See update below: If you follow this blog, you know that in August, a citizen journalist was ousted from a GOP rally held at the privately owned Burt's Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville. Much of the GOP ticket was there, including Attorney General Sam Olens, who was the only one who objected to the woman's treatment.
Over the weekend, the following was posted on the Burt's Farm page on Facebook:
Maybe Tuesday we can start by sending a message to Sam Olens and he can return to his home in Miami Florida.
We’ll let you decide if that last sentence is an unsubtle reference to Olens’ religion. He was born in Miami, and raised in New Jersey. But his home is in east Cobb County.
Olens faces Democrat Greg Hecht in today's balloting.
Update begins here: This afternoon, we received a note on this matter from former Gov. Roy Barnes, which we offer up in its entirety:
Take it from someone who has been heckled and flagged relentlessly -- dissenters have the right to speak their mind, and surely they have the right to be present when views with which they disagree are discussed. To suppress someone who is not even disrupting an event is contrary to who we are as a people and the principles for which we stand.
Further, the statement about Sam going back to Miami is surely a code word that says Sam is Jewish.
Sam Olens did the right thing and the statement from Burt's Farms is outrageous. Neither Democrat nor Republican should be silent about this shameful position when Sam took the correct course.
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Georgia's U.S. Senate candidates are not hedging their bets. Neither candidate raised a dime earmarked for the general election runoff, according to a deeper look at FEC filings as of Oct. 15.
Candidates can carry over their bankrolls if they do not spend them all, but for donors who have already given the maximum, the runoff would be another chance to ante up. As of a couple weeks ago, neither candidate had tapped that well.
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David Perdue's comment Monday morning that "We closed plants all the time," was not exactly the message Republicans hoped to be sending on the day before the election.
So when NBC News came to town and wanted to ask Perdue about outsourcing, it got the stiff-arm.
:
"What this is is another distraction to the people of Georgia away from the critical issue, and that is that the ... policies of this administration are not producing jobs here at home," Perdue said as he headed for a car.
Asked three times by NBC News whether he had ever outsourced jobs, Perdue refused to answer, saying only that he was "energized" by the support he'd received during the campaign,
Then he got into the car and was driven off.
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His bumper stickers are ready. His website is redesigned. His campaign manager is at the ready. He's got about $2.5 million in the bank.
As voters pick Georgia's newest U.S. Senator, the soon-to-be ranking veteran, Johnny Isakson, is preparing to announce his re-election campaign.
Isakson told us during yesterday's flyaround that he'll soon make a formal announcement.
"I've got new bumper stickers but I can't put them out until Wednesday," he said. "Georgia's been good to me and I've tried to be good to Georgia."
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Ashley Cline, the founder of the teachers group TRAGIC, is headlining robocalls for Democrat Valarie Wilson.
"Don't skip this unique opportunity for this race. Our children and our schools deserve someone just like Valarie."
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As any millennial can attest, Facebook knows all. So the social networking company sent along some interesting data it collected on the red versus blue divide in Georgia, as it pertains to favorite hangouts. But really, it's about geography. Here's a taste of what Facebook sent us:
Top local restaurants disproportionately liked by Nunn supporters
1. Park Tavern in Piedmont Park (Atlanta)
2. Pallookaville (Avondale)
3. Ria's Bluebird (Atlanta)
4. The Grit (Athens)
5. Joe's on Juniper (Atlanta)
Top local restaurants disproportionately liked by Perdue supporters
1. Frank's at the Old Mill (Fayetteville)
2. Coo Coo's Nest (Cumming)
3. Fresh Air Bar-B-Que (Jackson)
4. Hot Rod's Diner (Social Circle)
5. Lady and Sons (Savannah)
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Politico reports that one of Georgia's own will be jockeying for a position in U.S. House leadership next week, as Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, runs for policy chairman. It ain't Speaker, but for a state losing a lot of clout, it's something:
In the race for policy chair, the only true open spot at the leadership table, Indiana Rep. Luke Messer is the clear front-runner, according to people closely monitoring the contest. He's running against Reps. Rob Woodall of Georgia and Tom Reed of New York. The policy position is being vacated by Rep. James Lankford, who will be the next senator from Oklahoma. Messer has locked up the support of high-profile Reps. Peter Roskam of Illinois and Jim Jordan of Ohio, and has been campaigning for months.
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Vice President Joe Biden did some Election Day prognosticating on a Connecticut radio station, and here's what he had to say about our fair state: "I think we're going to win Georgia. I think Nunn is going to win in Georgia."
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