, released just minutes ago, says the presidential contest is balanced on a razor’s edge, and will depend on the very basic question of who will cast a ballot by Tuesday.
Among “likely” Georgia voters — presumably those who are both registered and have a proven track record of participating in elections, the race breaks down as follows:
Republican John McCain: 50%
Democrat Barack Obama: 46%
Libertarian Bob Barr: 3%
However, if the pool of voters is widened to include simply registered voters — which would include first-time voters or those who rarely participate in general elections — then the Georgia vote shifts in Obama’s favor:
McCain: 46%
Obama: 49%
Barr: 4%
In the first scenario, the former Georgia congressman could make the difference in Georgia. Take Barr out of the picture, and McCain jumps up 2 percent among likely voters, giving the Republican a 5-point edge overall. The Barr effect becomes less evident as the pool of voters widens.
The above statistics are based on a poll of 907 voters, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percent.
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The straying of Catholics from the GOP and the abortion issue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Los Angeles Times has an excellent op-ed piece on the apparent return of Catholics, who make up a quarter of the U.S. population, to the Democratic fold.
Here’s a taste:
[A]ccording to a recent New York Times/CBS poll, Obama holds a commanding 59% to 31% edge over McCain among Catholics nationwide. What’s significant about that is that at least 50 of the country’s 197 Catholic bishops recently have published articles or given interviews in which they argued that abortion, more than any other issue, ought to determine how members of their flock cast their votes.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and St. Louis Bishop Robert Hermann have been two of the most forceful voices in this regard, but polls now put Colorado in Obama’s column and have him slightly ahead in Missouri.
What we’re seeing in these three swing states [including Pennsylvania] is the end of the Catholic vote, as conventional political strategists traditionally have expected it to behave — in part because it’s now so large it pretty much looks like the rest of America; in part because of its own internal changes.
National polls have shown for some time that, although Catholics are personally opposed to abortion, they believe it ought to be legal in nearly identical percentages to the rest of America. Moreover, as a survey by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate found earlier this year, only 18% of Catholics “strongly” agree with the statement: “In deciding what is morally acceptable, I look to the church teachings and statements by the pope and bishops to form my conscience.”
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Marietta as headquarters for U.S. military’s African Command?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s something completely different: U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey and Tom Price say that the Pentagon is considering shifting the headquarters for its African Command from Stuttgart, Germany, to the United States, and that Marietta is one of the cities under consideration.
The two Republican congressmen, of course, are pushing Marietta.
This is a portion of a letter they’ve sent Robert Gates, the secretary of defense:
The base in Marietta has a substantial runway network, as well as rail infrastructure that connects it with the Port of Savannah — already a point of shipment for a significant amount of cargo bound for Africa.
Further, given that the facilities in Marietta are presently shared by Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Naval Air Station Atlanta, the Georgia National Guard, and Lockheed Martin, they have long been a model for joint-ness within the Department of Defense, an important and unique characteristic given that AFRICOM will be a joint command and require coordination with many international partners and across numerous government agencies.
With 52 acres of available property adjoining the base, any needed expansion of the facilities would also be possible.
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Robo-calls: Not what they’re saying, but what they should be saying
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Steve Rose, who writes the AJC’s View from the Cop, is annoyed at the robo-calls he’s received. And, because he carries a loaded sidearm, he’s allowed to be funny.
Here’s a taste below. Laugh, or he’ll write you up:
5:58 p.m.
Hi, this is Jim Martin. Saxby Chambliss voted to fund the war in Iraq. He took your money and spent it on the war to appease the war monger George W. Bush. He also re-broadcast the Falcons game without the expressed, written consent of the NFL.
Vote for Jim Martin.
5:58 p.m.
“Hi, this is Saxby Chambliss. Jim Martin voted the largest tax increase in the history of the world and then voted to increase his salary. I’m pretty sure he went wee-wee on the governor’s bushes after that.”
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The technological gap between Republican and Democrat in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Evidence at the house on Tuesday night revealed a huge technological gap between the Republican and Democratic campaign here.
In olden days, Republicans were the first to grasp new thinking — the blending of direct mail and computers, the analysis of voter returns and performance.
What a difference a few presidential cycles can make.
At the house yesterday, the mail carrier brought a flyer paid for by the state Republican party and the U.S. Senate campaign of Saxby Chambliss.
The mailer featured John McCain and Sarah Palin. But basically it was — just seven days before Election Day — an invitation to apply for an absentee ballot that would be mailed to the house. A perforated form was attached. A stamp was required.
With effort, and a great deal of luck, the request and an absentee ballot might make the three-course trip before Nov. 4: The request from the house to the Cobb County voter registrar, a ballot back to the house, which would then have to scurry from the house to the Board of Elections by Tuesday.
So there’s that.
By comparison, at 7:25 p.m. Tuesday, an e-mail came over the BlackBerry from Antwaun Griffin, head of the Democratic presidential campaign of Barack Obama in Georgia.
Griffin’s message announced that the second stage of early voting had commenced, and that numerous polling stations — not just one — were now open.
The e-mail, which mentioned me by name, gave the address of the nearest polling station, only two miles away, and suggested that I head that way.
The wholesale yet personalized message cost virtually nothing, though the program to match e-mail to address no doubt required much work. No postage required, no dependence on the U.S. Postal Service.
That’s a generational difference.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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Thurbert Baker to Democrats: Give up the voter ID fight, or else
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Supreme Court has turned down a request from the state Democratic party for the hurry-up appeal of a Fulton County judge’s decision to toss out its latest lawsuit over the state’s voter ID law.
The decision, written Friday, was filed today.
But that’s not the news — which happened afterwards.
Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, followed the high court decision with a formal letter to his own party, advising them to drop pursuit of its lawsuit against Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and Co. Otherwise, his office warned, Democrats could find themselves paying the legal costs on both sides of the issue.
This is the “frivolous” lawsuit warning that Republicans have been demanding.
The letter from the AG’s office was written by Mark Cohen, a member of the Troutman Sanders law firm and special assistant to the AG’s office.
The letter, addressed to plaintiff’s attorney Emmet Bondurant, reads in part:
“This letter is sent to you and your client to provide you with an opportunity to voluntarily withdraw, abandon, discontinue or dismiss the…above-captioned case.
….The action against these parties lacks substantial justification in that it is substantially frivolous and substantially vexatious, and is interposed for delay and harassment.”
A federal lawsuit on the issue still hangs out there.
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A tale of two TV ads
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two of the TV ads in the U.S. Senate campaign, both released in the last day or so, require more than the usual scrutiny.
One is a Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee attack on Democrat Jim Martin, accusing him of voting against a bill to make child solicitation a felony — 20 years ago.
The second TV spot has been issued by VoteVets.org, a Democratic group, accusing Republican Saxby Chambliss of voting against appropriations for “proper” body armor for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The anti-Martin spot
Let’s start with the RSCC ad entitled “Solicit.” Says a narrator:
“If someone solicits a child for prostitution, shouldn’t it be a felony? Jim Martin doesn’t think so. Martin voted against tougher penalties for people who prey on children.”
On Feb. 1, 1988, H.B. 1221 passed the state House in 1988, with Martin voting against it. The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Betty Aaron (D-DeKalb). Under its provisions, soliciting or procuring children for sex was to be a felony. First offenders could be fined from $1,000 to $5,000 and sentenced to jail terms of one to five years.
The bill was sent to the Senate, which altered the bill and sent it back to the House on Feb. 17, 1988. This time, Martin voted for it.
According to House records, the only major difference in the two versions was that the original House version — the one Martin voted against — loosened the definition of “solicitation of sodomy” so that it only applied to an exchange of services for money. Cash prostitution, in other words.
In the version that Martin voted for — which included the provision to make child solicitation a felony — solicitation of sodomy was to be considered as any request for the sexual service. I.e., the status quo. Remember that, at the time, Georgia’s sodomy statute was a hotly debated topic.
One wonders if there may be some Republican calculation here — that Martin might not emphasize his reason for opposing the initial version of the bill, for fear of alienating gay voters.
The anti-Chambliss, body armor ad
This TV spot by VotesforVets.org features Pete Granato, an Army reservist who served in Iraq. In the opening seconds, Granato lifts up a weapon.
“This is an ak-47, the rifle of choice for terrorists in iraq and Afghanistan. This is a vest. It was the protection we were given when we were deployed to Iraq.”
Using the rifle, Granato fires several rounds into the vest, fitted on a mannequin, then introduces a second, nearby vest.
“This is modern body armor, made for today’s weapons.”
Granato fires shots into second vest.
“The difference is life,” he says, opening the second vest, showing no penetration.
“Or death,” he finishes, opening the second vest and showing four holes.
This debate has been around for more than four years. Shannon McCaffrey with the Associated Press in Atlanta filed this analysis on Monday:
The ad seems designed to cut into Chambliss’ support among members of the military and their families. It’s running in two areas of Georgia that are home to large military bases.
The Pentagon has conceded that thousands of soldiers went to Iraq without the highest quality ceramic-plated body armor. But who is to blame?
The spot is recycled from a similar ad that ran against several GOP senators in 2006.
This cycle, it’s also running against fellow Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina.
“The claim was false and nasty then, and it’s false and nasty now,” concluded FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan research group. The group said additional money would not have made a difference in securing more vests for troops because suppliers of body armor could not keep up with the demand.
But VoteVets.org disputes that, saying that more money would have made it possible to seek out additional body armor suppliers.
The ad refers to two votes:
-On April 2, 2003, Chambliss voted against an amendment for just over $1 billion in unspecified National Guard and reserve equipment. The amendment made no specific mention of body armor, although a press release announcing the bill does. Chambliss and other Republicans voted against the additional funds saying adequate money was already available in the supplemental spending bill.
—On Oct. 2, 2003 Chambliss voted against a Democratic amendment to an $87 billion supplemental spending bill that would have taken $322 million from reconstruction funds and added funneled it to safety equipment for United States forces. Chambliss voted for the final version of the bill, which earmarked $300 million for body armor. Democrats said there was still a shortfall.
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U.S. Justice Department says Handel’s voter scrutiny requires approval
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A three-judge federal panel seems to have forged a compromise in the lawsuit over Georgia voters whose eligibility has been thrown into question by computer screens ordered Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Handel has been ordered to go back to every voter told that he or she might be ineligible, and tell the voter that he or she may cast a ballot. But the vote will be flagged, and to be counted the voter must satisfy the objections made.
The court found that the changes Handel made are indeed subject to U.S. Justice Department scrutiny under the Voting Rights Act:
“There are at least two features of Georgia’s post HAVA system that constitute changes that require preclearance. One is the comparison of information in the [state Department of Driver Services] and [Social Security Administration] data bases that results in the identification of applicants whose eligibility could not be verified. The other is the disparate methodologies employed by registrars in attempting to evaluate, notify and qualifiy potential ineligible voters.”
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New TV ads from outside groups swamp U.S. Senate race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At least four new TV ads are out in the U.S. Senate race, all from outside groups.
Over the weekend, we told you about the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ad that attacks Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss for supporting the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
Still no video available on that one — just the script.
But the Washington organization’s Republican counterpart has answered, with a brutal ad accusing Democrat Jim Martin of missing a chance to make child solicitation a felony — 20 years ago.
The YouTube posting was snagged by PeachPundit. Haven’t seen it on TV yet.
Here’s a line from the script:
If someone solicits a child for prostitution, shouldn’t it be a felony? Jim Martin doesn’t think so. Martin voted against tougher penalties for people who prey on children.
Meanwhile, the Patriot Majority, a Democratic group, has the ad below, was posted on YouTube within the last hour. It accuses Chambliss of supporting economic policies that led to the current crisis.
Says the ad:
“It doesn’t help when Saxby Chambliss votes to deregulate Wall Street, and we’re stuck with a bill for $700 billion and an economic meltown.”
And VoteVets.org, another Democratic group, today joins the contest, accusing Chambliss of voting against appropriations for “proper” body armor:
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Atlanta pollster says he’s received death threats — but not from here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An Atlanta pollster said this morning he’s gotten death threats via e-mail for reporting Republican presidential candidate John McCain ahead of Democrat Barack Obama in several states.
“It’s the crazy season. I don’t ascribe it to any campaign,” said David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented firm. Still, he’s reported the messages to the FBI.
The threats, Johnson said, came from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — which means a long and difficult commute for those who warned him to check under his car for anything that ticks. “They’re probably still stuck in traffic,” he said.
The threats were first posted on National Review Online, a conservative web site:
One of the messages stated:
“My goodness, your polls stinks. There are 3 polls that have Obama by double digits and only yours has Obama down. WOW!. How come your poll is the only one giving Palin high favor ratings? I think you nee dto be careful tonight when you get in your car and might want to check underneath your car. SCRAP YOUR IDIOTIC POLLS OR ELSE!”
Another stated:
“A poll that gave Sarah Palin and Barack Obama the same favorability rating is wrong off the bat. Be careful going outside tonight because you might not see tomorrow.”
A third message stated:
“Why would your presidential election poll results be so drastically different from every other reputable poll taken over the same time period? Are they that dumb or are you guys that smart? Smart guys wind up dead.”
Johnson said he’s received death threats before — the last time from Washington state during the 2004 governor’s race.
None of the threats came from Georgia, where Strategic Vision last week gave McCain a six-point lead. The SV poll disagreed significantly with a same-day poll issued by Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage, which said Obama had a razor-thin, one-point advantage.
Johnson, incidently said he’s assumed African-American turnout to be a dramatic 35 percent in SV polls, but says the presidential race is extremely polarized by race outside metro Atlanta. Johnson had the McCain/Pailin ticket at 51 percent in Georgia, and Obama/Biden at 45 percent.
Assuming 95 percent of the African-American vote going to Obama, that would mean that — according to Johnson — Obama is pulling less than 19 percent of the white vote in Georgia.
However, both the SV and IA polls had the U.S. Senate race in Georgia headed toward a runoff.
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House Republicans set Speaker election for Nov. 10
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House Republican caucus has scheduled a meeting for Nov. 10. That’s two weeks from today — or six days after its members see what Election Day has brought.
House Speaker Glenn Richardson of Hiram is being challenged by state Rep. David Ralston of Blue Ridge. The caucus fight will be for nomination to the post — the election of speaker by all 180 members of the House will occur when the Legislature convenes in January.
See the schedule and an outline of the GOP rules on the jump.
TO: Republican Caucus Members
FROM: Jay Roberts, Caucus Chairman
RE: House Republican Leadership Elections
DATE: October 21, 2008
We will meet on November 10, 2008 at 10:00 AM in the House Chamber to elect our 2009-2010 House Republican Leadership offices:
(a) Caucus Leader
(b) Caucus Whip
(c) Caucus Chair
(d) Caucus Vice-Chair
(e) Caucus Secretary
(f) Ex Officio:
(i) The Speaker of the House
(ii) The Speaker Pro Tem of the House
RULE Reminders:
**No second of the nomination is required.
**Each Candidate for particular office will have an opportunity to address the caucus (10 min. max), once all nominations for that office have been submitted and all nominations are closed.
**Election to a caucus office shall require a majority vote of the caucus members present and voting.
**No proxy votes from absent caucus members will be counted.
**If two or more candidates are offered for a particular office and no candidate receives an absolute majority of any one ballot, balloting will continue among all candidates except the individual receiving the fewest votes on the proceeding ballot.
Please plan to arrive no later than 9:30 AM to ensure that we are underway with our elections on time. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me or my assistant Evelyn Armour via email (evelyn.armour@house.ga.gov) or by phone at 404-656-5025.
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‘The country I grew up in will be no more’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Efforts to rally the Republican base, even in the face of daunting news from polls, continued this weekend in Georgia. Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Alliance, sent out a passionate plea — which she urged conservative Christians to print out and distribute at church today.
It includes this line: “Combine a President Obama, a Democrat-controlled Congress, and appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court — the country I grew up in will be no more.”
Read her entire message on the jump, and discuss.
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The fervor of many and the rush to elect a man who has little to recommend him to the highest office in this country is beyond my understanding. Why would anyone — especially those who classify themselves as Christian conservatives —or just conservative - would vote for a candidate who:
— Opposes strict constructionist judges for U. S. Supreme Court;
— Would repeal laws against abortion; (Obama voted more than once while serving in the IL State Senate to deny babies medical care born-alive after a botched abortion):
— Opposes a Constitutional amendment to prohibit same sex marriage;
— Opposes voluntary prayer in schools;
— Supports raising taxes on those who are productive - to give to those who are not;
— Opposes drilling on the continental shelf;
— Supports civil (not military) trials for terrorists.
While we have failed in many ways to preserve the vision of our Founders, if Obama is elected their vision of this wonderful “experiment in ordered liberty” will truly disappear. He will be aided and abetted in his pursuit of socialism by the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, William Ayers - an unrepentant terrorist - and Pastor Jeremiah Wright - a blatant racist who said from his pulpit “God d_ America.”
America will go the way of other once-great countries - and what was the most wonderful “experiment in ordered liberty,” the world has ever seen - will become just another country that winds up on the “ash heap of history.”
If Obama wins the Democrats will be in control of all three chambers. There will be no “check and balance” as the Founders intended. Obama and others he will put in positions of power will bring about a liberal tsunami that will sweep this nation clean of any pretense of a free and sovereign nation. The dream of many Americans to make their lives better through hard work and perseverance will be just that - a dream.
The damage done under an Obama regime will be undoable in years to come.
Combine a President Obama, a Democrat-controlled Congress, and appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court — the country I grew up in will be no more.
Redistribution of the wealth, same sex marriage, universal health care, gun control, and every other off-the-wall, socialistic idea will become reality.
Obama and his liberal elite friends will wreak havoc on this country.
Over the last several decades, the U. S. Supreme Court - the “black robed masters” — have insinuated their political and social agenda into the lives of ordinary Americans.
They have declared abortion to be the law of the land, defended the rights of terrorists to have the same justice afforded to American citizens, [and] defended the right of Muslims to pray five times a day while stopping Christian prayer before a football game.
Obama may have two - possibly three — appointments to the U. S. Supreme Court. Those appointments will be of the same ilk as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who has stated, “The U. S. judicial system will be the poorer, I believe, if we do not both share our experience with, and learn from, legal systems (international laws) with values and a commitment to democracy similar to our own.”
Justice Ginsberg has little or no respect for the Constitution, which is supposed to be her guideline. She would rather look to other countries when handing down decisions that will affect our lives - the lives of our children and grandchildren for years to come. Our Founding Fathers must be turning over in their graves.
If you have not yet cast your vote, I plead with you to look closely at the candidates and where they stand on matters of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; on matters of individual freedom and individual responsibility.
As Ronald Reagan said in 1964, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”
Oh, yeah — Bill Clinton was in Atlanta on Saturday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic blogger Amy Morton provided one of the few accounts of Saturday night’s private fund-raiser in Atlanta for Democrat Jim Martin in the U.S. Senate race, headlined by former President Bill Clinton:
The Martin campaign brought in some serious cash tonight as President Clinton energized the crowd, reminding anyone who might’ve forgotten what [Republican incumbent Saxby] Chambliss did to his friend of 20 years, Max Cleland. (To laughter, Clinton pointed out that he and Max were friends long before anyone thought either would amount to what they ultimately became.
Morton said 450 people attended. And she took pictures.
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The U.S. Senate race, and the case for a Georgia visit from Barack Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A scenario is quickly unfolding in which you’re likely to see much more of Barack Obama in Georgia.
Not now, not before next Tuesday.
We’re talking afterwards, when the U.S. Senate race in Georgia becomes the only important, unresolved contest in the nation.
Late last week, three separate statewide polls showed the three-man race headed for an extra 28 days of campaigning between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
Libertarian Allen Buckley, though he holds an important sliver of support, is headed for elimination.
In such a situation, Las Vegas odds-makers would normally make Chambliss a heavy favorite. Republican voters, mostly white and typically older, can be counted to plow through holiday distractions and make it back to the polls in early December.
Democratic voters, largely African-American and younger, have a poor reputation for follow-up.
But should Obama take the White House on Nov. 4, as appears more and more likely, those assumptions go by the boards.
Georgia is the only state in the Union in which a senatorial victory is defined as 50 percent plus one vote. Which means that, in an America suffering through the worst political hangover in its history, we could find ourselves serving up the hair of the dog that bit it.
Whether Democrats reach a filibuster-proof 60 seats in nine days makes no difference. A Georgia Senate run-off would not only be the final act of the nation’s 2008 political season, but would provide a first political test for a President-elect Obama — if he should accept the challenge.
Democratic insiders here and in Washington say there’s no doubt that Obama would make Martin’s cause his own. Support would include personal appearances in the state — a combination victory tour and get-out-the-vote effort intended to erase the traditional Republican advantage in cash and reliable voting base.
African-Americans in Georgia might not turn out a second time for the less-than-charismatic Martin, one strategist told us. But they would walk across hot coals if President-elect Obama personally asked them to.
Republicans, of course, would be forced to give a Georgia runoff the same priority — especially should a high-flying Obama involve himself. The opportunity to take the next resident of the White House down a peg or two before he’s sworn in would be irresistible.
It is possible that the title of senator from Georgia has become snake-bit.
We trade in our senators like we once recycled the family station wagon: A chromed Ford, then a finned Chevy, then a Ford again, in an endless cycle of buyer’s enchantment and remorse.
Herman Talmadge, a Democrat, was replaced in 1980 by Republican Mack Mattingly, who was subbed out in 1986 by Democrat Wyche Flower, who was beaten in 1992 by Republican Paul Coverdell. Coverdell won two elections, but died shortly after the second, and was replaced for four years by the nominally Democratic Zell Miller, who was traded in for a 2004 model Republican Johnny Isakson.
Sam Nunn, a Democrat, was the last Georgia senator to serve out multiple terms. He retired in 1996, to be replaced by Max Cleland, another Democrat — who was promptly beaten by Chambliss in 2002. You may now consider yourself up-to-date.
Following Fowler’s defeat in ‘92 — a Libertarian threw the race into a run-off held two days before Thanksgiving — Democrats tried to put a damper on the turnover by lowering the bar of victory to 45 percent plus one vote.
Republicans howled heresy. And years later, at the same time it passed a measure to require voters to produce photographic ID, a Republican-conquered Legislature restored the rule of “50 percent plus one.”
Republicans have already expressed regret for their approval of early voting in Georgia, which the local Obama campaign has mastered with astounding efficiency.
So there is a tendency to wonder whether Republicans are victims of the law of unintended consequences when it comes to the “50 percent plus one” rule as well.
Not so, one plugged-in Republican state lawmaker said on Friday. There’s every chance, he allowed, that the 50 percent rule will preserve the Chambliss campaign and permit it to fight another day.
That’s right. In a world suddenly turned upside down by Barack Obama and Wall Street, some Georgia Republicans are conceding that Chambliss — who only months ago was considered unassailable — could finish behind a relatively unknown Democrat next Tuesday.
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A major DSCC attack on Chambliss uses Bush, the economy — and the Wall Street rescue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate race in Georgia shifted from a parochial affair to a national contest, with both parties pouring in money from their Washington committees and 527s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the Democratic and Republican sides.
