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December 2008
On vacation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friends might add to this blog as necessary, but for the remainder of the month or so, the Insider is on a well-deserved vacation.
Many thanks for reading in 2008. Be ready to hit the ground running in 2009.
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Inaugural used for Democratic fund-raising
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Marcus K. Garner
Georgia political fundraisers have been called back into action, weeks after the the last ballots have been cast.
But this time, it’s the Presidential Inaugural Committee reaching out for donors to help fund the activities in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Letters went out today from area fundraisers offering event packages for up to $50,000 — the cap that Obama has set on individual donations — for tickets to the official inaugural ball, among other events.
“Without the fundraising for the inauguration, not as many people would expernience quite as much,” said Georgia Democratic Party secretary Stephen Leeds, who was tapped as one of Georgia’s fundraisers.
For the maximum donation, fundraisers are offering four tickets to a late-night welcome concert on Saturday, a Sunday brunch and reception, three Monday events including one of a number of dinners Obama is slated to attend, and the parade and ball on Tuesday, and hotel reservations in D.C.
There is no guarantee of tickets to the swearing-in on Tuesday, however, an Inauguration Committee spokesman said.
At $25,000, a donor gets two tickets to this event.
Fundraisers like Leeds reportedly get a perk for their hard work — if they bring in $300,000, they receive the four-ticket package.
The offer ends Friday evening.
—Jim Galloway is on vacation.
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A change of heart on borrowing our way to prosperity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, when questioned about his Philadelphia meeting with Barack Obama, Gov. Sonny Perdue raised doubts about the president-elect’s plans for economic recovery.
“We expressed our concern that we cannot borrow our way back into prosperity,” Perdue said.
But that Keynesian virus is pretty powerful, and the governor announced yesterday that he had come down with a significant infection:
Gov. Sonny Perdue told state lawmakers Tuesday that he will propose an “aggressive” package of borrowing to build schools, libraries, roads and other facilities to help stimulate Georgia’s struggling economy.
“I am going to be aggressive with our bond package to use the good credit and the good name and the good balance sheet of Georgia to do our own stimulus package in Georgia,” Perdue said….
Chris Schrimpf, a spokesman for the governor, said there is no contradiction between what Perdue said last week, and what he said this week.
The jolt of a stimulus is one thing. Long-term prosperity is another, Schrimpf said. Specific projects are good. Habitual debt is bad, the spokesman said.
Regardless, key Republican state lawmakers seemed happy to see the governor succumb to the bug, and one even hoped it would get more serious.
“I think that’s great. I think that’s the way to go. You want to stimulate the economy,” House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) told my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin.
“I say let’s double whatever he’s thinking. The interest rates are at rock bottom. We can save the state millions over the life of these bonds. The state is going to get an absolute windfall by stimulating the economy. We’ll gain by a factor of 10 or 20 on every dollar we spend.”
At a Capitol press conference for the anti-tax group, Americans for Prosperity, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) touted a new push for a constitutional amendment to tie growth of the state budget to population increases and inflation.
Said Rogers:
“Over the last few years, interest rates have been extremely low, so if you’re going to borrow, this is not a bad time to borrow. I would have to look at this in the context of our entire picture of state debt.
But the governor’s idea of rebuilding our infrastructure, particularly as a way to support economic development is a good idea.”
Jared Thomas, director of AFP in Georgia, said there was indeed a difference between good debt and bad debt. “I do not think there’s anyone in this state who would argue that we do not have transportation infrastructure needs,” Thomas said.
Phil Kerpen, the AFP’s national policy director, provided the only fly in the ointment. He, too, said going into debt for worthwhile projects is acceptable. But John Maynard Keynes had it wrong, Kerpen said — spending for the sake of stimulating the economy doesn’t work.
In other business, the AFP said it would be working the Legislature in January on behalf of Rogers’ constitutional amendment, and in favor of zero-based budgeting.
Roger said we can expect legislation to corral what he said was a state Department of Community Health attempt to add fees to health insurance policies issued by HMOs — which the majority leader said was a form of executive-branch taxation.
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Ford dealer in Savannah goes after ‘rice-ready’ imports
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A frustrated Ford dealer, angered over the way lawmakers in Congress are approaching the bailout of Detroit, has put out two radio ads in the Savannah area, condemning politicians as useless and dismissing Japanese cars as “rice-ready…not road-ready.”
Listen to the two ads here and here.
Here are the details from the Associated Press:
O.C. Welch, who owns a dealership near Savannah in Hardeeville, S.C., began airing the minute-long ad on a dozen stations in the area over the weekend. The ad sounds more like a talk-radio tirade than a sales pitch.
“All you people that buy all your Toyotas and send that money to Japan, you know, when you don’t have a job to make your Toyota car payment, don’t come crying to me,” Welch says in the ad. “All those cars are rice ready. They’re not road ready.”
Floyd Mori, executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League, said Welch’s remarks evoke anti-Asian sentiments often aimed at Japanese and Chinese immigrants to the U.S. from the 1930s through World War II. He also noted many Japanese automakers’ cars are manufactured in America.
“It’s a blatant, ignorant, racist remark from somebody who should know better,” Mori said.
Welch said he’s mostly mad at politicians, blasting them in his ad as only being good for “slinging mud and spending our tax dollars.” He said the government should offer tax incentives for consumers to buy new cars rather than spend money bailing out Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
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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.
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Newsweek and ‘the religious case for gay marriage’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newsweek has stirred up a cloud of dust with a provocative cover story that argues in favor of gay marriage: “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.”
The opening lines:
Let’s try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does.
Shall we look to Abraham, the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)?
Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel—all these fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better.
Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments—especially family.
The apostle Paul (also single) regarded marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to contain their animal lust. “It is better to marry than to burn with passion,” says the apostle, in one of the most lukewarm endorsements of a treasured institution ever uttered.
Politico just posted a reaction piece with these quotes:
“It doesn’t surprise me. Newsweek has been so far in the tank on the homosexual issue, for so long, they need scuba gear and breathing apparatus,” said Richard Land, who heads the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “I don’t think it’s going to change the minds of anyone who takes biblical teachings seriously.”
Says Ralph Reed:
“I see it as an attempt to caricature and reduce to a cartoon the social conservative belief in the efficacy of traditional marriage, and try to reduce it to some formulaic, scriptural literalism,” said Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition. “There’s more of a practical, sociological foundation for why we seek to affirm marriage as an institution than I think is generally understood by those who want to legalize same-sex marriage.”
Though Reed said he had respect for Newsweek, he said this week’s cover story was based on a “false assumption”: “We’re not trying to take the Bible and put a bill number on it and legislate it.”
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State lawmakers decide to skip pay raise
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House and Senate leaders decided Monday it wouldn’t look good to take a pay raise when 100,000 state employees are going without one this year.
According to my AJC colleague James Salzer, the Legislative Services Committee, which is made up of top House and Senate leaders, voted to defer a 3 percent raise due lawmakers.
Lawmakers said they wanted to lead by example. Gov. Sonny Perdue has already stalled the raises state employees were supposed to get because of the economic downturn. Perdue has been warning state agencies they may need to cut 8 percent in spending this year because tax collections have declined.
However, the General Assembly is a separate branch of government, so lawmakers would have gotten the pay raise without action Monday.
Educators are the only group of employees paid with state funding who will still get a cost-of-living raise this year.
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Newt Gingrich and Freddie Mac
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Associated Press has an item just out documenting the way Freddie Mac fended off meaningful regulation with bucketloads of cash — and free tickets to the Nationals:
Internal Freddie Mac budget records show $11.7 million was paid to 52 outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006. Power brokers such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were recruited with six-figure contracts. Freddie Mac paid the following amounts to the firms of former Republican lawmakers or ex-GOP staffers in 2006:
— Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York, at Park Strategies, $240,000.
— Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota, at Clark & Weinstock, $360,297.
— Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, at Washington Group, $300,062.
— Susan Hirschmann at Williams & Jensen, former chief of staff to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, $240,790.
Here’s how the AP explained Gingrich’s role:
The Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan were sounding the alarm about the potential threat to the nation’s financial health if the fortunes of the two mammoth companies turned sour.
They did eventually, when they took on $1 trillion worth of subprime mortgages and when their traditional guarantee business deteriorated. Commercial banks regarded Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as competitors and were anxious to pick up business that would result from scaling back the two companies.
Pushing back, Freddie Mac enlisted prominent conservatives, including Gingrich and former Justice Department official Viet Dinh, paying each $300,000 in 2006, according to internal records.
Gingrich talked and wrote about what he saw as the benefits of the Freddie Mac business model.
Dinh wrote a legal analysis of private property rights that viewed a hypothetical government-enforced sale of Freddie Mac assets as constitutionally suspect.
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An emerging Obama pattern
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, Politico notes that Democrat Jim Martin wasn’t alone:
In the three Congressional races decided since Barack Obama defeated John McCain on November 4, the president-elect has kept his distance from the Democratic candidates.
While Obama did lend Georgia senate candidate Jim Martin some of his campaign staff, and cut radio ads for both Martin and Louisiana congressional hopeful Paul Carmouche, he has made no personal appearances in any of the races, even as his party stood a chance of gaining a filibuster-proof 60 seat majority in the Senate, and expanding what’s currently a 20-seat advantage in the House.
While there was little recent polling, Carmouche had led Republican John Flemming through much of the race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Jim McCrey in Louisiana’s 4th congressional district.
On Saturday, though, the Democrat fell just 356 votes short.
Even more surprising was the defeat of Democratic Congressman William Jefferson, who was widely believed to the frontrunner in his bid for a tenth term in the House, despite a 16-count corruption indictment.
Jefferson was defeated by Republican Ahn Cao, a 41-year-old moderate Republican and Vietnam refugee.
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Barnes on a 2010 race for governor: He won’t say yes, but he won’t say no
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Roy Barnes, the former Democratic governor of Georgia, insists that he doesn’t want to return to the office.
His new house just off the Marietta Square is nearly finished. His nearby law office, where he practices with his daughter and son-in-law, includes a nursery that allows him a daily dose of grandchildren.
“I really don’t want to run. I’ve told everybody that,” said Barnes, 60. But he acknowledges that visitors have called on him.
“Yes, I’ve had a lot of the business folks come out here. Sometimes they just show up. And basically, what they say is, ‘Listen, you need to try this again,’” Barnes said.
The former governor says these visitors have left him with a request: If you won’t say yes to a run for governor in 2010, then at least don’t say no. And, for now, Barnes has decided to oblige them.
On one hand, the former governor says he doesn’t want to be known as an actor who refuses to recognize his cue to leave the stage. Barnes was defeated in 2002 by Republican Sonny Perdue, ending more than a century of dominance by Democrats in Georgia.
But the former governor makes sure an interviewer knows that his ambivalence isn’t absolute.
“I’m absolutely heart-broken, as to what’s happened to my state. In transportation and in education,” he said. “It just breaks my heart that we have such a great a wonderful opportunity, and we don’t seem able to get our act together.”
Barnes didn’t mention Perdue, the man who beat him — not by name. But there’s no question buyer’s remorse would be a major part of any campaign strategy.
“What scares the business community, and I understand it completely, is if [Georgia] ever gets labeled as a state that can not address and solve its own problems, then our growth future is going to be very dim,” he said.
“If I were governor, I would be very concerned, for example, that the bio-science center is going to Kansas. And we were third behind Kansas and Mississippi.”
(Last week, Perdue pointed to “a small activist minority” in Athens as “the definitive reason” for the loss of the $450 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.)
Barnes’ comments about the 2010 governor’s race came as part of a broader look at the implications of President-elect Barack Obama’s 47 percent showing in Georgia last month — which was followed four weeks later by the solid, 14-point defeat of Democrat Jim Martin by GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss in the U.S. Senate runoff.
Barnes said he wasn’t surprised by Martin’s defeat — but was startled by the margin. “The Republican vote was more intense, angry and frustrated,” he said. “And the Democratic vote was exhausted. They were tired.”
Like many others, Barnes called Obama’s strong showing a bellwether for change in Georgia. “But it’s not necessarily a change from Republican to Democrat. And I think that’s what we’re missing in all this,” he said. “I think that it is a change from extremism to moderation.”
The libertarian tendencies of younger voters that Obama has brought into the process, plus the current economic instability, will mean less emphasis on gay rights, abortion and other wedge issues, Barnes theorized.
Organization and charisma will be necessary for any Democrat candidate to match and exceed what Obama did statewide. But competence will be the key. Wonkish details, explaining to voters exactly what must be done, will trump ideological generalities, the governor said.
“When you open your mouth, you have to say something,” Barnes said. “People are tired of politicians opening their mouths and saying nothing.”
Trial balloons to test public reaction are nothing new. And a 2010 Barnes campaign could be a bag of helium on two levels.
Two other Democrats have expressed interest in a run for governor — former state adjutant general David Poythress and House minority leader and newspaper publisher DuBose Porter of Dublin. Barnes is wealthy enough to be considered a self-funder — that’s important in a minority party.
But there’s also an upcoming session of the state Legislature. Leaders of the same business community allegedly asking Barnes to hold fire will demand that the General Assembly’s GOP leadership tackle the expensive issue of transportation and traffic congestion.
In some GOP quarters, there has been talk of stalling action on a transportation sales tax until 2010. But a Roy Barnes looming in the background might help those reluctant Republicans reconsider.
Photo credit: Andy Sharp/AJC
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From SNL: No stake through Hillary’s heart, and Obama as founder of a new Beat Generation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has shifted into transition mode.
Last night, Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler) returned to celebrate her nomination as secretary of state — with her husband.
“You may think we’’re down, but like the South, vampires and Britney Spears, we will rise again,” she promised.
And here’s Fred Armisen as Barack Obama doing an impression of Miles Davis.
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Caroline Kennedy to join Uncle Ted in the Senate?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABC News says those rumors about Caroline Kennedy taking Hillary Clinton’s N.Y. Senate seat aren’t as crazy as they sound — and that there is a strong chance, come January, she could be serving in the chamber with her Uncle Teddy of Massachusetts:
A Democrat who would know tells ABC News that New York governor David Paterson has talked to Caroline Kennedy about taking the seat, which was once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy. It’s not exactly shocking that Paterson would reach out to one of the most highly respected public figures in New York, but this is:
Sources say Kennedy is considering it, and has not ruled out coming to Washington to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
A few years ago, the famously private Caroline Kennedy would be the last Kennedy expected to serve in Congress, but of course, she took on a much more high-profile role during the presidential campaign and, if she does it, would be more than New York’s junior Senator; she’d have closer ties to the Obama White House than any of her colleagues, a direct line to the East Wing.
When Robert Kennedy, Jr. took himself out of the running for the seat earlier this week, he told Jonathan Hicks of the New York Times, “Caroline Kennedy would be the perfect choice if she would agree to it.” And one more thing: We hear that President-elect Obama has made it clear that he thinks Caroline Kennedy would be a great choice.
Remember that Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, was one of the lead vetters assigned the task of looking over vice presidential nominees for Obama.
MSNBC has seconded the possibility, citing New York state Democratic party officials:
Appointing Caroline Kennedy to the seat once held by her uncle Robert would be a very popular choice politically for Paterson, who is under pressure to replace Clinton with a woman.
The Kennedy name on the ballot could help Paterson’s 2010 reelection chances. Paterson became governor after Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign during a prostitution scandal.
