Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will swing by the state Capitol today for a quick meet-and-greet with lawmakers, augmenting a larger gathering that was shifted from Georgia State University to Atlanta City Hall late last night.
We're still trying to figure out whether Clinton's Capitol appearance will come before or after her 12:45 p.m. gig at City Hall.
A couple paragraphs from last night's post, on what may be at the heart of the shift toward City Hall, a venue that can be more tightly controlled:
The reason why it's moving is less clear. Could it be because of what happened earlier Thursday in South Carolina? At a fund-raiser in Charleston, a protester called on Clinton to explain, why she once "called black youth 'superpredators,'" just two days before Saturday's Palmetto State primary and less than a week before Georgia's March 1 primary.
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Our AJC colleague Shannon McCaffrey sends this post-debate take from Houston:
Trump, who was under assault most of the night from a Marco Rubio-Ted Cruz tag team, shrugged it off.
"They're so far behind they really had no choice," Trump said as he made his way through a throng of reporters.
Georgia is one of 12 states set to vote Tuesday and Trump's team was looking confident Thursday night.
"I think Mr. Trump is going to do very well down South," the billionaire's spokeswoman Katrina Pierson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Hopefully it'll be a a clean sweep."
Trump isn't taking anything for granted though. On Monday he'll headline a rally in Valdosta, in South Georgia.
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Sometimes it's good to know what the folks back home are saying about your law-making. From the Valdosta Daily Times:
"What possible good could it be to allow anyone to carry a gun on university property?" Childress said Tuesday. "It's outrageous."
The Valdosta police chief said he has expressed his displeasure with the legislation to the state police chiefs association.
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While Georgia lawmakers are engaged in a silly argument over whether a dog found at a shelter or between the hedges should be the official state dog, Tennessee legislators show how it's done. From the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
The Rutherford County-made .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle now takes its place alongside state symbols like the tomato as Tennessee's official fruit, the cave salamander as the state amphibian and the square dance as the state folk dance.
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich picked up a few more Georgia endorsements overnight:
State Rep. David Knight
State Rep. John Meadows
State Rep. John Deffenbaugh
Fulton County Commissioner Lee Morris
Sandy Springs Mayor Pro Tempore Tippy DeJulio
Sandy Springs City Councilman Andy Baumon
Sandy Springs City Councilman Ken Dishman
Vice President of the Bibb County Board of Elections Jason Downey
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Donald Trump garnered headlines and supporters for his tough stance on immigration, but his rhetoric has also turned off many Hispanic voters. A new Washington Post-Univision News poll of Hispanic voters estimated that 80 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the New York real estate mogul, including more than 7 in 10 respondents who see him as "very unfavorable."
That’s a significantly higher unfavorability rate than his Republican opponents. Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father is Cuban, netted a 44 percent unfavorability score, compared to Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio’s 37 percent.
The same poll found that more than 60 percent of Hispanic voters view Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders favorably, at 67 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The survey also finds Clinton holding a 2-1 lead over Sanders among Hispanic Democrats in the lead-up to Super Tuesday.
Rubio received the most support from Hispanics planning to vote in the Republican primary, with more than half saying he would be their first or second choice. Here's more from the Washington Post:
"Should Trump become the Republican nominee, his current low standing among Hispanic voters could jeopardize the party's hopes of winning the general election in November. In current matchups with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, Trump scores worse among Hispanics than any of the three other leading Republican candidates — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich."
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Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval pulled himself out of the running for Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court seat. Media reports Wednesday said the Obama administration was considering the Republican governor for the nomination.
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