Late last night, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was up with a very tough ad attacking Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss on the economy. We don’t have a video link yet, but here’s the script:
Narrator: What’s Saxby Chambliss been up to in Washington? Supporting George Bush’s economic policies, every step of the way. That gave us higher food prices, a $10 trillion national debt, and a $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
And while Georgia lost 173,000 manufacturing jobs, Saxby supported tax breaks for companies that shipped our jobs overseas. Saxby economics. Haven’t we had enough?”
The DSCC’s first TV attack on Chambliss, issued last week, was over his support of the Fair Tax. Now, the organization has apparently gotten over any qualms it has over beating up Chambliss over his vote for a Wall Street rescue plan that passed Congress on the backs of Democrats.
Jim Martin, Chambliss’ Democratic opponent, says he would have voted no on the bailout — because it didn’t do enough to help homeowners or enough to regulate the sinners on Wall Street. Libertarian Allen Buckley has said he opposes any tax dollars going directly to salvage financial institutions.
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‘SNL’ takes a Democratic turn, sending up Biden, Murtha
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For once, “Saturday Night Live” focused on Democrats in its opening — specifically, the Barack Obama campaign’s two gaffemasters, vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).
This from Murtha (Darrell Hammond): “I want to clear the air about something I said last week, when I suggested that the good people here in western Pennsylvania here are racists. That’s not what I meant to say. It’s more that they’re ignorant. They don’t know any better, especially your older ones. They’re just bone ignorant. It’s like someone said early in the campaign — I don’t know who — they cling to guns and religion because they feel threatened. And that’s so true.”
A lamer skit followed — “The Barack Obama Variety Half-Hour,” featuring Jeremiah Wright accompanied by Bill Ayers, singing “White Devils Be Devils.” But rich target material isn’t enough. Fred Armisen’s Obama far too safe to be compared to Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin.
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Football Saturday’s not sacred: Martin, Chambliss swap charges on Wall Street, Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The race for the U.S. Senate did not even pause Saturday for a more sacred contest, the UGA-LSU game.
While the game was still under way, Democrat Jim Martin conducted a conference call with a few reporters to again blast his old UGA Sigma Chi frat brother — Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss — for backing the $700 billion financial rescue plan. Martin used the word “bailout” as a pejorative.
Chambliss, the Republican U.S. Senate incumbent, voted for the plan. Martin opposed it, saying it needed more regulatory provisions and safeguards for consumers.
The GOP senator has blasted Martin for not being willing to act while the nation’s financial markets melted down. Martin, meanwhile, has accused Chambliss of helping Wall Street fat cats at the expense of Main Street in what has become a theme of his campaign.
Martin kept up the attacks Saturday, this time highlighting his criticism of the Chambliss-backed rescue plan for insufficient regulation, says my AJC colleague Jim Tharpe, who listened in. Martin cited recent press reports that said some banks plan to use some of the money to purchase smaller, struggling banks.
“It’s an example of, ‘We’ll let the business community do whatever they want to do without oversight,”’ Martin said.
Meanwhile, Chambliss — on his own bus trip across the state — accused Martin of bowing to Democratic leaders and acceding to a Congress-imposed timetable for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.
The Chambliss campaign accused Martin of putting “our national security at risk.”
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Was McCain smitten by a pretty face?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kathleen Parker, a conservative columnist for the Washington Post, has already expressed her skepticism about Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president.
She goes a step further here:
[T]here can be no denying that McCain’s selection of her over others far more qualified — and his mind-boggling lack of attention to details that matter — suggests other factors at work. His judgment may have been clouded by … what?
Science provides clues. A study in Canada, published by a British journal in 2003, found that pretty women foil men’s ability to assess the future. “Discounting the future,” as the condition is called, means preferring immediate, lesser rewards to greater rewards in the future.
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A conversation with Bob Barr, who’s already looking past Nov. 4
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bob Barr, reaching the end of an improbable campaign, is already slipping into post-election mode — a period in which the Libertarian presidential candidate will try to build his party into something more than a quadrennial spoiler.
The former Georgia congressman was at his national office in Smyrna on Friday, a dimly lit collection of cubicles only a few turns off I-285. For a man barely registering in the polls, with only 10 days of campaigning left, he was remarkably upbeat.
An InsiderAdvantage poll, released only minutes before, had shown Democratic rival Barack Obama at 48 percent in Georgia, Republican John McCain at 47 percent, and “other” at 2 percent. Barr wasn’t even mentioned by name — and Matt Towery, chairman and CEO of IA, once shared office space with Barr.
“Unfortunately, we’re used to it. It’s unfortunate that polling organizations do that. I don’t quite understand why. Why they do that I don’t know — other than the fact that polling organizations, by and large, have the same inbred bias against third parties [as] much of the national media,” Barr said.
But the former U.S. attorney is past all that. He expects to do several points better than 2 percent in Georgia — not that this is about small numbers anymore.
His purpose now is to make the difference between Obama and McCain in as many states as possible in the final days, Barr said. Power, and respect, comes with the ability to change the outcome of a given situation.
“We’ve deliberately left the last several days very flexible, depending on what the poll numbers and the spread between Obama and McCain show in several state,” Barr said. Which Ohio, North Carolina — and at least two days here. He’s got a 2 p.m. Monday appearance at the University of Georgia in Athens.
“From what I’m hearing, and looking at the numbers, the dramatic increase in registration, the dramatic numbers of early voters, there is an awful lot of support building for Obama. And I think Republicans have a lot to be worried about in Georgia,” he said.
By proving himself the arbiter in a handful of states, Barr said he would be able to stake a claim in the political debate that follows Nov. 4. Especially now that federal intervention in the economy is likely to be a continuing topic.
The problem with third party movements, whether philosophy-based Libertarians or the personality-driven followers of Ross Perot, is that they deflate after Election Day. The organization and the money fades into the woodwork. “That kills political movements,” Barr said. “We don’t intend to make that mistake.”
Barr said he and Allen Buckley, the Libertarian candidate for Senate, have not coordinated their campaigns here. (Buckley, by the way, says the same thing.)
But Barr also said that the federal bailout of Wall Street means ties their two campaigns together.
“I’d like to think it’s all about me, and that I’m John McCain’s biggest nightmare, but the problem the Republicans have nationally and here in Georgia, goes far deeper than simply Bob Barr,” he said. “It goes to the fact that not only do the Republicans have nothing approaching a vision or a platform for the American people, but they’re embracing big government with such enthusiasm — it’s just really turning people off.”
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The robo-calls are coming: Get your answering machines ready
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Got the first robo-call at the Cobb County homestead the other day — the first of dozens, probably.
This one was on behalf of Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent in the U.S. Senate race, and touted this week’s endorsement by the Marietta Daily Journal, which called Chambliss “vital to curbing liberals’ excess.”
There’s nothing unusual or hard-hitting about the audio, except that it was paid for by the Republican National Committee. Which means that, despite the millions Chambliss raised for the contest, the RNC feels it necessary to shoulder some of the financial load.
But let this serve as an appropriate notice: Keep those answering machines on. We’re interested in grabbing sound on all robo-calls, preferably in mp3 or WAV format. Whether the message is presidential, senatorial or other.
This weekend should be the start of the flood.
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InsiderAdvantage poll: Obama now has razor-thin lead in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
InsiderAdvantage has a new poll up this morning, showing the U.S. Senate and presidential races in Georgia to be toss-ups.
In fact, the local polling firm says Democrat Barack Obama now has a slight edge over Republican John McCain, though within the margin of error. Both polls, conducted last night, are of 615 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
In the presidential: Obama, 48%; McCain, 47%; other, 2%; and undecided, 2%.
This comment from IA founder Matt Towery:
“Obama is doing better among white voters than Kerry did in 2004 (according to exit polls of that race), carrying some 28 percent of the white vote. He’s carrying around 75 percent both of the Hispanic and ‘other’ vote, which makes up between four and five percent of Georgia’s electorate. He is winning among independents, outside of the margin of error of the poll.”
With 10 days before Election Day, the InsiderAdvantage survey is the first to give Obama even a small lead in Georgia.
Two other polls in Georgia show a wider contest. Rasmussen Reports shows the race closing, but still gives McCain a 5-point lead — 51 percent to Obama’s 46 percent.
Strategic Vision, the Republican-oriented, Atlanta-based firm, also issued a new poll today, and gave McCain an even larger six-point lead. But SV also presented the contest in a slightly different fashion — asking voters to select entire tickets.
SV says its: McCain/Sarah Palin at 51%; Obama/Joe Biden, 45%; and Libertarians Bob Barr/Wayne Root, 2%.
No one’s showing their internals, but the key question is probably where each survey spots African-American turnout.
On the other hand, all three polling outlets show the U.S. Senate contest in Georgia headed to a run-off between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
In the IA poll, the race stands thusly: Chambliss, 44%; Martin, 42%; Libertarian Allen Buckley, 2%; and undecided, 12%.
With Rasmussen, a separate survey released Thursday showed Chambliss at 47%, Martin at 45%, and Buckley at 1%.
Strategic Vision has Chambliss at 46% and Martin at 44%. But SV gives Buckley his strongest showing to date, at 5 percent.
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Chambliss hit with subpeona in refinery explosion lawsuit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Savannah Morning News reports this morning that U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has been ordered to provide evidence in lawsuits stemming from the explosion of the Imperial Sugar Co. refinery in February.
Says the article:
The Republican lawmaker was subpeonaed Wednesday on behalf of four victims - two dead and two injured - of the Port Wentworth inferno that killed 14 and hurt scores of others.
The action surfaced less than two weeks before the Nov. 4 election, which pits Chambliss in a tight race against Democrat Jim Martin.
Savannah attorney Mark Tate says Chambliss might be part of an Imperial “effort to shift responsibility” away from the company.
The lawsuits, which Tate filed on behalf of the four victims and others, claim Imperial “wrongfully” failed to remove hazards that caused the disaster.
The plaintiff’s attorney, the newspaper notes, is an active backer of Democratic causes. But Chambliss declined the opportunity to declare the subpoena to be politically motivated. Said the Morning News’s Larry Peterson:
In a written statement, Chambliss said he has referred the matter to Senate lawyers.
“I continue to sympathize with the families who were devastated by this tragedy,” he said, “and I will continue to work to protect the interests of those families.”
Tate says he’ll press for Chambliss to give evidence before Election Day. But that’s not likely to happen.
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No House members from Georgia on GOP ‘death list,’ but Goddard isn’t on a list of possible pick-ups
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s a GOP memo floating through Washington, first snagged by U.S. News & World Report then by Politico, that says Republicans could lose up to 34 seats in the House on Nov. 4.
No GOP congressmen from Georgia are on the so-called “death list.” But Politico has this significant paragraph:
National Republicans are confident in their prospects of taking back just one currently Democratic seat — the one held by scandal-plagued Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney. Reps. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), Paul E. Kanjorski (D-Pa.), Christopher P. Carney (D-Pa.) and Nick Lampson (D-Texas) are in tossup races, according to the NRCC, and the committee also views the battle for retiring Democratic Rep. Bud Cramer’s seat in Alabama as a tossup.
No mention of the fight for Georgia’s 8th District, which pits Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall of Macon against Republican Rick Goddard, the retired Air Force major general.
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Bob Barr on CNN: He wouldn’t be surprised if Obama carries Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After his appearance at Georgia Tech this afternoon, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr headed down Techwood to CNN for a conversation with Wolf Blitzer.
In this bit, the topic was Barack Obama’s potential in the state:
Barr: I think we’ll do very well in Georgia. We’ll get several percentage points at any rate, and I think that Senator Obama is going to fool a lot of people, surprise a lot of people. I’ve talked with a lot of those folks that have voted early, early voting that we now have in Georgia, and while we’re getting our fair share, Senator Obama is getting by far the lion’s share of those early votes.
Blitzer: So are you saying that Obama will carry Georgia?
Barr: It wouldn’t surprise me at all, Wolf.
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So what Spot leaves in your yard could be called campaign literature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ben Smith of Politico.com has an item up on sign wars in Georgia.
Good photo to go with it, and he says — from D.C. — that we’re getting pretty desperate here:
My Georgia correspondent writes, “People are now covering their signs in roofing glue or dog poop, almost hoping that someone will try to grab one. One guy I know is working to run an electric current through his sign. I, on the other hand, have placed a note on my sign, warning anyone that every sign they steal will be replaced by a new sign, thereby making another $8 contribution to the Obama campaign.”
Really. Dog poop?
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Scott and the DCCC take out some anti-Honeycutt insurance
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the current climate, you might find this surprising, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has felt it necessary to lend a hand to U.S. Rep. David Scott of Atlanta, to help him fend off a Republican opponent.
The weapon of choice: A 30-second ad attacking GOP candidate Deborah Honeycutt for her support of the Fair Tax. The ad, which you can see below, also seeks to make sure that voters know Honeycutt, who is African-American, is also a Republican.
The 30-second spot will begin running Friday. It’s partially funded by the DCCC, but the Scott campaign is taking responsibility for the content. My AJC colleague Ben Smith says that Scott has ordered 60 spots from WSB for $71,300.
The ad will be followed up by a series of radio interviews on metro Atlanta stations with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic majority whip and arguably the most influential African-American in Congress.
The 13th District is considered heavily Democratic. Honeycutt ran in 2006, but took only 31 percent of the vote.
A Democratic strategist told us the that the primary reason the DCCC is assisting Scott is that she’s raised a boatload of money— about $4.3 million.
That’s more than any candidate seeking a Georgia seat in the U.S. House this year. That includes all incumbent GOP congressmen. Congressional Quarterly put Honeycutt on its list of top 10 fund-raisers, though not on its top-10 list of those with cash on hand.
But Democrats are also worried that Honeycutt has been able to fudge her party identification, we’re told. Hence the picture of the Riverdale physician with a bespectacled President Bush.
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Reining in some out-of-bounds talk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic blogger Amy Morton in Macon has set everyone there astir with an e-mail sent by a staffer to state Sen. Cecil Staton, which urges officials in that city to make plans to combat violence on the night of the Nov. 4 election:
Wrote Zach Johnson:
If you remember, following the election of Mayor Jack Ellis downtown Macon faced substantial celebratory damage and it is my fear that if Obama/McCain wins or loses we could face even greater issues this election. With the City’s recent crime issues, I strongly feel that you all need to huddle with the Mayor, The Chief of Police and well as the Sheriff to put together a contingency plan for potential election night issues.
The e-mail was sent on the Republican senator’s account, and time-stamped at 1:26 p.m. Wednesday. But Staton left for China on Tuesday, to look at that country’s mag-lev rail system, and had no hand in it, his wife Catherine Staton assured the Insider this morning. He still doesn’t know, she said, and certainly does not approve.
Johnson said he wrote the e-mail, as a constituent, after watching a TV news account about communities in other states preparing for disruptions that night. “It was not a racial issue at all,” Johnson said. “It could happen whether McCain or Obama wins.” The staffer apologized for not composing the suggestion on his personal e-mail account.
Speaking of reining in some out-of-bounds behavior, take a look at the YouTube clip below, showing a Oct. 21 confrontation with Barack Obama supporters at a Sarah Palin rally in Nevada.
In the video, Palin supporters shout, “Vote McCain not Barack Hussein, Vote McCain not Barack Hussein.”
What’s significant is that the video clip, and a condemnation of the behavior, appeared on the blog of David Brody, chief correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network founded by Pat Robertson.
Wrote Brody:
I mean there are already these Muslim rumor emails out there and with his middle name being Hussein and the fact that he is African-American, you really have a potential powder keg situation. Doesn’t all of this have to stop? Talk about “beyond the pale.”
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Lawmaker inundated with pleas to stop Troy Davis’ execution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Republican state lawmaker told the Insider late Wednesday that he’s received 4,000 e-mails in the last 24 hours requesting clemency for Troy Davis — basically shutting down his computer at the state Capitol.
He assumes that other members of the Legislature are in the same fix.
Davis is scheduled to be executed Monday. His attorneys are seeking permission to file a new federal lawsuit based on innocence claims.
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Jim Martin lands Bill Clinton for some Saturday night fund-raising
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The campaign of Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, just announced that former President Bill Clinton will be in Atlanta on Saturday.
The purpose? “To help raise the funds we need to stay on television,” Martin says — which means his campaign treasure box may be getting somewhat cobwebby.
The only event mentioned is a 7:15 p.m. do at something called Trois on Peachtree Street.
Pay attention to this one, people. Someone has made sure that the top Democratic rainmaker (outside of Barack Obama, at this point) has been brought into the game to make sure Martin stays competitive through Election Day. And, perhaps, beyond.
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Yes, Nunn was with Obama today
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday to attend what the Associated Press called “a meeting with foreign policy and military luminaries to discuss ‘urgent issues’ facing the country from abroad.”
The meeting was intended to help Obama protect himself against a new round of charges from Republican John McCain side that he is too inexperienced for the White House.
No doubt you’ve already noticed that, at the press conference that followed, Obama was flanked by former Clinton administration adviser Wendy Sherman, left, and former Georgia senator Sam Nunn.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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For Election Day hardcores: Votes per second, and exit polling reforms
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Got a note late yesterday from Randy Evans, a member of the State Election Board, summarizing what’s headed our way on Election Day. Consider it the equivalent of a fellow grabbing you by the lapels and giving you a good shake.
Wrote Evans:
We expect approximately 3.4 million votes to be cast in Georgia. With over 700,000 already cast, our expectation is approximately 1.2 million votes will be cast before Election Day. But that is not the interesting part.
On Election Day, we expect approximately 2.2 million votes to be cast during the polling hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. On average, this means that during the 12 hours, approximately 180,000 votes will be cast every hour, 3,000 votes will be cast every minute, and 50 votes will be cast every second.
Of course, folks in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, so the numbers might be spread over 13 hours or even 14 hours, but regardless, the frequency is notable.
In this context, the smallest problems become big problems. When dealing with 50 votes per second, just one down machine, one poll opening late, or one polling incident can translate into big problems. It is this context within which Election Day readiness must be viewed.
Now consider this: Evans’ figures are based on the number of votes cast in November 2004, and may be off by half. Handel is predicting a total turnout in the neighborhood of 85 percent, which would mean 4.7 million voters statewide.
In other words, 3.5 million people could show up on Election Day. Which means more than 290,000 votes an hour, 4,800 a minute. And 80 votes a second.
The possibility for chaos is astounding.
Now, on to exit polling on Election day. You’ll recall that such surveys have been a mess the last two presidential cycles. Ed Kilgore of The Democratic Strategist has a look at some attempted reforms. Bottom line: No early leaks.
Says Kilgore:
So what are the exit wizards doing to improve their accuracy? For one thing, the average age of exit pollsters has risen from 34 to 42, in response to the theory that they might unconsciously over-approach their generational peers. Edison-Mitofsky has also undertaken more training for exit pollsters on how to maintain a good random sample, and wherever possible, arrangements have been made with election officials to secure better and closer physical locations for the distribution of questionnaires.
In terms of what we will “know” when, the most dramatic change—first undertaken in 2006—will be the isolation of exit poll compilers and analysts to reduce leaks. The networks who are paying for the whole show won’t get access to any data until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, when two “waves” of exit polls are in. Once actual votes begin to come in, of course, the exits will be “adjusted” almost continuously, so you can expect the political commentariat to spend early Election Night trying to figure out what the prelimary analysis really means, and who is saying what based on which “wave” of exit polls.
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Bob Barr at Georgia Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bob Barr, the former Georgia congressman and Libertarian candidate for president, makes an appearance Thursday afternoon on the Georgia Tech campus.
Given the closer polling between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama in Georgia, everyone will be watching for any hints of whether this is his final hurrah in his home state, or the first of several appearances.
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The day that James Dobson went after Colin Powell — and Ralph Reed was caught in the crossfire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On today’s Daily Beast,, Max Blumenthal tells of the longstanding antagonism between the Religious Right — in the person of Focus on the Family’s James Dobson — and Colin Powell.
You’ll remember that, n his Sunday endorsement of Obama, Powell worried over the narrowing of the Republican party.
The Blumenthal piece includes this tidbit involving Ralph Reed:
Back during the run-up to the 1996 presidential primaries, when some movement conservatives advanced the notion of Powell as the GOP’s most viable presidential nominee, Dobson moved to intimidate and silence the general’s boosters.
Among Powell’s fans was the ardently anti-abortion Jack Kemp, who called him “Republican on almost every issue.” Neoconservative former Education Secretary William Bennett repeatedly praised Powell on the pages of the National Review, while Weekly Standard editor William Kristol argued in an editorial for his magazine that Powell was the only figure who could defeat the increasingly popular Bill Clinton.
Already annoyed by the swell of movement support for the pro-choice Powell, Dobson was furious when Christian Coalition President Ralph Reed refused to condemn Powell’s possible candidacy during his appearance on This Week with David Brinkley.
Immediately, Dobson faxed a five-page letter to Reed accusing him of unholy motives. “Is power the motivator of the great crusade?” Dobson asked the fresh-faced operator. “If so, it will sour and turn to bile in your mouth… This posture may elevate your influence in Washington, but it is unfaithful to the principles we are duty-bound as Christians to defend.”
[Gary] Bauer copied the letter and blasted it out to other Powell-friendly conservatives, including Bennett, who Dobson baselessly accused of being “pro-abortion.” Shaken by Dobson’s jeremiad, Reed hastily composed a letter suggesting that attacks from the Christian right would only provoke Powell into running. The situation “required a delicate balancing act,” Reed insisted, according to Dobson’s official biography.
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Freedom watch took the high road, the NRSC chooses the low one, with an attack on Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The men and women of PeachPundit have latched on to a pair of anti-Jim Martin ads put up by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The one below makes the Democrat in the U.S. Senate race look the most sinister. The topic is the 1989 sales tax increase.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already joined the race in Georgia, with sponsorship of two anti-Chambliss ads. So far, there’s been no word on the size of any buy associated with this NRSC attack:
Not that there could be any coordination on this — because that would be illegal — but it’s convenient that two outside groups have entered the fray on Chambliss’ behalf at the same time.
The NRSC has taken the low road, with an attack on Martin. Freedom Watch, an independent conservative group, has trekked the high road, building up Chambliss’ credentials on the middle class and the economy.
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Barry Goldwater’s granddaughter votes early in Fulton County — for Barack Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barry Goldwater’s granddaughter voted early in Fulton County on Tuesday — for Barack Obama.
This isn’t a surprise to those who follow Arizona politics. Here’s a piece from May of this year posted on Democratic Underground.
Alison Goldwater Ross, 45, waited about an hour and a half to cast her vote at the Fulton County government center in Atlanta, for the Democratic presidential candidate.
“I’m avoiding the crowds on Election Day,” Goldwater Ross told my AJC colleague, Mary Lou Pickel.
Barry Goldwater, recognized as the founder of modern Republican conservatism and the 1964 GOP candidate for president, served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. He died in 1998, at age 89.
The Goldwaters and the McCains have a history of antagonism.
