If you need evidence that Georgia is in the national political crosshairs, look no further than House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and South Carolina’s Sen. Lindsey Graham, who were both in Atlanta Tuesday for events.
But it was Republicans’ emerging message that may come as a surprise for those just tuning in: A distinct anti-corporate, anti-big business attack from the party that usually allies itself with businesses large and small.
On Tuesday night, the Georgia GOP held its annual fundraiser at a Buckhead hotel packed with politicians, donors and activists – but devoid of the usual corporate sponsors, party chair David Shafer noted.
Graham, the keynote speaker, made note of that conspicuous absence.
“I’m astonished corporate America would not be here tonight, given how good Georgia has been to corporate America,” said the South Carolina Republican, coming back to the issue later:
“I don’t know how much money you lost from these corporate sponsors not giving you money, but I’m gonna get on Sean Hannity’s show we’re going to raise every penny of it back and these people can kiss my ass as far as I’m concerned.”
It reflects a noteworthy shift, as some corporations – including Coca-Cola and Delta – take outspoken stances against Georgia’s new restrictive election laws and others tiptoe around the issue.
Earlier in the day, Georgia U.S. Reps. Barry Loudermilk and Drew Ferguson joined McCarthy at the bustling Marietta Diner to talk about the small businesses they said have suffered in the wake of Major League Baseball’s decision to yank the All-Star game in protest of Senate Bill 202, the state’s new voting law.
Like Graham, the Georgians also hammered corporations and big businesses, even one based in Georgia.
“It’s wrong to punish the men and women of Delta, because their CEO lost his moral compass on this issue,” Ferguson said of chief executive Ed Bastian.
“We stand with Delta employees,” he said, adding that many live in his Peachtree City-based district.
Loudermilk slammed big businesses generally.
“The people feel like they’re at war, not only with their own government, but big corporations are trying to kill them as well,” he said. “And this is what we have to address. We have to realize that it’s the small business that makes America work. The big businesses would not be there if it wasn’t for the small businesses.”
It’s not clear whether Republicans will reject donations from the same businesses they slammed Tuesday, or if they’ll change the GOP’s longtime support for everything from corporate tax cuts to trade, health, oversight and regulatory policies that have long responded to big businesses requests.
But on message alone, at least for now, it looks like a war is brewing between big business and the GOP.
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As he often does, Sen. Lindsey Graham had lots to say Tuesday night. Other tidbits from the event:
- Graham said he recently talked to UGA football great Herschel Walker, who Trump has encouraged to run for U.S. Senate. “Stay tuned, folks. We’re going to put our best team on the field, folks,” Graham said;
- Despite the MLB’s decision, he said he’d still vote for an all-Braves squad on the All-Star game ballot.
- Gov. Brian Kemp got a rousing standing ovation, surprising even some supporters who expected a somewhat more tepid welcome.
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We always advise readers to take internal polls with a grain of salt, and this one is no different. Still, we wanted to share one conducted on Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms by John Anzalone of ALG Research.
The poll, which you can find here, found Bottoms with a 68% approval rating headed into a re-election run compared with a 29% negative rating.
It found her closest competitor, Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore, had a 47% approval rating. Two other potential opponents -- Antonio Brown and Sharon Gay -- were “mostly unknown” to city voters.
A couple of notes: The one-page memo didn’t include any mention of former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who is flirting with a comeback bid against his former ally.
Nor does it address her biggest vulnerability, the rising crime in the city that has forced her to scramble to come up with new strategies.
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“A nest of liars”? A scene that will be familiar to Georgians is now playing out in Texas, where the state Legislature is considering a raft of voting restrictions, while corporations are debating whether and how to oppose the bills.
The Wall Street Journal writes up the conflict:
American Airlines, based in Texas, issued a statement opposing one of the voting bills after it passed the state Senate. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick held a news conference calling the airline and other critics a “nest of liars" and accusing its leaders of not having read the bill. An airline spokeswoman said the company had read the bill.
Last month, lawmakers proposed amendments to the Texas state budget that would have withheld grants and other funding from any companies that publicly opposed legislation “related to election integrity." The amendments were withdrawn, but were widely seen as a warning against companies thinking of weighing in on the bills.
