Monday, June 19, 2006

Taylor Looks Desperate

Today, in typical "Big Guy" fashion, Mark Taylor continues to dispense political pabulum to us "Little Guys." (I still can't figure out where the gals are in this equation.) In a desperate e-mail missive over the signature of Rick Dent, Taylor tells Georgians, "We'll keep this simple and direct so you will easily understand...".

The condescending, paternalistic tone of the e-mail is no real surprise. It is consistent with the theme of the campaign. Taylor seems to think that Georgia voters are just not smart enough to look at complex issues and make decisions. Instead of being partners in governing our state, we are all just a bunch of little babies who need the Big Daddy to take care of us. Taylor seems to think that "Little Guys" need the Fat Cats in Atlanta digest information and tell us what to think. I've got news for him: we don't need a babysitter to tell us what to think or how to vote, we need a Governor who will lead and work with us toward solutions to the tough problems our state faces.

Our public schools are in a state of crisis. Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor have both always supported HOPE and Pre-K and the lottery that funded them, but these programs are not nearly enough to address the problems. Unlike Taylor, Cox has a written, detailed platform for the future of education in our state. Taylor continues his typical focus on the past and ducks opportunities to answer the hard questions.

It is offensive to the voters that today Taylor again chose to focus on semantics and thirteen year old news paper articles, while avoiding any discussion of the future of education in this state. Perhaps he is engaging in this distraction to hide the "record" he claims to run on.

What has happened during his tenure in legislative office and as Lt. Governor? Well, only about 65% of our children who begin high school graduate on time. In 2005, on an assessment of math and reading skills, Georgia's fourth and eighth grade students failed at a higher rate than the national average and, in 2004, only 30% of fourth graders were at or above proficient by national math standards. In 2005 we were tied with South Carolina for last in over all SAT scores. I'm not proud of these results, and Mark Taylor shouldn't be either.

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