Last week, Tom wrote about Karen Handel and Maria Sheffield publicly condemning Ray McBerry and apparently refusing to attend events with him.
The problem?
Per multiple sources, both are right now (or at least were earlier) in Statesboro at the debate being sponsored by the Statesboro Herald. While Karen held true to her claim of not actually participating in the debate, she was still at the event.
A better option for both ladies, if they truly meant what they said about Ray, would have been to avoid the event altogether.
But apparently, it was all just talk.
There were two events sponsored by the county GOP; a meet and greet and the debate.
Karen’s closed the Cobb debate by stating she would no longer accept debate invitation for panels which include Ray McBerry. That’s exactly what she did.
But if she is going to attend the event anyway, why even bother?
In all fairness Jeff, she never said she wasn’t going to attend events that McBerry was at. She was true to the letter of her word. Remember that she’s a politician and will try and find a way around without technically telling a lie. She left herself plenty of wiggle room, as it turns out. Frankly, I’m mad at myself that I didn’t see the possibilities earlier. I’m supposed to be cynical.
Oh well
Is anyone really surprised by this? Days before Handel issued the statement she was playing with Ray’s son and being friendly to Ray. On qualifying day she came up to me and told me to cheer Ray on while he was qualifying. She has never had a problem with him, and both she and her staffers have been friendly with Ray and his staffers. This was not a move of conviction, it was a move of “How can I get some media attention?”