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The presiding bishop of Georgia’s African Methodist Episcopal churches has written an open letter to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott responding to the senator’s speech last week that included a robust defense of Georgia’s new election law.
In the letter to Scott, who is the Senate’s only Black Republican, Bishop Reginald T. Jackson says that he felt compelled to respond and “set the record straight.”
An excerpt:
“In your speech last week, you incorrectly stated that SB 202 is “mainstream.” In still-Confederate areas of South Carolina, this may be the case. However, it is undoubtedly not so in Georgia or the New South, where this racist piece of voting legislation was passed without debate or discourse.”
More: “However, most shocking, you claimed those in opposition to SB 202, like myself, are only interested in ‘rigging elections’ in the future. I take extreme offense to your accusation.”
Although Democrats unanimously opposed the bill, the House and Senate both had several hours of debate before passing SB 202– and weeks of debate on the measures that preceded it.
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The Republican National Committee is pushing a clip from David Axelrod’s recent “Axe Files” podcast, featuring a brief sound bite to show the former Obama adviser undermined fellow Democrats’ criticism of Georgia’s new election law.
“Barack Obama’s former chief strategist David Axelrod recently admitted that Georgia’s latest voting law is ‘not the new Jim Crow,’” the RNC wrote in a press release.
But a listen to the full episode reveals Axelrod’s entire quote.
“I don’t disagree with you that some of the things have been, you know, it’s not the new Jim Crow,” he said. “But it’s clearly designed — it’s not designed to ensure that the largest number of people participate in elections. And part of it was to hand over, essentially, hand over to the state legislature kind of supervisory or oversight power that would allow them to overrule local election authorities. You can’t think that’s a good idea.”
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Georgia U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, a Republican from Augusta, ranked as the second-least bipartisan member of the House, or #436, during the last Congress, according to rankings generated by the Lugar Center, a nonpartisan think tank from former GOP Sen. Richard Lugar, and Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy.
The least bipartisan Georgia Democrat in the last Congress was the late Rep. John Lewis, who ranked at #401.
The scoring is based on how many members of the opposite party co-sponsor members’ bills and how often they co-sponsor a bill introduced by someone from the opposite party.
The most bipartisan delegation members during the 2019-2020 session of Congress were Reps. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler (#61) and Sanford Bishop, D-Albany (#124).
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Georgia’s two U.S. senators have been traveling across the state during this week’s congressional recess.
Sen. Jon Ossoff was in Savannah Tuesday to visit the Georgia Ports Authority and Savannah State University.
The Savannah Morning News writes up Ossoff’s visit to the port:
“The $973 million deepening is on schedule to be completed by end of this year, Ossoff confirmed during his remarks. The project has been in the works since the 1990s, and the dredging of the 32-mile channel from 42 feet to 47 feet began in 2015.
“The project is funded through the end of the federal government fiscal year on Sept. 30. Approximately $100 million more will be needed in upcoming budget cycles, according to a GPA spokesperson.
“As we move forward the passage of a major infrastructure bill in Congress this year, the timely and full completion of the deepening of the Port of Savannah must be at the top of the agenda, and I will ensure that it's at the top of the agenda," Ossoff said.
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While Sen. Jon Ossoff was on the coast, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock toured Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, where he called on the General Assembly to approve Medicaid expansion in the state; rode a bus with the Blue Bird Corp. school bus company in Ft. Valley to highlight the company’s new electrified busses; and stood in the bed of a pickup truck on a farm in Byromville, where he told a crowd of farmers about the new $5 billion program he helped create for farmers of color.
“I just dropped by today to tell you, help is on the way,” he said.
“I just dropped by today to tell you that help is on the way,” Warnock said, as some erupted in cheers of “finally.” Warnock laughs, telling the crowd they remind him of the deacons at his church. And then: “I’m going to stay on the case.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/wGzGDdJbXu
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) May 4, 2021
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This may not be a sports newsletter, BUT we felt you should know that Braves pitcher Huascar Ynoa hit a grand slam in last night’s game against the Washington Nationals. Repeat: The pitcher hit a grand slam.
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As always, remember that Jolt readers are also some of our favorite tipsters. Send your very best political tips, scoops and gossip our way to patricia.murphy@ajc.com.
