Monday, April 24, 2006

Taylor in July/Perdue in November

If Democrats want to win back the Governor's office, then they better get behind Cathy Cox now.

Why Cathy? Because Republicans who want Sonny re-elected also hope that Taylor wins the primary. For all of her attributes, this is the single best reason for Democrats to support Cathy Cox. Why, in this political environment would we want to vote for a candidate like Mark Taylor, who we like, but who we know cannot win in November?

Why now? Sonny Perdue will have ample financial resources for this race, so, if Cathy Cox is the only candidate who can actually beat Sonny Perdue, then we need to focus our resources on her race. Instead of dividing our efforts, we need to focus on the one candidate who can win- Cathy Cox.

Mark Taylor has served this state well and is respected by many people, but there is nothing to indicate that he can actually win this race. Mark spent an awful lot of time working in a majority democratic environment in Atlanta. He is famous for his "cry me a river" retort to the then-minority when they complained that they did not have a seat at the table. This history will doom him in November.

Republicans fear Cathy so much that they tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit her. Polling consistently indicates that she is the candidate who is able to reach across party, racial and gender lines to attract voters and that she, not Taylor, has the best shot against Perdue.

So, while I respect those who are waiting until after the primary to support a candidate for Governor, and those who like or feel that they owe Mark Taylor, I suggest that we need to get behind the one candidate who can beat Sonny, and that candidate is Cathy Cox. We need to take our very best shot and choose a winner!

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11 comments:

Brittany Andrews said...

Actually, Cox is only 1 point ahead of Taylor going tete a tete with Purdue in the most recent poll. I don't believe that you can claim her as the one able to beat Purdue in November.

politically blonde said...

um yeah, b/c Taylor's really going to carry the 22 GOP-held house districts that Cox did 2002...of which Taylor carried 9. That's a lead of 13.

Kiss it.

Brittany Andrews said...

Really? she won 22 GOP held house districts? Thats a miracle running against someone that depending on the day either lived in his car or in his mother's basement.

Button Gwinnett said...

The latest poll done in the Republican stronghold of Gwinnett Co. was published just yesterday. It showed Cox with a near 50% approval rating as a candidate for governor whereas Taylor was way, way below. There's still some catching up to do against Perdue. But the polls ain't lying. Cox can attract many, many more voters outside of the Democratic core than Taylor can. And neither Democrat can win in Nov. without doing so.

politically blonde said...

wow kimberly, your amazing expertise in candidates is astounding my dear, maybe that same year we could have run a near-elderly grandpa from a tiny south georgia town who votes against education against one of the most secure-looking Democratic governors in the nation with 20mil in the bank and win...oh wait that happned to. First you need to pull your head out of your own ass, and then you can kiss mine.

Button Gwinnett said...

Yes, I've seen that poll. But polls between Mark and Cathy will do some moving between now and time for the primary. Mark is the LT. Gov of Georgia. Theoretically, he SHOULD be the favorite to win. So it will surprise no one if he does. What's scaring the Taylor camp is that they expected to be leading by now and they are not.

The polls that won't do much moving are in areas not considered to be Democratic strongholds, like the Gwinnett poll I mentioned. Those polls are telling us that Mark stands little chance of attracting voters outside of the Democratic core, which is only good for 40% in a general election. Taking into account the few percentage points that will go to 3rd party candidates, a Democrat has to pick up an additional 5 to 8% of the vote. If Mark's not polling well in non Democrat areas now, how and where is he going to get that extra percentage of voters needed to win in Nov?

Brittany Andrews said...

Cathy Cox, oddly enough, has more name recognition. This if from the ads that she was airing last year on the taxpayers' dollars. Ethics violation for Ms. Ethics.

Button Gwinnett said...

Kimberly, Cox broke no laws. She treated the money that paid for those ads the same way the government treats the money won from lawsuits against tobacco companies. Bill Shipp, one of Taylor's biggest admirers, would remind you that there were 7 commercials, of which, she only appeared in 4. And in none of them was her name said - not even once. Don't believe me? Search his columns.

People who seem to be threatened by Cathy like to overlook the benefits of those advertisements. They served a good purpose and were widely hailed by people consumer advocates like Clark Howard.

If you want to vote for Mark, go right ahead. But do us all a favor and stop the mudslinging. I may have to join you in the Taylor campaign after July. Which is precisely the reason why I'd rather not attack him. I wish some Taylorites felt the same way.