“Coming from a political family, I had insight into a lot of things,” Goldwater Ross said. Of McCain, she said, “I don’t have respect for him.”
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A Freedom Watch ad for Saxby Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My AJC colleague Ben Smith says that Freedom Watch, a conservative group playing on the Republican side of U.S. Senate races across the country, has put down about $197,000 for 108 spots on WSB-TV between now and the election.
The video below is probably the group’s first ad in Georgia, at least on behalf Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss. Posted on YouTube two hours ago, it’s designed to bolster Chambliss’ standing as a someone who’s strong on middle-class issues.
TV attacks by Democrat Jim Martin have all focused on the unsettled economy.
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The ‘Joe the Plumber’ campaign comes to Roswell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Republican defense of Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio, the instant cultural hero and man of pipe dreams, spread to Roswell on Tuesday.
One of the curious things about American politics is the chasm that jumps up when certain words are introduced.
Take Joe the Plumber, who on Oct. 12 confronted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama over the issue of taxes.
Say “plumber” to a Democrat, and he hears “blue collar.” As a profession in Georgia, plumbing was worth an average $47,350 in 2007 — a good living, but not the stuff of early retirement.
Say “plumber” to a Republican, and he hears “small business.” In fact ,the McCain campaign has used Joe the Plumber as a rallying cry. This e-mail was sent out this week by its Georgia operation:
We’d like to activate as many small business owners as possible to speak out on Obama’s plans to drag small business owners and their employees down. Please reach out to your friends, family, and neighbors to recruit new Joe’s. Thank your local baker, the couple at your corner store, and even your plumber for their hard work and dedication, and invite them to share their story with us at gajoetheplumber@johnmccain.com.
About 50 self-described “Joes” gathered at Chaplin’s restaurant near the Roswell Square on Tuesday. Nearly all hammered on the phrase used by Obama in his discussion with Wurzelbacher: “Spread the wealth.” All accused Obama of socialism or something like it.
Jason Thompson, a Lawrenceville attorney, declared that his one-man office “would most certainly be undermined by Barack Obama’s plan to redistribute wealth,” which he called “a socialistic system disguised as tax relief for the middle class.”
But in these confusing times, none mentioned the word “Bush” or noted that, like Obama, their candidate supported a $700 billion program that has resulted in the slight nationalization of major U.S. banks.
Many focused on that $250,000 figure used by Obama — Americans underneath that ceiling will benefit from a tax cut, the Democrat has promised.
Sherry Blue, founder and co-owner of Cohutta Contracting in Jasper, testified that an Obama administration would mean bankruptcy for her.
“In a good year, which means one of every three or four, we might just get above the $250,000 figure,” Blue said. “The rest of the time, we make less or, like this year in a recession, actually lose money.”
Elect Obama, she said, and “we literally will have to close our doors.”
Barry Schmidt, owner of a small utility construction company in Grayson, the point that a tax hike for those who make $250,000 or more is a tax on ambition.
Schmidt said he doesn’t earn $250,000 a year. But Obama’s middle-class tax cut “would take away the incentive of going in that direction,” he said.
One thing missing from the Roswell event: Plumbers. Honest-to-goodness laborers who provided much of Ronald Reagan’s support in the 1980s.
“When you’re in a really small business, the distinction between being a business owner and someone out in the field begins to blur,” said John Sours, one of the event organizers and a McCain activist.
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Disrespectful treatment of a flag, or not?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shades of the lapel-pin debate. The campaign of Barack Obama passed us the video below, taken of John McCain’s troops allegedly breaking camp in Missouri on Monday.
It shows a huge American flag dropping unceremoniously to the ground, and a lone worker beginning the process of packing it up.
So far as we can tell, the video was first posted on Americablog:
“It matters to us because it matters to them,” writes John Aravosis, a D.C.-based author, political consultant, and — needless to say — Democrat. “If John McCain, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and the rest of the Republicans are going to walk around boasting about how they’re better Americans than Democrats, better Americans than Barack Obama, then their party needs to stop treating the American flag like a used Kleenex.”
The Insider awaits your response.
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A pairing of Vietnam vets: Jim Webb takes up for Jim Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia), a Vietnam veteran, was in Atlanta on Tuesday morning to make a brief outdoor appearance for Democrat Jim Martin, another veteran of that conflict, in the tightening Georgia race for U.S. Senate.
Webb spoke at the Pete Wheeler Georgia War Memorial near the state Capitol in front of about 50 union members and veterans, some carrying signs that read: “Georgia Veterans for Obama.” My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe was there.
For six years, Democrats here and in Washington have carried a grudge against Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent, who beat Max Cleland in 2002 — in part with a TV ad that questioned the commitment of Cleland, a triple amputee and Vietnam vet, to national security. Chambliss, who is roughly the same age, received a deferment from military service.
But Webb backed away from any pointed criticism of Chambliss. Both sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The political evaluation of Sen. Chambliss is something the people of Georgia should be making,” Webb said, when specifically asked about that 2002 TV ad.
The ex-marine instead focused his endorsement of Martin, who served in a non-combat assignment during the Vietnam War. And yet there was this:
“[Martin] will not have to go to committee meetings to know what it’s like to serve in the military,” Webb said.
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This election may spark another confrontation between Thurbert Baker and Republicans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Fulton County Daily Report today says a legal fight is brewing between Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, and the GOP-dominated State Election Board.
Says the newspaper:
A budding dispute between the State Election Board and Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker could lead to new litigation over the issues that drove Perdue v. Baker, the 2003 Georgia Supreme Court ruling that favored the AG in a dispute with the governor over who controlled the state’s litigation decisions.
J. Randolph “Randy” Evans, general counsel for the state Republican Party and a member of the election board, said Baker has twice refused an order from the Republican-dominated board to inform the Democratic Party of Georgia that its continued challenge to the state’s voter ID law constitutes frivolous litigation.
Baker’s office would not comment on whether it has refused such a request, citing attorney-client privilege. “While Mr. Evans may have an affinity for political muckraking and legal over-reaching,” said Baker spokesman Russ Willard, “our office will continue to govern its actions based on what is legally appropriate and in the best interests of the people of Georgia.”
Here’s a related fact to chew over: Only last week, Baker announced the formation of an “election task force” and a voter hotline — (404) 651-9303 — to field questions from citizens who have election-related legal questions. Secretary of State Karen Handel, the Republican who oversees state elections, offers many of the same services.
In other words, Baker, who serves as counselor to both Handel and the State Election Board, is offering himself up as a first responder, and first arbiter, over violations of election law. We live in interesting times.
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On why Obama might come to Georgia before Nov. 4
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PBS’s “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” had an interesting bit last night that touched strongly on the U.S. Senate race in Georgia.
It included the observation that Democratic Barack Obama has every reason to make a quick appearance in Georgia during the closing days of the presidential contest.
The exchange involved PBS’ Gwen Ifill, Amy Walter of The Hotline, and Stuart Rothenberg of The Rothenberg Political Report. The three had just finished talking about the woes of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell up in Kentucky:
Ifill: In Georgia, another big state that everybody’s watching. That wasn’t supposed to be competitive, either.
Rothenberg: No, at least with the McConnell race, we figured that Mitch McConnell was going to draw a tough Democratic opponent. We knew that he had somebody who could raise and spend money.
In Georgia, the Democrats had a primary with a bunch of what most people say are second-tier candidates. They nominated a former state rep named Jim Martin who had really no money, no statewide name ID, in a Republican state.
This is the best example, it seems to me, of the Democratic wave that’s crashing even more strongly down-ballot than at the presidential level.
Saxby Chambliss, just because he’s an incumbent in a state with a significant African-American population, and a substantial number of white voters who will vote and have voted Democratic in the past — suddenly, Saxby Chambliss is in major, major trouble against a candidate nobody knows.
Ifill: So even if the presidential Democrat does not win, this could still turn at the Senate level?
Walter: Absolutely, absolutely. That’s why you’re hearing about Obama going into some of these states. If he goes into Kentucky, if he goes into Georgia, it may not ultimately put him over the top but it could be enough to help the candidates down-ballot.
Last night’s PBS broadcast also featured an interview with Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president. Click here to listen to the podcast — which will spare you the pain of the former Georgia congressman’s taste for striped suits.
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Jim Webb comes to town, and an Ode to Joe — but not by Beethoven
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve got dueling press conferences at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. In Roswell, a “Joe The Plumber Coalition of Small Business Owners” have will take up the cause of Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio. FYI, plumbers and pipe-fitters earned an average of $47,350 in 2007.
But in downtown Atlanta, at the veterans memorial near the state Capitol, U.S. Sen. Jim Web (D-Va.), something of an advocate for the Celtic nation in Appalachia, is to take up the cause of Jim Martin, the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
The Insider will be at one. Or the other.
Hard to say which one.
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A fear that Georgians ‘will not vote their Christian values’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Possibly, you don’t think that emotions are running high this presidential season.
Then, just possibly, you haven’t read the recent prayer campaign of Al D. Marks, vice chairman of the Hall County Republican party.
Wrote Marks, on the county Republican web site:
This is the scariest election I can remember. I’m 67 years old and have voted for the last 48 years. I cannot remember when the issues and stakes have ever been higher! If you are to believe the polls, we are about to elect a President of the United States of America, who was raised a Muslim, professes to be a Christian, has extreme left-wing affiliations and is an admitted socialist.
I was raised to believe in Christian values - and I’m afraid many Christians in this country are confused right now by the “pie-in-sky” promises and the charisma of Barrack Hussein Obama and will not vote their Christian values.
During World War II, there was an advisor to Churchhill, who organized a large group of people to pray for the safety of England. They dropped whatever they were doing at a prescribed time and collectively prayed for one minute. This had an amazing effect - the bombing stopped. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing in this country. If you would like to participate each evening:
And spend one minute praying:
- for the well being of the United States of America and our troops;
-for our leaders to have the wisdom to lead us through these troubled times;
that we make the right choices in the upcoming election;
that the Bible will remain the bases for the laws governing our land;
and that Christianity will prevail in the U.S.
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Chambliss, Isakson push for a quick ACORN inquiry by Bush administration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson on Monday joined seven other colleagues — presumed to be Republican — in urging Attorney General Michael Mukasey to “launch an immediate investigation” into whether the liberal group ACORN has committed voter fraud.
Republicans, including both members of the presidential ticket, have slammed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama over the non-profit — suggesting his campaign has closer ties to the group than it’s been willing to admit.
ACORN, formally known as the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, has been accused of submitting false voter registration forms in several states.
ABC News has this up:
The FBI has picked up the scent of suspicious registrations from this embattled get-out-the vote group but is apparently proceeding with less than full-throttle enthusiasm. ACORN said federal agents have not contacted it, and the bureau is looking into reports of bogus registration cards in states like Nevada rather than investigating ACORN itself.
One factor constraining the FBI may be a reluctance to get involved right before the election in the high-profile — and deeply partisan — controversy over ACORN’s efforts to sign up voters.
Think of a letter to the attorney general as an effort to help the FBI overcome that reluctance.
“These widespread allegations of voter fraud against ACORN are serious and disturbing. It is imperative that we investigate any acts of criminal activity quickly and thoroughly,” Isakson said.
Said Chambliss, who is up for re-election in two weeks: “Recent allegations that ACORN has been engaged in practices to defraud the American public and trample on our most sacred right to choose our leaders requires a thorough and complete investigation and prosecution, where appropriate, to the fullest extent of the law.”
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According to Democrats, Chambliss out-performing McCain in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A poll just dropped by Democracy Corps, an outfit led by strategist James Carville, says Saxby Chambliss is doing better in Georgia than John McCain.
But not by much.
Here’s the standard warning: This is a survey generated by a partisan source. Read it not for accuracy, but to understand what Democrats are doing and why. Do not ingest if pregnant or use while operating heavy machinery.
That said, the survey, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, is worth perusing. If the Democracy Corps web site is acting up, as it was earlier this afternoon, click here to see a PDF of the original memo.
The poll assumes a 26 percent turnout by African-American voters, which at this point seems conservative.
Democracy Corps puts the presidential race in Georgia at:
— John McCain: 46%
— Barack Obama: 44%
— Ralph Nader: 2%
— Bob Barr: 2%
While Barr isn’t doing particularly well here, 2 percent is certainly enough to cause trouble for McCain.
In the U.S. Senate race, Chambliss is doing slightly better, possibly because only the Democratic and Republican candidates were named in the survey — Libertarian Allen Buckley was omitted.
Democracy Corps puts Chambliss at 48 percent and Martin at 44 percent. Chambliss does well with voters on many issues, including Iraq. But when it comes to the economy or “special interests,” the Republican suffers — obvious to anyone monitoring TV ads in the race.
One also wonders if Carville, who advised Zell Miller during his 1990 campaign for governor, before he latched onto Bill Clinton, might be fishing for business again in Georgia.
Democracy Corps presented voters with a hypothetical 2010 gubernatorial match-up between former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, versus Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican.
The result was Barnes at 49 percent and Handel at 35 percent.
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What you didn’t know about Bob Barr
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The New Yorker has an excellent, straight-forward look at the Libertarian presidential candidacy of Bob Barr, the former Marietta congressman.
The piece is lengthy, but includes this gem:
Barr attended Georgetown Law at night and, in 1978, moved to Atlanta to practice criminal law. He was aggressive and took risks. Once, fearing that policemen might harm a client, an accused cop killer, on an airplane, he hired another plane and flew behind them. When the brother-in-law of Baby Doc Duvalier, the Haitian dictator, was apprehended in Puerto Rico on drug-smuggling charges, Barr and his law partner, Ed Marger, flew to Port-au-Prince to help. (“Ed and I were sitting on this couch in this beautiful residence with Baby Doc and his wife, and all of a sudden this big rat runs across the room,” he recalled.
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The SCLC wants a river of people to march to the state Capitol, 48 hours before Election Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is pulling together what it calls a “massive” get-out-the-vote march that will send a river of people to the state Capitol only 48 hours before Election Day.
“We’re looking at 20,000 people at the low end,” said SCLC spokeswoman Keisha Ray.
Organizers intend to draw on Atlanta University students to generate much of that number. Details can be found here, but participants are being asked to assemble early Sunday afternoon at Herndon Stadium on the Morris Brown College campus.
The march down MLK will finish with a two-hour rally at the Capitol.
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A hint of renewed Obama emphasis — including a memo warning others away from Georgia volunteers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That video sent out this weekend by the Barack Obama campaign includes a hint — but only a hint — of increased activity in Georgia by the Democratic presidential campaign.
The message from campaign manager David Plouffe is devoted primarily to touting Obama’s fund-raising success. But Plouffe also says this:
“You might have seen we’re now competing aggressively in the state of West Virginia, where we think we have a great chance to win. We’ve seen polls tightening in places like Georgia and North Dakota. So, we’re always on the lookout for expansion….”
Apparently there’s been some tension over body-grabbing in the final days of the presidential campaign. But the Georgia chapter of the Obama campaign thinks itself close enough to winning the state that it has been able to persuade other groups to keep their mitts off.
Here’s a portion of an Oct. 7 e-mail that we’re told was sent out by the Democratic National Committee:
Please immediately ensure that any and all staff recruiting voter protection volunteers in your state are abiding by the following rules:
Within your own state, as long as you’re not running headlong into your own state’s GOTV recruitment program, go hog wild.
In reaching into other battleground states, HANDS OFF. Flat-out. Every time you send an email to a volunteer who’s already signed up in another battleground, you create confusion for the volunteer and work for the other battleground’s voter protection team to fix the damage. Any further reports of volunteer requests aimed at another battleground will not be treated kindly. To avoid any confusion at all, Georgia, North Dakota, and most definitely Michigan are still battlegrounds.
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More back-and-forth on the Fair Tax, and a bit of history
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss issued a defense of himself and the Fair Tax in a 30-second spot that also takes a shot at Jim Martin, his Democratic rival in the U.S. Senate race. See it below.
One thing about the Fair Tax has always puzzled — the claim that it would abolish the Internal Revenue Service. Now, if this is because the IRS is all about the income tax, such a statement might be literally true.
But does anyone believe that there wouldn’t be some sort of federal institution to oversee millions of cash registers collecting trillions of dollars in sales tax — and that this institution wouldn’t be as intrusive or picky as the IRS?
Also, in the above ad, Chambliss accuses Martin of supporting the largest tax increase in state history, which is true.
The tax increase dates back to 1989, when the state sales tax was raised from three cents to four cents on the dollar. The increase amounted to $687 million, and was the first tax hike in 18 years.
The largest portion of the increase went toward education.
The 1989 hike was accompanied by a $95 million rollback in property taxes. Which means that Martin and Chambliss have a little something in common.
Chambliss complains that anti-Fair Tax ad aimed at him, paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, ignores the fact that a national sales tax would be accompanied by the elimination of other taxes.
Zell Miller, then lieutenant governor, supported the tax increase, after he was able to win an exemption for food. State Reps. Roy Barnes and Johnny Isakson opposed it, though Isakson argued for a mixture of budget cuts and increases in the tax on alcohol and tobacco. Martin, who’d also been a member of the House since 1983, voted for it.
The sales tax increase was initiated and approved by Gov. Joe Frank Harris, who ran on a no-new-taxes pledge in 1982, but declined to repeat the promise in 1986.
Perhaps the most interesting tidbit in this bit of history: Tom Perdue, Harris’ chief of staff, resigned his position shortly after Harris won his second term.
Perdue is now the chief strategist for the Chambliss campaign.
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In the coming race for chairmanship of the RNC, the name of Newt Gingrich comes to mind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It remains rude to discuss the topic in public, but here and elsewhere, Republicans have begun to ponder the matter of who will become the face of a GOP in exile — who will pick up the pieces of what could be the most shattering election in decades.
As they would with any blood relative in an ICU ward, Republican leaders insist to outsiders that John McCain will recover and take the White House on Nov. 4.
And if that happens, no one will be happier than Alec Poitevint of Bainbridge. Shortly after he took his oath of office, McCain would appoint a new chairman of the Republican National Committee. And Poitevint’s on the short list.
A former state GOP chairman, Poitevint was one of McCain’s earliest supporters. He once served as treasurer of the RNC. From deep southwest Georgia, Poitevint is not well-known, and is not terribly comfortable in front of reporters. But with a Republican as president, he wouldn’t need to be.
But if McCain flatlines, if Barack Obama’s lead holds up for 15 more days, then the qualifications for the job of leading a Republican party in receivership change considerably.
They could, in fact, boil down to this: Who has the skills, and the proper philosophy, to face down the first African-American president in history, a man who already displays the media talents of a Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan?
Future ambition and the presidential contest of 2012 become a factor. Sarah Palin has been mentioned as a possible candidate. So has Mitt Romney, or his stand-in. But another name is bound to come up — that of former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, the 65-year-old former Georgia congressman.
There are abundant reasons to wonder why Republicans would turn back to the 1990s in an effort to cope with an uncertain future. But the fact is, the rebellious contingent of Republicans in the U.S. House has become the most cohesive element of the GOP — and this year Gingrich emerged as its voice, especially during debate over the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
“If Newt assumed the role of RNC chair in the wake of a disastrous November, he would be at home with that position,” said U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah. “He served in the dark and dreary times inthe wake of Jimmy Carter’s election, when — particularly in Georgia — times were very bleak for the Republican party.
“One ofthe problems McCain and George Bush both have is they’re not good speakers.Obviously, Mr. Obama is. And I think Newt could go head to head with him,” Kingston said.
For obvious reasons, Gingrich won’t discuss the topic. Only last year, after much public deliberation, the former congressman declined to jump into the presidential race that is only now ending — citing the legal complications it would have for American Solutions, his self-described clearinghouse for new ideas.
“He’s got more clout where he is now,” said U.S. Rep. John Linder, who was a top lieutenant during the heady days of the Gingrich speakership.
State GOP chairman Sue Everhart, who will cast one of the 150 votes that will decide the matter, said something similar. She noted that the national job requires a talent for dealing with bureaucracy and soothing sensitive egos. “I think it would cramp his style too much. You’ve got to be nice to people whether you like them or not,” she said.
In a post-McCain world, a three-month fight for the RNC chairmanship would also be a ideological clash. On one side would be those who think the Republican party failed because it wasn’t conservative enough — because it strayed from the precepts of the Gingrich-led revolution of ’94.
A chairman Gingrich would then be another Moses, resuming command after a mass Republican flirtation with the Golden Calf.
But on the other side of the GOP gulf are those who worry who worry that the GOP has limited itself by catering too forcefully to the Christian right and other interests. This is the “narrowing” that former secretary of state Colin Powell spoke of on Sunday, just before endorsing Obama.
Everhart counts herself among those who want to broaden the GOP reach, not purify it. “[Gov.] Sonny Perdue wasn’t elected by Republicans. He was elected by Democrats and independents, too,” she said.
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ICYMI: Martin distances himself from the Fair Tax attack on Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A debate featuring the three candidates for U.S. Senate, taped Saturday, will be aired at 12:30 this afternoon on WSB-TV.
My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe writes that this is what you can expect:
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin on Saturday distanced himself from an advertisement by his own party that attacks the so-called Fair Tax.
The proposed national sales tax would replace the federal income tax. It is supported by Martin’s Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
The national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has pumped $500,000 into Georgia for attack ads against Chambliss including the Fair Tax ad, which last week started blanketing the TV airwaves in metro Atlanta.
Martin, who is in a tightening race with Chambliss, backed away from the ad during a 30-minute debate involving Martin, Chambliss and Libertarian Allen Buckley at WSB-TV studios Saturday afternoon….
“It’s not my ad,” Martin said during the debate. However, he added, “It is factually correct.”
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Sarah Palin on SNL: ‘Caribou Barbie’ raises the house — and Tina Fey was there, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, survived NBC’ “Saturday Night Live” in fine fashion last night.
But darned if you could tell whether it was her or Tina Fey in the early moments of the opening skit. (It was Fey who started the fauxpress conference off, and Palin finished it.)
Politically, what pushed the envelope? SNL persuaded the real Palin to utter one of her famous nicknames: “Caribou Barbie.”
In a second “Weekend Update” skit, we had Eskimos, Todd the snowmachine racer, a dying moose, and a Republican vice presidential nominee who showed she can actually keep a beat:
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Joe the Plumber had a grating Georgia precedent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You must be this tall, and at least 40 years old to read the following post:
Democratic veteran Ed Kilgore this week took Joe the Plumber and connected him to one of the most gratingly effective avatars — Kilgore’s word — in modern Georgia political history.
Read the entire piece here. But here’s a truncated appetizer:
After writing my last two posts, about the ludicrous Joe the Plumber scam and the probably-bogus “tightening presidential contest,” I had a dark thought. What if McCain somehow pulls this out? My God, it’ll be attributed to Joe the Plumber! And we’ll see a lot more of this kind of stupid stunt in the future.”
Due to the eternal popularity of the post hoc ergo propter hoc logical fallacy (after this, therefore because of this), which confuses coincidence with causation, copy-catting questionable political gimmicks is a very common phenomenon….