The Associated Press has also confirmed Kennedy-Paterson conversations about the Senate seat, and adds this background to the mix:
She met her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, while working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They married in 1986 and have three children.
She made a splash in early 2008 by writing an op-ed column for The New York Times declaring her support for Obama, saying he had the potential to be as inspirational to Americans as her father was in the 1960s. She also spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
She then hit the campaign trail with Obama, and worked on the vice-presidential search that eventually settled on Joe Biden.
Photo info: Caroline Kennedy, left, on Monday speaks with Vice President-elect Joe Biden, right, before the start of a special convocation held to present Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., not shown, with an honorary degree at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass. Credit: Associated Press.
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A snubbing at a senatorial victory party?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Concern over getting U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss across the finish line apparently kept some intra-Republican tensions from breaking out into the open.
But with the election a thing of the past, so is discretion. Most disturbing to many GOPers was the snubbing of state Republican Chairman Sue Everhart at Tuesday’s victory party in her home county of Cobb.
This is from an e-mail now circulating among the GOP grassroots:
The blight on this Victory was when Tom Perdue, Campaign Manager and another Saxby employee physically blocked our State Party Chairman from going on the stage to share in this great Victory for Georgia Republicans.
Everhart was livid, we hear. And Mike Duncan, who’s running for another term as chairman of the RNC, was left hanging in the wind. He was allowed on stage, and given a speaking role. But he was asked to remove any mention of Everhart from a list of people who required Chambliss’ thanks.
Everhart is one of 168 people who will decide in January who the next RNC chairman will be.
Read the entire e-mail on the jump.
Update at 3:30 p.m.: Just got off the phone with the above-mentioned Tom Perdue, chief campaign honcho for the Chambliss campaign.
Perdue swore there was no attempt to show disrespect to anyone, and explained the events that unfolded Tuesday night this way:
— Alec Poitevint, former state GOP chairman, was given the task of opening the evening speeches because he’d had that role in many of Chambliss’ events, and because he was head of the McCain/Palin campaign in Georgia — which paired with the Chambliss campaign through the general election.
— Michael Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Convention, was assigned the honor of introducing Chambliss because of the heavy financial role the RNC played in the four-week runoff.
— Moments before the event began, Chambliss campaign and GOP leaders held a small, impromptu meeting at which it was decided that only members of the Chambliss family would be on the stage while the re-elected senator spoke. Chambliss would then introduce Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, who had just won the Public Service Commission race.
— Says Perdue: “As we all walked out [of the meeting], a long line of people were following us, and then when I got to the platform, then I stopped. I didn’t physically block Sue Everhart. I basically blocked everybody from going up on the platform. But I held Bubba McDonald’s hand so he couldn’t get away — because Saxby was going to introduce him.”
— Poitevint and Duncan were to exit the stage on the opposite side and leave the Chambliss family to enjoy the moment alone, but a riser had been moved and they couldn’t get down.
— Perdue said he did try to discourage the public thanking of individuals by Chambliss. “Once you start, where do you stop? [Chambliss] ended up mentioning a name or two, and then he stopped,” Perdue said.
— The campaign strategist said he was ready to apologize to anyone who was offended, and said he’d talk to Everhart “probably before the sun sets.” “But it was only an honest oversight,” he said.
From: Bettye Chambers
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 12:50 AM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient
Subject: Sue Everhart, GA GOP Chairman, snubbed at Chambliss Victory Rally
Dear Georgia Republicans
Monday night, December 2, was a great night for Georgians, Saxby Chambliss won re-election to the US Senate blocking the Filibuster proof Senate. Lauren Bubba McDonald was elected to the Public Service Commission. These wins were due to the hard work of the Republican Grassroots’ network, the RNC, The NRSC and last but not least the Georgia Republican Party headed by Sue Everhart, Chairman. Hundreds of ground troops from 42 other states came in to make this happen.
The blight on this Victory was when Tom Perdue, Campaign Manager and another Saxby employee physically blocked our State Party Chairman from going on the stage to share in this great Victory for Georgia Republicans.
Sue represents all of us who under her leadership worked so hard to make this night happen.
It was Sue, not Tom Perdue, who called RNC Chairman Mike Duncan to get Sarah Palin and John McCain down here. If Saxby’s team had done what they should have for the last six years, he wouldn’t have been in a runoff to start with and he would have had the necessary funds for his campaign.
BTW the former Chairman Alec Poitevint was included with the entourage on the stage Monday night at the Palin event in Gwinnett County and also flew around the state with Governor Palin all day.
The handwork of all Georgia Republicans made this Victory possible. Lauren McDonald recognized this Victory as a Victory for the Georgia Grassroots’ network. He thanked all Georgians for his Victory and said that he could not have done this without us, the Georgia Republican Party and it’s Chairman Sue Everhart. Lauren is truly a humble and appreciative candidate.
RNC Chairman Mike Duncan had words of praise for Sue and Linda Herren in his speech. The Chambliss campaign told him he didn’t need to mention this as Saxby would thank them. Saxby did not mention their names. Word has it that he was prepared to do so, as protocol would dictate, but was told not to at the last minute.
A side note to all of this — our Georgia National Committee Woman Linda Herren was not allowed to attend the Palin event on Sunday night preceding the state fly around. When she called for information on where to meet up with Sue and Alec to greet Governor Palin ( as protocol would also dictate) she was told by the Chambliss campaign that her name was not on any lists and the stage was full.
Reports from attendees reveal that the Chambliss campaign was getting people from the audience to fill stage positions . Both Sue and Linda have worked MANY years at the grassroots level to grow our GA Republican Party and should be treated with more respect than this!!
WE Georgia Republican’s did what no other state did, we won all of our races.
Way to go, Sue Everhart, her staff and all Georgia Republicans. We are so proud of all that you have done during this 2008 election year. Personally, I would not have been involved in the runoff election if Sue Everhart had not convinced me that I should get on board in order to help keep liberal Martin from playing havoc in our U.S. Senate.
At her encouragement, I went to numerous rallies, made tons of digital photos, created event photo web pages and e-mailed all across the state to my huge Republican e-mail list encouraging everyone to get out and VOTE — which most did.
Now I plan on writing a personal letter of complaint to our newly re-elected Senator who is now insured six more years in the U.S. Senate — thanks to the hard work of Sue Everhart and many Georgia Republicans. The least he can do is apologize to Sue and make a statement to the world about all that she and the state party have done for his and many other candidates’ behalf.
I have known Sue and Linda for many years and have worked with them on many Republican projects where I witnessed up close their dedication to our Party and Georgia.. Sue has done an excellent job as chairman, has raised tons of money for the Party and visited Republican groups (large and small) all across this state where former GA GOP Chairmen had NEVER visited.
If you feel as I do about the snubbing of Sue, I hope you will forward this e-mail (or send your own) to your list of Republicans and let the Chambliss people know how you feel. Rumors and blogs are speculating that perhaps the reason behind this is an orchestrated effort to keep Sue from being re-elected Chairman in 2009. Sorry to ramble on so, but I am upset !!
See the Senator’s Contact info at the bottom.
Bettye Chambers
Grassroots Website Builder and E-Mail Activist
Buford, GA
9th District Republican Party of Georgia
Greater Gwinnett Republican Women
Georgia State Committee Member
Georgia Women for McCain-Palin Coalition
National Federation of RW Board of Directors
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Sanford Bishop for secretary of agriculture?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Speculation about who from Georgia might join the inner workings of the Obama Administration has been riddled with the absurd. Pay no attention, for instance, to talk that former Gov. Roy Barnes is in line for secretary of education.
But this one may have some meat: U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) is being mentioned as one of the top three — perhaps two — prospects for secretary of agriculture.
As leading candidates, the Kansas City Star names Bishop, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Rep. John Salazar of Colorado.
