We solved one half of the Washington Waiting Game last night, as U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan announced the conditions under which he would agree to be House speaker.
The longer, pathos-driven wait for Joe Biden's presidential intentions continues. The vice president offered this nugget Tuesday as he tried to repair history with regard to the Osama bin Laden raid,
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On Tuesday, Mr. Biden's evolution continued. Before an audience at George Washington University, Mr. Biden said he never gave Mr. Obama definitive advice on controversial issues in front of other officials, mindful that he did not want the rest of the team to see a difference between his opinion and that of the president. With others around them, Mr. Biden said he suggested one more pass over the Abbottabad compound with an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone.
After the meeting in the Situation Room, though, Mr. Biden said he privately gave the president his real view. "As we walked out of the room and went upstairs, I told him my opinion, that I said that I thought he should go but to follow his own instincts," Mr. Biden said Tuesday.
This is important because Hillary Clinton's push in favor of the raid is well known.
We've written before about how Biden would have a difficult time cracking through in Georgia, as Clinton has locked down the state's Democratic establishment in her corner. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, reiterated his support for Clinton in a Tuesday evening chat -- and advised Biden not to run:
"I hate to see the race clouded by a Biden candidacy and I think it's Hillary's time. That's pretty much the size of it. If Biden gets in, it will be like he's going against the tide, and I think the tide is moving with Hillary. So I would personally hate to see Joe get in and row against the tide. That's just my personal opinion. I admire him and I like him, but it just doesn't feel like it's his time."
Also in Washington on Tuesday night, former President Jimmy Carter cracked a few jokes at a ballroom gala to honor Walter Mondale, his former vice president. The current vice president, Joe Biden, also took to the stage to wax eloquent about the 91-year-old former president and his battle with cancer.
"You possess so much grace," Biden said. "The way you have dealt with every difficult moment in your life — including now — is a model to which I think few people can compare."
Carter is unaligned in the 2016 Democratic presidential contest. In 2008, son Jack Carter was a Biden supporter.
However, his son – and the former president's grandson, Jason Carter, now sits on the steering committee for Hillary Clinton's campaign in Georgia
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Georgia is the latest state to put the screws to those controversial daily fantasy sports sites. From InsiderAdvantage:
InsiderAdvantage obtained a copy of the Sept. 23 letter written by Georgia Lottery Corp. senior vice president and general counsel Joseph J. Kim to both companies which declares that "various Georgia criminal statutes appear to be implicated because fantasy sports clearly fall within the state law definition of 'bet.'" Kim writes that under state criminal statutes "bet" means an agreement that, dependent upon chance even though accompanied by some skill, one stands to win something of value.
There are obvious implications here for the forthcoming casino debate. FanDuel and DraftKings might want to invest in some lobbyists.
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One less candidate is in the running to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Ronald Ramsey.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp's office disqualified Angela Moore on Tuesday after a judge found that she had not been a resident of the DeKalb County district for at least a year. That leaves nine other candidates battling for the seat once held by Ramsey, who was appointed in July to a DeKalb state court judgeship.
Moore, a Lithonia publicist, ran previous unsuccessful campaigns for Secretary of State in 2006 and 2010 and was defeated in the Democratic primary for Ramsey's Senate seat in 2008.
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A prime coastal tract slated for commercial development is now in state hands. The Georgia Board of Natural Resources voted to pay $3.8 million to acquire 4,100 acres of land along the Altamaha River in McIntosh County, and that has green groups rejoicing.
The Brunswick News reports that Altamaha Riverkeeper Jen Hilburn said the land will be set aside for public hunting and fishing and will act as a buffer area for gopher tortoises. From the report:
The land in McIntosh County is one of the last substantial tracts suitable for commercial development, but it will now become part of the adjacent Altamaha Wildlife Management Area, she said.
"This is exciting as this demonstrates how all groups can work together to help protect our natural resources," she said.
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Count this among the things you didn't expect to read this morning. From the Washington Post:
Tuesday night, in a dramatic vote, Ole Miss student legislators moved to distance themselves from their state's past and present. The school's student senate approved a resolution asking the university to stop flying the Mississippi state flag, which includes a Confederate design, on campus grounds. And, though the resolution is non-binding, it puts a question to university officials much of the country has struggled with after a white supremacist allegedly killed nine churchgoers in Columbia, S.C., last summer: Is it still okay to embrace the stars and bars?
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Call it the Medicaid expansion roadshow. The Georgia House Democratic Caucus will hold a town hall meeting in Columbus next Wednesday to push state leaders to expand the program.
More than 300,000 uninsured Georgians could be eligible for coverage through the expansion. Gov. Nathan Deal has long argued that it would be too costly in the long run to expand the program. He signed legislation last year that gave the state Legislature - whose Republican leaders are also wary of the move - the final say over the expansion.
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Want a chance to ask Newt Gingrich in person if he wants to become the House Speaker again? He'll be in town for three events next week to sign his new novel called "Duplicity." He'll be at the City Club of Buckhead the morning of Oct. 27 and the Foxtale Book Shop in Woodstock that Tuesday evening. Then on Oct. 28, he'll spend the day at Fort Benning.
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