SWGA Politics

2nd District GOP BBQ (with Video!)[ April 23, 2010 – 9:01 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Last Saturday, the 2nd Congressional District GOP got together for a BBQ and Congressional Debate at Lee County High School. I’m trying to adopt a general policy that if it is a political event in Lee County, I intend to be there with my video camera, so I was there. Heck, I even voted in the straw poll!

While there, I had a chance to meet with a few of the candidates that were present. Maria Sheffield was the late arrival, but she was also the most engaging with this political blogger. Seth Harp, one of her competitors who has sponsored at least one thing in the State Senate I am strongly in favor of (local referendums on Sunday alcohol sales), was rather dismissive. I also had a chance to speak with Gary Black for a few moments, as well as Mike Keown, Rick Allen, and Lee Ferrell. Harold Logsdon was there, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to speak with him.

Overall, the event went well. Quite a few people there were in campaign t-shirts of various campaigns, but Lee Ferrell was the only one I noted with any real “contingent” of what appeared to be staffers. The others had brought along a staffer/area volunteer or two, with the rest of the t-shirts for their campaign appearing to be simply supporters from the area. I did not personally witness any mass vote buying, nor did I hear any rumors of it. It appears that this was a genuine one person/one vote straw poll, so take that for what it is worth. (Still not very much, but relatively better than polls with mass vote buying.)

Anyway, here’s the videos:
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[UPDATED] Preston Smith and the 2010 Campaigns[ April 13, 2010 – 6:58 am]by Jeff Posted in » General

Over the last 18 hours or so, Preston Smith, the State Senator representing the 52nd District (which includes Rome and parts of my native Bartow County), has become the talk of Georgia politics. Over 100 people have already joined the effort to draft him to challenge Lt Governor Casey Cagle, and virtually every major political blog in the State, as well as many of the newspapers I read daily, have discussed his speech yesterday – many of the blogs re-posting the text of the speech in its entirety.

But one thing has not come out yet, and I think it needs to be discussed.

You see, this whole battle rages in and around one certain bill in the Georgia General Assembly – HB 307. The fact that this is a House bill that has now passed the Senate means that every single member of the General Assembly who is running for Statewide office has had some degree of say on this bill, and I want to run down the list briefly:
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You’re Right About One Thing, Ox[ February 18, 2010 – 9:45 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

We do see it coming – which is why you continue to fall in polls. 90% of the people of this state know who you are, and yet the latest polling indicates that only 25% of them would vote for you – and last summer, you were bragging about 35%!

For those that don’t know, Austin Scott dropped a nuclear bomb on The Ox yesterday during a hearing on his bill that would make some of Ox’s known actions a felony – specifically his taking donations from insurance executives while Commissioner of Insurance. (That $120K in allegedly illegal donations he accepted last year would be included here.)

Galloway has the details here and here, but here are Ox’s direct words:

“Because [elected insurance commissioners] are different. We are a pain in the butt. We are very high maintenance. We’re politicians. I am not a professional regulator, I am a politician.”
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Austin Scott Introduces Bill Making John Oxendine a Felon[ February 11, 2010 – 5:01 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

In this country, we have protection from ex post facto laws – laws that make an action a crime after the action has been done. So the bill Austin Scott introduced yesterday, HB 1166, wouldn’t apply to the thousands of dollars John Oxendine has already raked in from insurance companies – but it would apply to any future contributions to Ox, so long as he is the Commissioner of Insurance.

The bill would also make State Senators Ralph Hudgens (the Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee who is running for Commissioner of Insurance) and Seth Harp (who is also running for Commissioner of Insurance) felons, and possibly a few others in their race.

This bill is a complete political stunt by Scott to make a point both in his campaign for Governor as well as the allegations flying in the Insurance Commissioner’s race, and because Hudgens in particular would be caught up in it, it has absolutely no chance of becoming law in its current form. IF it actually manages to become law, it will be heavily modified and a shell of its current version.
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Will This Be the Results on July 20, 2010?[ January 24, 2010 – 8:42 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Recently, some McBerry supporters have been telling me I needed to get my facts straight on him while maintaining that he has “won every straw poll except one in the winer’s home county.”

So I went through the PeachPundit archives – possibly the best single source of information for GOP straw poll results – looking for straw polls from 2009 and specifically how Ray McBerry did in them. The general data was also very interesting from the 14 straw polls I found from April through November, here’s what I saw:
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Religion and the GOP GAGOV Candidates[ January 21, 2010 – 5:35 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Ray McBerry seems to want to make the intensely personal issue of religion a campaign ploy, so let’s humor him for a moment, shall we?