[A] vivid example of questionably successful gimmickry, similar in its fundamental stupidity to the Joe the Plumber furor, occurred in my home state of Georgia in 1992. A Republican warhorse, Paul Coverdell, was running against incumbent Democratic Senator Wyche Fowler. For most of the campaign, Fowler maintained a large and steady lead in the polls. One day, according to the legend, a beehived grandmother from South Georgia named Margie Lopp called up Coverdell HQ and sang them a campaign jingle she had composed.
Now Margie’s jingle was not only content-free (its deepest line was : “Let’s put Paul Coverdell in the Senate and put Wyche Fowler out!”), but gratingly annoying in a bad nursery rhyme sort of way. For whatever reason, the Coverdell campaign made it the sole sum and substance of about ten thousand radio and television ads. Political observers universally mocked it, and even Coverdell’s staff later admitted they were flooded with calls from supporters complaining about it.
But lo and behold, on Election Night, Coverdell ran surprisingly well, and though Fowler ran ahead of him, an archaic Georgia law requiring a majority of the general election vote for victory knocked the incumbent into a rare runoff. I’ll never forget watching local election coverage from the Coverdell party, where a gaggle of young Republicans were defiantly singing the Lopp classic…..
I recently ran across a semi-academic article quoting Coverdell campaign staff as suggesting that the jingle boosted their candidate’s name ID in an insidious way. I suppose this is the same theory by which some advertisers deliberately screen obnoxious ads that consumers at least remember (a theory I try to fight by, for example, swearing I will never buy insurance from GEICO until it not only kills but apologizes for its interminable “caveman” series). But it’s a dubious proposition at best.
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That budding water war between Obama and Georgia Republicans? Never mind.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The water war between Barack Obama and Georgia Republicans is hereby called off on account of new evidence.
A five-paragraph Associated Press story out of Tallahassee on Friday declared that Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, had taken Florida’s side in the three-decade dispute over water with Georgia and Alabama.
Click here to read the entire Obama statement upon which that AP piece was based. But here is the relevant portion, which is so even-handed as to be meaningless:
Florida, Georgia, and Alabama have disputed the water allocation of the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers for more than two decades. Attempts at negotiated settlements and previous compacts have failed and devolved into countless lawsuits. To date, the only winners in this dispute have been the lawyers….
Obama and Biden would call on the governors of Florida, Georgia and Alabama to once again convene a stakeholder-driven process to reach equitable water sharing solutions. The difference this time would be that Obama would direct the National Research Council to conduct a study….
The study would provide the scientific basis for reaching an equitable solution, a solution that protects the drinking water of Atlanta’s citizens and provides sustainable flows for productive agriculture in south Georgia and Alabama, and for the fish and wildlife that inhabit Florida’s northwest region and the industries they support….”
Nothing new here. Move along.
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Martin’s answer to Chambliss on the issue of dead kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, is about to defend himself from a round of attack ads thrown at him by Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
The 30-second spot below was posted not long ago on YouTube. It addresses Chambliss’ accusations that Martin’s departure as head of the state Department of Human Resources and the deaths of children under the care of the state were linked.
“For Saxby Chambliss to suggest that I was insensitive to the loss of a child, well, that’s just plain offensive,” Martin says.
Go here to see the Chambliss attack ad.
If you want to draw any meaning from the back-and-forth, it may be this: Martin is close enough that a firm response matters. And he apparently has the money to pay for it.
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On the Fair Tax, shifting cash, and another third party preparing to enter the Senate race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Notes on the U.S. Senate race:
— Supporters of the Fair Tax, with Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in attendance, predicted this afternoon that an attack on the national sales tax will backfire on Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
The Washington-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee this week began running a television ad attacking Chambliss for supporting a 23 percent tax on every purchase — not mentioning that the Fair Tax also advocates elimination of the income tax.
(My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe was there. I’ll post a link to his complete file as quickly as possible.)
Chambliss can’t help but be delighted by this. One would have to guess that the Fair Tax crowd, by and large, is the same Republican-oriented group ticked off by Chambliss’ support of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Which Martin opposes. By attacking the Fair Tax, the DSCC risks driving these fiscal conservatives back into the arms of the Republican incumbent.
On the other hand, the DSCC couldn’t exactly throw out a TV spot taking Martin’s side against the bailout. Most Democrats in Congress supported the rescue. The Fair Tax, meanwhile, has few Democratic defenders.
— Tom Baxter, who once served as the chief political analyst for a major metropolitan newspaper, included this paragraph in one of his files for the Southern Political Report:
While the Democrats have been expanding their sites in House races, Republicans have been pulling back and circling the wagons in the Senate. The National Republican Senatorial Committee this week dropped advertising for Republican challenger John Kennedy, who’s trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, reportedly to divert money to the suddenly troubled campaigns of incumbents Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia.
— My AJC colleague Ben Smith says he’s picked up some signs that the pro-Republican group called Freedom Watch is preparing to drop some big bucks on TV ads in metro Atlanta, presumably on behalf of Chambliss.
The group is already playing in the U.S. Senate race in Colorado. Last week, USA Today reported that Freedom Watch had already dropped $3.7 million on congressional races, on behalf of the GOP.
— Meanwhile, Julia Malone in our Washington bureau says the national AFL-CIO will join the fray as well — on Martin’s behalf, of course.
Richard Ray, Georgia’s AFL-CIO president, said the national union will assist in the mailing of 250,000 flyers and dialing tens of thousands of robo-calls. Ray said he expected the national organization to send more dollars to the state but said no specific amount has been allotted for the Georgia contest, which now ranks near the top among a dozen Senate races that the AFL-CIO has targeted.
Click here to see a union mailing that goes out Monday. It conveniently pictures Chambliss with a certain incumbent president.
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In the Georgia-Florida water wars, Obama sides with 27 electoral votes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s your political math question for the day: If you’re running for president, would you rather win Florida, with its 27 electoral votes, or Georgia, with its 15?
Doh.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have tipped his hand this week when he sided with the Florida panhandle in a three-decade water war that also includes Georgia and Alabama.
According to the Associated Press, Obama released a statement Thursday saying he would make protecting the Apalachicola River and Bay a priority.
He’s calling for a National Research Council study to ensure enough water comes into Florida to meet environmental and commercial fishing needs.
The Apalachicola, whether bay or river, is fed by the Chattahoochee River, metro Atlanta’s primary source of fluids. Florida believes Georgia uses too much water from the river system for municipal purposes.
You have to wonder whether Georgia could argue that Florida uses up too many electoral votes — 10 percent of the nationally required dose — for presidential purposes.
Republicans — in Georgia, anyway — quickly pounced on Obama for his failure to see things our way.
“It is unfortunate that you wish to undo the good work we have done to find a solution for all the people in the river basin and instead prioritize the needs of only the people of Florida,” wrote U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson in a letter addressed to Obama, which also noted his “recent and sudden interest” in the matter.
The entire missive appears on the jump.
Dear Senator Obama:
We are writing to express our disappointment with comments made yesterday by you and your campaign relating to water allocation issues in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River basins.
As you may know, these river basins serve Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. While we appreciate your recent and sudden interest in the tri-state water issues we have been working on for the past six years, the comments by you and your campaign reflect a fundamental lack of understanding of the nature of the problems in the ACF and ACT basins, a lack of understanding of the requirements of the Army Corps of Engineers with regards to the ACF and ACT basins under federal law, and a cavalier disregard for the needs of the residents of Georgia.
According to your campaign’s statement, you “would direct the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a study to assess the water availability, supply options, and demand-management alternatives that factor into ACF River System usage, as well as the impact of freshwater flow on the ecology of the Apalachicola River and Bay.” You also said “As President, I will make protecting Florida’s water resources a priority.”
As you may know, the Army Corps of Engineers is required under federal law to update the water control manuals for the ACF and ACT basins, and recently announced it would begin doing so in the ACT basin.
We were pleased to hear from Secretary of the Army Pete Geren personally that the Corps is moving forward with updating these manuals, because it will allow the Corps to make smarter decisions in their management of these river systems. We have underscored to him how important this action is.
As you also may know such an update would include studies to assess water supply and demand, and environmental management practices for ALL the users and stakeholder in the basins, not just those on the Apalachicola River and Bay. To ask the Corps to ignore its responsibilities under federal law in favor of the residents of Florida is a clear affront to the residents of Georgia. To state that you will make protecting Florida’s water resources a priority over Georgia’s shows that you do not care about the needs of the people of Georgia.
We have continually worked to get Georgia, Florida and Alabama together and to force the Corp of Engineers to update a 20-year-old Water Control Plan for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins. In 2006 we held Senate hearings in Gainesville and Columbus to implore the Corps to keep its commitment to update its outdated water control plan for the two river basins.
On August 1, 2007, we met with Secretary Geren as well as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley, Lieutenant General Robert L. Van Antwerp and General Counsel Craig Schmauder. At the meeting, Secretary Geren indicated his desire to give mediation time to work before starting the update of the water control manuals.
When Secretary Geren gave his commitment to us that if and when mediation broke down and was not making progress, he would begin the update of the water control manuals, we held him to that promise. On September 28, 2007, after judges involved in the mediation announced that the talks had broken down, we sent a letter to Secretary Geren strongly urging him to honor his pledge to update the water control plan.
On October 18, 2007, Secretary Woodley told both of us by telephone that the Corps will start the process for updating the water control manual for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin.
We also facilitated meetings in Washington between the Governors of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, as well as meetings between the Governors and the Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, and Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton. We continue to work with the Governors and their staffs to come to a solution so the states can take advantage of the productive talks they have had and agree on a resolution.
From Lake Lanier to Lake Allatoona, from Atlanta to West Point Lake, and from LaGrange to Columbus, we have worked to find a solution that benefits not only the people of our state, but all those who reside in the river basins. It is unfortunate that you wish to undo the good work we have done to find a solution for all the people in the river basin and instead prioritize the needs of only the people of Florida.
Sincerely,
Saxby Chambliss
United States Senator
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator
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Every politician needs a stunt double — shaking all those germ-laden hands can be dangerous
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Blogs throughout Georgia are suddenly talking about last Saturday’s Sorghum Parade up in Blairsville, which featured a campaigning state Rep. Charles Jenkins.
Except that it wasn’t Jenkins. The switch was first noted on blairsvillecity.com:
Jenkins was seen at the Sorghum parade before it began but his Explorer was seen leaving. Jenkins’ parade car, however made the rounds with a man of similar appearance perched on the back, waving with a cap pulled low over his face.
InsiderAdvantage extracted the confession. The state lawmaker had ducked out to the Georgia-Tennessee game in Athens:
Jenkins tells us his cousin, Leon Davenport, subbed for him in the parade while he took his son and grandchildren to UGA. The son is a missionary in the West Indies. “He was here with two of his children. I spent some time with them. My cup was full … my cousin said he would ride for me.”
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Sarah Palin: Doesn’t know if she’ll play Tina Fey on SNL, but ‘I should.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said she doesn’t know whether she’ll play Tina Fey this week on “Saturday Night Live.”
But she should, the Alaskan governor said in an interview with Neal Boortz on WSB Radio this morning.
Listen to the eight-minute sound clip here.
Palin accused the media of subjecting her to a “double standard,” but vowed not to complain. “Those political shots that I take or my campaign takes, it’s nothing compared to the real, effective shots that too many Americans are taking right now,” she said.
In what’s likely to be her only interview with anyone in the Atlanta media during the campaign, Palin phoned into Boortz’ syndicated talk show.
Boortz tried to press Palin on her appearance on SNL, which has produced some hilariously brutal skits built around the vice presidential nominee and national novice’s early statements on foreign policy, her belief in creationism, and her disbelief in global warming:
Boortz: Aaaww. You’ve seen the script. C’mon.
Palin: I haven’t seen the script. Not at all. We haven’t been hinted, even, toward what that script’s going to say.
But I just want to be there to show Americans that we’ll rise above the political shots that we take, because we’re in this doing serious business for serious challenges that are facing good American people right now….
“[If] we can do that even, I guess, through a skit or two on “Saturday Night Live,” then so be it….
Boortz: Has the media been giving Sarah Palin a fair shake?
Palin: I think there’s certainly been some double standards at play here. That’s been very, very obvious.
But I’m not going to complain about it, because those political shots that I take or my campaign takes, it’s nothing compared to the real, effective shots that too many Americans are taking right now, those who are fearing losing their home or losing their job or fearing perhaps losing someone in the war zone.
Those are the things that really matter and I’m keeping things in perspective.
Political shots taken my way — if we can’t handle that now, then we have no business running for v.p. and president.
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Libertarian Allen Buckley on TV: The Iraq war was a ‘fraud’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Libertarian candidate in a U.S. Senate race that’s getting ever more complicated says he’s about to launch two TV ads.
In the one posted below, Smyrna attorney Allen Buckley makes passing references to the economy and the bailout, but concentrates on the issue of the Iraq war, which he calls a “fraud.”
He mentions neither of his two opponents, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
The Buckley campaign says the ad is running on cable in Columbus and in metro Atlanta. But you’re more likely to see his ads here than anywhere else — Buckley says he had only about $4,000 in the bank as of Sept. 30.
That said, in this tightening contest, everything matters.
Allen Buckley Commercial #1 from Allen Buckley on Vimeo.
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Because you went to bed so early: John McCain and Joe Biden on late-night TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday night was make-peace night on CBS’ “The David Letterman Show.”
Republican John McCain had canceled on Letterman after suspending his campaign to address the financial crisis on Wall Street, and he was back to make amends.
“I screwed up. What can I say?” the Republican presidential nominee said.
Best line: “I haven’t had so much fun since my last interrogation.”
CBS wouldn’t embed the video, but you can click here to watch.
On NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden was only slightly more serious. The topic was negative campaigning. Watch below.
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Let’s bet on who’ll be more outrageous: Palin to be on Boortz this morning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, is to give WSB Radio and Neal Boortz a phone call at 11:05 a.m. this morning. That, at least, is the word going around.
One thing Boortz should ask John McCain’s running mate is whether her handlers have treated her properly.
In a TV interview in Kansas City on Thursday, former House speaker Newt Gingrich said they haven’t:
Gingrich said the campaign shouldn’t have set up Palin with high-profile network interviews so quickly.
“I have no idea why they decided why they ought to start with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric. It just strikes me as suicidal,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich claims Palin was a news story and a target in those interviews.
“They should have taken her to local interviews all over the country, which all of them would have been relatively favorable because local reporters would have been actually curious about her. I have no particular concern about her as a potential vice president, but I think the way she was introduced was destructive,” Gingrich said.
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In U.S. Senate race, Martin outraises Chambliss in 3rd quarter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The financial/political situation in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race boils down to this:
Would you rather be the Democrat with $92,339 in cash on hand, at the crest of a Barack Obama-driven wave, or the Republican incumbent, with $1.2 million left in the bank and dependent on enthusiasm for John McCain?
Both Jim Martin and Saxby Chambliss have released the top lines — i.e., not lists of individual contributors — from their Sept. 30 campaign disclosure reports.
The big news is that Martin actually outraised Chambliss, who had been a money machine, in the third quarter. Martin raised $1.3 million. Chambliss raised $1.13 million.
Now we know what Martin was doing when he disappeared after the Democratic run-off in August.
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Nunn, other Georgians make last-minute push for big Obama money
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia senator Sam Nunn is serving as a check-collector in an effort to raise big, last-minute money for Barack Obama.
A letter with the names of some of Georgia’s most prominent Democrats (and their spouses) is circulating, requesting contributions ranging between $5,000 and $30,000, all for the Obama Victory Fund.
Presumably, the fund operates outside the formal campaign, and so standard contribution limits don’t apply. Republicans have something similar —the August fund-raiser in Atlanta attended by Republican John McCain went toward a similar operation.
Names on the letter include Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank and his wife Stephanie. Unlike Bernie Marcus, Blank supports primarily Democratic causes. Then there’s former U.S. ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin and his wife Patti; Atlanta contracting great Herman Russell; Ann and Tom Cousins; Mary Ellen and John Imlay; Ted Turner; Mayor Shirley Franklin; Colleen and Sam Nunn; and Mary and Carl Ware.
The letter, which can be found here, asks that checks be sent to Nunn’s Atlanta office.
Given that the missive includes a set of Nunn talking points, the thinking here is that the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is the originator. The letter says:
Senator Obama, as evidenced by his words and his deeds, recognizes that:
— We have developed a habit of avoiding the tough decisions and seemingly lost our ability to build constituencies to tackle head-on our biggest challenges;
— Solving America’s problems will require difficult choices and sacrifices and leaders capable of considering new ideas from both political parties;
— On foreign policy and security policy, we must recognize that we are not limited to a choice between belligerency and isolationism and that we must listen to lead successfully on the key issues facing America and the world;
— The battle against violent terrorists, while requiring a prudent use of military power, is also a long-term contest of psychology and ideas.”
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Boortz takes up for Chambliss on the Fair Tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you read the post below, you know that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has jumped into Georgia’s U.S. Senate race on behalf of Jim Martin.
The DSCC on Wednesday launched a TV attack on Saxby Chambliss over the Republican incumbent’s support of the Fair Tax.
Which has sent Neal Boortz of WSB Radio, the high priest of this national sales tax, over the edge this morning. Martin is bearing the brunt of Boortz anger. The professional talker is hammering Martin with words like “liar” and “unethical” — you get the drift.
One word that Boortz hasn’t used — so far — is “Buckley.” As in Allen Buckley, the Senate candidate who — like Boortz — calls himself a Libertarian.
Buckley has called the Fair Tax a sham, in very detailed fashion. And in that debate in Perry last week, Buckley told Chambliss that anyone who supported it was either “incompetent” or “deceitful.” Then he asked Chambliss which word applied to him.
The Republican-friendly crowd didn’t like that one.
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The DSCC enters the U.S. Senate race, and the issue is the Fair Tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Late this afternoon, the Insider talked to a Democratic fellow who seemed to know what he was talking about.
He said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was ready to double down on Jim Martin, to the tune of $1 million rather than the $500,000 reported today.
Just minutes ago, the DSCC released the attack ad on Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss — the first the Washington organization has put its name to:
For the confused among you, this is all about the Fair Tax. Previously, the DSCC was content to act through the Democratic Party of Georgia. Now it’s out there on its own. It seems that we suddenly have ourselves a very serious U.S. Senate race in Georgia.
Just saw the ad on WSB-TV at 7 p.m.
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The difference between who’s being polled and who’s voting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No doubt you’ve seen our account of the CNN poll that puts Republican John McCain at 51 percent in Georgia and Democrat Barack Obama at 45 percent.
Bob Barr, the Libertarian, gets 4 percent from his home state.
That’s a survey of 718 likely voters, at a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
When registered voters are counted rather than likely voters, McCain’s lead shrinks to 3 points. (McCain’s lead is also larger when Barr isn’t included, but that’s neither here nor there. Barr will be on the Georgia ballot.)
The point is that no one knows who’s voting — i.e., if the real-life pool of voters is reflected in the polling now being conducted. At the risk of stating the obvious, the broader the voter pool, the better for Obama in Georgia.
Fivethirtyeight.com, a site that deals in aggregated statistics, is on the trail of a similar thought today:
So far, SurveyUSA has conducted polling in five states where some form of early voting was underway. In each one, Barack Obama is doing profoundly better among early voters than among the state’s electorate as a whole. In Georgia, according to the firm, likely and early voters give Obama a 6-point lead. If only non-early, likely voted are counted, according to SurveyUSA, McCain leads by 11 points.
Continues Fivethirtyeight:
Now certainly, early voters tend to be your stauncher partisans rather than your uncommitted voters — just 1-2 percent of early voters in 2000 and 2004 reported that they would have voted differently if they’d waited until election day. So it’s unlikely that John McCain is actually losing all that many persuadable voters to the early voter tallies.
What these results would seem to suggest, however, is that there are fairly massive advantages for the Democrats in enthusiasm and/or turnout operations. They imply that Obama is quite likely to turn out his base in large numbers; the question is whether the Republicans will be able to do the same.
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Zell Miller to become a fixture at UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Friday, the name of former Georgia governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller will be placed on the 5-year-old Student Learning Center, the second-largest building on University of Georgia campus — not far from the entrance of Sanford Stadium.
The building’s new name will be the Zell B. Miller Learning Center. There is no truth to the rumor that, in return, Miller has agreed to cease work on what was to be his next best-seller, “A National Championship No More.”
The flacks at UGA have confirmed that a 2 p.m. Friday naming ceremony will follow a luncheon to which we’re not invited. Gov. Sonny Perdue is to be there, as will U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.
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Independent running against Mike Jacobs for House seat says she’d caucus with Democrats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Michelle Conlon is running as an independent against Democrat-turned-Republican state Rep. Mike Jacobs of Atlanta, but she won’t necessarily be an independent if she gets elected.
Conlon and House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) held a conference call with reporters this morning, including my AJC colleague James Salzer, to declare that she’d caucus with the Democrats if she beats Jacobs.
A check by Salzer shows Conlon’s campaign has received about $6,000 from House Democratic leaders and Democratic groups. Conlon has yet to file campaign reports due earlier this month and owes $150 in late fees, according to the State Ethics Commission.
Jacobs’ defeat would have special meaning for Democrats. He was elected as a Democrat from his DeKalb County district, then switched parties last year. The Democrat who filed to run against him this year was disqualified for residency problems.
Conlon told reporters her views align more with Democrats. “We will be the party that leads Georgia out of the mess we’re in,” she said.
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Acknowledging the competition: Chambliss launches two attack ads on Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With a pair of attack ads that have been spotted in Atlanta and Savannah, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss on Wednesday acknowledged that Democrat Jim Martin is someone worth beating down in the U.S. Senate race.
One of the ads attacks Martin’s performance as commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, connecting him to the death of children in DFACS care. The other lumps Martin into the company of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The ads started playing late Tuesday, the same day that the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee said that it had bought about $500,000 worth of advertising time on at least five metro Atlanta television stations for spots to support Martin in his uphill battle.
Scripts for the two ads can be found on the jump. But here’s the first Chambliss attack ad, dubbed “Crisis:”
And here’s the second Chambliss attack ad, dubbed “Democrats:”
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Crisis script:
Our economy is in crisis -
Georgia families are losing their homes, their savings, their retirements -
And while Jim Martin talks about the middle class,
He voted to hit Georgia families with the largest tax increase in state history… and voted to raise his own government expense account.
In fact… Jim Martin was fired from his government job… because he betrayed the public trust.
Jim Martin’s record proves…you can’t trust Jim Martin.
I’m Saxby Chambliss and I approve this message.
“Democrats” script:
Democrats control congress …
And our economy is in trouble.
Democrats gave us the highest gas prices in history.
They’ve tried to raise our taxes.
They’ve blocked every effort to regulate subprime lenders.
And these same liberal democrats are supporting Jim Martin.
Our economy is in crisis …and while Jim Martin offers criticisms…
…Saxby Chambliss is working to get our economy back on track…protect taxpayers and homeowners…and put an end to Wall Street abuses.
