This is a front page promotion from "Demblogs." The editorial that follows the comment appeared yesterday in the Albany Herald. My own two cents will follow later today.
For a few weeks now Taylor and his campaign have been very vocal and have said that Cathy Cox kicked them to the curb when it came to endorsing and beating the pavement for Taylor. eeks ago they began to frame her as their scapegoat if he lost to Perdue. For those of you that have had that same belief and are blaming Cathy today for Taylor's poor showing check out this article published today in Mark Taylor's hometown newspaper.Sphere: Related Content
Here it is.
Cathy Cox Behavior Befitting her Position
Your editorial regarding "the absence of Secretary of State Cathy Cox from Democratic campaigning" overlooked that as our Secretary of State Cathy Cox is the chief state elections official. Consequently, it would be improper for her to endorse any candidate. She pointed this out to Mark Taylor during one of their Primary Election debates.
As far as your assertion that it is "tradition for opponents to shake hands following the election," she did just this on election night. Rarely, if ever, has the losing candidate done anything more than that. In 1990, neither Roy Barnes nor Andy Young campaigned for Zell Miller after they lost the primary to him. In 1998, Lewis Massey did not campaign for Roy Barnes after losing the gubernatorial primary. Instead, the defeated candidate has quietly moved on with life. Cathy has done just that and has not said a negative word, though she has had many opportunities.
On occasions when candidates did shake hands and campaign together following an election, the winner was not pursuing lawsuits against the defeated candidate or her campaign staff for weeks after their defeat, which was the case for more than a month after Taylor's July victory.
Cathy is a lifelong Democrat and is deeply loyal to the Democratic party. She has brought more to the Democratic Party of Georgia than she has ever taken from it. If people were convinced Cathy's endorsement was so critical to the success of any candidate on Nov. 7, they would have elected her to represent the party in the governor's race. To the extent that it is appropriate for her to be involved in another candidate's race, she has done so. To the extent that it crosses an ethical line or conflicted with other obligations and previous commitments, she has declined.
I am a deeply biased supporter of Cathy's, as my signature indicates, but our closeness also puts me in a position to know the facts. Cathy does not deserve to be Mark Taylor's scapegoat. When we are so caught up in what's good for the party instead of what's right for Georgia, we get what we deserve — partisan politicians who cannot build bridges or tackle important issues we need our leaders to address.
GLENNIE COX BENCH
Bainbridge
Posts
6 comments:
Well...maybe if Taylor had come within 3-4 points of Perdue they could make that claim stick, but under the circumstances it rings hollow. Besides, what is the point of perpetuating this myth when both have left the political arena? It can’t be very good for Mark’s ego to claim he was beaten because Cox didn’t endorse him, especially after the long string of endorsements he received.
The fact is women were responsible for Taylor’s defeat. They didn’t like him, didn’t trust him and didn’t vote for him in the numbers they would have for Cox. For all the bluster and hoohah, Taylor ends up with 50,000 fewer votes than Gail Buckner. That’s unbelievable to me. No one will ever convince me that Cox would not have made the better candidate to run against Perdue.
It’s ironic that almost every poll and pundit I read during the campaign said that Taylor was doing poorly with women, but to win he would need to reach them. So what does the campaign do? They target white males. The whole “get tough on crime” and “shady land deals” messages were specifically targeted to white males. They even started something called “Sportsmen for Taylor”.
http://www.sportsmenfortaylor.com/
Honestly, I’m glad this election is over and hope never to repeat a season like this. This has been the longest and most disappointing two years of my life.
PS. Can you post a link to demblogs?
As I said in another post, I agree entirely with Glennie Cox Bench. Taylor didn't lose because of "sins of omission" on the part of Cathy Cox.
The Republican victory in GA should bring joy mainly to those who have saved their Confederate money. Republican office-holders are now in a "no influence" position in Washington with both the house and senate controlled by Democrats. I don't know what Nancy Pelosi will eat today at the White House lunch but I imagine that there will be a large portion of crow on Bush's plate.
Georgia is out of step with the nation unfortunately.
Ed, I can't claim Cathy ran a great campaign, or even a good one. Had I not met her and listened to her speak numerous times in person, I probably would not have been as staunch a supporter. Her campaign was never able to amplify her best self. But at the end of the day, the candidate is ultimately responsible for their campaign’s performance. So she must be for hers.
Kathy, unlike us, many women are not party loyalists. They don't vote along party lines, but vote the candidate. My guess is that part of Cathy's strategy was to benefit from this "crossover vote”. We can't accept it when it works in our favor, but reject it when it doesn't. It's not spite, it's human nature.
Ed, one would think you would be over your virulence toward Cathy Cox by now, especially since you agree that she was in no way responsible for Taylor's defeat. I mean, what's the point?
Our big new task is to get Democrats in GA tightly organized before 2008. Let's all be forward looking so we can help move GA in line with the rest of the USA.
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