And Sebelius says she’s not interested.
The Star attributes its report to Agri-Pulse, a Washington-based newsletter on agriculture. Says the newsletter:
Bishop was a co-chairman of Obama’s Georgia campaign, but his name surfaced in speculation only recently. He was first elected in the Black Belt district in 1992, and has been on the House Appropriations Committee since 2003 and its agriculture subcommittee since 2006.
He has been especially active on peanut issues, securing committee approval of $74 million for peanut storage in the supplemental spending bill. His voting record has been the most conservative in the Congressional Black Caucus. (He would be the second black secretary of a department that has a checkered record at dealing with African American farmers.)
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Politics and the rise of SEC football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, the sports section of the Wall Street Journal — who knew? — has a tasty piece on the economics, sociology and politics behind the rise of SEC football:
The engine of this success is college football’s unshakable primacy in Southern culture — plus the recent shifts in population and wealth, the protection of politicians and some prescient financial moves by the conference that have reinforced it.
In recent years, the South has undergone rapid growth. Twenty-seven of the 50 fastest-growing metropolitan regions in the country in 2007 were in the South, while personal-income growth in the region outpaced the national average over the past decade.
These changes have added muscle to the South’s historic passion for college football. While they rank low in many measures like per-capita income and educational achievement, states like Alabama and Mississippi rank close to the top in the percentage of high-school students who play football.
And among states that have more than 10 native sons playing in the National Football League, the top six producers by percentage of population are Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
The WSJ piece also notes the access that Southern football programs enjoy in state capitols:
Within the nine SEC states, two-thirds of the governors and U.S. senators are SEC alumni. In the eight Midwestern states that make up the Big Ten, just over a third of governors and senators went to one of their states’ major football schools….
Politicians have been such fixtures at the games that their practice of accepting complimentary tickets has begun to come under criticism. Before this season, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal decided to stop accepting the 10 free tickets his office was allotted.
The article even makes mention of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s 2007 effort to protect Bulldog fans from evil headline writers on the AJC copy desk.
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That talk of delaying a T-SPLOST vote until 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Word is going around that, in several small meetings with Georgia business leaders this week, House leaders — including Speaker Glenn Richardson of Hiram — have suggested that the Legislature might not take up the issue of funding to relieve traffic congestion until 2010.
One business leader we contacted privately confirmed the reports, but said that, for now, the statements are viewed as routine posturing aimed at influencing House-Senate negotiations now underway. No reason to panic. Yet.
Asked about the statements, Marshall Guest, a spokesman for Richardson, offered this statement:
“The Speaker has been and continues to be a strong supporter of a transportation funding and improvement plan. The Speaker is committed to taking the time to ensure that we get this right. Regardless of whether we pass a plan on Day Five of Year One or Day Forty of Year Two, Georgians will still be voting on the constitutional amendment in November of 2010.”
Only last year, Richardson became a hero to the business community when he urged more haste and less deliberation: “I do not intend to study transportation anymore. We’ve got to do something, even if it’s wrong,” he said.
The likely reason for the shift: Last week, just before Thanksgiving, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle promised the introduction of legislation in early January to permit counties and regions (metro Atlanta foremost among them) to levy a one-cent sales tax for local transportation needs.
Voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment to get it done, and that would require a statewide referendum that couldn’t occur until November 2010.
Except for the timing, this is roughly the same proposal that failed in the Senate on the final day of the 2008 session by three votes. Cagle, with ambitions of running for governor in 2010, has been trying to patch things up with a livid business community ever since.
The lieutenant governor’s only requirement for action next month was that a consensus be reached first among the Senate, House and Gov. Sonny Perdue. Hence the brinksmanship.
My AJC colleague Ariel Hart came across one example on Wednesday.
House Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) was at a series of Atlanta Regional Commission events.
In a lunch meeting, Smith argued, “I’d rather have the right bill out the sixth week than a bill out the first week.”
Conversation continued, and Tad Leithead, chairman of the ARC’s Transportation and Air Quality Committee, noted talk that the issue could be delayed until 2010. Leithead called that “dangerous thinking.”
“But that bill’s got to be right,” Smith replied. “It can’t be just Bill No. 102 and it says ‘Transportation’ at the top. It’s got to be the right bill.”
In addition to a simple ratcheting up of pressure on the horse-trading process, there’s also the likelihood that Cagle’s gubernatorial ambitions are an issue here. Business leaders, who provide much of the cash for campaigns, consider transportation and traffic congestion the most neglected issue of Republican rule.
Passage of additional funding for traffic woes could give Cagle an early leg up in the race for governor. The House is apparently trying to exact a price for that.
As to whether it makes no difference whether the measure passes in 2009 or 2010, most business leaders would disagree. They’d like the extra time to persuade voters that additional taxes — er, investments — for easing traffic would be well worth the cost.
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Of dog bones and burglars: Just another Thursday for State Ethics Commission
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just when members of the State Ethics Commission think they’ve heard it all, here comes Thursday.
First, Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague (D-Red Oak), was brought up on a complaint that she hasn’t fully disclosed how she has spent thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.
When the staff of the ethics commission asked for proof, they were given several receipts, according to my AJC colleague James Salzer.
Included on the receipts, according to the commission, were expenditures for a dog bone, dog food, and a lottery ticket. None of the items are considered by the commission to be necessary to help run a campaign or maintain an officeholder while they are serving in the General Assembly.
Her case was approved for a full investigation. You’ll remember that Beasley-Teague, a 15-year lawmaker just re-elected in November, collected more than $2,300 in mileage from the state last year, contending she took lengthy treks across Georgia.
In one case, she claimed mileage for driving 889 miles in one day —from Fairburn to Albany to Waycross to Savannah to Athens to Dillard and back to Fairburn.
Following Beasley-Teague on Thursday was state Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam (D-Riverdale), who allegedly owes $1,200 in late filing fees, and has yet to file numerous campaign disclosure reports.
Her excuse for at least some of the missing reports? Her home was ransacked by burglars and the reports have gone missing. With wastepaper (baled, office) selling for $90 a ton, you can understand why she might have been targeted.
Her case was approved for a full investigation
And on a more serious note, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin on Thursday cleaned up one long-standing piece of ethics business in time for her last year in office.
The State Ethics Committee approved a consent order with Franklin to settle complaints that include allegations dating back to 2002, the year after she first won office.
Franklin agreed to a $5,750 fine for largely paperwork violations, including failing to fully explain some of her campaign’s expenditures. Franklin did not attend Thursday’s hearing.
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One of the many fathers of Chambliss’ victory claims his child
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 14-point victory of Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in the U.S. Senate race has already become the stuff of legend.
Legend in the sense that the tale of his triumph over whelming odds has been tailored to another purpose — in this case, Michael Duncan’s effort to hold onto chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.
Duncan, you’ll remember, was given a prime speaking spot on the stage at Chambliss’ celebration party on Tuesday. This morning, on Politico, Duncan explains how Georgia’s senior senator couldn’t have done it without him.
Here’s a taste:
The ground game that reelected Sen. Chambliss focused on the nuts-and-bolts of campaigning, enhanced by investments in technology that the RNC has made over the past two years. The Chambliss team, the Georgia Republican Party, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the RNC were full partners in a Victory plan that executed the basics flawlessly.
With dozens of RNC staff and hundreds of volunteers in 11 regional Victory offices across the state, our team contacted nearly a half-million Georgians in the last five days alone.
The RNC’s investment in technology over the past two years allowed our Republican team to maximize every volunteer’s time and every contributor’s donation on behalf of Chambliss, creating a get-out-the-vote effort that overwhelmed Democrats in the state. Through sophisticated online advertising techniques we reached hundreds of thousands of Republicans who requested absentee ballots, voted early, and found their polling station.