I’m Saxby Chambliss and I approve this message.
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Georgia Christian Alliance out with its voter guide
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Christian Alliance has posted its election-season voter guide, which can be found here
Most Democratic candidates, including U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin, and four of the seven judicial candidates for the state Court of Appeals chose not to participate.
Which sent GCA chairman Sadie Fields culling headlines and interviews to provide them with a few unwanted answers.
In the presidential category, for instance, Fields faults Democrat Barack Obama for supporting limits on bullets. “I would support banning the sale of ammunition for assault weapons and limiting the sale of ammunition for handguns,” she quotes Obama as saying in a 2003 questionaire from the Independent Voters of Illinois.
Do keep in mind, as posted here last week, that Fields was separately named chairman of Georgians of Faith, a group dedicated to turning out the vote for Republican John McCain.
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Lewis on his criticism of GOP rhetoric: He could have said it differently, but his words had the intended effect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. John Lewis on Tuesday said he had no regrets for claiming that Republican rhetoric in the presidential contest reminded him of words spoken by segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace — but he admitted that he could have made his point “in a different way.”
“I do not regret what I said,” Lewis said. “Maybe it could have been said in a different way, because it was not suggesting that John McCain or Sarah Palin was closely related [in] any way to the actions of Governor Wallace.”
Said the Atlanta congressman and Civil Rights icon: “It was all about what I call toxic speech — statements [and] an audience that can unleash bitterness and hatred. And I don’t need anyone to lecture me about my feelings, or what I have observed for more than 50 years.”
Last week, in the face of declining polls, Republicans concentrated on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and what they called issues of character — and what Democrats called “code words” for race.
Palin in particular repeatedly criticized Obama for “palling around with terrorists.”
“This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America,” she said.
On Saturday, Lewis rocked the presidential campaign with his statement that McCain and Palin “are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.
“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate.”
In the statement, Lewis linked Wallace’s language to the1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four little girls.
McCain immediately called Lewis’ remarks “beyond the pale” and called on Obama to repudiate them. The Republican presidential candidate continued to fume on Monday. “It’s unfair. It’s unfair and it’s outrageous,” McCain told CNN.
The Obama campaign said any comparisons to Wallace were out of line, but also said that “Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked.”
Lewis made his Tuesday remarks at Spelman College, after the unveiling of a video documenting the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march and the confrontation at the Edmund Pettus bridge between Alabama state troopers and 600 African-American demonstrators.
Speaking with reporters, the congressman said that a comparison that wouldn’t have injected racial images into the 2008 presidential race would have been the McCarthy era of the 1950s and the accusations of “guilt by association” that marked the period.
Lewis was twice interrupted by Jim Brown, producer of “Passing the Torch to America’s Youth,” who wanted reporters to focus on the film, which had been shown earlier. (An excellent account of the Selma confrontation that should appeal to history students.)
In a panel discussion that followed, Lewis received a standing ovation from the Spelman crowd for the remarks he made over the weekend.
Regardless of any criticism, which he characterized as overblown, Lewis said his Saturday protest had its effect.
“I think it checked some of the things that had been going on. I don’t think you’re going to see people making reference to a young man who is the nominee of his party as running around with terrorists. I don’t think you’re going to have that anymore,” Lewis said.
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How to solve Georgia’s gas crisis and protect certain House Republicans in one fell swoop
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who has kept a lower-than-low profile lately, on Tuesday announced the formation of a seven-person special House committee on “future infrastructure and petroleum needs for Georgia and the East Coast.”
One of the seven, Gerald Greene of Cuthbert, is a Democrat who thus allows Richardson to call the effort bipartisan.
“The recent gas shortage left many Georgians, including me, frustrated by the lack of fuel and long lines at the pump,” Richardson said in a press release. “This panel will look at the various options available to the state that will prevent a situation like this from occurring again.”
But consider that there might be a dual purpose here, given that the Legislature doesn’t convene for another three months.
Until the Wall Street crash, Republicans viewed energy as their ace-in-the-hole, a can’t-miss topic that connects them with voters of all stripes.
It remains a volatile issue, and should help any Republican lawmaker who can boast — on his or her direct mail — that he/she is on the spear’s edge of the effort to solve “future infrastructure and petroleum needs for Georgia and the East Coast.” (Who new the speaker had such a long reach?)
Four of the six Republicans on the committee — chairman John Heard of Lawrenceville; vice-chair Steve “Thunder” Tumlin of Marietta; Jill Chambers of Atlanta; and Mike Jacobs of Atlanta — all have significant, well-funded opposition. All are threatened by a Barack Obama surge of Democratic voters.
Heard faces Democratic attorney Lee Thompson. Tumlin is in a rematch against former state lawmaker Pat Dooley. Chambers faces Democratic operative Chris Huttman. And Jacobs, in his first election as a Republican, is opposed by Michelle Conlon.
Conlon is an independent, but is expected to announce soon that she intends to caucus with Democrats, who have been assisting her campaign.
Greene, the only Democrat on the committee to address the nation’s oil addiction, is unopposed. He can turn the appointment to no advantage come November.
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Early voting in Cobb: Not a single black voter abandoned the long line
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just cast an early vote in Cobb County. Only took one hour, forty-five minutes — exactly three weeks before Election Day.
A long line folded itself three times in a relatively hot October sun, shortly before lunch-time. Perhaps a dozen people couldn’t stick it out — they left before getting to the front of the line.
Every one of those who gave up the effort was white. Once in, not a single African-American walked away while I was there. If voter fatigue becomes a factor over the next three weeks, and on Election Day itself, one has to wonder if Republicans are more likely to lose out than Democrats.
Statistically speaking, my vote is sure to have helped push early voting in Georgia over the 500,000 mark today — halfway to Secretary of State Karen Handel’s goal of 1 million.
As of close of business Monday, 499,582 ballots had been cast. And Cobb County has been averaging 1,400 early votes a day.
The racial percentage has dropped slightly, but not significantly. African-Americans, numbering 184,453, have cast 37 percent of all early votes in Georgia. At 11 a.m. in Marietta, at least half the line was made up of black voters. Possibly more.
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Politico hooks up with InsiderAdvantage for some upclose polling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The following sliver of Politico.com polling is worth noting on two counts. There’s the actual fact, of course, that Republican presidential candidate John McCain is losing in three of four crucial counties in four battleground states.
Then there’s the fact that the survey is the result of an alliance between Politico and InsiderAdvantage, the polling company founded by Matt Towery.
To wit:
Barack Obama has erased traditional Republican advantages in four key bellwether counties that President Bush won in 2000 and 2004, according to a new Politico/InsiderAdvantage survey. Each county is critical to the outcome in the battleground state where it is located.
In Washoe County, near Reno, Nev., Obama leads McCain 46 percent to 45 percent , with 6 percent undecided. Obama posts a wider 50 percent-44 percent lead with 5 percent undecided in Raleigh, North Carolina’s Wake County, and another 6 point lead in Hillsborough County, Fla., where Tampa is located. There, he edges McCain 47 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
Among the four counties tested, McCain leads in only one: Jefferson County, Colo., a populous Denver suburb. McCain is ahead there by a margin of 45 percent to 43 percent, with 8 percent undecided.
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On cell phones and polling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
National Journal Magazine is a subscription site, but if you’ve got access, this piece on cell phones and polling is well worth your time.
Here’s a paragraph:
In three surveys over the summer, Pew focused on this demographic to try to detect any differences between polls that relied solely on land-line-only households and polls that also included cellphone-only households. Pew consistently found that in head-to-head matchups against John McCain, Barack Obama scored 2 percentage points higher when the cellphone-only voters (who received $10 apiece to participate) were included. In a survey completed on September 14, for example, the standard land-line sample produced a 45-45 percent tie. But when cell-only respondents were added, Obama came out 2 points ahead — 46 percent to 44 percent.
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Martin hosts a streaming town hall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, will be trying something new tonight — a 7 p.m. town hall meeting, geared toward women, conducted over the Internet.
You can catch the streaming video here. Four host parties go with the virtual event, in Atlanta, Macon, Columbus and Athens.
Two local Democratic sites, Blog for Democracy and Tondee’s Tavern, say they’ll be streaming the session, too.
If you’re male, just type in the last four digits on your Alan Alda Sensitivity Certificate and you should get right in.
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Because this political season hasn’t been exciting enough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Rev. Al Sharpton has just put out word that he’ll be in Atlanta and Athens on Tuesday as part of a “voter protection” bus tour. His press release says he’ll be seeking to register voters.
But given that the Georgia registration deadline has come and gone, Sharpton will probably move straight to his “non-partisan effort designed to eliminate voter fraud and ensure that every vote counts.”
Sharpton is to arrive at the Morris Brown campus near downtown Atlanta at 10 a.m., then will push on to a 6 p.m. appearance at Clarke Central High School in Athens.
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Looking past Nov. 4 and John Boehner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, Congressional Quarterly Weekly had a piece speculating on the future of Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, should the GOP lose an inordinate number of seats in the U.S. House.
A certain Roswell Republican is named among the “young Turks” who might participate in a rebellion:
Eric Cantor of Virginia and Jeb Hensarling of Texas come up most often on lists of possible insurgent candidates [to replace Boehner]. Cantor is the chief deputy to Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Hensarling is a close Cantor ally who chairs the Republican Study Committee.
Both led a revolt last month to pressure Boehner to seek changes in the Bush administration’s original $700 billion financial bailout proposal.
Other potential candidates to climb the leadership ladder include Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Tom Price of Georgia, both of whom are vying to succeed Hensarling as RSC chairman.
Boehner was just down in Georgia last week, to campaign for Rick Goddard down in the 8th District, and to headline a party fund-raiser in Atlanta.
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Voter registration, a mouse head, and the ‘08 presidential contest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Things are getting tense out there, people.
The chairman of the Pike County Democratic party says she found a cooked, severed mouse head in a take-out meal after a confrontation with the husband of the restaurant owner — who allegedly accused her of registering “gutter scum” for the coming Nov. 4 election.
“Without saying it, he was referring to black people in no uncertain words,” she said.
Melissa Wade, who owns a local four-wheeler dealership, has filed a complaint with local law enforcement authorities, and has gone to the local health department. Zebulon police released a one paragraph summation of the incident this afternoon.
Police said Melissa and Jimmy Wade “found an unsavory and unsanitary meal” in their to-go order. By telephone, police confirmed that the unsavory addition was a mouse head.
Steve Goforth, the manager at Ruth’s Restaurant in Zebulon, was adamant that his establishment had done no wrong and violated no health codes.
“She’s a Democrat and there were some Republicans in here who jeered her,” he said to my AJC colleague John Hollis. “And she got angry.” Goforth hinted at legal action against Wade. “This is our livelihood,” Goforth said.
Zebulon is a town of 1,300 about an hour south of Atlanta. Pike County as a whole is Republican, and went 77 percent for George W. Bush in 2004. But the Democratic push to sign up new voters, fueled by presidential candidate Barack Obama, has filtered even down to Pike County.
Wade, a white, 38-year-old Air Force veteran, has been signing up voters at the local grocery store, the convenience store, the local high school. A deputized registar, Wade said she did drop off a single absentee ballot form at the local jail, but told the inmate not to apply if he had a felony conviction.
The Pike County Democratic party had in the past used Ruth’s as the location for its monthly, Thursday night meeting. There was no meeting last week, but Wade dropped in anyway, to redirect any stray Democrats, and to order some take out for her ailing Republican husband, who owns a local tractor dealership.
Oscar Purvis had always been cordial before, Wade said. “He had let me know in the beginning he was a Republican,” she said. “And I can respect that. Everyone in this country has the right to have their views.”
But this Thursday was different. Wade thinks that Republican John McCain’s declining fortunes in the presidential campaign have resulted in frustration among the GOP rank-and-file.
Wade said she was preparing to pay for the meal she intended to take home to her ailing husband when Purvis confronted her.
“They do not deserve the right to vote, they shouldn’t be allowed to vote,” Wade recalled an angry Purvis saying. Wade said she responded that it was a free country and that everyone had a right to vote. There was no jeering from patrons, Wade said. Purvis was the only one who spoke to her.
Wade thought the matter was over until her husband opened his meal later that evening and made the gruesome discovery atop his green beans.
The Pike County Health Department was closed on Monday for Columbus Day. Neither Oscar nor store owner Ruth Purvis could be reached for comment on Monday morning.
Wade concedes that the severed head could have come from a can. But she also said that life can be hard for a Democrat in rural Georgia. She said her children go to a local private Christian school, and often endure teasing about the family’s politics — but nothing like this.
“They’re upset, too. My husband’s upset. Local Republicans are upset. They know it’s wrong,” Wade said. The Pike County Democratic party has no plans to return to the restaurant.
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Another Martin ad attacks Chambliss on the economy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tondee’s Tavern this morning unveiled a new ad by Jim Martin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
Again, Martin hammers Republican incumbent Chambliss on the economy. The formal debut of the 30-second spot will come at a 3 p.m. press conference, but you can see it below.
The key question of course, is how much money Martin has to spend on television. You also have to wonder when Chambliss will hit back. And how.
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A Republican wonders if early voting shouldn’t be part of the debate over election theft
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the early years of this century, voter fraud was a fixation reserved for one particular party.
The emphasis had its origins in two presidential defeats, and bitter ballot fights in Florida and Ohio.
In Georgia, conspiracy theorists even raised the possibility that hidden computer codes in newly issued voting machines had thrown the 2002 election to Sonny Perdue, the state’s first Republican governor in 130 years.
Liberals, African-Americans and young people were among those most likely to believe that their votes hadn’t been accurately counted. “The skepticism was on the Democratic side back then,” said pollster John Zogby. “They were obsessed.”
Paranoia has now shifted to the other foot.
That elections are being stolen right and left has become an article of faith among Republicans.
Attacks on liberal voter-registration groups like ACORN didn’t jump up from nowhere. The importance of countering voter fraud is a plank in nearly every state GOP platform, and the national one as well. Why?
”That’s easy. Our voters don’t cheat,” said Eric Johnson of Savannah, the ranking Republican in the state Senate and a prime supporter of Georgia’s 2005 voter ID law.
“We wouldn’t know how to cheat. [Democrats] seem to be creative. I mean they’re out there registering prisoners now. Openly and actively,” Johnson said.
The Senate president pro tem says he’s got no evidence that Democrats are subverting the November vote in Georgia — except for that lawsuit filed last week against Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Handel has encouraged local election offices to question the eligibility of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new Georgia voters flagged by a computer verification program.
Those singled out must prove themselves — which voting rights groups say amounts to intimidation.
“What’s their motive for that [lawsuit], other than to get people who aren’t legal, registered?” Johnson asked.
If ballot integrity is one GOP incentive, changing demographics could be another. Given their party’s limited appeal among minorities, Republicans have long viewed with trepidation the proportional shrinking of the nation’s white population.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s voter registration operation carries the potential of speeding that process in Georgia, which has among the lowest voter participation rates in the country.
Only half of those eligible to vote in Georgia actually cast a ballot in the 2004 presidential election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And that was a high-water mark in the state’s voting history.
Minorities make up a disproportionate number of the state’s non-voters, according to Doug Bachtel, the University of Georgia statistician and sociologist. The South’s legacy of black disenfranchisement is partly to blame, he said.
But Georgia’s white population also tends to be older, wealthier and better educated — all factors that coincide with higher rates of voter participation, he said.
Figures from the office of Secretary of State Karen Handel have made clear that the prospect of the first African-American president produced a surge of black voter registration that ended last week.
But it’s not just Obama’s success in bringing new voters into the game that has Georgia Republicans worried — for registration is only half the battle. Traditionally, where Democrats have fallen short is in the delivery of these new voters to the polls on Election Day.
Early voting may have changed that. So far, close to 40 percent of all early votes in Georgia have been cast by African-Americans, who usually make up 25 percent of the voting universe in statewide contests.
When they talk of voter fraud, many Republicans point to “motor voter” laws pushed during the Democratic era of Bill Clinton. The measures expanded voter registration sites to include driver license stations and even public libraries.
Early voting in Georgia was a Republican device, intended to make it easier for the party’s harried, suburban supporters to cast their ballots. Even so, it’s about to become part of the Republican debate over election theft.
Johnson called the practice “a mistake.”
“Even if it was well-intentioned, we may find that we’ve opened up more opportunities for those people who are looking for ways to cheat,” said the Senate leader, who’s likely to run for lieutenant governor in 2010.
Tighter controls on voter registration, and continued use of photographic identification may be enough, he said — but if not, the elimination or curtailment of early voting should be considered.
“I think what we’re seeing now is the ability to have time to go out there and pick up homeless people, and carry them to the polls, and register cats,” Johnson said. “It just opens up a 30-day period of time when, if your goal is to undermine democracy, you’ve got 30 days to do it instead of one.”
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John McCain equal to George Wallace? Barack Obama says ‘no,’ and John Lewis says he’s been misunderstood
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Name-calling in the 2008 presidential campaign took a highly serious turn on Saturday morning.
By Saturday night, everyone had backed away.
It began when, about 11 a.m., U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Atlanta) issued a statement on the recent tone of the John McCain campaign, declaring himself “deeply disturbed.” Lewis compared recent Republican rhetoric to violence-spawning talk by George Wallace during the Civil Rights era.
That was matched about 3 p.m., when McCain declared the comparison “shocking and beyond the pale.” He called on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to repudiate Lewis’ comments, which he said they were designed to shut down debate in the final 24 days before the Nov. 4 election.
Obama later issued a statement saying he didn’t buy the comparison — but that Lewis had a point. And Lewis issued a statement saying he didn’t intend a direct comparison between McCain and Wallace.
The whole exchange is strange, given that it comes as the McCain campaign was racheting down the rhetoric of the previous few days. See a related article here.
Remember that only two months ago, at the Saddleback Church session, McCain named Lewis as one of the three people he’d consult with should he become president.
McCain is featured prominently in Lewis’ official congressional biography as an We offer all of Saturday’s developments in order.
Said Lewis:
“What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. [Sarah] Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse.
“During another period, in the not too distant past, there was a governor of the state of Alabama named George Wallace who also became a presidential candidate.
“George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights.
“Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama.
“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. “They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”
Here’s the statement from McCain:
“Congressman John Lewis’ comments represent a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale.
“The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama’s record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign.
“I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I’ve always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.
“I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America.”
Here’s the statement from the Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton:
“Senator Obama does not believe that John McCain or his policy criticism is in any way comparable to George Wallace or his segregationist policies.
“But John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for President of the United States ‘pals around with terrorists.’
“As Barack Obama has said himself, the last thing we need from either party is the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric that tears us apart at a time of crisis when we desperately need to come together. That is the kind of campaign Senator Obama will continue to run in the weeks ahead.”
And here’s this final word from Lewis, posted late Saturday on his campaign web site:
“A careful review of my earlier statement would reveal that I did not compare Sen. John McCain or Gov. Sarah Palin to George Wallace. It was not my intention or desire to do so. My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior.
“I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation.”
Photo credits: Rick McKay/Cox Washington Bureau, Associated Press
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This homicide case had a congressman as a juror. The verdict was ‘guilty.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Very rarely do you hear of a congressman doing time on a jury.
And the Insider has never heard of a congressman sitting on a jury in a homicide case.
But that’s what happened this week in Fulton County. U.S. Rep. Tom Price, a Republican from Roswell, confirmed that his re-election efforts were put on hold for four days this week to hear a case of voluntary manslaughter.
Price and other jurors found 30-year-old Kelly Hickson guilty. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The congressman didn’t offer any details of the deliberations. Heck, he wouldn’t even say what the case was about. “All I did was answer the summons and do my civic duty,” Price said. And that’s all he would say.
According to the office of District Attorney Paul Howard, the case involved a 2004 incident in which 28-year-old Jamon Cromwell and his friends were leaving the Queen City strip club in Atlanta’s West End. Hickson and Cromwell began arguing over money — until Hickson pulled a gun and shot Cromwell in the stomach.
Cromwell died a month later. The defendant claimed to have shot Cromwell, who was unarmed, in self-defense. Obviously, a jury of Cromwell’s peers, including the two-term congressman, didn’t buy it.
Price, by the by, faces Democrat Bill Jones on the November ballot.
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When trying to oust a Speaker, a testimonial from Zell doesn’t hurt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you thought that state Rep. David Ralston’s challenge to House Speaker Glenn Richardson was over and done with.
Nope.
The Republican from Blue Ridge will soon be passing to members of the House GOP caucus copies of a hand-written testimonial from former governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller.
“I’ve applied for a job, and I was looking for a recommendation, the attorney said. “I’ve been telling everybody that we do have a race. I think this is Exhibit A.”
The letter doesn’t mention the post that Ralston is seeking, or the current occupant. But Miller says this:
“For years I have watched you use your rare gift of stability and tact in the courtroom, community and before the committees of the State Capitol. And I have been envious of your skill at bringing people with differing views together.
“Never has that rare talent been more needed at every level of the political spectrum as it is today.
“I do not write this letter with any desire to get involved in today’s political process. I’ve been there, done that and am thankful for the experience. I just wanted my old friend to know that I have always admired you.”
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The Wall Street debacle and the Barr effect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just checked in with Russ Verney, the campaign manager for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
Verney said the Wall Street crash and bailout has revived Barr’s standing as a factor in the 2008 presidential race.
“We’re seeing an enormous amount of activity coming in from the web site, from people opposed to the bailout,” Verney said.
Many are die hard Republicans, he said. “They’ve had it, they’re coming over and they’re bringing their friends.”
This low-key but effective criticism of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue, videotaped in Barr’s Smyrna headquarters and posted on YouTube, is driving much of the traffic.
Verney said Barr’s new standing in the presidential campaign remains hard to measure. “Most of the polling eliminates us,” he said — under the label of “other.”
But a look at Barr’s schedule shows the former Georgia congressman focused on areas where he could peel critical votes away from Republican John McCain.
Barr is in western Pennsylvania today, and has spent a great deal of time in southern Ohio, Verney said. “There’s a state where an awful lot of folks need a bailout, and they see the bailout is going to Wall Street,” he said.
Next week, Barr will spend three days in southern Virginia. He’ll devote a couple days in Georgia toward the end of the month.
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Carter cuts Bush no slack: ‘Atrocious’ policies have caused worst economic crisis since Great Depression
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This was just posted by Reuters:
Former President Jimmy Carter said on Friday the “atrocious economic policies” of the Bush administration had caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Carter told reporters on a stopover in Brussels that “profligate spending,” massive borrowing and dramatic tax cuts since President George W. Bush took office in 2001 were behind the market turmoil and economic crisis.
“I think it’s because of the atrocious economic policies of the Bush administration,” said the 84-year-old Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977-1981 during a period of high inflation and energy crisis.
Photo credit: MCT
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Handel on the voter registration lawsuit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
See the full AJC story here, but this is building fast:
Voting rights groups on Thursday sued Secretary of State Karen Handel on behalf of a Cherokee County man who they said has been the victim of a methodical effort to deny him the right to vote.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, seeks to halt the state’s attempts to verify the identities and citizenship of registered voters so close to the Nov. 4 election. Attorneys for the plaintiff, Jose Morales, also want the suit to become a class action.
