In today's print column, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson talks of his potential Democratic rival, the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the difference between anger and persistence. A taste:
Left out of today’s column for space reasons were Isakson’s comments on a number of other issues, including the Iran nuclear deal:
"I'm not for passing anything where I can't read what's in it. I've never heard of it before."
The senator said that the way the deal is structured – as an agreement rather than a treaty triggering the constitutional advise-and-consent clause, he’s not sure Republicans will be able to block it.
But it was Isakson's remarks on federal funding for Planned Parenthood that need to be read in the context of those paragraphs at the top of this post. Said Isakson:
"It's not about taking money away from women's health. It's about the issues that came out of videos of Planned Parenthood."
The natural follow-up question was whether he was willing to shut down the federal government if Democrats in the Senate successfully block those efforts to shift funding in an all-important budget bill in October. Several GOP presidential candidates have said they would support such a move. But not Isakson:
"I think we work toward solving the problem, not just threatening what we're going to do.
"In fact, to tell you the truth, only one good thing has ever come out of shutting the government down. That's me. Newt Gingrich did it in 1998, lost his speakership, and I took his place."
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While we're on the topic of Planned Parenthood, there's also this development, reported by our AJC colleague Virginia Anderson:
The commissioner of the Department Public Health, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, told Gov. Nathan Deal in a letter Wednesday that her agency had completed the inquiry that Deal ordered last month after videotapes surfaced of national Planned Parenthood officials talking about harvesting fetal remains.
Fitzgerald wrote: "As you know, Georgia law requires that licensed abortion clinics (or a medical disposal service provider with whom they have contracted) to bury or cremate fetal remains following the termination of a pregnancy. DNA or genetic testing can and does take place in certain cases, such as if a rape has occurred or there was an abnormality in the pregnancy."
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Over at RedState.com, Erick Erickson still isn't sorry he rescinded Donald Trump's invitation to last weekend's bash in Atlanta. But he does confess that he ought to have invited retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson:
Thursday night on that debate stage in Cleveland I realized my impressions of Carson were off. He was and is a legitimate contender. His closing at the debate was one of the best closings I've seen in a debate. He did not have the depth as some of the others on the issues, but showed he has been spending his time learning.
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The gang at Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball has just expanded the American political vocabulary:
Donald Trump is so special that we've created a category (and perhaps a word) just for him in our Republican presidential rankings: "The Un-Nominatable Frontrunner."
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is dispatching his dad to keep drumming up votes in SEC Primary country. Rafael Cruz, who fled from Cuba at age 18 and has been a big part of his son's GOP presidential campaign, will appear Aug. 19 at the Tannery Row Ale House in Buford.
There's a $35 "VIP reception" before the formal program.
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Trevor Williams at Global Atlanta has a crystalized take on Georgia's efforts to attract Chinese investment:
The state earlier this year declined to renew the contract of Seth Jacobs, its former investment representative in the city of Qingdao. In recent weeks, the department brought in John Ling, the man behind South Carolina's successful recruitment of Chinese manufacturing investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade.
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The shakeup in Gov. Deal's office continues. David Werner, his top legislative liaison, has already replaced Bart Gobeil as chief operating officer. And Jen Talaber, Deal's campaign spokeswoman, is succeeding the departing Brian Robinson.
The domino effect means Julia Ayers, long a member of Deal's legislative affairs team, replaces Werner as the deputy chief of staff for legislative and external affairs. And Katie Childers will replace Erin Hames, the office's top policy adviser, who is departing for private practice.
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Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and some of his out-of-office colleagues are launching television ads against the Iran nuclear deal:
In an interview, Michael Pregent, executive director of Veterans Against the Deal, said his group's efforts would get a boost from the new partnership. He said his effort began in response to criticisms from proponents of the deal who have called some who are opposed to it "warmongers."
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Some beer-flavored broadsides are coming from up the road in North Carolina, where they are celebrating an explosion of the craft beer industry in the 10 years since lifting the alcohol cap on beer.
The big difference between North Carolina and Georgia, the Charlotte Observer reports, is the Peach State's food mandate:
Sean Wilson thinks a big part is a population distribution that's specific to North Carolina.
"When you think of Georgia, you think of Atlanta, Athens, maybe Macon. But after that, there's a drop-off in the dense population centers. It doesn't have the network of midsize cities connected by the good roads of North Carolina."
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