Some folks must want 4 more years of "Sonny days in Georgia." Not me, no thanks.

Amy Morton said...

We all feel pretty passionate about our candidates, don't we? My own position is very clear, but can anyone show me any data, any fact-based argument, that indicates Taylor has a better shot against Perdue than Cox does? And I think that it would do us all good to remember that the day after the primary, we're on the same team. Still, like it or not, we need Republicans on that team, too, and they are not going to jump on board for Taylor.

Brittany Andrews said...

This is ridiculous!

Taylor camp says Cox campaign manager altered online bio
SHANNON McCAFFREY
Associated Press

(Pictured: Cathy Cox campaign manager Morton Brilliant)

ATLANTA - Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor's campaign is accusing the campaign manager for Democratic rival Secretary of State Cathy Cox of altering an online biography on Taylor to add his son's drunk driving arrest.

The information on Fletcher Taylor is not inaccurate. He was behind the wheel in an August 2005 accident in South Carolina which left his 22-year-
old best friend dead.

But at least one prominent Taylor supporter called the move "uncivil." Robert Brown, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, called on Cox to fire campaign manager Morton Brilliant.

Brown said such activity "has no place in Georgia politics."

"Cathy Cox owes a public apology to the Taylor family," he said.

"We are calling on Ms. Cox to fire her campaign manager, Morton Brilliant, who did this for Ms. Cox, and any others involved in this incident."

The Cox camp said they were looking into the matter.

"We just heard about this and we are working with our information technology experts to address this," Cox spokesman Peter Jackson said.

Asked if the Taylor campaign's accusation was accurate Jackson said it raises "more questions than answers."

Revisions to the lieutenant governor's profile on Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia, can be traced to an Internet address registered to Brilliant, the Taylor camp said.

Wikipedia has been under fire recently for allowing online contributors to post inaccurate information on its site. The most prominent case involved an entry on John Seigenthaler Sr., a prominent journalist whom a Wikipedia entry linked to the assassinations of John and Robert F. Kennedy. The man who posted the false information later said he was playing a joke.

Almost any Wikipedia reader may edit any of the site's million-plus listings. That has made it an increasingly popular cyberspace attack tool. Political partisans have used the site to smear the credentials of a rival and to polish the resume of a boss. The problem became so widespread that Wikipedia staff have set up alerts that notify them when Capitol Hill staffers are detected rewriting online profiles.

The issue hit home in Georgia recently when U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, a Macon Democrat, had his profile rewritten by a man who now works for his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mac Collins. The profile was edited to refer to Marshall as "a faux conservative." Most of the changes have since been removed from Marshall's Wikipedia biography.

Wikipedia's operators have moved to tighten submission guidelines since the Seigenthaler incident, but critics complain they have not gone far enough.

There was no immediate comment on Tuesday from Wikipedia.

Cox and Taylor are battling for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue. Georgia's primary is July 18.

Fletcher Taylor, 21, is awaiting trial on charges stemming from the accident in Charleston, S.C. Following his arrest, he was ordered to spend time in an alcohol treatment center.

Taylor has spoken only sparingly of his son's arrest.

In an interview with The Associated Press shortly after the incident Taylor said "my faith tells me this can make me even stronger as a public servant."

Brittany Andrews said...

This is from the most recent story. The Cox camp has been really dirty all along. I'm glad it's starting to be revealed.

"Revisions to the lieutenant governor's profile on Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia, can be traced to an Internet address registered to Brilliant, the Taylor camp said.

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, confirmed late Tuesday that the edit to Taylor's biography traced back to the Cox campaign. But he said he had no way of knowing who made the change.

Wales said there were no plans to remove the reference to Taylor's son from the site because it met a standard for newsworthiness. But he said Wikipedia tries to avoid information posted by a candidate's opponent.

"It's not generally considered in good taste," he said.

Wikipedia has been under fire recently for allowing online contributors to post inaccurate information on its site. The most prominent case involved an entry on John Seigenthaler Sr., a prominent journalist whom a Wikipedia entry linked to the assassinations of John and Robert F. Kennedy. The man who posted the false information later said he was playing a joke.

Almost any Wikipedia reader may edit any of the site's million-plus listings. That has made it an increasingly popular cyberspace attack tool. Political partisans have used the site to smear the credentials of a rival and to polish the resume of a boss. The problem became so widespread that Wikipedia staff have set up alerts that notify them when Capitol Hill staffers are detected rewriting online profiles."