U.S. District Judge Jack Camp scheduled a hearing for Friday morning on a request for a temporary restraining order.
The suit comes the day after the U.S. Department of Justice said the state’s actions to verify identity and citizenship appear to violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law requires states with a history of discriminatory voting practices to get approval from the federal government before making certain changes to voting and election policy.
Handel has just put out a statement that includes the following:
“The lawsuit filed in Georgia appears to be an orchestrated and well organized effort to dismantle our state’s identification laws and verification process. The safeguards we have in place help to ensure that only those applicants and voters who meet all eligibility factors are permitted to cast a ballot in our elections.
Unfortunately, the organizations appear to want to open the door to allow non-citizens to register and vote in the General Election. If the plaintiff prevails, thousands of non-citizens in Georgia could be allowed to vote.
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Sadie Fields joins McCain GOTV effort in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With three weeks to go, Sadie Fields, the leader of the Georgia Christian Alliance, has jumped into the presidential campaign. She’s been placed in charge of turning out conservative Christians for the McCain/Palin ticket.
She’ll be chairman of something called Georgians of Faith.
“I have not seen this much excitement for a presidential race in many years,” Fields said in a press release. “Having been a prisoner of war for over five years, the senator has been tested and tried in the most difficult of circumstances, and is more than ready to be the commander-in-chief.”
And yet, before this late date, Fields had kept her distance from the presidential contest. She dropped a big hint as to what drew her in.
“The addition of vice residential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gives all Georgians - indeed all Americans — a ticket we can get behind with enthusiasm,” she said.
A list of other members of Georgians of Faith can be found on the jump.
State Chair
Sadie Fields, Marietta
Statewide Steering Committee
Chris Accardy, Buford
Alicia Adams, Atlanta
Bill Adler, Atlanta
Kelly Ally, Braselton
Sherena Arrington, Brunswick
Dr. Clint Ashford, Athens
Judy Bailey, Lawrenceville
Elaine Barrow, Savannah
David Barrow, Savannah
Debbie Blackburn, Savannah
Nanette Blumfield, St. Simons
Nancy Buffolino, Suwanee
Nancy Burton, Lookout Mountain
Sandy Case, Duluth
David Chatham, Alpharetta
Bob Christian, Valdosta
Edith Clark, Suwanee
Debbie Clifton, Vidalia
Pastor John Connell, Savannah
Ken Craft, Norcross
Judy Craft, Norcross
Bridget Dandaraw, Lawrenceville
Roger Deaton, Lawrenceville
Gail Downing, Marietta
Tim Echols, Athens
Debbie Ellis-Dooley, Dacula
Ivan Figueroa, Johns Creek
Paula Foil, Winder
Alex Garcia, Kennesaw
Carolyn Garcia, Kennesaw
Debra Giddens, Waycross
Mendie Glidewall, Cartersville
Kay Godwin, Blackshear
James A. Gray, Atlanta
Diane Green, Lyons
Richard Gruetter, Powder Springs
Linda Gruetter, Powder Springs
Shawn Hanley, Atlanta
Preston Herren, Decatur
Linda Herren, Decatur
Kathy Hildebrand, Snellville
Margaret Holliman, Sandy Springs
J. Gregory Howard, Lawrenceville
Ben Hughes, Snellville
Lori Hullet, Marietta
Margie Johnson, Acworth
Thai Johnson, Marietta
Karen LaBarr, Alpharetta
Susan Lacetti Meyers, Decatur
Debra Lankes, Marietta
David Lee, Atlanta
David Little, Savannah
Paul Littleton, Dacula
Dana Littleton, Dacula
Bob Maclaurin, Savannah
Rose Magoon, Snellville
Rosanne Marshall, Lilburn
Jenny Beth Martin, Woodstock
Tom McNeil, Decatur
Yvonne McNeil, Decatur
Drew McVey, Marietta
Carolyn Meadows, Marietta
Jan Mensing, Valdosta
Kathy Miller, Stone Mountain
Randy Miller, Norcross
Melinda Miller, Norcross
Bob Morgan, Marietta
Page Morgan, Marietta
Toria Morgan, Marietta
Dan Muldrew, Statesboro
Lisa Muldrew, Statesboro
Sally Musick, Norcross
Michael Opitz, Marietta
Chuck Payne, Dalton
Pastor, Dr. Jerry Peele, Eastman
Paul Ploener, Fayetteville
Nan Ploener, Fayetteville
Carol Pruett, Smyrna
Pat Quigley, Duluth
Judy Quigley, Duluth
Rev. Mike Reeves, LaGrange
John Rigby, Savannah
U.D. Roberts, Columbus
Rev. Lawton Sack, Statesboro
Ben E. Satterfield, Dacula
Mike Siegle, Norcross
Kathy Siegle, Norcross
Ray Smith, Atlanta
Lew Stafford, Marietta
Don Stone, Lilburn
Liz Sudderth, Smyrna
Adrienne Susong, Atlanta
Susan Swanson, Augusta
Raymund Taire, Lawrenceville
Malcolm Tarver, Atlanta
Judy Tarver, Atlanta
Rhonda Thomas, Milton
Richard Thomas, Milton
Pat Tippet, Baxley
Mindy Tsinajinnie, Lilburn
Denise Varenhorst, Suwannee
Betty Voyles, Sandy Springs
Buel Warden, Lawrenceville
Hoke Wofford, Dunwoody
Beverly Wofford, Dunwoody
Sandy Zanni, Duluth
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Boehner on the bailout: Some Republicans voted for it, some voted against it, but that doesn’t matter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Macon Telegraph provides another example of how last week’s $700 billion rescue of Wall Street has become a muddled topic on the ground in Georgia.
The topic is House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who was in Macon on Wednesday to stump for Rick Goddard, the Republican, 8th District challenger to Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall of Macon:
Boehner downplayed any differences he may have with Goddard on last week’s vote to spend $700 billion in taxpayer money to purchase toxic loans and bail out the financial industry. Boehner voted for it; Goddard has criticized Marshall repeatedly for his vote in favor of the bill.
“Some members voted for it, some members voted against it, …” Boehner said. “They’ve got to do what they think is right.”
But the Marshall campaign called attention to some of Boehner’s previous statements on the bailout vote, when he was singing a slightly different tune.
“Before the vote on the Economic Rescue plan, John Boehner said it would ‘separate the men from the boys,’ ” Marshall press secretary Doug Moore said in an e-mail. “Jim and John Boehner put their country first by voting yes. Rick Goddard, on the other hand, dodged the press for two days while he polled to find his principles. That’s the difference between men and boys.”
Goddard’s campaign has said he was against the bailout from the beginning, but they waited more than a day after the initial House vote on the issue to put out a statement against it.
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On whether the DSCC should be playing in the Georgia race for U.S. Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An internal debate seems to be brewing within upper Democratic circles over whether a deeper investment in the U.S. Senate race in Georgia would be worth the gamble.
Today, in an opinion piece for The Hill, a key Democratic opinion-shaper makes the argument for Democrat Jim Martin’s challenge to Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Markos Moulitsas — founder and publisher of the liberal blog, Daily Kos — details a poll of the race he ordered up. And because Moulitsas already has his own publishing venue, you have to deduce that, by writing for a D.C. newspaper, he’s specifically directing his comments to those Democrats living inside the Beltway.
Moulitsas writes:
Martin’s support comes heavily from African-Americans, according to SurveyUSA; he’s winning them 84-7 percent, as opposed to whites, among whom he loses to the Republican incumbent 63-27. His path to victory requires either boosting black turnout to 30 percent (the poll assumes 25 percent, the 2004 number), increasing white support to 30 percent, or a combination of both. The SurveyUSA poll suggests Martin is having some luck with whites — his support increased from 18 percent in the mid-September poll to 27 percent in last week’s effort.
Others have weighed in as well.
FiveThirtyEight.com, an aggregate polling site, says today that Georgia is a slightly paler shade of red when it comes to the U.S. Senate race:
The most substantial movement this week is in Georgia, where several polls now show a tight race between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin. Martin remains relatively underfunded, but his economic populist message is a good fit for his state, his advertising has been sharp, and Chambliss did not do himself any favors by voting for the bailout. Still, Chambliss remains narrowly ahead.
Conveniently, the Kos article appears the day after U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, held a session with reporters to discuss Senate races across the map.
This from MSNBC’s “First Read”:
…. Schumer and the Democrats have added other previous-cycle crimson states to their target list: Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s seat in Kentucky. He went so far as to call Georgia and Kentucky “even-steven races.” The DSCC put up their first ad in Kentucky today.
But the point is, Democrats have decided to throw TV money at Kentucky and — so far — not at Georgia. (Also, keep in mind that payback may be another motive in the McConnell race. Republicans targeted — and defeated — Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.)
Below is the anti-McConnell ad in question. When you see something like it with, Chambliss’ face, you’ll know the DSCC has decided that the race in Georgia is worth the coin.
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Two debates in Perry: Programs will be issued to permit spectators to keep track of bailout positions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Both Republicans and Democrats are working hard to gin up a crowd for tonight’s debates at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.
The U.S. Senate candidates will go at each other at 7 p.m. The two candidates for the 8th District congressional race, Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall of Macon and Rick Goddard of Perry, will begin at 8 p.m.
This event is unique in the campaign season, as the largest forum in which both Democrats and Republicans are encouraged to bus in as many supporters as they like. Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent in the U.S. Senate race, has a car pool caravan going down this afternoon. Democrat Jim Martin is asking supporters to gather at the IBEW building near downtown Atlanta.
The event is sponsored by the AARP and WMAZ-TV in Macon.
But the forum will also be the first meeting of these candidates since Congress approved a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street — and you almost need a scorecard to keep up with who supports what.
Chambliss voted for the rescue. Martin opposes, as does Libertarian Allen Buckley. But in the congressional race that follows, the party positions are reversed. Marshall voted for the federal intervention. Goddard said he would have opposed it.
Attendants from the local chiropractic school will be on hand to treat cases of whiplash.
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Because nothing stirs the blood like a front-door confrontation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Politicians argue that complaints filed with the State Ethics Commission are often designed to embarrass candidates during the height of a campaign.
And sometimes that’s true.
On the other hand, very rarely does an office-holder track down the person who filed the complaint, and show up on his front door. But apparently this is what state Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) did.
The Dunwoody Crier, no friend to the lawmaker because of her arguments against cityhood, based its Wednesday article on a police incident report:
According to [Jeremy] Tanner, last Tuesday, Chambers herself came to his residence, took pictures of his house and yard, knocked on his door, and told him “you are in serious trouble.”
….The resident said Chambers also told him that it was “a very serious offense to accuse an elected official of bribery.”
Tanner said he told Chambers to leave the property, and closed the door, after which he said that the state representative continued to knock and say,”Come on out and talk to me, Jeremy.”
After a few seconds, Tanner said Chambers left. A few hours later, Tanner filed an incident report with DeKalb County Police.
Tanner has accused Chambers — part of House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s leadership team — of accepting campaign contributions that exceed the state’s single-source limits.
Tanner also said the source, a surgery center, would have benefited from legislation later introduced by Chambers that would have done away with the state’s licensing system for hospitals and other treatment centers.
According to the Crier, Chambers dismissed the incident — via e-mail — as “just a ridiculous attempt to get publicity for my opponent and to try to distract me from my own campaign.”
Her November opponent for the District 81 seat is Democrat Chris Huttman.
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Rasmussen: Chambliss shouldn’t pay attention to those other polls, but Perdue tanks on the gas shortage
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rasmussen Reports has just posted its October analysis of the U.S. Senate race in Georgia. It offers some needed solace to U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
Despite other polls that show Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin neck-and-neck, Rasmussen says “the U.S. Senate race in Georgia remains relatively unchanged this month.”
The polling firm puts Chambliss at 50 percent, and Martin at 44 percent — roughly the same distance that Rasmussen measurements have put the pair for months.
Rasmussen gives Chambliss a 70 percent chance of victory, but says Martin does have a lead among female voters, which could be important.
That said, the real news comes from Rasmussen’s polling on the post-Hurricane Ike gas shortage in Georgia:
— A majority of 61 percent said they had personally waited in line for gas, and 71 percent they’ve had to curtail their driving.
— Only 26 percent said Gov. Sonny Perdue — who was in Europe on a trade mission during much of the crisis — did a good or excellent job handling the shortage, while 37 percent said he did a poor job.
— On the other hand, it’s not exactly clear what people wanted the governor to do. Nearly half were opposed to an odd-even rationing system, while 30 percent favored it. More than half (52 percent) opposed limits on gasoline purchases, while 34 percent said it was a good idea.
— Overall, Perdue’s job approval rating is down to 39 percent, 10 points lower than a month ago.
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The new Obama button
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obamites this morning are fuming over the inability of Republican presidential candidate John McCain to mention his Democratic opponent by name during their second debate.
Andrew Sullivan posted the image below on his web site last night.
Your reference point is this Associated Press article:
During a discussion of an energy bill McCain offered up a two-word phrase that drew a quick reaction from the Obama campaign.
“You know who voted for it?” McCain asked. “You might never know.
“That one,” McCain said, pointing at his opponent.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said after the debate, “John McCain was all over the map on the issues, and he is so angry about the state of his campaign that he referred to Barack Obama as ‘that one’ — last time he couldn’t look at Senator Obama; this time he couldn’t say his name.”
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Draft bill: Give secretary of state the power to hand out carry-concealed permits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You know that Senate Republicans are contemplating big changes in state gun laws, which include expanding the list of places where holders of concealed weapons permits could carry heat.
But apparently state lawmakers are also contemplating a major shift in who issues these permits. Someone, according to a draft bill floating through the Capitol, wants to take that power out of the hands of the dozens and dozens of probate judges across the state, and give it to Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Gun enthusiasts have been critical of probate judges, who can sometimes take weeks or months to issue carry-concealed permits. Under this draft, the secretary of state would issue those five-year licenses, and would be required to make a decision within five working days.
Applicants would still have to be 21, with no felony record, and would have to submit to fingerprinting. The legislation would permit Handel to hand over many of the chores to a private contractor.
One thought: Right now, because they’re distributed out of 159 county offices, it’s been hard to say how many concealed weapons permits have been issued in Georgia. Centralization would at least let us count them.
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Gingrich to McCain: Save yourself by dumping on the ‘Bush-Paulson’ bailout
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the weekend before the first bailout in the House, former speaker Newt Gingrich predicted that Republicans would reluctantly support it.
And in the minutes before the failed vote, the former Georgia congressman said that he himself would hold his nose and cast a “yes” vote, were he still in office.
Apparently, he’s changed his mind. On the Human Events web site, Gingrich says that dumping on the “Bush-Paulson” bailout plan is the only chance Republican presidential candidate John McCain has to win.
That’s a tactic that could have significant repercussions, especially in Georgia — and especially for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Not to mention the fact that it would cause McCain to backpedal on a much-watched vote that he cast only last week.
Writes Gingrich:
Senator McCain now faces the crisis of his career. He is behind. He will not catch up on a state-by-state basis.
He will either win the argument in the national media, suddenly growing stronger in many states or he will lose the national debate and gradually decline further in a number of states.
If Senator McCain is not prepared to separate himself from the Bush-Paulson economic program, he has no opportunity to win.
The country is deeply fed up with the Bush presidency and angry about the Paulson bailout. If McCain is confused or uncertain about how bad this economic performance is, he will never get the country to listen to him.”
Just as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan (as well as the House Republicans in 1994 with the Contract with America) created a large argument which led to a decisive result, so McCain has an opportunity to reach beyond the daily attacks and clever tactics and spend the last 28 days of this campaign making a large argument over America’s future.
If McCain is prepared to declare that it is time for a fundamental change away from the failure of Bush-Paulson and away from the leftism of [Democrat Barack] Obama (a “clean rupture” as French President Nicolas Sarkozy described it in breaking with President Jacques Chirac …or “bold colors with no pale pastels” as Reagan described it in breaking with President Ford in 1976), then he has a huge opportunity….
If you go to the Human Events site, you’ll see that U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell) has taken out a pair of ads on the page, advertising a 45-second video with the topic, “Why We Didn’t Have to Borrow $700 Billion.”
Or you can watch it below:
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Saxby Chambliss endorses T. Boone Pickens’ energy plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent in the U.S. Senate race, has announced a “major endorsement” for Wednesday morning.
(Update: Pay no attention to the unfounded speculation in the next paragraph. The press conference will focus on a declaration of support by the Fraternal Order of Police.)
You have to wonder if a clue to the topic might be found in an Atlanta Business Chronicle article filed late Tuesday:
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., pledged Tuesday to push for congressional passage of an energy independence plan being pushed by billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.
Chambliss said Pickens’ proposals to develop new domestic sources of energy while expanding proven American technology share much in common with bipartisan energy legislation he is sponsoring in the Senate.
“Boone’s got great ideas,” Chambliss said during a meeting with Atlanta Business Chronicle editors and reporters. “He knows I agree with him.”
…Pickens, the chairman of BP Capital Management, is calling on the 111th Congress, which takes office in January, to enact an energy plan that reduces U.S. dependence on foreign oil by at least 30 percent within a decade.
Specifically, the series of national television ads he is bankrolling trumpets renewable energy, particularly wind power, and developing technology to power cars and trucks with natural gas.
See this earlier post on the topic.
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John Boehner on Barney Frank: ‘He’s from Massachusetts, although he can’t say the word ‘Massachusetts”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), one of the GOP architects of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, outlined a few Republican talking points for the final weeks of the election Tuesday at the downtown Atlanta Hilton, venue for the Georgia GOP’s Victory Dinner 2008.
The keynote speaker for the event, Boehner blamed Democrats for the nation’s financial woes on the day the Dow dove 500 points. It was the Dems, he said, who encouraged Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to insure riskier and riskier loans to borrowers.
Boehner took particular aim at U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who controls a powerful House committee that deals with banking and housing and who has a slight speech impediment. My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe was there to record the action.
“You know where he’s from. He’s from Massachusetts, although he can’t say the word ‘Massachusetts,’” Boehner said.
The Ohio congressman also fretted about what a Barack Obama presidency would mean for the nation.
“You want to talk about socialism. You put these people in office, it’s batten down the hatches and watch out,” Boehner said.
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Heads up: RCP, Electoral-vote.com have Georgia as ‘Lean McCain’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A series of four different polls in the last 10 days have caused two poll-watching web sites, Real Clear Politics and Electoral-vote.com, to shift Georgia from red-blooded for Republican John McCain to “lean” McCain.
In other words, within the realm of possibility for Democrat Barack Obama.
RCP aggregates the presidential race in Georgia by putting McCain at 51.5 percent, and Obama at 43.5 percent.
Electoral-vote.com says the contest is a smidge tighter, with McCain at 51 percent, and Obama at 44 percent.
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Swapping blows in the 8th District: Marshall filmed TV ad at office of firm that does lobbying; NBC rebukes Goddard for calling reporter ‘uppity’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans are quickly spreading the jab that Roll Call, takes today at U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall for filming an ad explaining his Washington rescue vote in the office of a law firm that also engages in lobbying.
Meanwhile, Democrats are pointing to a media-watch blog by the Maynard Institute, which is reporting that NBC News President Steve Capus has sent a letter to Marshall’s Republican challenger, Rick Goddard, criticizing the retired Air Force major general for referring to one of its African-American reporters as “uppity.”
First, about that TV ad.
Marshall took a chance last week when he voted — twice — for the Wall Street rescue plan. Like U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss — a Republican — did today, Marshall put out a video explanation last week, declaring that his vote was necessary to the nation’s economy and security.
Roll Call picks it up from there:
But now the ad is creating controversy because it was filmed at the downtown office of Perkins Coie, a firm that has undertaken lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill.
In the ad, Marshall sits atop a Congressional- looking desk, with the view out the window a dead ringer for that of any House office building. He explains that he voted for the bill because “you elected me to do what’s best for America, not what’s easy.”
But Brendan Buck, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, didn’t find the ad so convincing… “I imagine Georgia voters won’t find Marshall’s explanation so endearing when they learn that while he was claiming to stand up for them, he was really standing in the office of a Washington lobbyist.”
Doug Moore, Marshall’s spokesman, said the congressman’s only connection with Perkins Coie is that the law firm’s attorneys act as “official election lawyers” for the Democratic party. The ad was filmed, he said, in an election lawyer’s office.
Marshall needed a location that looked like a congressional office, but wasn’t one. Legally, campaign ads can’t use federal government buildings as a set. Moore also points out that lobbying makes up only a tiny portion of the firm’s business.
Now, on to uppity.
The source blog is Richard Prince’s “Journal-ism,” which said:
The letter was sent to “express our disappointment with his comment,” spokeswoman Lauren Skowronski said. However, she said, NBC is not releasing the letter.
Eighth District Republican candidate Rick Goddard, a retired Air Force general, made the comments on the “Kenny B. and Charles E. Show” on a Macon, Ga., radio station after returning from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., this month….
Goddard’s campaign manager, Lonnie Dietz, told Journal-isms that Goddard received NBC’s letter but that, “We’re just not going to comment on it.”
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Buckley orders ‘over the edge’ anti-Chambliss radio ads dropped
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Allen Buckley, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, has abruptly pulled a set of three radio ads in Columbus and Savannah, saying that he learned that changes he’d ordered to soften the tone of the 30-second spots hadn’t been made.
The ads began running yesterday, and all were aimed at Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss. The buy was small, a combined $1,000 between the two cities. But with the Senate race tightening, Buckley’s impact could be critical to the outcome.
You can listen to the offending ads by going to Monday’s post on the topic.
One of the discontinued ads accuses Chambliss of browbeating a whistleblower during a Senate hearing on a sugar refinery explosion in Savannah. “Saxby threw the poor man under the bus, and he just beat him like he owned him,” a character in the ad says.
But Buckley’s campaign manager is African-American, and was offended by the line. Buckley said he ordered the wording changed to “beat him like a rented mule,” but the volunteers who produced the radio ad didn’t comply.
Another ad accused Chambliss of avoiding military duty in Vietnam by using a “fistful” of deferments. Buckley wanted his producers to remove a reference to former U.S. senator Max Cleland, who was defeated by Chambliss in 2002 and lost three limbs in Vietnam. It was not.
The ads included Buckley’s voice saying he approved the ads — but the candidate said he hadn’t actually listened to them until today.
“I just want to set the record straight. I think this kind of stuff is over the edge,” Buckley said. The Libertarian said the offending ads would be replaced by a single ad he issued in September.
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The real question is whether voodoo is a legitimate campaign write-off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wall Street may be imploding. Your retirement and your job is in peril. Possibly, your dog is searching Craig’s List for a more reliable animal companion.
But there are times when minor issues have to be pushed aside in order to deal with a question of epic moral and legal magnitude, which is this:
If a Cobb County commissioner were to go to a voodoo priestess and request the death of the man who defeated her in a primary, would the fee be considered an allowable campaign expense?