Ray mentioned his religion three separate times in Tuesday night’s debate. I honestly don’t recall any of the other candidates mentioning theirs a single time – which is what prompted this post. You see, Ray seems to think that by constantly telling you he is a Christian, you will think that none of the other candidates are, and if that is one of the major things you vote for a person based on that he will get your vote. What Ray leaves out is that from what I can tell, he is a member of an ultra-conservative fringe sect, the likes of which make even the stereotypical “Independent Baptist” church look hedonistic. Indeed, he sent this guy to speak for him at the Plains Tea Party. (In Ray’s defense, he and that guy have since had a falling out a couple of months ago. There have also been reports of him being at various PeachPundit gatherings in bars, yet simply not drinking himself, and I have been told he does not have a problem with Sunday Sales.)

I can tell you from personal experience that one of the things Austin Scott said he liked best about the South Ga leg of his Walk of Georgia was that he was close enough to home to go to his own church on Sundays, and several times he reported being invited to attend churches near his route while he was walking in other parts of the State.

I can also tell you from personal experience that Jeff Chapman prays over his meals, even in public restaurants when meeting someone for the first time.

And while I wanted to mention those two, they are not the real subject of this post. No, for this post I want to look at someone who is so dedicated to his religion that he will travel literally halfway around the world to further its message, yet is comfortable enough with his own religion that he does not feel the need to mention it at every appearance on the campaign trail.

That man is Eric Johnson.
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Austin Scott Responds to Karen Handel’s Charges[ January 6, 2010 – 9:20 pm]by Publius Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

This is the press release we were sent earlier today from the Scott campaign:

In response to allegations of corruption by a fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) issued the following remarks:

“Mrs. Handel’s comments were misguided, because in fact she accepted more money from lobbyists in 2009 than I have accepted over the past five years combined. I am not corrupt, nor are the vast majority of my colleagues. Furthermore, she has one of the most entrenched lobbyists in the state heading up her campaign fundraising efforts. As for me, I have already returned every contribution made by lobbyists to this campaign, and I respectfully submit that Mrs. Handel and all candidates for governor should join me in doing so. The Georgia taxpayer should be the first priority of every candidate for governor.”
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Calling Corruption As You See It[ December 11, 2009 – 5:00 am]by Publius Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

The following was written by State Rep Austin Scott (R-Tifton), the only Republican member of the State House of Representatives that is running for Governor. I first saw it on Georgia Political Digest.

Many people feel that government is excessive, unresponsive, and corrupt. The worst part is that they feel powerless to do anything about it. Last week, we saw the downfall of the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, Glenn Richardson, amid a wave of scandal that threatens to shake the Georgia Republican Party to its core. Serious allegations were made that the Speaker had an affair with a lobbyist who was pushing legislation that ultimately could have cost the taxpayers of Georgia millions of dollars.

In fairness, political corruption is most often attributed to one party: the majority party. It seems that no matter who is in control, Democrats or Republicans, the power corrupts. But now is the time to do something about it. And that something is to give the people the tools they need to fight corruption effectively.
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SpeakerSaga Fallout: Ethics and 2010 Campaigns[ December 10, 2009 – 6:34 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

First off, let me just admit that the SpeakerSaga – the fallout from Glenn Richardson being accused of threatening to beat his wife and abuse his political power – is simply too much for me to track while still working a full time job. To that end, for SpeakerSaga updates, I recommend the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Gold Dome Live and Political Insider, as well as Jason Pye and yes, Peach Pundit. I’ve already said my piece on it, which is essentially that the members of the House need to be extremely careful not to play their hands too early and cost them down the road.

That said, there has been one issue that has arisen out of it that I want to spend more time looking at: ethics, and specifically how the issue affects the various 2010 statewide races.

This post will be a more shotgun style introduction, with future pieces to examine each candidate’s positions in more detail. If any candidate I don’t point out here has a proposal out, PLEASE let me know about it! (Facebook, Twitter, Email)
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Glenn Richardson and the GAGOV Race[ December 6, 2009 – 9:36 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Obviously, when the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives is accused of threatening to beat his (ex)wife, it becomes an issue for Governor candidates. So let’s look at each of them in regards to this issue (in strict alphabetical order by last name):

Thurbert Baker: No statement yet. Understandable, given that he is currently the top lawyer in the State and this could turn into a criminal case.

Roy Barnes: No statement yet. As a former Governor, he should have a bit of insight here, though he also has to contend with the King Roy image that his opponents would be sure to bring up in response to any statement he issued.

Carl Camon: No statement yet. As someone WELL below the radar, he could have made a name for himself – possibly – by being the first to come out calling for Richardson’s resignation.

Jeff Chapman: No statement yet. Has a record of bucking the GOP establishment which could help him weather this issue – could even improve his chances, given the rest of the GOP field.

Nathan Deal: No statement yet. Faces corruption charges of his own, has been listed as one of the 15 most corrupt Congressmen. Also had a multi-million dollar scandal of his own surface this year that began when he was still in the General Assembly. Scandals anywhere within the GOP become fodder for reminding people of these things, which is not good for him. Futhermore, Richardson -along with Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter and Majority Leader Jerry Keen – is a maxed-out donor to Deal, meaning that Deal is clearly the chosen candidate of Richardson.
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