Our investment in technology enabled our Victory program to significantly increase the Republican share of advance voters in the runoff election. We also provided volunteers the tools to make phone calls from home to likely supporters and/or send numerous e-mails to their neighbors engaging them in the reelection effort.
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It’s good to get these things out in the open. Now, group hug, everyone.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that Saxby Chambliss has won another six years, some Republicans are relaxing — and a few are forgiving.
Joe McCutchen of Elijay, who has a local cable TV show, was a big GOP voice behind the campaign of Libertarian Allen Buckley — which forced Tuesday’s Senate runoff.
But he endorsed Chambliss once his man was out.
McCutchen just left a message to say that Chambliss rang him up this afternoon, to personally thank him for the help — apparently not mentioning the unpleasantness of the first round.
On the other hand, on redstate.com, Erick Erickson was less willing to let bygones be bygones. He noted that Chambliss said this morning that the GOP needs to return to its Reagan roots.
“You start first,” Erickson writes. Here’s the gist of the rest:
The immigration compromise hurt you with the base. The farm bill hurt you with the business community. The energy compromise hurt you with the part of the base not hurt by the immigration compromise. Then the bailout vote set you on fire and nobody could bother even [urinating] on you after that.
You’ve gotten squishy on financial issues. You’ve gotten squishy on business issues. You’ve gotten comfortable in the establishment and the base does not see you as dependable anymore.
In short Saxby, you [ticked] off everybody. And people did not come out to vote for you. They came out to stop a filibuster proof Democrat Senate.
We all like you Saxby. Hell, I’ve busted my butt for years to get you elected, starting in 1994. And despite hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours working for you (including subjecting myself to Jim Marshall’s “Advising Small Businesses” class just to see if he’d say something stupid in 1998) and constantly fixing that miserable computer system in the old campaign office, I am sorely disappointed in how you’ve conducted yourself in the past few years.
I am even more sorely disappointed that your campaign was a disaster of monumental incompetence and a high level of being disconnected and out of touch with the grassroots on whom you depend for votes and volunteers.
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Meanwhile, up in Minnesota…..
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the heels of Jim Martin’s big loss in Georgia’s U.S. Senate, the Democratic campaign of Al Franken now says that its internal tally shows Franken ahead for the first time, by 22 votes, in a recount of his contest against GOP incumbent Norm Coleman.
This from Politico:
Al Franken’s campaign attorney Marc Elias said today that, based on its latest internal tally, Franken has taken the lead over Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) for the first time in the recount process.
In a conference call, Elias said Franken leads Coleman by 22 votes at the end of last night’s count.
“We are ahead by 22 votes at the close of business at the end of last night,” Elias said. “We continue to believe we will gain votes during the challenge and review process, and feel good generally where we stand in the recount.”
The official secretary of state count shows Coleman leading by Franken by 303 votes, with more than 6,000 ballots disputed by both camps. The Franken campaign has argued the number is misleading, given that none of the disputed ballots are included in that tally. The Franken tally assumes the challenges from both camps are invalid.
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Of Georgia’s racially polarized electorate, and a winners-losers list
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, Public Policy Polling of North Carolina put the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia at 53 percent for Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, and 46 percent for Democrat Jim Martin.
In the real world, Chambliss won with 57 percent to Martin’s 43 percent.
….We did, like everyone else, underestimate the size of his victory. It doesn’t take a ton of imagination to figure out why we did that. The Georgia electorate is easily the most racially polarized of any state we polled regularly during the 2008 election cycle.
Since we had Chambliss winning by 43 points with whites and Martin winning by 77 points with blacks it essentially meant that every point we over or underestimated the African American share of the electorate by was worth 1.2% on the margin.
We don’t have an exit poll and I haven’t seen any hard data from the Board of Elections yet but my guess is that black voters accounted for only 22-23% of those who turned out for the runoff, consistent with their share of early voting numbers. There was no rush to the polls yesterday as we had anticipated.
Race wasn’t the only factor. Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com contributes this thought:
In certain ways, this is an awkward time for a Democrat to be running for office. On the one hand, with the imminent end of George W. Bush’s term in office, and the fact that Barack Obama has effectively been serving as shadow present — Obama is generating between two and three times as much news coverage as Bush according to Google traffic metrics — it has already become harder for Democrats to pin our country’s problems on the Republicans.
And on today’s Washington Post web site, Chris Cilliza of The Fix selects the winners and losers of the Tuesday runoff:
Among his winners:
— Barack Obama: “Had Chambliss won by a point or two that decision would have been second-guessed; Chambliss’ 14-point margin justified Obama’s decision to stay out.””
— Sarah Palin: “The Alaska governor’s high profile swing through the state is sure to be cited by her backers as evidence of her political potency as talk of 2012 heats up.”
— The state’s runoff system, which resulted in two Republican victories on Tuesday. Chambliss was the highest vote-getter in the Senate race on Nov. 4. But the runoff system permitted Republican Lauren McDonald, who finished second in the general election, to rebound four weeks later.
Among his losers:
— U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon: “Given how close Martin, an unknown former state legislator, came to knocking off Chambliss, it’s clear that the GOP incumbent was ripe for the picking this year. Marshall’s decision to take a pass on the race means that he will face a serious challenge every two years in his Republican-leaning 8th district and may not ever see the Senate.”
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Jon Stewart’s heartfelt good-bye to the U.S. Senate race in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” had a final, funny take on Georgia’s Senate race last night — with jabs at Saxby Chambliss’ hands-on family campaign ad and Jim Martin’s association with Ludacris.
And, yes, Stewart samples the rapper’s lyrics.
Then, of course, there was Sarah Palin: “Everyone! Hide your unslaughtered turkeys!”
The embed code is misbehaving, so here’s a straight URL link.
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Vernon Jones schedules an ‘I told you so’ press conference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones has scheduled a 2 p.m. press conference in his Decatur office, according to his former campaign spokeswman Camille Kessler.
The purpose, she said, would be to talk about “the election last night, the (Democratic) party itself and his plans.”
Jones, who is exiting the job of CEO, lost a Democratic primary runoff in August to Jim Martin for the U.S. Senate race. Martin was in turn defeated Tuesday in the general election runoff by Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Martin won 74 percent of the vote in DeKalb on Tuesday. But the 135,850 votes he received numbered nearly 100,000 fewer than he won from DeKalb on Nov. 4.
Martin lost statewide by 315,219 votes — or 42.6 percent, according to the current count on Secretary of State Karen Handel’s web site.
That’s only slightly better than the 42.3 percent that the Atlanta attorney earned in November 2006, when running for lieutenant governor against Republican Casey Cagle.
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Chambliss gets the last word: ‘Georgia values matter’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
10:35 p.m.: On the heels of a concession by Democrat Jim Martin, Republican Saxby Chambliss took the stage to claim his second term in the U.S. Senate.
But Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, who faces a tough slog to re-election in January, grabbed valuable, 10 p.m. television time from the re-elected senator.
Chambliss thanked the RNC head for valuable resources sent to the state. But WAGA (Fox5), the only TV station broadcasting the event live, ended up cutting away from Chambliss in mid-victory statement.
In front of a crowd numbering 300, Chambliss thanked supporters and the volunteers from 43 states he said worked on his campaign. “You’re the reason this happened,” the Republican said. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“You have sent a strong message to the world that conservative Georgia values matter,” Chambliss said.
10:10 p.m.: Embracing his defeat in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Jim Martin bounded on stage to Carly Simon’s 1980s hit, “Let the River Run.”
Said Martin:
“Tonight the voters of Georgia have spoken. I accept that decision that has been made. I called Senator Chambliss and congratulated Saxby and Julianne. I want to thank my wife Joan. I want to thank my family and campaign team and all of you volunteers who came in from all over the country. Thank you so much.”
