Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2009 > January > 12
Monday, January 12, 2009
Because Sarah Palin would look so darn cute in an Atlanta Braves cap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 2012 Republican National Convention Bid Committee held a first meeting over the weekend — at the downtown law offices of McKenna, Long & Aldridge.
Chairman Maria Strollo Zack, a state Capitol lobbyist and GOP activist, said about 50 people showed — some party regulars, some from the business community. Coca Cola had a representative there, as did the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Selection of the site of the 2012 GOP convention is on a timeline of about 18 months. Much will depend on who is elected chairman of the Republican National Committee next week.
Two candidates for governor, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, have ponied up funds from their campaign treasuries to get the effort rolling, Zack said.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment |
The changing faces of the presidency, from Washington to Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Andrew Malcolm over at Top of the Ticket, the L.A. Times political blog, points to a visually arresting YouTube clip made up of the morphing faces of 44 U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Barack Obama.
Writes Malcolm:
It was, as you may have noticed in early vintage photographs, very unfashionable to smile, even for politicians. Everybody was supposed to look grim and ever so 19th century.
So it’s not until Jimmy Carter here in 1977 that we get that trademark cheesy grin. And from him on, they’ve all got smiles of one kind or another right up to the Change Maker himself, No. 44.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Lines in the Georgia Power battle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Was chatting with David Shafer (R-Duluth) after the first session of the state Senate. Shafer is chairman of the regulated industries committee, which will handle the Georgia Power bill to allow it to charge ratepayers as they build two new nuclear plants.
As we talked, state Sen. Doug Stoner (D-Smyrna) brushed passed. Shafer snagged him and asked if Democrats had taken a position on the bill.
Stoner said there was no caucus position, but he was personally leaning against it. The AARP opposes it, of course. But Lockheed, the largest private employer in Cobb County, is also “unhappy” with the measure. And so, said Stoner, is the Georgia Traditional Manufacturers Association, which represents what’s left of the state’s textile industry.
In other words, it appears we have some differences between Georgia Power and at least a few of its largest customers.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
In ‘09 race for Atlanta mayor, Norwood tops Reed in overall fund-raising — but not in ready cash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Surprise. It’s not state Sen. Kasim Reed who’s raised the most money for the 2009 race for mayor of Atlanta.
It’s Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who’s reporting a total $510,237 raised last year.
But Reed has the most cash on hand, with $328,129. Norwood reports $275,172.
Reed’s list of contributors, posted Saturday, can be found here. Norwood’s are here and here.
Norwood required two PDFs, because she lists everyone. There were 584 who gave $250 or less, 400 who gave $100 or less, 239 gave $50 or less, and 32 donations of $5.
Norwood appears ready to make campaign contributions an issue in the race, describing herself as “someone not playing the old city hall fund-raising game.”
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment |
Did Sunday sales of beer and wine just get a green light?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Doings in the first few minutes of the 2009 session of the Legislature:
— One of the bigger surprises of the day comes from the lobbying field. The GOP team of Clint Austin, Tony Simon and Sam Choate has been hired to help push through legislation to permit communities to hold referendums on Sunday sales of alcohol.
The Georgia Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores, is footing the bill.
Both Simon and Choate are extremely close to House Speaker Glenn Richardson. Austin was essential to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in his defeat of Ralph Reed in 2006. The rules of lobbying are this:
Your support of a cause doesn’t necessarily constitute an endorsement by your close friends in the Legislature. But a smart lobbyist won’t take positions that would make his lawmaker friends angry.
One must assume that there’s a green light on the bill. Legislators are being guided to the signers of last year’s measure, which failed, to ask whether they paid for their brazenness at the polls in November. So far as is known, no one was harmed.
— House Democrats declined to offer a candidate to challenge Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), who was quickly elected by acclamation to a third term. House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) seconded the nomination.
“Just as our president elect is putting the country’s welfare ahead of partisan politics,” Porter said House Democrats would avoid unnecessary division.
Said Porter in a formal statement issued afterwards:
“This is not an endorsement of their candidate, rather, it is a recognition of the urgency and seriousness of this year’s session. We want to show the people of this state that, just as the incoming administration in Washington is putting the country’s welfare ahead of partisan politics, we also put the wellbeing of Georgia first.
“In the spirit of a true change from the partisan rancor that cripples our government, we’re ready to move away from partisanship and towards real solutions for Georgia’s fiscal problems.”
Likewise, Porter deferred on the election of the Speaker pro tem, clearing the way for Mark Burkhalter, the Republican from north Fulton County.
— Former state senator Brian Kemp, a Republican from Athens, was watching one of the lobby TVs in the Capitol. With Secretary of State Karen Handel’s confirmation that she’s running for governor, Kemp had time to confirm that he’ll be a candidate to replace her.
— We’re also picking up hints that at least one Republican is considering a primary challenge to state School Superintendent Kathy Cox, who — with her home-builder husband — filed for personal bankruptcy late last year.
— The state House adopted rules that included a ban on cell phone use on the floor. You can still text members. E-mail is allowed.
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
