The Associated Press has coined a good, quick description for the GOP end of the U.S. Senate race in Alabama: Donald Trump vs. Trumpland.
The president will be in Huntsville this evening, the headliner for a rally to boost incumbent Luther Strange, who wants to make permanent his grip on the seat given up by Jeff Sessions, now U.S. attorney general. Strange has also received a boatload of financial support from Senate Republican leaders, including Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Strange’s opponent in the Tuesday runoff is Roy Moore, a former Alabama chief justice who has twice been thrown off the bench. Moore is running ahead in most polls. And last night, after a raucous debate between the two candidates, a pair of Trump allies, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka, were the featured speakers at a rally for Moore. From the AP:
Judge for yourself here, but Howard Koplowitz of al.com focused on these Palin remarks:
The debate, advertised as a "Lincoln-Douglas style" confrontation without a moderator, generated this marvelous though slightly slanted lead from the conservative Washington Examiner:
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State Sen. Michael Williams of Cumming, a Republican candidate for governor, has issued a very specific quid pro quo to the Cherokee County school board:
You don't often see political candidates singling out public employees like that. Over at the Resurgent, Erick Erickson is taking Williams to task over the threat, calling it "profoundly morally wrong":
The entire post is worth reading.
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Our AJC colleague Scott Trubey says that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the former Democratic presidential candidate, will be in Atlanta to campaign for mayoral candidate Vincent Fort on Sept. 30. That's a Saturday, but it's also the deadline for a new Senate Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act with only GOP votes. Which could make the event doubly worth watching.
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We have told you before that this was coming, but it's worth savoring the language used by the White House in its nomination announcement:
Randy Evans is an Atlanta attorney and longtime Newt Gingrich confidante. And until recently, a member of the Republican National Committee.
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U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, was a little more blunt than usual on Thursday while discussing the need for more involvement in civil rights issues during a town hall event in Washington, D.C. "I believe in the philosophy and the discipline of nonviolence, but sometimes I feel like taking a bullwhip and saying to people, 'You get your butt up. You go out there and do what you must do,'" Lewis said, according to the right-leaning Washington Examiner.
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U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, may have some primary opposition next year. This is the Twitter handle of Michael Owens, chairman of the Cobb County Democratic party: @OwensForGA13
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We told you yesterday about Health Secretary Tom Price's spate of recent travel by private jet. Now a group of congressional Democrats is calling for an investigation into the former Georgia' congressman's travel history. "I would remind Secretary Price that taxpayer funds are not meant to be used as a jet-setting slush fund," New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone said in a statement. Given GOP control of the U.S. House, such an investigation is highly unlikely.
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Emory University is among 31 colleges and universities that have now signed onto an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn President Donald Trump's executive order banning people from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Oct. 10.
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The Georgia GOP has long tried to get bigger fish to speak at its annual fundraisers to raise cash for the cash-strapped organization. It got one this time around: Former presidential candidate Ben Carson, who is Donald Trump's housing secretary, will headline the Oct. 30 event at the Georgia International Convention Center. Tickets start at $150 a pop, a co-chair spot will run you $25,000.
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Three staffers were injured after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's motorcade was involved in an accident in Texas on a trip to survey damage from Hurricane Harvey. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said two of the aides worked for House Agriculture Chair Mike Conaway and one was from Perdue's office. Perdue and Conaway were in a separate car and unharmed by the wreck, which took place in a Houston suburb after the caravan left a listening session with agriculture industry officials.
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On a related topic, Politico.com notes that while the appointment of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to head the agency was well received, his department may have become a dumping ground for former Trump campaigners:
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The suburban embrace of commuter rail continues. Developer Mark Toro has tweeted that, during a visit to Toronto, Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash declared that "Gwinnett is ready for transit." Proof:
More on this last topic is coming Sunday.
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