In every presidential cycle, someone raises the prospect of a brokered nominating convention. Only rarely does such talk come from the ranking staffer of a candidate. From an Associated Press report filed out of Beaufort, S.C.:
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The Republican presidential campaign of Donald Trump says this morning that it has added Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, a member of the Public Service Commission, to its list of Georgia supporters. McDonald is the first statewide office-holder to sign up with The Donald.
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You could call it an endorsement by default. Before presidential candidates began haunting metro Atlanta fundraisers, Gov. Nathan Deal staked his support on a quartet of fellow chief executives: New Jersey's Chris Christie, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Arkansas' Mike Huckabee and Florida's Jeb Bush.
One by one, the first three members of the quad-dorsement dropped out, with Christie the latest to abandon a presidential bid Wednesday after his dismal New Hampshire showing.
That leaves only Bush, making something of a last stand himself in South Carolina this week. If he survives until the Georgia contest on March 1, he’ll be able to count Deal in an alliance with other establishment figures that includes Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Attorney General Sam Olens.
We're told that our governor is not fond of the only other governor in the GOP race, John Kasich of Ohio. Maybe it's about that Medicaid expansion thing.
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The AP photo below features Flint School District Superintendent Bilal Kareem Tawwab, center, and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, left, at a congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. But note the figure behind them. That's former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin – who is something of an expert on infrastructure. She was there, in part, as a representative of the U.S. Conference of Mayors:
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Gov. Nathan Deal's staff took notice when a certain state senator running for Congress ducked out of a state Senate budget vote.
Chris Riley, Deal's chief of staff, noted that state Sen. Mike Crane, who is a subcommittee chair on the budget-writing committee, "walks on budget vote after sitting on Senate floor during debate. Really?"
Two other Deal allies chimed in with some heavy snark after the Senate approved the spending plan with few changes.
"Wait, Chris, you must be mistaken. Are you saying a principled outsider is playing 'politics as usual'?" tweeted Brian Robinson, the governor's former top spokesman. His successor, Jen Talaber, termed it a "real profile in courage."
Crane is running for the ultra-conservative U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.
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For the junkiest of political junkies, Republican analyst Todd Rehm compiled cross tabs of the early voting in Georgia so far. The county with the most interest was the GOP stronghold of Cobb, followed by bastions of Fulton and Gwinnett. Check out the whole list here.
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Earlier this week, we told you that Cathy Woolard reports raising $145,745 in her 2017 bid for mayor of Atlanta. She has $100,738 in cash on hand.
But there's another pile of money that merits attention. It belongs to state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, who has raised $102,931 over the last six months and has $141,815 on hand.
We asked Fort if this were a sign that he has a mayoral race in his future. He said he wasn’t prepared to say – but that the sum gives him great confidence in his fund-raising abilities.
Donors include many Democratic stalwarts. The law firm of former Gov. Roy Barnes and the family of Barnes’ former chief of staff, Bobby Kahn, account for $9,000 of the total. Other donors include former congressman Buddy Darden, former Georgia Democratic party chair David Worley, and former Georgia Pacific CEO Pete Correll.
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After watching this clip of Wednesday's rally at the state Capitol, provided by Better Georgia, we are prepared to say that the Rev. Franklin Graham and Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts are not on good terms:
Click here for details of the event from our AJC colleagues Jeremy Redmon and Kristina Torres.
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About that big lunkhead who held you upside down over the toilet in middle school. Turns out he was doing you a favor. Creative Loafing spotted this snippet of dialogue from state Rep. Tom Weldon, R-Ringold:
"Those who get bullied usually are the ones that end up doing well on down the road in life."
Weldon’s remark came during a failed attempt to attach LGBT protections to HB 849, which would forbid other forms of discrimination by businesses engaged in commerce with the public.
Who knew Nietzsche had such a big fan in the Legislature?
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