Martin quoted Abraham Lincoln, who told of stubbing his toe when a boy: “I was too old to cry, but it hurt too much to laugh.”
More seriously, Martin said his campaign “stood up for Georgians and the important issues,” including the economy, ending the war in Iraq and “regaining our moral leadership in the world.”
He also had a message to Democrats and Republicans in Georgia, according to my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin, who was on the ground.
For Democrats, he said the future is bright with Barack Obama as president. “As Democrats, we found our soul,” Martin said. “We are the party of opportunity for all Georgians, with a base as broad as our vision.”
As for Republicans, Martin called on the GOP to protect a free flow of debate and engage in “mutual respect” to “move our state and country ahead.”
9:55 p.m.: With 90 percent of the vote in, Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald is cruising to a seat on the Public Service Commission, with 58 percent over Democrat Jim Powell — who finished ahead of McDonald in the Nov. 4 general election.
The non-partisan state Court of Appeals race is much closer, but Sarah Doyle has a significant 3.4 percent lead over Mike Sheffield.
9:50 p.m.: Democrat Jim Martin has just conceded defeat in the U.S. Senate runoff, with a phone call to Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
9:45 p.m.: Word that the Associated Press as well as CNN had declared Chambliss the winner in the U.S. Senate runoff didn’t dampen the mood at Democrat Jim Martin’s gathering at the Park Tavern in Midtown.
Several hundred supporters, volunteers and staff lamented the apparent loss, but many continued to hold out hope for a surge of votes in metro Atlanta.
And the official word from the Martin campaign as of a half-hour ago: It’s not over.
“We’re still waiting for votes to be counted in Fulton and DeKalb counties,” said Kate Hansen, spokeswoman for the campaign.
And staffers for Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss have let it be known that they won’t claim victory until Martin concedes defeat. But the 11 p.m. TV news slot exerts a great deal of pressure.
Martin’s share of the vote in DeKalb County was down by several percentage points off his Nov. 4 pace. And in Fulton County, where the Democrat got more than 63 percent of the general election vote, Martin was pulling only slightly more than 51 percent Tuesday night, with about half of all precincts reporting.
Several Martin supporters referenced turnout, which cratered from the general election Nov. 4 to Tuesday.
“A lot of people didn’t get out today to vote,” said Jesse McNulty, 41, of DeKalb County. “We’re in a ‘red zone,’ of course. Anybody who worked on the campaign from summer and beyond had hope for Democrats in key positions.”
Thad Flowers, 29, of Atlanta, was more resigned.
“He ran a really good race,” Flowers said. “He worked as hard as he could. It’s just tough sometimes to beat an incumbent.”
9:25 p.m.: Among those at the Saxby Chambliss victory party was Gov. Sonny Perdue, fresh from his Philadelphia meeting with President-elect Barack Obama.
The occasion was today’s gathering of the National Governors Association.
“It was a candid, engaged conversation,” Perdue told my AJC colleague Mary Lou Pickel. “He reached out to the governors, and we reached back out to him.”
Obama solicited ideas for how best to used economic stimulus money in the states. The president-elect understood he needed a partnership with the governors, Perdue said.
“We expressed our concern that we cannot borrow our way back into prosperity,” the Republican governor said.
But the governor conceded that Georgia needs federal money for new infrastructure —transportation projects and buildings for universities, technical colleges and public schools.
9:05 p.m.: State Sen. Joseph Carter (R-Tifton) quit his legislative job this year to run for a vacant superior court seat in Tift County. Looks like it was a bad bet.
With 91 percent of precincts reporting, Melanie Barbee Cross has nearly 55 percent of the vote.
9 p.m.: The Associated Press has just declared Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss the victor in the U.S. Senate race in Georgia. The Democrats have fallen short of their 60-seat majority.
8:55 p.m.: With more than half the vote counted, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss has built a formidable lead of more than 250,000 votes.
He currently leads with 61 percent.
Chambliss has clearly reasserted himself in Atlanta’s older suburban counties, where a heavy African-American turnout cut into his margins. But Cobb County is falling his way nearly 3-to-1, and Chambliss is taking 60 percent of Gwinnett.
More than 20,000 votes of Chambliss’ lead comes from vote-heavy Cherokee County, where the Republican is leading Martin by 4-to-1.
Martin is taking DeKalb County more than 2-to-1. Chambliss is splitting Fulton County (Atlanta), though that’s likely to change.
8:31 p.m.: Saxby Chambliss’ momma, 91-year-old Emma B. Chambliss, came to the Cobb Energy Centre to support her son.
She couldn’t vote for him, though.
“Miss Emma” moved from Saluda, N.C. to Roswell just two months ago and missed the deadline for voter registration in Georgia.
“No, I didn’t get here in time” she told my AJC colleague, Mary Lou Pickel.
“I was disgusted, disgusted,” she said, shaking her head.
8:22 p.m.: At this point, bright spots for Democrat Jim Martin in the U.S. Senate race are Bibb County (Macon) in middle Georgia, and Chatham County (Savannah) on the coast.
Both have strong African-American turnout operations.
In Bibb, Martin is leading by 62 percent in a county that he carried by only 56 percent on Nov. 4.
In Chatham, Martin leads by a bare 51.3 percent. He won the county by 54 percent in the general election.
Neither DeKalb nor Fulton County, which contain black votes crucial to a Democratic victory, have reported yet.
8:03 p.m.: Keith Miller, 31, is one of about 100 people chatting and munching on cheese and crackers in a ballroom of the Cobb Energy Centre, where Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss waits to see if he’ll hang onto his U.S. Senate seat.
“Because the Democrats might obtain a filibuster-proof majority, I felt an extra urgency,” Miller said.
He volunteered for Chambliss, making phone calls last week. Two employees from the Republican National Committee came to Gwinnett County to help organize the volunteers, Miller told my AJC colleague Mary Lou Pickel.
The RNC had lists of names to call and they wrote the script for the phone calls, Miller said. “We had volunteers who went door-to-door and they advised them too,” he said.
About 15 minutes ago, Chambliss walked in the door, surrounded by cameras. A few people stood and clapped, but it was a subdued crowd. Dick Chambliss, 59, travelled from Alexander City, Ala. to support his big brother.
“The last four weeks have been nervous,” Dick Chambliss said.
7:50 p.m.: Interesting dynamic developing in the three statewide races at stake. The races for U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission are so far tracking along strict partisan lines.
In the Senate race, Chambliss is at 68 percent. In the PSC race, Republican Lauren McDonald is at 67 percent.
But in the non-partisan race for state Court of Appeals, Sarah Doyle and Mike Sheffield are split 50-50. Sheffield has more closely identified himself with the religious conservative wing of the state GOP, but Doyle has strong GOP support as well.
7:37 p.m.: Reports have started to trickle in, mostly from rural areas. Of 26 counties that have reported any results, Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss leads in 21.
7:08 p.m.: The polls are closed, and the 2008 election season is officially at an end.
Democrat Jim Martin, the U.S. Senate contender, has taken up residence at Park Tavern on 10th Street to wait out the results.
About an hour ago, Martin made a round of TV appearances for the 6 p.m. cycle. “We’ve done all we can do. Now it’s up to the voters,” he told my AJC colleague Aaron Sheinin.
Voter turnout, Martin said, is key. “Turnout is important,” he said. “We still have another hour for people to get to their polls. This is their opportunity to make their choice.”
Martin acknowledged the lengthy campaign has turned tough in the final days and weeks, but said he tried to avoid personal attacks. “It’s important people know the differences between me and my opponent,” he said.
Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss is at the Cobb Energy Center. He’s yet to make an appearance.
While you wait, here’s your election night survival kit:
— First, the link to the web site of Secretary of State Karen Handel and the results of tonight’s runoff elections. Use it wisely.
