The Jolt: ‘Joe Biden’s office calling. Is this still a good number?’
The mass email that arrived from former Vice President Joe Biden last Wednesday said this:
"I'm sick and tired of this talk that we have to choose between a progressive party and the party of working people. It's elitist, and it's wrong."
Which is a good message for a Democrat thinking about 2020, but not absolute proof of his intentions. Neither was this Biden message that arrived on Friday, condemning members of Congress for their inaction on guns:
"For all those who lost their lives this week in Parkland -- and for the survivors and broken families left behind -- your words of sympathies and condolences aren't enough. It's never been enough. Your prayers aren't enough. We're voting on this.
And we're not going to forget what you did -- and didn't do."
But then we received word that Joe Biden’s staff has been calling prominent Georgia Democrats, double-checking their contact info – making sure old phone numbers are still current.
Messaging is one thing. Logistics are another category entirely. This guy’s running for president.
***
Speaking of guns: We're about to get a first measurement of whether the latest gun massacre has affected the political climate in Georgia. On Wednesday, one week after a lone gunman armed with an AR-15 killed 17 in a Parkland, Fla., high school, the group Moms Demand Action will rally at the state Capitol before heading inside to button-hole lawmakers on gun issues.
***
The Legislature is skipping Monday in observance of President's Day, but when they return on Tuesday they'll find a slightly altered landscape. Days after an Atlanta man was charged with five criminal counts outside the Gold Dome, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told Gov. Nathan Deal that the city would temporarily restrict access on the section of Mitchell Street adjoining the Capitol – a long-sought goal of state officials. Read more about it here.
***
Sonny Perdue, the former governor-turned-agriculture secretary, will be in Sparks, Ga., today to celebrate the opening of new carrot processing facilities. That's 'way down in south Georgia, not far from the Florida line.
***
Last week, both the state House and Senate passed separate bills aimed at dismantling a commercial-heavy portion of Stockbridge, a majority-black city in Henry County, so that the acreage might be included in a new city of Eagles Landing, where white voters would be on parity with black ones.
Final votes are required, but already opponents are making the case for a veto from Gov. Nathan Deal, invoking the state’s much-prized credit rating. A letter from financial advisor Larry Kidwell, written on behalf of Stockbridge, last year as the issue was brewing, is currently circulating. A portion:
"If the proposed legislation is enacted it would establish a new negative legal precedent for the State of Georgia that could adversely affect the State's entire population. If Stockbridge can be broken up by the Georgia Legislature, what would prohibit the Legislature from doing the same thing to other Cities of the State? The passage of the proposed legislation would set the precedent for further destabilization to occur within the State.
"The major credit rating agencies, in determining State credit ratings, weight heavily the financial strength and stability of the cities, counties, public sub-divisions, and public instrumentalities that exist within the state. The State of Georgia has a Aaa/AAA/AAA credit rating the State…
"If the major credit rating agencies conclude at any time the precedent established through the adoption of the proposed legislation creates unacceptable levels of risk, the agencies could select to downgrade the State's credit rating."
***
Democrat Stacey Evans has unveiled plans to boost the number of minority-owned businesses who receive state contracts, modeling her policy off Atlanta rules.
The former state lawmaker said last week that it's "absolutely unacceptable" that fewer than 1 percent of state contracts go to minority-owned businesses, and praised a city of Atlanta policy that requires 35 percent of city contracts be with minority-owned firms.
She pledged to expand a federal program aimed at increasing minority's participation tin state projects if elected governor. And she said she would back legislation from state Rep. Roger Bruce, D-Atlanta, who has endorsed her campaign, to create a state advocate for minority- and women-owned businesses and establish a state Division of Supplier Diversity.
She also pledged to hire a state that "reflects Georgia's diverse and rich population."
Evans faces former House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who is vying to be the nation's first black female governor, in the May primary.
***
Mike Griffin, the lobbyist for Georgia Baptists at the state Capitol, has endorsed Senate Bill 339, which would require the Board of Regents to adhere to a specific set of First Amendment rules. From Griffin's piece in the Christian Index:
Our colleges and universities should be required to remain neutral on an institutional level regarding issues of public controversy and their policies should encourage intelligent civil discourse on all types of topics that will help students mature into knowledgeable, responsible individuals capable of maintaining a self-governing nation.
We also believe that SB 339 is good because it will require the school's policies to strongly affirm the importance of free expression, nullifying any existing restrictive speech codes in the process, and showing our students the value of respecting the rights of their fellow students. Just these points alone are reasons enough to pass the legislation.
A couple-three things in the bill that the Board of Regents might object to:
"That a range of disciplinary sanctions shall be established for anyone under the jurisdiction of the institution who materially and substantially interferes with the free expression of others…
"That any student who has twice been found responsible for infringing upon the expressive rights of others shall be suspended for a minimum of one year or expelled…
"That the institution shall make all reasonable efforts and make available all reasonable resources to ensure the safety of invited speakers. An institution shall not charge a security fee based on the content of the inviter's speech or the content of the speech of the invited speakers and may restrict the use of its nonpublic facilities to invited individuals…."
About the Authors
Jim Galloway, the newspaper’s former political columnist, was a writer and editor at the AJC for four decades.
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tamar Hallerman is an award-winning senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She covers the Fulton County election interference case and co-hosts the Breakdown podcast.