You have probably already heard about this, via today’s AJC article or the one in the Marietta Daily Journal.
According to a Cobb County police report and newspaper accounts, District 4 Commissioner Annette Kesting in August approached a South Carolina voodoo priestess and handed her a picture of Woody Thompson, a Republican-turned-Democrat who defeated her in an August primary runoff.
Kill him, Kesting allegedly suggested. A bounced check for the $3,000 service caused the voodoo specialist to report the matter to authorities.
Kesting calls the whole thing ridiculous, and says it never happened, but the priestess offers a pretty good description of Kesting’s car, according to the MDJ.
So again: If the incident happened, and if Kesting used campaign funds to hire a voodoo technician, would this an allowable expense under state law that can be paid with campaign funds?
“Is this an ordinary and necessary expense? Is this what you’re asking?” said Rick Thompson, executive secretary for the State Ethics Commission.
Sure.
Thompson thought about it. “I don’t know what to say,” he began. “The staff would certainly look into it, if a complaint we’re filed. Yes, I definitely think it would warrant looking into.”
On the other hand, Thompson continued, campaign funds cannot be used to finance misdeeds. Hiring a hit-man, for instance.
But wouldn’t voodoo be just another form of negative advertising? the Insider countered. An alternate means for one candidate to transmit bad thoughts about another candidate?
Remember that this summer, Focus on the Family posted a video in which a fellow wondered —facetiously, the group said afterwards — if it would be wrong to pray for a torrent of rain to fall on Barack Obama during his outdoor speech to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
“Definitely, we’d hand it to commissioners for their consideration,” Thompson said.
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In a statewide TV ad, Chambliss makes the case for his vote to rescue Wall Street
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican who suddenly finds himself in a tightening re-election contest, this morning began explaining his vote for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue on television, with a 30-second spot you can watch below.
It’s not unlike an ad that U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, a Democrat, began airing in his territory last week.
Democrat challenger Jim Martin, who has pulled nearly even with Chambliss in several polls, has said he would have voted against the measure, because it didn’t do enough for homeowners. Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley says he, too, would have opposed the bailout.
Says Chambliss in the ad:
“We’re facing the worst financial crisis in my lifetime. Businesses are failing, Georgians are losing their jobs, their homes, their retirements, and their life’s savings.
“Congress had to act. I’m as mad as you are about what happened, but doing nothing would have been a disaster. The rescue bill is a strong, bipartisan effort to fix the economy and protect your financial future.
“I’m Saxby Chambliss, and I approved this message — because I know in my heart this legislation is good for all Georgia families.”
There’s been some talk — in this space — that the split over the bailout among congressional Republicans from Georgia could hurt Chambliss. While he and Senate colleague Johnny Isakson voted for it, Georgia’s seven House Republicans voted against it.
Before tonight’s GOP Victory Dinner in downtown Atlanta, Chambliss and six of the G-7 will hold a press conference to reassure the outside world that there are no hard feelings — and that they remain united against a common Democratic enemy.
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Broun says he’ll show up at Atlanta Press Club debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun has reversed himself and decided that he will participate in the Oct. 26 debate sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and broadcast on Georgia Public Television, the Athens Banner-Herald reports today.
But it looks like the Athens congressman will continue to skip local forums that also feature his Democratic challenger, Bobby Saxon.
Dogged this summer by reports that he had overspent his congressional office’s annual allowance, Broun had previously said he would not debate Saxon all.
You have to wonder whether Broun’s comfort level has risen slightly, after getting so much press last week for referring to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout measure as a “cow pie.”
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First, state golf courses at risk. Now, halls of fame could be on the block. When will the pain end?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At the state Capitol, recent budget hearings on the Senate side suggest that a few of the General Assembly’s most cherished slices of pork may be in trouble because of the fiscal crisis.
Two weeks ago, at a budget hearing, senators questioned whether the state could continue to pay for the money-losing golf courses it runs. Most of the courses are in rural parts of the state and are near and dear to small-town lawmakers.
The Department of Natural Resources is talking about closing a seldom-used course in the far southeast Georgia town of Fargo, and letting private companies bid to run most or all of the rest of the state-owned courses.
“We would be severely criticized, when we’re cutting Medicaid and education, if we keep these golf courses afloat when they are losing money,” said Sen. George Hooks (D-Americus), former long-time chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
On Monday it was state-subsidized halls of fame (Music, Sports and Golf) that got the treatment from senators, according to my AJC colleague James Salzer, who was there.
“I don’t know why we continue to give taxpayer dollars to these halls of fame,” said Senate Majority Whip Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), during a budget hearing. “We ought to put them on notice that on Jan. 1, we aren’t going to have the money to given them operating funds.”
The halls for music and sports, located in Macon, have long been the pride of middle Georgia lawmakers, while the Golf Hall of Fame was brought to life by Augusta’s legislative delegation. For years, the legislators from those two areas were among the most powerful in the state, and the halls have always been heavily subsidized by taxpayers.
Despite valiant efforts, the Macon facilities have little hope of ever becoming self-sustaining from the revenue they take in from visitors. And taxpayers are still paying off the bonds to build the Golf Hall of Fame — which was never actually built.
The money went instead to buy land along the Savannah River and develop gardens, which closed when the state pulled out its operating funding last year. During this past session, the state got back into the Golf Hall of Fame business, putting money in for planning a new hall.
But Seabaugh, like Hooks, said he has a hard time justifying money for halls of fame at a time when services most Georgians consider essential, such as education, face spending cuts of up to 10 percent.
“To me, we ought to start from the standpoint of what is fundamental to state government,” Seabaugh said. “There are a whole bunch of things that are in gray areas. We have to stand up and call things non-essential.”
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Bailout fallout in Virginia: John Warner may endorse the Democrat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you think the Wall Street vote divided Republicans in Georgia, take a look at what havoc the issue caused in Virginia over the weekend.
This is from Sunday’s Virginia-Pilot newspaper:
Retiring U.S. Sen. John Warner on Saturday voiced disappointment in fellow Republican Jim Gilmore’s efforts to succeed him this fall and declined to endorse him. Instead, Warner suggested that he may wind up backing Democrat Mark Warner in the race. The two Warners are not related.
John Warner took exception to Gilmore’s strong condemnation of a $700 billion Wall Street rescue package that was passed by the House of Representatives on Friday and signed by President Bush.
“I’m disappointed that he spoke against the rescue package that’s vital to Virginia and vital to the nation,” John Warner said during a telephone news conference.
An educated reader we happened to be on the phone with also reminded the Insider that Warner also refused to endorse Ollie North, the Republican in the ‘94 Virginia race for Senate.
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Says Chambliss: ‘Enough about Wall Street. Let’s talk about the gas shortage’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looks like U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss wants to change the topic — back to gasoline and energy. Things were going so much better for the Republican incumbent’s campaign when the focus was on drilling rather being drilled by the stock market.
Republicans felt shortchanged last month when their victory of the summer — the caving of congressional Democrats on the offshore oil issue — was obliterated by the financial crisis on Wall Street.
With Georgia just finished with a serious gasoline shortage, Chambliss apparently thought it worthwhile to revive the topic.
This below, entitled “Insane” was posted on YouTube only a few hours ago. A spokesman for the Chambliss campaign confirmed that it’s a new TV ad headed your way.
Here’s the script:
Chambliss: “We have to get the gas price situation under control. We have to explore for oil right here in the United States.
“We’re dependent on foreign oil for 62 percent of our oil. We have more oil within our country than all the oil in Saudi Arabia.
“So why in the world would the left-wing Democrats in Congress oppose exploring for oil in America. That’s insane.”
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Another poll: This one says the U.S. Senate contest is a 1-point race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democrats are buzzing over a poll commissioned by the liberal blog Daily Kos, which shows the U.S. Senate race in Georgia to be a hair tighter than it was last week.
The poll puts the Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss at 45 percent, and Democrat Jim Martin at 44 percent, with 4 percent going to “other” and 7 percent undecided.
The poll was conducted 9/29-10/1, before the completion of Washington’s debate over the Wall Street bailout, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percent.
“The big question with this rash of new, great-looking polls for Democrats is whether the trends are a temporary bounce in reaction the economic crisis, akin to a convention bounce, or whether it’s a longer-lasting trend,” the web site says.
However long the trend lasts, Democrats high and low are more than happy to see it. Over the weekend, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in Atlanta to inspect doings and, we assume, to do a little fund-raising for Martin. But it was not well-advertised.
The Daily Kos results echo a SurveyUSA poll, which last week had Chambliss leading Martin by two points, 46 to 44 percent.
As have other polls, the Daily Kos also shows a tightening presidential race, with Republican John McCain at 50 percent and Democrat Barack Obama at 43 percent.
But the poll is leavened with statistics that ought to concern both supporters of Martin and Obama.
For instance, the poll puts Chambliss’ favorable rating at 54 percent (unfavorable rating at 42). Martin’s favorable rating is 41 percent (unfavorable rating at 34 percent). Fifteen percent of those polled didn’t know enough about Martin to make a decision — a probable result of his limited finances.
In the presidential race, Georgia is still a racially polarized state. African-Americans support Obama, 91 to 5 percent. Whites support McCain, 73 to 21 percent.
Martin does better than Obama among whites, with 26 percent — but worse among black voters, with 83 percent.
One eye-opener: In the race for the youth vote, defined as 18 to 29, McCain edges out Obama, 47 to 46 percent.
Also today, 538.com run by Nate Silver, a self-identified Democrat, takes the voter registration numbers offered up on the Insider over the weekend, and crunches them a little more.
But Silver also says this:
A related question is whether the pollsters are underrepresenting the black vote in their turnout estimates in states like Georgia. I think they might be. In their past two surveys of Georgia, SurveyUSA pegged black voter turnout at 25-26 percent.
This is a pretty safe assumption, since it exactly matches the Secretary of State’s turnout estimate from 2004. But this isn’t 2004. I would be surprised if black turnout wasn’t at least 27-28 percent, and somewhere in the 29-31 percent range is entirely possible.
If those numbers are achieved, Georgia is pretty close to being a toss-up. And if it is a toss-up for Barack Obama, it is probably also a toss-up for Jim Martin, who is attempting to unseat Saxby Chambliss from the Senate.
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John Boehner, Tom Coburn at Tuesday GOP fund-raiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state GOP announced this morning that U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, and U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma will be the featured speakers at its Victory Dinner fund-raiser on Tuesday.
Both men were supporters of last week’s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, so it will be interesting to see how much of their remarks will be devoted to smoothing over Republican division on the issue.
Other speakers will include Saxby Chambliss, who’s up for re-election, Gov. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Roswell and state party chairman Sue Everhart. Locale for the evening event is the Hilton Atlanta.
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Buckley aims another set of angry radio ads at Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the U.S. Senate race in so much flux, you have to pay attention, even to the small stuff.
Libertarian Allen Buckley, attempting to whittle away at Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss’ right flank, is out with three 30-second radio ads that will play in Columbus on WDAK and Savannah on WTKS.
The buy is quite low, about $500 each, Buckley said. (As is the production value, which Buckley didn’t say.)
Even so, the content is incendiary, even brutal — and similar in tone to an angry package of ads the Libertarian floated last month. In other words, they’re everything that Democrat Jim Martin could want.
While he approved each one, Buckley said the ads weren’t his idea.
“Some of my ‘free’ help came up with them,” Buckley said in an e-mail exchange this morning. “They do wake people up and provide for discussion. They’re not entirely my style. As you know, I’m more an issues guy. I’ll have a commercial coming out soon that is more serious.”
In one ad, Buckley accuses Chambliss of avoiding service in Vietnam with a “fistful” of deferments and a bad knee that hasn’t affected his golf game.
In another, relatively confusing spot, characters accuse Chambliss of browbeating a whistle-blowing witness during a hearing on the explosion of a sugar refinery near Savannah. “Saxby threw the poor man under the bus, and he just beat him like he owned him,” says the ad.
Just for background, here’s the original July posting on the Senate hearing in question.
An ad on last week’s vote to rescue Wall Street is the most topical: “Seven hundred billion dollars. The largest pork project in history. Saxby voted yes, twice. When what he cares about is threatened, Saxby isn’t afraid to act — with your money.”
Fact check: Unless there was some procedural vote that we missed, Chambliss only voted once. It was the House that took up the matter twice, defeating it on Monday and passing it on Friday. U.S. Reps. Jim Marshall and Sanford Bishop, both Democrats, cast “yes” votes each time.
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Saxby Chambliss and last week’s vote to save Wall Street
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saxby Chambliss has always said that, despite the vast sums he raised in preparation, his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate would be close.
Now, some of his best friends are sure to make it closer.
Last week’s passage of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout (a.k.a. rescue plan) — and the sudden lurch from regulation-free, neo-conservatism to a yet-to-be-defined Neo Dealism — has split Georgia Republicans in two.
In Washington, Chambliss and senatorial colleague Johnny Isakson voted, however reluctantly, for pouring the oil of taxpayer dollars on roiling fiscal waters. The very real fate of small businesses and millions of 401(k)s was at stake, the two GOP senators said.
On the House side, Georgia’s seven Republican congressmen unanimously disagreed. “We cannot preserve our free-market economy by sacrificing the very principles that underlie it,” this Adam Smithian band of brothers declared.
We have seen the fault line before — on immigration, on farm subsidies, even in this summer’s debate over offshore drilling.
Some of the chasm is institutional. Because 60 votes are required to accomplish anything, the Senate is a deal-making body where practicality overrules philosophy. In the House, the Republican minority is powerless, so ideological purity does no harm, and in fact serves as a useful megaphone.
But while past disagreements between Chambliss and Georgia’s House Republicans have been papered over, last week’s split is impossible to disguise and thus — if you have Republican sentiments — dangerous.
It has created a box in which one cannot defend one’s self without striking an ally.
Chambliss and Isakson were on a defensive, five-city flyaround when the House reversed itself and gave final passage to the bailout plan on Friday. “We commend those members of the U.S. House of Representatives who put their country first to vote for this important legislation,” the two said in a press release.
Seven Republican congressmen from Georgia felt the sting of that statement.
Chambliss’ Democratic opponent, attorney Jim Martin of Atlanta, has come out against the bailout, saying it does too little for homeowner. “So he’s in favor of sticking his head in the sand, allowing the stock market to tank like it did Monday,” Chambliss argued, according to the Macon Telegraph.
Another inadvertant slap at the so-called G-7.
It works the other way, too. U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) was one of four Democrats who voted for the package. His opponent, Republican Rick Goddard, has adopted the G-7 position.
But there’s not a swing Goddard can take at Marshall without also undermining a Republican senator.
Among Republicans on the November ballot, Chambliss is clearly the most vulnerable as a result of the financial crisis — and not just because House seats in Georgia are heavily gerrymandered.
Data out of Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office last week showed the surge of African-American voters driven by the candidacy of Barack Obama to be real. Martin, the Democrat, is certain to benefit.
Libertarian Allen Buckley has begun advertising himself to fiscal conservatives angry at Chambliss, to the point of promising to caucus with Senate Republicans if he’s elected.
Fortunately for Chambliss, while initial reaction in Georgia was against federal intervention in the economy, that sentiment is likely to shift once voters begin assessing the damage already done to their nest eggs.
In the longer term, Chambliss and Isakson may even have preserved the Republican brand in Georgia, said Chuck Clay, a former chairman of the state GOP.
Principle can be carried too far, Clay argued, offering up the Great Depression as an example.
“There are still some people who say Herbert Hoover was correct, and they may well be right. But tell that to history,” he said.
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SNL takes on the vice presidential debate: “Are we not doing the talent portion?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Finally discovered the flaw in Tina Fey’s impersonation of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. The real governor of Alaska winks with her left eye.
This one also takes a shot a moderator Gwen Ifill (Queen Latifah) and her forthcoming Obama book.
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More on an Obama surge: Black Georgians nearly match whites in new voter registration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Secretary of State Karen Handel is on record saying that there is no giant surge of voter registration in Georgia — and in the largest context, she’s right.
Newly released figures from her office show that 406,379 new voters registered between Jan. 1 to Sept. 30. Four years ago, the number was 371,932.
Overall, that’s a 9 percent increase from ’04 to ’08 — hardly surprising in a presidential race with no incumbent. Barack Obama or no Barack Obama.
But this is far from the whole story. Those same numbers show that 164,859 of those new voters are African-American. And 176,570 of those new voters are white.
That’s a 27 percent increase in new voter registration for African-Americans over ’04, and a 13.7 percent decrease in new voter registration for whites over ’04.
This is significant given that, overall, blacks make up 29 percent of Georgia’s 5.5 million voters. And it fits with the fact that, in the first days of early voting in Georgia, African-Americans have cast nearly 40 percent of the ballots.
See the month-by-month registration numbers for yourself here.
Overall, new registration by non-white voters (including Asians and Hispanics) outpaced new registration by white voters, 230,036 to 176,570.
Even this isn’t the whole story. Monday is the final day to register to vote in time for the Nov. 4 presidential election. No doubt you saw this AJC article on the routine purging of voters from the rolls.
Handel’s office won’t say how many names have been purged this year, but 274,000 were removed last year for inactivity.
There’s nothing to suggest that this process isn’t on the up-and-up. But remember the Feb. 5 presidential primary? African-Americans made up 30 percent of the 2 million votes cast.
That means, statistically, a disproportionate number of African-Americans protected themselves from being purged from voter rolls for inactivity.
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Why your congressman switched on the bailout. Or didn’t.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four days after it voted the measure down, the House voted 263-171 for a $700 billion bailout of the American financial system.
That’s a 58 vote pick-up over Monday. Here’s the roll call, but to tell you the truth, the New York Times has a knock-out interactive look, state by state.
In Georgia, only two switched, both Democrats — David Scott and John Lewis, both of Atlanta.
Neither supporters nor opponents of the rescue plan are sure of the consequences.
But on Friday afternoon, one day after both cast votes in the Senate in favor of the measure, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss were on a joint, five-city flyaround to explain their position — in Albany, Macon, Savannah, Augusta and Columbus.
The pair issued a statement from the road that began this way: “We commend those members of the U.S. House of Representatives who put their country first to vote for this important legislation.”
It wasn’t a statement aimed at any House Republicans from Georgia, who maintained their opposition, and underlined the division between eight Republicans running for re-election in four weeks — Chambliss for the Senate, and the others for their congressional seats.
Below are statements being issued by House members this afternoon.
House members who voted no on Monday, yes on Friday:
David Scott, Democrat of Atlanta: “First, I was able to work with House leadership to strengthen language providing assistance to homeowners. …Secondly, small businesses in Atlanta started running out of short term loan options. They said they would have to start cutting payroll to make ends meet. I believe that in order to help keep employees on the job we could not wait around for a perfect bill. If I thought this was just a bailout for Wall Street, I would continue to oppose it.”
John Lewis, Democrat from Atlanta: “I have decided that the cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something. The fear that is gripping Wall Street has the power to shut down Main Street. ….But I do not see this as a blank check. In a few months, we will have a new president and a new Congress. We must hold the feet of these financial institutions to the fire. It is only with that assurance that I will vote yes on this legislation.”
House members who voted no on Monday, no on Friday:
John Barrow, Democrat of Savannah: “The Senate tried to send us something we could all agree on, but all they really did was dress up the same bill we voted on earlier this week with sweeteners to get some members of the House to change their vote. Most of the new items in this bill I have voted for and would vote for again, but not if it means voting for a bailout that’ll do more harm than good. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s how it looks right now.”
Lynn Westmoreland, Republican from Coweta County: “Because of this week’s actions in Washington, Americans who pay their taxes and who pay their mortgages on time and who acted responsibly will be handed a tab for up to $700 billion. ….This bailout may or may not help our economy in the short term. In the long term, it puts us on a dangerous path toward government ownership of private securities and creates a ‘moral hazard’ - investors and businesses will believe that risky bets will enrich them if they succeed and government will write a check if they fail.”
From a joint statement by Georgia’s seven House Republicans: “We cannot preserve our free-market economy by sacrificing the very principles that underlie it. Over the past week, we have heard loud and clear from many of the almost 5 million Georgians that we represent — and they are not convinced that this approach is the right one. They want to preserve our financial system, but demand that we think more about the taxpayer in developing the solution.”
House members who voted yes on Monday, yes on Friday:
Sanford Bishop, Democrat from Albany:
“I wish the bill we took up today was a cleaner bill. I wish we could have passed the bill Monday, and saved our deficit another $150 billion. Many of the provisions added onto this bill, especially relief for middle class taxpayers, are needed, but they add to the bill’s cost. And any other day, I would stand firmly opposed until those costs were off-set. But this is not ‘any other day’ - this is an extraordinary day, and these are extraordinary circumstances. The economy is on life support and not passing this bill would be tantamount to pulling the plug.”
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Looking for votes in a place where ‘bail-out’ has an entirely different meaning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Athens Banner Herald has this today:
About two dozen prisoners signed up in the first-ever voter registration drive at the Clarke County Jail.
The 25 inmates who have registered so far are part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s “Democracy Behind Bars” campaign to register 1 million new voters nationwide, according to the civil rights group’s general counsel, Dexter Wimbish.
He doesn’t expect to reach that goal in time for the Nov. 4 general election but hopes to harness the buzz that has been created in this year’s presidential election by the competing tickets and concerns about the tanking economy….
In addition to the first-time voters at the local jail, 15 other prisoners filled out absentee ballot applications, according to Clarke County sheriff’s Capt. Eric Pozen.
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Kingston says business pressure won’t lead him to switch on today’s Wall Street vote
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You think U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Savannah), with his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, will be one of those who flip on the bailout vote today?
Think again.
On the Democratic side, David Scott of Atlanta and Hank Johnson of Decatur, both of whom voted against the measure on Monday, left the door open for a vote switch.
But of seven Republican House members from Georgia, not a sign of movement.
Kingston said he wouldn’t — despite calls his office has received from businesses executives, including Sandy Springs-based Newell Rubbermaid and Coca-Cola Co., urging him to support the measure.
“These are the same people who have been preaching to us that smaller government is better government,” he told my AJC colleague Peralte Paul. Businesses can’t want to privatize their profits and expect the public to absorb their losses, he said.
What’s more, he said he objected to company executives suddenly jumping in with their opinions, particularly when they don’t weigh in on other issues.
“Sometimes, with business, they forget a fundamental part of relationships. It’s not always good to introduce yourself when there’s a problem,” Kingston said. “The time for getting to know each other has come and gone. It’s not an effective way to lobby.”
Kingston said his main concern about the plan, he said is how to fund its $700 billion price tag, when the nation already has a debt of about $10 trillion.
“I could cobble together a package with other conservatives in the House, but we have not been given that opportunity,” Kingston said. “Nobody was calling for the party to end when Wall Street was making its millions. Suddenly, this is the fault of Washington and not the cycle of free enterprise?”
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Bill Clinton makes a surprise appearance at Buckhead fund-raiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former President Bill Clinton dipped into Atlanta this afternoon for an unannounced Buckhead fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
“He returned to a state he won in 1992 to help elect Barack Obama,” state Sen. David Adelman (D-Atlanta), a member of Obama’s national finance team, told my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin. Clinton was the last Democrat to win Georgia.
