The Republican National Convention got underway this morning. The first order of business: The formal re-nomination of Donald Trump and Mike Pence for president and vice-president.
The event is live in Charlotte, N.C., in truncated fashion. Only a few hundred delegates are there in person, socially distanced at linen-covered tables. But they are generating some of the applause that was missing from the Democratic gathering last week.
GOP chair David Shafer is one of six Georgians in the small audience. Over the weekend, he sent out a series of Tweets – on resolutions passed by the party’s ruling Republican National Committee, a peek into GOP priorities. Among them:
-- “To conserve history and combat prejudice with respect to Christopher Columbus;
-- “To uphold the First Amendment in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the “cancel culture”;
-- “To urge Congress to end the Chinese monopoly over the United States medical supply chain”;
-- “To acknowledge the accomplishments of the Trump Administration”;
-- “To urge Congress to overhaul the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.” (This is legislation that allows federal agencies to generate rules that have the force of law.)
-- “Refuting the legitimacy of the Southern Poverty Law Center to identify hate groups”
-- “And to affirm that the 2016 National Platform will remain in force until the 2024 National Convention.”
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As of this posting, state Rep. Vernon Jones, D-Lithonia, is the only Georgian listed to speak at the Republican National Convention on Monday. Jones is not running for re-election in November.
Missing from the agenda are many Republicans on the November ballot – U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has a speaking role this evening, but so far U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham does not. Neither do any GOP elected officials from Georgia appear, including U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins.
They could be added as the four-day convention progresses, but one Democratic wag noted that the late U.S. Sen. Richard Russell, a conservative Democrat, often scheduled overseas trips to military bases during Democratic conventions.
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Over the weekend, two Republican voices expressed disquiet with their party’s direction. One was Buzz Brockway, a former state House member from Gwinnett County. From his Facebook page:
It bothers me to see people under the Republican Party banner setting aside an expansive vision for what I consider to be a message of anger and division. I understand not everyone sees things as I do. I understand I'm out of step with this new GOP. I see this new GOP as a shrinking Party - a Party with diminishing electoral prospects, and that concerns me greatly.
To set the record straight: I voted for Trump in 2016, reluctantly. I intend to vote for him again this year, reluctantly. While he offends me daily, he has done many things I like. He has appointed people who are doing things that don't grab headlines, but will lift people out of poverty and change lives for the better, assuming we can get it off the ground. I never thought that would happen, but it is and I'm proud to play a tiny part in that.
I don't however, believe America is finished if Biden wins. 2016 was not a “Flight 93" election and neither is 2020. This is dangerous thinking in my opinion. Sadly both parties view 2020 with this apocalyptic mindset.
The second was Erick Erickson, the WSB Radio host. A taste:
Enrolling in seminary made me realize how I was twisting my faith to comform to my politics and not the other way around.
Here's the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about. The country is in decline because it is full of cultural rot and a man who cheated on three wives with porn stars isn't going to stop that cultural rot anymore than Joe Biden who has been faithfully married to Jill Biden, but supports the leftwing politics you and I abhor.
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Savannah is the first Georgia city to adopt a mask mandate. It could be the first to enforce it.
Over the weekend, WSAV-TV reported that 25 city marshals took to Savannah’s streets to encourage residents and visitors to comply with the city’s mask mandate. From the NBC affiliate’s website:
Teams of two embark on the city's ATV to scan for people who are not wearing masks. Marshals have the authority to issue court subpoenas, which can carry a $50 fine; however, their main priorities are education and compliance...
Since marshals began policing the mandate last week, they have issued zero citations. Of hundreds of people they have spoken to, everyone has listened to instructions to put their mask on. So far, marshals have handed out 200 masks…
Two Savannah Police officers — who are already assigned to the area — have been assisting marshals with compliance. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's donation of masks is fueling the effort to hand them out to people who do not have one.
As the state passed 250,000 coronavirus cases and 5,000 dead this weekend, the Savannah Morning News also had this:
The Coastal Health District's top doctor credits mandatory face-mask orders issued by Savannah and Chatham County leaders as a major factor behind a recent drop in local coronavirus-infection rates.
The county's case rate dropped by more than half over a one-month span and the transmission index dropped significantly as well, CHD Director Dr. Lawton Davis told the Chatham County Commission during their Friday meeting.
Davis said that the local face-mask orders issued this summer were a driving force behind the reduction in these statistics and other indications of the pandemic's waning impact in Chatham County.
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Politico is out with a piece on a surreptitious recording – just now surfacing -- of a 2016 meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and a group of civil rights leaders:
In a private meeting inside Trump Tower days before his inauguration, Donald Trump told a group of civil rights leaders something most Republicans wouldn't dare publicly acknowledge: lower turnout among Black voters did, in fact, benefit him in the 2016 presidential election.
“Many Blacks didn't go out to vote for Hillary ‘cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great," the president-elect said, according to an audio recording of the meeting…
Attendees included Martin Luther King III, William Wachtel, James Forbes, Johnny Mack and Scott Rechler. Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young briefly spoke to Trump by phone during the meeting.
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U.S. Sen. David Perdue has added his name to the conservative Heritage Action for America group’s pledge to “oppose any bill, resolution or movement to ‘defund the police.’”
He joins a group of Georgia Republicans that include Gov. Brian Kemp, U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins. Congressional candidates Karen Handel and Rich McCormick have also added their names.
In a statement, Perdue said lawmakers should devote more training, more resources and more “reflective recruiting” into law enforcement agencies and challenged his Democratic opponent, Jon Ossoff, to follow suit.
“We have to stand with the men and women who put their lives at risk every day to protect our communities,” said Perdue. “I’m signing the police pledge, I doubt Jon Ossoff will do the same.”
No prominent Georgia Democratic candidates support defunding the police. Ossoff said he shares Joe Biden’s stance of linking federal funds of law enforcement agencies to certain standards, including whether they can “demonstrate they can protect the community.”
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You already know that state Sen. Nikema Williams is the heir apparent to U.S. Rep. John Lewis and his Fifth District seat. She’ll be on the November ballot for a term that begins in early January. But there’s still a seven-candidate race in September to fill the remaining months of Lewis’ current term, which ends in early January.
Former Atlanta mayoral candidate Kwanza Hall launched his introductory ad over the weekend, framing himself as someone who can ensure Williams has a “smooth transition” into office. His spot features pictures of Hall as a child at events with Lewis, and calls him a good friend. See it here.
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Election prediction site Sabato’s Crystal Ball is out with a long analysis of Georgia politics, including new concerns about U.S. Sen. Perdue’s re-election chances. Its writers have downshifted the race, returning it to “leans Republican” status after labeling the contest “likely Republican” in April.
“Presidential polling in Georgia is close, and it seems like the regular Senate race will be more closely linked to that than we originally anticipated,” Sabato’s wrote. The same report also says Georgia is becoming more competitive in the presidential race. More:
The Biden campaign will aim to hold and expand on Democrats' new coalition of suburban voters, but outreach to Black voters in rural Georgia should be a priority. Still, the state has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1996, so Democrats' optimism needs to be tempered with some dose of caution. But if the national picture doesn't improve for Trump, Georgia's 16 electoral votes could end up in the blue column.
