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Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Rare Republican praise for Obama. In Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Something you don’t hear very often: a Republican leader in the state Senate gave some rare props to Democratic President-elect Barack Obama this morning.
At a legislative orientation session in Athens, Senate Transportation Chairman Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) praised Obama for his announcement that he wants to invest in the nation’s infrastructure. According to my AJC colleague James Salzer, Mullis compared Obama’s plans to President Eisenhower’s investment in the interstate system during the 1950s.
“I am proud to see someone step up to the plate,” Mullis told lawmakers and lobbyists attending the session. Mullis was a front-and-center supporter of Republican nominee John McCain during the recent hostilities.
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Oxendine drops $36k on ‘campaign auto’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Political columnist Tom Crawford has this tidbit about state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, a declared candidate for governor, in the Covington News:
As he gets deeper into the 2010 governor’s race, it appears that Oxendine has retained his taste for high-priced transportation. His initial disclosure report shows that Oxendine spent $36,933 from his campaign account on June 30 to buy what was described as a “campaign auto.” The vehicle was identified as a 2007 GMC Denali, a luxury SUV that can cost as much as $58,785 when new.
Oxendine’s aides say the purchase and use of the SUV will be in accord with all the applicable campaign finance laws, but you can bet that one of Oxendine’s critics will, at some point, try to file an ethics complaint and stir up a controversy about it.
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Last hot coal in speakership fight extinguished
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
From Athens, Dick Pettys with InsiderAdvantage writes that Glenn Richardson and state Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), who challenged Richardson for the House speakership, have made peace.
Which means no chance of a January alliance between rebellious GOP lawmakers and Democrats to oust the speaker.
Pettys quotes Ralston:
“I’m not going to take it to the floor. I informed the Speaker of that yesterday. He and I met. My feeling is, we have a health and vigorous discussion within the family. The family made a decision. With the challenges facing the party and the House this session, it’s time we come together and unify, and I think that process is moving along very nicely.”
Rep. Tim Bearden, who backed Ralston in the November challenge, said: “We have a very tough session coming up in ‘09. It’s very important we are unified to make sure we do the very best for the citizens of Georgia. At this point, I believe we are unified again.”
No public word yet whether Ralston will get to keep his chairmanship. …Privately, however, sources were speculating he just may keep it as something of an olive branch and a sign that Richardson, who’s been known to be tough when it comes to enforcing party discipline, has turned over a new leaf.
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Exit interview: Bush on evolution and biblical literalism
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a Monday interview of President Bush aired on ABC’s “Nightline,” the primary topic was a Detroit bailout. But the exiting president also touched on the topic of religion.
The president, who won two terms in part of strong support from religious conservatives, declared himself to be neither a creationist nor a believer in the word-for-word truth of the Bible:
ABC: Is it literally true, the Bible?
Bush: You know. Probably not … No, I’m not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament, for example is … has got … You know, the important lesson is “God sent a son.”
ABC: So, you can read the Bible…
Bush: That God in the flesh, that mankind can understand there is a God who is full of grace and that nothing you can do to earn his love. His love is a gift and that in order to draw closer to God and in order to express your appreciation for that love is why you change your behavior.
ABC: So, you can read the Bible and not take it literally. I mean you can — it’s not inconsistent to love the Bible and believe in evolution, say.
Bush: Yeah, I mean, I do. I mean, evolution is an interesting subject. I happen to believe that evolution doesn’t fully explain the mystery of life and …
ABC: But do you believe in it?
Bush: That God created the world, I do, yeah.
ABC: But what about …
Bush: Well, I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you’re getting me way out of my lane here. I’m just a simple president. But it’s, I think that God created the Earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty, and I don’t think it’s incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.