— Now the background. The national issue in this contest is whether Democrats will make it to 60 seats in the U.S. Senate. The defeat of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska put Dems at 58.
Up until today, the fortunes of Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota had been in decline, making Georgia’s race less significant. But several news outlets — the New York Times, Politico and Fivethirtyeight.com — are saying the discovery of new, uncounted ballots has benefited Franken.
The outcome of the Minnesota race will remain in doubt until at least next week. But a Chambliss victory would allow Republicans to trumpet that they’ve blocked Democrats from achieving a filibuster-proof majority.
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The voice, but not the image, of Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While we wait for the returns that will determine the outcome of the U.S. Senate race in Georgia, it’s worthwhile to ponder the limited involvement of President-elect Barack Obama.
He lent his Georgia organization to Democrat Jim Martin, and his voice — in the form of a radio ad, and a robo-call recording presumably played on hundreds of thousands of phones owned by Democrat-leaning voters.
But Obama specifically drew the line at a visual image of himself. No TV commercial, no personal visit. You can argue that Obama had no time to come to Georgia, that it would have been a diversion from the critical issue of rebuilding the federal government in the face of two wars, the most severe recession since World War II, and — now — an act of terror on a nuclear fault line.
But Martin would have been entirely happy to fly up to Chicago for a 15-second meeting with Obama that would have resulted in a paired photograph — the kind that DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones tried so hard to create during the primary.
Possibly, Martin asked. And was refused. In which case you’d have to assume that Obama’s reluctance arose from a desire to remain above partisan fray for as long as possible, while crucial legislation is at stake.
There is another possibility. And that’s the cold calculation that an appearance — on TV, in person, or in flyers — by Obama in Georgia would spark a backlash of white, Republican-leaning voters.
The evidence for that is in the auditory versions of Obama’s endorsement of Martin. In today’s technological climate, a videotape is no more difficult than a mere audio recording.
But audio can fly under the radar, piped directly into homes or played on radio airwaves that are as nearly segregated in the South as any church. This harkens back to old-style Southern politics — speaking directly but exclusively to African-Americans, so as not to upset the white majority.
The problem for Martin remains — at least until 7 p.m. this evening — the lack of a visual image that cements the Atlanta attorney to the president-elect. The vacuum was filled last night by a technically terrific AJC photograph from last night, of Martin, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, and a chorus of hip-hop stars in front of a darkened state Capitol.
The image is dramatic and challenging — but it carries none of the inviting optimism that a simple photograph of Martin and Obama might have contained. And it’s not something that the Martin campaign would choose as the definitive portrait of itself.
Photo credit: Mikki K. Harris/AJC
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In the viewfinder with Barack Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The nation’s governors — Sonny Perdue among them — met in Philadelphia with President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Obama pledged quick work on an economic recovery plan that would include tax cuts and more federal spending. He told the members of the National Governors Association he wants their advice in designing it.
As you can see, Perdue was in the frame as Obama walked to his seat at Congress Hall. That’s Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick at right.
No yet word from Georgia’s governor on what he thought about Obama’s remarks. But here’s a thought: Perdue has now been photographed with Obama more times than Democrat Jim Martin, the U.S. Senate candidate.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Renting some storage space for those dancing feet at the inaugural
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Only this week was it formally declared that the U.S. economy is in recession.
But already we have an example of high consumer confidence.
The Georgia Democratic party is $142,000 in debt, and has $75,059 in cash on hand, according to a financial statement just filed. Even so, last Wednesday, Democrats put $40,000 on some floor space at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
We’re assuming, of course, that this is related to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
Clearly, someone thinks better times are ahead.
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In PSC race, both candidates show last-minute money
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Both candidates in the runoff for the Public Service Commission have now filed their final campaign disclosure reports.
Democrat Jim Powell, though he came in first in the Nov. 4 general election, has raised roughly half as much as Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald — overall, and in the last four weeks.
According to my AJC colleague James Salzer, McDonald had raised $68,065 since the last filing deadline, Oct. 25. Overall, he’s raised $214,315 since the start of the campaign and spent $156,767.
Among the contributors in the past month were four Atlanta Gas Light executives and several other people working for companies the PSC regulates. McDonald also received $5,000 from Republican PSC Commissioner Doug Everett and received $7,200 from nine GOP state lawmakers.
Powell has raised $38,710 in the four-week runoff period, most of the cash coming from unions and Democratic groups. Overall, he’s raised $100,300. Powell has spent $89,652.
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Barr endorses Chambliss in today’s runoff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Allen Buckley, the defeated Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, has been reluctant to endorse either the Democrat or Republican in the U.S. Senate runoff.
But Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr has no qualms.
According to the web site Crazy for Liberty, Barr has endorsed Saxby Chambliss over Jim Martin in Tuesday’s runoff.
Surprised? Consider that both Chambliss and Barr — then still a Republican — were part of the Class of ’94 brought to Congress by Newt Gingrich. Barr was ousted from the U.S. House in ’02, the same year that Chambliss moved up to the Senate.
In a letter presumably distributed to Libertarians in Georgia, Barr says:
In Tuesday, December 2nd’s runoff election, we have a choice between incumbent Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin.
I urge you to vote for Saxby Chambliss.
Sen. Chambliss is closer to the Libertarian position on a number of key issues, including: shrinking the size of government, less government spending, abolishing the IRS, replacing the income tax with a consumption tax and ending the government bailouts.
And there is one other major consideration: the legislative branch of our government should not be a rubber stamp for the executive branch.
There should be a check and balance between the two. The Democrats are close to obtaining a majority of 60 members of the Senate which means the opposition party, the Republicans in this case, will have very few opportunities to have meaningful input on legislative actions.
To me, one party rule in both the legislative and executive branches is a prescription for bad public policy decisions.
Please join me in voting for Saxby Chambliss in the US Senate runoff election.
Sincerely,
Bob Barr
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Sarah Palin: November election was the result of ‘frustration, disappointment’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
7 p.m.: Walked out of the Gwinnett auditorium with Tom Baxter, late of this page, who made this observation: That the thousands who attended the Sarah Palin/Saxby Chambliss rally were the most down-scale crowd he’s seen at a GOP event this year.
In other words, these were white, young blue-collar newcomers to the process.
“They’ve got no money,” Baxter noted. Three weeks ago, the Chambliss rally that featured John McCain in Cobb County drew a smaller and substantially different crowd — still white, but older and in business suits.
At the end of the 35-mile drive back to Atlanta, the Jim Martin rally at the state Capitol — featuring U.S. Rep. John Lewis and hip-hop star Ludacris — was just shutting down. Not as large a crowd as the Palin event, but close to a thousand, who gathered in the open on a cold, blustery night. So not a bad showing.
An emphasis on youth was the one thing both events had in common on Monday. We’ll see which side turns out.
4:50 p.m.: The biggest applause lines so far for Sarah Palin have been on abortion and the Second Amendment. She spoke about the remaking of the Republican party.
“”We recognize there was frustration, disappointment by the electorate,” Palin said. Palin promised a GOP that was both conservative and oriented to the American working class.
She just finished, with everyone again standing. All in all, the speech was very similar to the one she gave this morning. Palin goes from here to the National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia, where the agenda includes a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama.
4:35 p.m.: Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and former GOP nominee for vice president, just got an extended standing ovation from a crowd of several thousand in the Gwinnett Center.
Palin said re-electing Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, and denying Democrats a 60th vote in the Senate, was essential to “maintaining the checks and balances needed for our democracy.”
She mentioned that she had been here once before — a politician always likes to say, “It’s good to be back” — when her oldest son graduated from boot camp at Fort Benning. “Georgia, you took care of my boy, now he’s taking care of you,” she said.
On Chambliss: “Saxby’s not going to be an easy yes vote, but he’s not going to be an automatic no vote,” Palin said.
