Republicans distancing themselves from McBerry

Ray McBerry, and is past escapades with teen aged girls, has so far just netted him some bad press.  However that seems to be changing.  To start with, Karen Handel, another candidate for governor going on record as not being a McBerry fan.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Galloway reports that Mrs. Handel’s spokesman said:

“Karen is very uncomfortable appearing onstage with Mr. McBerry and is perplexed that GOP groups continue to invite him to events.

“He clearly does not represent the values of the Republican Party or of Georgians in general and Karen will take the lead in saying this — even if other Republican leaders do not.

“The fact that he continues to campaign as if none of these revelations has occurred is disturbing and unsettling.”

Let’s be fair though. Handel is running against McBerry, so it’s in her best interests to point out the flaws in other candidates. She wants to win after all. Unfortunately, that only goes so far because McBerry is behind Handel in every professional poll out there.

Maria Sheffield, a Republican candidate for Insurance Commissioner, doesn’t have any such motivations though. On her Facebook page, Sheffield posted the following:

I have declined to appear at The Moral Nation, The American Renovation Gathering. I will not appear with McBerry at event promoting morals.

And

I agree with John Watson someone in leadership @ state GOP should call on Ray McBerry to withdraw from Gov race.

Sure enough, John Watson did say that. Watson is a former finance chairman for the state GOP and a one time chief of state for Governor Purdue. He’s also the father of two girls. Again, courtesy of Jim Galloway:

“But we ought to stand up – and party leadership ought to stand up and say, ‘This guy has no business running as a Republican. We’re disgusted by him. We think he’s an outrage. We call on all local parties, if he’s been invited to a gubernatorial candidate forum, you ought to rescind that invitation.’

“We ought to say, ‘Withdraw from this race.’ Somebody in leadership at the party ought to be saying that.

“And we ought to be taking the $4,000 bucks that the party took [from McBerry for qualifying] and we ought to give it to the family and the child that was molested by this guy.

McBerry, who without this exposure would probably best be termed an “also ran”, is now at the forefront of a GOP firestorm as prominent party members seek to distance themselves from him and his antics. Now, the question becomes will he listen to the rest of the party and withdraw? Or will he keep pushing forward despite this scandal?

We will probably be able to tell soon enough.