Political Insider

A blog about Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Your daily jolt: Jack Kingston promises no 'laugh lines for Jay Leno'

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, concluding a series of appearances announcing his entry into the U.S. Senate race, was looser – and at his most candid – when he appeared before the home folks in Savannah on Thursday. From Russ Bynum and the Associated Press: "We need common sense government," Rep. ...

Your daily jolt: Nikki Haley stands up -- silently -- for Mark Sanford

Charleston, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley appeared at a high end fundraiser with predecessor Mark Sanford, in an attempt to give a boost to his shaky bid to return to Congress. But she didn’t want to talk about her last-minute assistance. From this morning’s Post and Courier: Haley ...

Jack Kingston declares for U.S. Senate -- and Karen Handel says, 'Don't forget me'

My AJC colleague Greg Bluestein just busted the news of U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston’s entry into the 2014 Republican race for Senate: U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston has a message for his conservative challengers for an open Senate seat: He won't be outflanked on the right. In announcing Wednesday he's joining ...

Your daily jolt: 'Argentina' and 'Nancy Pelosi' become S.C. shorthand

Charleston, S.C. – The District 1 congressional race between Elizabeth Colbert Busch and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has reached a fever pitch, with auxiliary armies on both sides dipping in. House Majority PAC, a Democratic super-fund, on Tuesday came out with a new TV ad to make sure ...

Nathan Deal on the inmates in his midst

Gov. Nathan Deal's speech at Tuesday's Atlanta Press Club event seemed a fitting place for the governor to put his signature on the ethics overhaul bill. After all, he's made it clear he'll sign the legislation, despite concerns about its shortcomings, and his aides often joke about the intense press ...

Your daily jolt: Colbert Busch hammers Sanford on port funding

It’s easy to take for granted the bipartisan partnership that has developed between Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed over the pursuit of massive federal funding for the Port of Savannah – until you look one state over. The dredging of the Port of Charleston, and Mark Sanford’s ...

Your daily jolt: Fur begins to fly in GOP chairmanship race

With less than a month left before the state GOP convention in Athens, the race for chairman has begun to heat up. From Martha Zoller’s Zpolitics.com account of a Saturday debate in Gwinnett County: B. J. Van Gundy was asked by former State Senator Seth Harp about his involvement in ...

Mayor Anthony Foxx addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., last September. President Barack Obama on Monday will nominate Foxx as his new transportation secretary, a White House official said Sunday. AP/J. Scott Applewhite

Good news for Georgia: Obama to tap mayor of Charlotte for transportation secretary

It may not be immediately apparent, but there’s some very good news for Georgia in this. From the Charlotte Observer: President Barack Obama will tap Charlotte, N.C., mayor Anthony Foxx as the new secretary of transportation on Monday, a White House official said Sunday, who asked not to be named ...

Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in his office in Baltimore, Md., in March. With a single speech delivered while President Barack Obama looked stonily on, Carson was lofted into the conservative firmament as its newest star. Carson was in Atlanta on Thursday.

Ben Carson and second thoughts on a hot GOP commodity

In February, when neurosurgeon Ben Carson publicly lectured a stone-faced President Barack Obama on health care reform, the federal debt, and the biblical roots of the flat tax, Republicans thought they had witnessed the Second Coming. Following his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, Carson – an African-American and devout ...

Hank Johnson: ‘Imagine a world without balloons’

Hank Johnson, D-Deadpan, who once got into trouble for failing to crack a smile when he asked if an abundance of U.S. troops might cause the island of Guam to capsize, is at it again. From the Washington Times: Rep. Hank Johnson took to the House floor “like a kid ...

Your daily jolt: ‘Common Core’ no federal power grab, says Nathan Deal

Gov. Nathan Deal on Thursday decided he won’t be joining a Republican stampede away from what’s called Common Core State Standards in education. Elements in the Georgia GOP, including many state lawmakers, have begun referring to the loosely coordinated effort among states to boost class standards as an attempt to ...

Ron Paul endorses Paul Broun for Senate

WASHINGTON -- Paul Broun has rushed to embrace the Ron Paul-inspired libertarian/Constitutionalist wing of the Republican Party in his Congressional career and in his race for Senate. He now does so with express written consent from the man himself. This just in: The Broun for Senate campaign today released the ...

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama watch as former first lady Barbara Bush gives the thumbs up to guests during the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Thursday in Dallas. AP/David J. Phillip

Your daily jolt: ‘We’ve had enough Bushes,’ says Barbara Bush

What’s a young man to do when Mom says no and Dad says yes? From the Associated Press: Amid the celebration surrounding the opening of son George W. Bush's presidential library, former first lady Barbara Bush is brushing aside talk of a Jeb Bush run for the White House. Appearing in ...

Behind the feud GRTL has picked with David Ralston

Georgia Right to Life, the state’s most aggressive anti-abortion organization, has settled on a single, unlikely villain. He is House Speaker David Ralston, a bona fide Republican and arguably the second most powerful man in the state Capitol. Ralston and GRTL have clashed before, and there are those who might ...

Saxby Chambliss: Russia contacted U.S. twice about Boston bomber

The skinny from U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, via the Associated Press: WASHINGTON — Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss says the Russians contacted the U.S. twice about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the men authorities say was behind the Boston Marathon attacks. Chambliss, of Georgia, says the U.S. was contacted once in March ...

Your daily jolt: Fellow Dems condemn Mike Berlon’s primary-clearing plans

On Monday, we told you of the controversial Democratic plan to clear the field for uncontested primaries for U.S. Senate and perhaps governor in 2014. On Tuesday, we learned just how hard that might be. An Atlanta Press Club event on the future of the Democratic Party took a testy ...

Your daily jolt: Citing clash with Legislature, ratings agency downgrades Fulton bonds

Fitch Ratings, an agency that keeps an eye on the finances of local governments, has downgraded Fulton County's credit rating, citing legislation passed this session by the General Assembly intended to restrict the county government’s access to property tax revenue. The downgrade will add to the cost of borrowing by ...

Mark Sanford bemoans his ‘rough week’

There are a couple things wrong with former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s lengthy Sunday newspaper ad intended to rescue his bid to return to Congress. Let us take the first sentence from the Charleston Post and Courier version: “It’s been a rough week, and so I wanted to address both ...

Your daily jolt: Barry Loudermilk makes it a trio in GOP's 11th District race

Over the weekend, at the district convention in Marietta, state Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, formally jumped into the race for the 11th District to replace U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey in Congress. Loudermilk joins state Rep. Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, and former congressman Bob Barr in the contest. Tricia Pridemore remains a ...

Universities, campus carry and the ‘active shooter’ scenario

Now that the Washington version is over, it’s time to dip back into a gun debate in which you might have more invested — the one in Georgia. Before state lawmakers left Atlanta last month, they preserved a bill in a vat of amber — ready to be taken out ...

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Archives: 2013