The event, which was not open to the public or publicized in advance, was at a local art gallery.
Adelman did not know how much was raised and said the fund-raiser was the only event Clinton did for the campaign in the state today.
UPDATE: The fund-raiser also includes a vice-presidential debate watching party hosted by Hank and Billye Aaron, at the Atlanta home of Mack Wilbourne. The “ask,” we’re told, is $1,000 and the VIP entry fee is $5,000 — or raise $10,000.
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On TV, Jim Marshall explains his vote for the Wall Street rescue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon was one of two Georgia congressmen who voted for the Wall Street rescue plan on Monday — the one that tanked.
He’s just released a 30-second TV ad defending his decision. See it below.
The Democrat receives some cover from the fact that both Georgia senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republican, supported a dressed-up version of the measure, which passed the Senate on Wednesday.
Still, Marshall’s Republican opponent, retired Air Force major general Rick Goddard, on Wednesday came out against the bailout, adopting the same position held by the seven House Republicans from Georgia.
Marshall has become quickly famous for declaring this was a vote that was worth his seat. The ad carries on with that tone. Here’s the Marshall script:
“Warren Buffet’s called this financial crisis the worst in our nation’s history. I don’t like this rescue plan any better than you do. And I’m not interested in bailing out the irresponsible people who dragged us into this credit mess.
“But I’m not going to stand buy and let this crisis undermine our economy, and damage the financial future of everyone in America — they’re jobs, their savings, their dreams.
“I’m Jim Marshall, and I approve this message because you elected me to do what’s best for America. Not what’s easy.”
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After the election, Georgia Republicans want to make a play for the 2012 national convention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During the Republican National Convention in St. Paul last month, state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, in a speech to the Georgia delegation, pitched the idea of Atlanta making a bid for the 2012 gathering.
The state GOP is taking him seriously.
A letter has gone out to members of the state committee, pitching a Nov. 22 organizational meeting of a convention committee.
“To avoid distractions from the 2008 campaign focus, the Committee will begin formally working after the November 2008 election. Commissioner Oxendine has committed to raise $50,000 by December 31st to provide initial seed money for the Committee and has invited his fellow statewide GOP elected officials and the US Congressional delegation to join him,” says the letter.
Here’s an assessment of the competition:
“Already Republicans in Arizona (Phoenix), Indiana (Indianapolis), Louisiana (New Orleans), and Texas (Dallas) are organized and moving forward with their 2012 bids. All these states have already formed committees - before the close of the 2008 election cycle.
“In fact, Arizona who is busy trying to elect their US Senator as President, is able to also focus on 2012. New Orleans has already earned the support of the Democrat Mayor, who sent an official delegation to Minnesota to observe and prepare for their bid. Indianapolis is hosting the 2012 Super Bowl and the Indiana state GOP is working with the business community - today - to do both the Super Bowl and the National Convention.”
The letter was written by Maria Strollo Zack, the 2012 bid chairman, Rob Doll, first vice chair, and Mansell McCord, the Fifth District chair.
Read the entire missive on the jump.
GEORGIA 2012 REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION BID COMMITTEE
Dear:
We are excited to announce the formation of the Georgia 2012 Republican National Convention Bid Committee. I wanted to give you an update:
The first meeting of the Committee will be Saturday November 22, 2008 from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at the offices of McKenna Long & Aldridge, 303 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 5300 Atlanta, GA 30308.
Anyone who wishes to serve on the 2012 Bid Committee is invited to attend. This committee will be exploring the possibility of Georgia submitting a bid. We need everyone involved who wishes to participate. No decisions have been made and the point of this meeting is to allow everyone an opportunity to contribute and provide leadership and input. Please RSVP to strollom@bellsouth.net by November 14th, so that we may plan accordingly. Should you have any questions, please call XXX-XXX-XXXX.
After Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine called for Atlanta to host the RNC in 2012 at the 2008 RNC in Minneapolis Minnesota, members of the party have unified behind this effort.
To avoid distractions from the 2008 campaign focus, the Committee will begin formally working after the November 2008 election. Commissioner Oxendine has committed to raise $50,000 by December 31st to provide initial seed money for the Committee and has invited his fellow statewide GOP elected officials and the US Congressional delegation to join him.
Georgia would not be in a position to bid for the 2012 RNC National Convention without the leadership of such pioneers as Bo Callaway, Mack Mattingly, John Linder, Newt Gingrich, Paul Coverdell, Billy Lovett, John Stuckey, Carolyn Meadows, Dot Burns, Linda Herren, Alec Poitivent and our state Chair Sue Everhart.
We have a united effort growing rapidly on this bid, and I want to thank all of you who have expressed an interest in helping. In the old days, our party could only rely on a few people to do the hard work. Today, we are blessed by those who successfully laid such a solid foundation strong enough to seriously bid and host a national convention.
Already Republicans in Arizona (Phoenix), Indiana (Indianapolis), Louisiana (New Orleans), and Texas (Dallas) are organized and moving forward with their 2012 bids. All these states have already formed committees - before the close of the 2008 election cycle. In fact, Arizona who is busy trying to elect their US Senator as President, is able to also focus on 2012. New Orleans has already earned the support of the Democrat Mayor, who sent an official delegation to Minnesota to observe and prepare for their bid. Indianapolis is hosting the 2012 Super Bowl and the Indiana state GOP is working with the business community - today - to do both the Super Bowl and the Nation! al Convention.
Although these states are working now for 2012, we can clearly offer a better opportunity through our resourcefulness, hard work and great state. We take a back seat to no state in our ability to both elect our candidates and prepare for 2012.
Sincerely,
Maria Strollo Zack
2012 Bid Chairman
Rob Doll
First Vice Chair
Georgia Republican Party
Mansell McCord
Fifth District Chair
Georgia Republican Party
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U.S. Department of Energy to Sonny Perdue: ‘Uh, thanks for the letter, governor, but we didn’t do it for you’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Late Wednesday, the office of Sonny Perdue issued a press release stating that Samuel Bodman, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, had approved the Georgia governor’s request for additional releases of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Gulf Coast refineries.
Nearly 1 million barrels of crude were given their freedom.
Said Perdue, from Spain: “These crude releases will help ensure that the Southeast continues to receive consistent fuel supplies as we continue to see more stations receive fuel and lines shorten. I appreciate the Administration’s quick response and their concern for the fuel shortages we have experienced.”
This was ipso facto proof that our governor can handle a gasoline crisis and hunt down jobs in Europe at the same time.
Except that it’s not exactly true. Perdue’s request was well-timed, but there was no cause-and-effect, the DOE said today. The release was approved because of industry requests — not because of a letter from the governor.
Here’s a statement issued by Healy E. Baumgardner, press secretary for the DOE:
“DOE approved an additional release of up to 900,000 barrels of crude oil from the SPR to two refiners who submitted requests. This was a concurrent request made by the individual refiners that echoed what the Governor was asking for. The 900,000 barrel SPR release was not in direct response to the Governor’s request.
“We appreciate the Governor’s concern about fuel supplies in the United States. As he noted, emergency oil exchanges from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are an important tool to mitigate supply constraints. Following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, DOE released over four million barrels of SPR oil for this purpose, and stands ready to quickly assist in response to additional refinery requests.
Update: Bert Brantley, spokesman for Perdue, said the governor never meant to claim undue credit. Brantley said:
“As our Monday letter to President Bush noted, we were fully aware and appreciative of the Department of Energy’s previous SPR releases. After hearing from the industry that there could be some additional refinery capacity available, we simply wanted to go on record supporting additional SPR releases if refineries saw a gap between what they could process and the amount of crude they were receiving.
“We never expected DOE to approve the request only because we asked, and never intended to imply that the request was granted only because we asked.”
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The Insider’s all a-Twitter over tonight’s debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ll be posting the latest from the vice presidential debate beetween Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden via Twitter. Sign up up here to follow.
An added benefit: You’ll get updates on new Insider posts several times a day.
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Playing catch-up with Sarah Palin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What with Wall Street crumbling around our ears, the world has neglected the all-important race for president of the U.S. Senate.
The first and only vice presidential debate kicks off at 9 p.m. tonight, from St. Louis, Mo.
Republican Sarah Palin gets credit for bringing enthusiasm back to the base of the GOP, at least during the month of September. Fortunately for her, most people were watching their 401(k)s melt away last week when CBS began broadcasting a series of halting interviews with the Alaska governor.
But here’s a quick cheat-sheet to help you catch up for tonight’s show — oh, and the other candidate in the race is U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.:
— First, television station KTOO in Alaska has made available Palin’s last debate, from November 2006, in the race for governor of Alaska. A very poised performance. You can understand why she won. It’s brought to you by Sourdough Fuel.
— Polls are showing that America’s fickle voters aren’t as enamored with Palin as they were in September, when she was so unknown that even Fox News was calling her Susan Palin.
This is from today’s Washington Post:
Though she initially transformed the race with her energizing presence and a fiery convention speech, Palin is now a much less positive force: Six in 10 voters see her as lacking the experience to be an effective president, and a third are now less likely to vote for McCain because of her.
And here’s the take from today’s Los Angeles Times:
Palin is still enormously popular among Republicans and continues to stoke enthusiasm in the party’s base, but as voters learn about her, many have started to view her unfavorably. After the GOP convention, more than half of the voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press said she was qualified to be president. In a Pew poll released Wednesday, just 37% said she would be ready to take over for McCain.
A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll last month found that Palin held no particular sway with women. Among independent voters, she was more popular with men: 44% said they were more likely to vote for McCain because of Palin, whereas just 31% of women said so. The poll also found just a quarter of Clinton’s former supporters were more inclined to choose the Arizona senator because of his running mate.
— The New York Times today has this introductory article on Biden:
Although he is among the least wealthy members of the millionaires club that is the United States Senate — he and his wife, Jill, a college professor, earn about $250,000 a year — Mr. Biden maintains a lifestyle that is more comfortable than the impression he may have given on the campaign trail. A review of his finances found that when it comes to some of his largest expenses, like the purchase and upkeep of his home and his use of Amtrak trains to get around, he has benefited from resources and relationships not available to average Americans.
— And here’s the NYT set-up piece on Palin:
When Gov. Sarah Palin meets Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday in the vice-presidential debate, even her fellow Alaskans might hear for the first time some of her views on health care reform, education policy and other issues of state government.
In her 22 months in office, Ms. Palin has not addressed many of those matters in a significant way, pursuing a narrower agenda rooted in Alaska’s resource-based economy.
Ms. Palin has approved increased spending for education and the elderly, sued the federal government for listing the polar bear as a threatened species, and pushed for a bill that would have reduced state regulation of new medical facilities. But by and large, oil and gas issues have dominated her tenure.
— Below is a CBS video in which Couric asks both Biden and Palin about Roe v. Wade. Biden, a Catholic who says he personally opposes abortion, defends it. Palin says access to abortion should be determined state-by-state.
Couric also asks Palin whether there are any other Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with. Palin can’t.
— But, under less pressure, the Alaskan governor has better luck in a detailed interview with Hugh Hewitt, a syndicated radio host, law professor and former member of the Reagan administration:
I know what Americans are going through. Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday working class American running for such an office.
But yeah, there’s been a lot of times that Todd and I have had to figure out how we were going to pay for health insurance. We’ve gone through periods of our life here with paying out of pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs….
And you know, even today, Todd and I are looking at what’s going on in the stock market, the relatively low number of investments that we have, looking at the hit that we’re taking, probably $20,000 dollars last week in his 401K plan that was hit. I’m thinking geez, the rest of America, they’re facing the exact same thing that we are.
— Last week, Kathleen Parker, a conservative syndicated columnist, suggested that Palin’s interviews on CBS and NBC have been so painful that she should considering withdrawing. Parker caught an earful from hardcore Republicans. She writes about it here.
— Palin’s defenders include Fred Thompson, the former Republican candidate for president:
Wall Street and Washington were full of people who were “qualified and experienced” in the field of finance. Sen. Barack Obama, for one, has a great deal of experience in the housing field. So do many of his closest advisers. I would have traded some of that experience for a few more leaders with less experience and more courage to buck the establishment and tell the truth about what was happening.
— But it’s been David Brody, a senior correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, who has served as the most constant link between Palin and conservative evangelicals.
The following is from Brody’s Wednesday blog:
Starting tonight, Palin supporters will gather at the vice-presidential debate site in St. Louis and hold prayer rallies for her….
This effort is being put together by The Christian Defense Coalition. They have a track record of holding prayer vigils and pro-life demonstrations on the big political and religious issues of the day. The Brody File has been told that big time Evangelical heavyweight Phyllis Schlafly will be there along with some members of Concerned Women for America, the Defense of Life group, homeschool groups and many more.
In addition a co-chair from the Republican Party of Missouri will be there though I am told these events are not officially sanctioned by the GOP.
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The Ox: Use state patrol at gas stations to ‘keep the peace and enforce common sense’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This press release rolled in Wednesday afternoon from John Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner and 2010 Republican candidate for governor:
“I call upon the governor to have the Georgia State Patrol, on a rotating schedule, integrate their regular patrol duties at gas stations to both keep the peace and enforce common sense.
“Georgia, in particular Atlanta, is on the national news every day. There was a media report on one national network where an out of state driver pulled up to a station, broke in line, and filled up both his truck and his boat. When approached by Georgia residents, he refused to stop and gloated he was going to the lake for some fun.
“This must stop.”
Damn these gloating tourists. Have they no shame?
Oxendine has been calling for a bipartisan summit of Georgia’s leaders — not a special session of the Legislature, mind you. Presumably, such a meeting would include the insurance commissioner.
Continued Oxendine:
“I call upon the governor to bring the bi-partisan leadership of Georgia together upon his return this weekend. Georgians have asked why our taxpayer funded leaders are not meeting on this crisis as our federal leaders have been.
“I stand with the taxpayers of Georgia and call upon the Governor to convene a Georgia Leadership Summit of our state Constitutional officers….”
So, yes, that would include the insurance commissioner.
“…..the Legislative leadership, county and local leaders and leaders from business and consumer groups. I urge we meet at our own expense and not at taxpayer expense.”
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A second poll shows McCain slipping in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second time in two days, a statewide poll shows Republican John McCain slipping in Georgia as a result of the nation’s fiscal crisis.
This time, the survey comes from a partnership of WSB-TV and InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position. To be precise, the poll puts McCain at 50 percent and Democrat Barack Obama at 44 percent. Margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percent.
Two percent prefer “other” candidates — not good news for Bob Barr, the Libertarian. And 4 percent are undecided.
On Tuesday, a SurveyUSA poll backed by two TV stations, WXIA in Atlanta and WMAZ in Macon, showed a similar drop in McCain’s fortunes, with the Republican at 52 percent and Obama at 44 percent. Margin of error was plus-or-minus 3.8 percent.
InsiderAdvantage/Poll Position had McCain up by 18 points three weeks ago. SurveyUSA had the Republican up by 16 points two weeks ago.
In a hardcore Republican state like Georgia, a McCain recovery is well within the reach of possibility, even probable — despite the first signs of an Obama surge here. But if he’s falling this far, this fast in Georgia, then McCain has other, larger worries elsewhere in the country.
If he schedules a campaign stop here, you McCain supporters have cause to worry.
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No Bloomberg-style, third-term movement for Shirley Franklin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As a field of candidates jockey for position in the ‘09 race for mayor of Atlanta, a new name was floated — and sunk — on Wednesday.
The name was Shirley Franklin. The owner of the torpedo was also named Shirley Franklin.
Currently, Franklin, the two-term incumbent mayor, is barred from a third consecutive term. Now, such a small, itty-bitty rule isn’t holding back a giant like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He reportedly wants to change New York law to accomodate his third-term ambition.
This afternoon, during a question and answer session with the Hungry Club Forum, a city official asked Franklin if she had any interest in doing the same. My AJC colleague Eric Stirgus was there.
Franklin that noted any changes would require the approval of the state Legislature — a lobbying effort she was less than inclined to pursue.
“I think I’ll say farewell, fairly well…and I wish [all the candidates] well,” Franklin told the crowd at the Butler Street YMCA.
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Riffing on a cow patty: Paul Broun’s phraseology takes off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens may have coined the metaphor heard ‘round the world.
“This is a huge cow patty with a piece of marshmellow stuck in the middle of it, and I am not going to eat that cow patty,” the Republican vowed from the House floor on Monday, before he and 227 other members of Congress sent the $700 bailout bill down to defeat.
The imagery has been irresistible: “In a related story, don’t have dinner at Congressman Paul Broun’s house,” cracked Conan O’Brien last night. In Atlanta, WSB (750AM) has incorporated Broun’s remarks into a promo.
On its web site, Time magazine has a more serious take. Here’s a synopsis:
There’s just one problem, Congressman Cow Patty: A lot of us did eat it, including many of your constituents. The $1.2 trillion — let’s spell that out as $1,200,000,000,000 — that disappeared from the stock market on Monday didn’t go down a black hole in lower Manhattan. It came out of America’s 401(k)s, mutual funds, pension funds and personal portfolios….
Some of the homeowners who are losing wealth reside in Clarke County, Ga., Congressman Broun’s home turf, which also had $1.9 billion in deposits in financial institutions in 2006, according to the University of Georgia. That ain’t chicken feed. And speaking of which, the fourth largest employer in the region, poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride, is now struggling with financing because credit markets have seized. There are 1,500 jobs in the balance if, say, Pilgrim’s Pride can’t make payroll because it doesn’t have access to funds….
Broun is resolute that taxpayer money won’t be used “to give a golden parachute to Wall Street that our grandchildren may still be paying for many decades from now.” But Wall Street is all of us, including the Congressman from the 10th District in Georgia. We are all going to eat the cow patty. The only question is, how big will it be?
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Fallout from the bailout vote: Marshall cuts a TV ad, and Goddard may be polling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) is still the focus of attention over his Monday vote in favor of the Wall Street bailout/rescue.
He and Sanford Bishop were the only members of the Georgia delegation to support it.
This is from today’s Washington Post:
Rep. Jim Marshall had planned to be in his rural southwest Georgia district yesterday to raise money and meet with voters. Instead, the Democrat was in his Capitol Hill office with bags under his eyes, preparing to cut a 30-second television spot that would explain to his constituents, including the nearly 1,000 angry people who have called and written his office in the past four days, why he voted for the bailout plan.
Marshall represents a Republican-leaning district, and is in what’s presumed to be a tight race against Rick Goddard, a retired Air Force major general. The Post article notes that “Goddard’s campaign office did not respond to three calls seeking comment yesterday.”
But according to Goddard’s web site, the Republican appears to be taking the same line as the seven GOP members of the House delegation.
These are remarks made by Goddard on Tuesday in Hawskinsville, according to his campaign:
“Congress must immediately return to the table and craft a bill to correct this problem using free market principles, avoid setting the precedent of government intervention, and most importantly remember that the taxpayer did not get us into this mess and they should not be the ones to shoulder the load.
“It concerned me that there were some in Congress who were willing, with their vote, to allocate $700 billion of taxpayer money on a proposal that was crafted by a few people, in a closed room, and pushed through without committee hearings and with extremely minimal debate.
Who this debate helps, or hurts, is open to debate. Clearly, candidates want to know. Late last night, the Marshall campaign sent out this e-mail to supporters in the 8th District:
It has come to our attention this evening that the Goddard campaign is conducting a poll. If you receive or have already received this call, please give us a call at our campaign headquarters…. We’ll be here late to take your calls and notes. Already we’ve received detailed information about the poll - and one thing of note is the poll’s focus on the financial rescue legislation.
The debate within Republican circles is fierce. You read Goddard’s argument that the bail out is an improper case of federal intervention in the market. But Chuck Clay of InsiderAdvantage, a former state senator and state GOP chairman, has a warning this morning:
Do you remember that brilliant move of shutting down the government a few years back? It was — in theory — the absolute right thing to do. In reality, it was a political disaster for Republicans, and in case I can’t make this any clearer, the failure to pass some sort of financial system stabilization, bailout, or whatever you want to call it, is going to be laid directly at the feet of Republicans. Take it to the bank. End of issue.
Yes, there is plenty of blame to go around for the financial mess that we are now in, from greedy Wall Street operators and bankers, to failed oversight where it’s needed, and too much regulation where its not. The blunt reality, however, is that as long as George Bush is President, the blame for the financial mess is going to be laid predominately on Republicans, not Democrats.
By the way, a reader called this morning to ask how the Senate could vote on the Wall Street rescue bill this evening, when — according to the U.S. Constitution — all revenue bills are to originate in the House.
Here’s the e-mailed answer we got from Sheridan Watson, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson:
“The Senate will offer the financial rescue plan and tax-extenders language as a substitute amendment to a House-passed mental health parity bill (H.R.1424). That will allow the Senate to work around the requirement that revenue-related legislation originate in the House.”
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Has the Obama surge begun? Nearly 40 percent of early votes cast by African-Americans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As of Monday, 135,412 ballots had been cast in Georgia for the Nov. 4 general election, whether by absentee or early in-person voting.
Nearly 40 percent of those voters — 53,160 — have been African-American, according to the office of Secretary of State Karen Handel.
It is this kind of intensity, driven by the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, that has worried Georgia Republicans and stirred the hopes of Democrats in the state.
As of Aug. 31, African-Americans, the most reliable demographic in the Democratic base, made up 29 percent of those registered to vote. However, their participation rate in elections traditionally is several points lower.
After a full week of early voting statewide, the highest performing counties are: DeKalb, with 14,560 votes cast; Fulton, 10,599; Gwinnett, 7,952; Cobb, 7,021; Chatham, 4,771. All have significant minority populations.
Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Handel, said in addition to the 135,412 ballots already cast, another 105,526 have been mailed out but not returned.
Handel wants at least 1 million Georgia voters to cast early ballots, and it’s easy to see why. If, as expected, 85 percent of the state’s 5.5 million voters head to the polls on Nov. 4, Georgia’s 3,000 polling stations could be overwhelmed.
Granted, the math says that each station would only have to handle a little more than 1,500 over a 12-hour period, but people aren’t spread out like that.
UPDATE: Some of you are asking how the secretary of state’s office knows all this.
Because Georgia is a state covered by the Voting Rights Act, with a history of racial discrimination, officials are required to take into account whether their actions affect the ballot rights of minorities.
To do that, the race and sex of all voters is requested upon registration, but giving it is not mandatory, according to Handel’s web site. This is the only demographic information obtained and, since voters aren’t required to register by party, the only clue that analysts have about who is voting.
Here’s the complete breakdown of advance voters offered by Handel’s office:
— Black female: 32,865;
— Black male: 20,295;
— White female: 40,860;
— White male: 36,958;
— Female Asian-Pacific island: 239;
— Male Asian-Pacific island: 188;
— Female Hispanic-Latino: 304;
— Male Hispanic-Latino: 253;
— Female Native American: 12;
— and Male Native American: 10.
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