4:25 p.m.: The preacher has given the invocation. Among the gathering’s sins, he proclaims, is the “political correctness” to which many Americans have succumbed.
“We have broken your laws and called it tolerance,” he said. The preacher thanked God for the nation’s biblical foundations, and for the refusal by some to “to bow to modern idols.”
State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine led the Pledge of Allegiance. U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is introducing Saxby Chambliss now.
Chambliss campaign people say 20,000 people have seen Sarah Palin — who hasn’t appeared yet — during the day. Chambliss’ re-election is necessary, Isakson said, “to stop a runaway train.”
4:10 p.m.: Still waiting on Sarah Palin and Saxby Chambliss. But close to 60 people have been standing on the dais waiting for 40 minutes or so. It’s very clear that Georgia’s Republican leadership doesn’t mind being seen with her. Quite the opposite.
You may think that strange, but quite a few Georgia Republicans were more than cautious when it came to being seen with John McCain. Even last month, after he lost.
3:46 p.m.: Just so you realize that very little is impromptu in any campaign, the Insider just spotted an aide passing out a hand-painted “Palin-Chambliss 2012” sign.
This event isn’t far from Ralph Reed’s office in Duluth. He’s here, too. Along with many state lawmakers from Cobb, north Fulton and Gwinnett counties, too. And Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren.
More hand-crafted signs. “Read my lipstick. Vote Sax.” No porcine references.
3:35 p.m.: Runoff? What runoff?
Oh, the Saxby Chambliss signs are plentiful, but it’s clear even before you walk in that this is a Sarah Palin for President event, four years ahead of its time.
Several thousand people are already here at the Gwinnett Center, a majority grouped in front into one large mosh pit.
A decidedly younger crowd than Republicans usually draw to the events like this, and the music is less twangy as well. More rock than country, and many young ladies with tiaras and beauty contest ribbons.
A Chambliss spokeswoman says the press will have to be satisfied with the stump speech that the governor of Alaska will give here — no separate press availability, where news is more likely to be made.
Three previous speeches — in Augusta, Savannah and Perry — have all been similar. The main theme that Palin has used thus far: That the national GOP needs to be rebuilt, and this is the place to start.
Dozens of people are now packing the stage. Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, a Public Service Commission candidate also in tomorrow’s runoff, has positioned himself so that any straight-on camera that captures Palin will include him in the background.
AJC photo credits: Mikki K. Harris at Martin rally, Jason Getz at Chambliss rally
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A second, last-day poll puts Chambliss ahead of Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This evening, a second, last-day poll — this one commissioned by WSB-TV — put Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss ahead of Democrat Jim Martin in the U.S. Senate runoff.
The final 12 hours of voting resume at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The WSB-TV poll, conducted by Insider/Advantage, says Chambliss leads Martin, 50 to 46 percent. The poll was conducted Sunday among 744 likely voters, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
“The race will turn on whether the tradition of Republicans returning to the polls in greater numbers than Democrats in runoff elections will prevail, or whether the almost 1 million automated phone calls by Barack Obama to African-American and longtime Democratic voters will somehow motivate Democrats to return to the polls,” said Matt Towery, CEO of Insider/Advantage.
Earlier Monday, Public Policy Polling of North Carolina issued a poll that showed Chambliss with a slightly wider margin, leading 53 to 46 percent. See the details here.
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Poll: Chambliss with ‘solid’ lead, but…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Public Policy Polling of North Carolina has released a final poll of the U.S. Senate runoff, giving Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss a “solid” 53 percent lead over Democrat Jim Martin, who weighs in at 46 percent.
But PPP also attaches a caveat.
The survey of 1,276 likely voters was conducted Nov. 29 and 30, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.7 percent.
Here are two cogent paragraphs from the PPP analysis:
Chambliss is up 71-28 on Jim Martin with whites. For Martin to win the runoff with that performance, the electorate would have to be 34% African American. Given that it was only 30% for the general election with Barack Obama at the top of the ballot and that early voting was less than 23% black, that does not seem particularly likely….
Martin leads with voters under 45, but trails 68-31 with voters over 65. Senior citizens are the most reliable group of voters and likely to make up a larger portion of the electorate than they did on November 4th for this comparatively low interest election. That’s just one more hurdle to climb for the Democratic challenger.
But here’s a statement that Tom Jensen, communications director for PPP, posted on the firm’s blog, noting the difficulty of polling a post-holiday runoff:
So we have data from the poll this weekend suggesting black turnout could be as high as 33-34% and turnout from early voting suggesting it could be as low as 23-24%.
Our poll the previous weekend, not over the holiday, looked like blacks would make up 27-29% of the electorate and we’re sticking with that for our projection.
But because we’ve seen evidence to the contrary in either direction, really nothing between a 2-point Martin victory and a 16-point Chambliss victory would absolutely shock me. That’s just the nature of the uncertainly with an election like this.
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Congratulations. It’s a recession
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The National Bureau of Economic Research just pronounced the United States economy to be in recession, and has been for about a year.
Read the bureau’s entire statement here. But this is the gist:
The committee identified December 2007 as the peak month, after determining that the subsequent decline in economic activity was large enough to qualify as a recession.
Payroll employment, the number of filled jobs in the economy based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ large survey of employers, reached a peak in December 2007 and has declined in every month since then.
An alternative measure of employment, measured by the BLS’s household survey, reached a peak in November 2007, declined early in 2008, expanded temporarily in April to a level below its November 2007 peak, and has declined in every month since April 2008.
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Palin in 2012: So far, a GOP star without a center
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin just finished her first stop in Georgia, with a sizeable rally in Augusta.
So says my AJC colleague Jim Tharpe, who’s on the ground there:
Palin cast the race Monday as the first step for Republicans to rebuild their party. “It takes rebuilding, and I say, let that begin here in Georgia tomorrow,” Palin said.
Obviously, the national media is paying more attention to Palin than to Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, who faces Democrat Jim Martin in the U.S. Senate runoff.
Here’s a take on 2012 from Politico:
Palin is atop a field of ten Republicans in a hypothetical 2012 matchup, including 2008 primary candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, according to a recent Gallup poll of Republican voters.
Fully two thirds of Republicans, including Republican-leaning independents, want Palin to run for president in 2012, twice as many as back Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has already made one post-election visit to Iowa, and about 20 points ahead of former Speaker Newt Gingrich.
But even as Palin exploded over a few weeks from relative obscurity to a bigger star within the party than its own presidential nominee, Democrats and independents quickly soured on her, she became one of the most divisive figures in politics.
In mid-November, Gallup found that only 45 percent of Americans hoped Palin is “a major national political figure for many years to come.” About three-quarters of Republicans hoped so, three-quarters of Democrats hoped not, as did 53 percent of independents.
Exit polls also showed that 64 percent of independents viewed Palin as unqualified to be president, with nine of ten Democrats and one in four Republicans agreeing.
“Palin’s image, being the way it is for independents, puts her at a distinct disadvantage from a general election standpoint,” said Tony Fabrizio, a veteran GOP strategist. “But it wouldn’t be the first time the hard-core base ran off the cliff.”
The GOP intra-party debate over Palin has become a proxy for the larger question of her party’s future, and conservative chieftains like Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land fear that attacks on Palin are at times veiled swipes at the party base.
“It would be a mistake to say that social conservatives have all their hopes and dreams vested in Sarah Palin,” Land said, but he added Palin “does have the one thing you can’t coach, charisma,” and continues to have “star power” with conservatives.
She has less, though, among moderates even in her own party. Among moderate and liberal Republicans, Palin dropped about 20 points, falling behind Romney as the group’s preferred 2012 nominee.
Conservatives still dominate the GOP primary process, and in key primary states like Iowa and South Carolina about six in ten GOP voters are also white evangelicals, who overwhelmingly support Palin.
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