In political journalism, we always assume that a candidate is always in control of the schedule, and thus is always where he or she wants to be – or needs to be.
Hillary Clinton was supposed to be in Atlanta today, riffing on whatever came out of last night’s GOP presidential debate on CNN. But she cancelled two weeks ago. Meaning there was some place that ranked higher than a March 1 primary state.
Now we know. From the Boston Herald:
"When we talked about this months ago, we were hoping for a good contested primary. And that's what we're going to have," said Dave Pollak, Democratic committee chair in Belknap County, where the former secretary of state is scheduled to host a substance abuse forum at a Laconia Boys & Girls Club.
Perhaps not by coincidence, Clinton will have a surrogate in Atlanta today. Daughter Chelsea Clinton will meet with students at Atlanta Public Schools' M.L. King Middle School to share her new book, "It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going."
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A sign that Georgia Democrats are still sounding out options: State Sen. Curt Thompson is hosting a town hall meeting this weekend to hear from local Bernie Sanders supporters.
We asked him if he were testing the waters. Thompson said he remains a Hillary Clinton supporter.
But, he added, "I think it is only fair to also give Bernie Sanders volunteers an opportunity to air their opinions and his platform at my monthly non-partisan town hall."
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U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will host a free meet-and-greet in Atlanta on Monday, but first you'll need to click here to RSVP. The 10:15 a.m. event is at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel and Conference Center.
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It looks like Donald Trump will not go on another spree against debate moderators.
Following Wednesday night's CNN debate -- check out the full premium edition tome here -- Trump was asked about how the moderators did. You may recall his crusade against Fox News' Megyn Kelly after the first tussle, which began in the post-debate spin room.
But he told Chris Cuomo: "They were very professional. CNN did a very good job."
At the very least, it was a three-hour test of endurance for all involved.
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On our subscription site, the AJC's Arielle Kass has more fallout on that missive sent out this week by Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway, denouncing police critics as "domestic terrorists with an agenda." It includes this:
…His purpose in writing, Conway said, was to encourage people to treat officers better. If someone isn't happy with their treatment, he said, the place to argue that is in a courtroom and not on the street.
Over at PeachPundit, George Chidi has a word of friendly criticism for the Gwinnett sheriff:
But it's real. The numbers bear it out.
The key problem, in my view, is that law enforcement organizations meet these external critiques with less introspection and soul-searching than with deep defensiveness. The power of police ultimately rests with the public's respect for its authority. The Black Lives Matter movement is a challenge to that authority, in a sense — it challenges police judgment in matters of life and death. I understand how threatening that might be.
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Gov. Nathan Deal is about to head off for a weeklong European adventure. The Republican will leave Saturday evening for Germany for his second trade mission of the year. The first was a week-long visit to Brazil earlier this summer.
This time around, he's going with a much smaller group rather than taking a delegation of dozens of business and government leaders.
He plans to make "thank you" calls to Mercedes and Porsche, which both recently relocated their corporate headquarters in metro Atlanta. And he'll meet with unnamed business prospects in Stuttgart and Munich.
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The fight continues over whether to station a new State Department training facility in Brunswick, along with federal law enforcement training, or build a new complex in Virginia. We told you about the dispute in June on the premium site. Now here's the latest from the Associated Press:
Sending all the agents to Georgia instead of Virginia could cost U.S. taxpayers up to $736 million more over the next 50 years, according to the report. It also criticized the Georgia cost estimate for not being comprehensive, fully documented, accurate or credible.
You can read the full report here. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, who represents the area and has advocated that the State Department house the training in Glynco, takes issue with GAO. The rebuttal from Carter spokeswoman Mary Carpenter:
"Next, the report states that the reason for unreliability of the FLETC cost analysis was due to the State Department's failure to cooperate by not providing FLETC with the full scope of training needed. If the State Department didn't tell them what they needed, how could they provide accurate information?
"Finally, the GAO report says that the FLETC cost estimate was not fully comprehensive because FLETC was given only sixty days to complete their estimates. The State Department has had since 2008 to provide an analysis of Fort Pickett."
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Somehow, it always helps to have a local ex-congressman on your side. From the Savannah Morning News:
CAT board members on Tuesday unanimously agreed to award a contract and allow CEO Chad Reese to negotiate costs with Washington-based Squire Patton Boggs to advocate on the transit system's behalf at the federal level.
Earlier this year, Squire Patton Boggs announced it had hired Jack Kingston, former representative of Georgia's 1st Congressional District. Kingston made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014 after serving 22 years in the House.
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U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, has introduce legislation that would remove the federal Environmental Protection Agency's immunity from liability when it causes damage at clean-up sites. From the press release:
"The lack of accountability and responsibility shown by the EPA in response to their own disasters is disgraceful," stated Westmoreland. "How are the American people supposed to trust a government agency charged with protecting our environment whey they instead only cause more damage? We can't. If a private company were responsible, there is no doubt the EPA would fine them out of house and home, and all the way to their graves."
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