Flu-ish

Sorry for the absence from this page. I think I've had the flu. Or something very much like the flu. Flu-ish. Victor, in particular, has been watching closely, asking for my definition of "tomorrow" and hoping for the rest of the post on City Council attendance. I'm still checking some numbers and trying to decide the most fair way to report the data. Every member of Council is assigned to committees. Some of the members are assigned to committees that meet more often than other committees, and some of the members go out of their way to attend all the meetings-whether or not they are actually members of those committees. One thing is for sure-if you are elected to City Council, and make half an effort to be informed about City business, you are going to attend a whole lot of meetings. And, if you choose not to attend the committee meetings, you risk being uninformed and probably should avoid commenting on what happened at the meeting you failed to attend. More, I hope, tomorrow.

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Now, There's a Political Ad that Works

You've got to see this.

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Eggs at Issue

The traditional "Eggs and Issues" breakfast at the beginning of the legislative session may take on a whole new meaning this year with the "Human Life Amendment" on the table for this session. I posted about this yesterday, and Catherine Morgan over at Political Voices of Women picked it up today with this comment:

My Opinion: This is the kind of thing that really infuriates me. With issues like the war, our broken healthcare system, education, the economy, and so on and so on…Tricking the voting public with wedge issues like this makes me sick. The only thing worse than using a wedge issue to manipulate the voting public, is a wedge issue that will take take away personal rights of women…This is an infuriating story.

This is a national issue for the next election cycle as republicans seek to put this on the ballot in critical states. It's wedge issue politics, and I agree with Catherine: the only thing worse than a wedge is a wedge that tramples on women's most basic rights.

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Edwards: We've Got To End It, Not Defend It

Taking aim at the influence of corporate politicians and Washington lobbyists, today, John Edwards challenged Hillary Clinton, and all the other Democratic candidates, to "end it, not defend it." According to the Associated Press, Edwards made these remarks as he accepted the endorsement of the Carpenters Union.

To the roars of the union members, Edwards said, "Washington is rigged against regular Americans, against working Americans like you and the men and women you represent, whose interests and concerns don't stand a chance against the onslaught of lobbyists in Washington, D.C."

Edwards again issued his challenge to all Democratic candidates to refuse to accept money from federal lobbyists and political action committees. Edwards has never accepted either and no longer accepts contributions from state-level lobbyists. Edwards said that he is not asking any candidate to give back money they have taken in the past, but, instead, to declare this a new day for Democrats-a day when the party through the example of its leaders will be the party for the people of this country, not the party of corporate interests.

Edwards has Clinton in a bit of a box. Increasingly, she finds herself responding to him, both on the issue of her electability and on the issue of corporate influence/lobbyist money. To defend taking the money from lobbyists (over $400,000 and counting), she is forced to defend a system in Washington that most people believe does not work for them. Last week, she said that she intended to work within the system created "by the constitution" for change in Washington, and that "you can't deny that the system exists." Today, Edwards said:

Look, Senator Clinton is right – you cannot pretend the system doesn't exist. But you also can't pretend that it works. And that's where she and I part company.
Because I believe if you defend the system that defeats change, you can't be a president that will bring change. When it comes to the Washington influence game, we need to end it, not defend it.
She says you bring change by working within the system established by the Constitution. I think the system has been corrupted by corporate powers never contemplated by the Constitution. This is not the government of, by and for the people that our founding fathers intended.
There is no principled compromise between the way things have always been and the way things could be.

This discussion of whether the system need to change or merely be trimmed around the edges is a debate that is likely to escalate as Americans become increasingly frustrated with the escalation of the war in Iraq and the failure of the new Democratic majority to stand up to the President.

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Telegraph's Fain to Launch Blog

The Telegraph's Travis Fain has come over to the dark side. He will go live Monday morning with Lucid Idiocy. Travis, can you fill the void that Doug Monroe is about to leave in Georgia? That's what I want to know.

Fain says that this is a pair of blogs, one about politics and one is more personal. On Monday morning, you can find him here.

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New Addition

Republicans, especially in Georgia, are doing such a fine job of critiquing one another, that I decided to add "The GOP Gaffe of the Day" to this blog's sidebar. Check today to see what Perdue has to say about how fellow Republicans respond to their constitutional duties.

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Georgia Republicans Are Eating Their Young

Georgia Democrats may have perfected the art of the circular firing squad, but we have nothing on the Republicans. Over at Peach Pundit, they are bashing the Governor and one another with vigor.

Right now, on the heels of a legislative session that redefined the words "intra-party battle," they are working as hard to lose as they once did to win. There was a time when the Georgia GOP was masterful at having their fights behind closed doors and then presenting a united front. No more. And who gets to pay the price for their fight? The Governor and the taxpayers. The taxpayers get to pick to the quarter of a million dollar tab for the special session, and the Governor has officially assumed the position of the Georgia GOP whipping boy. Well, sometimes love affairs do end badly.

But, are they being more calculating than we suspect? What do they have to lose by making Gov. Perdue their punching bag? The answer is other than looking like hypocritical idiots, not a whole lot. Perdue doesn't ever have to worry about getting elected again in Georgia, and whoever thinks that Sonny will get the VP nod from the Republicans is reading my personal wish list. I mean, does the GOP really want to bring Sonny and his Oakey Woods baggage to the Presidential race? I doubt it. Besides, the South is not the place the Republicans need help. At least not yet.

No, it makes a world of sense that party insiders are beating up the Governor, and in the process hope to save the reputations of their future gubernatorial candidates, Richardson and Cagle. Sounds like vintage Rove/Reed to me.

The question is, what will Democrats do in response? We have taken some positive steps. This session, with a few exceptions, we did a good job of holding our caucus together. We managed to look positively sane as Richardson, Cagle and Perdue engaged in their threesome. Now, Georgia Democrats need to seize the moment, plan the strategy and walk through the giant fissure the GOP has created. Nationally, in the November elections, the Republicans did a good job of beating themselves. The same thing can happen in Georgia if we are willing to work together, raise money and allow them to implode.

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Welcome New Georgia Political Blogger

Welcome to Rural Dem, Georgia's newest political blogger. He describes himself as a "moderate to conservative" Democrat. If you visit Rural Democrat, you will have the opportunity to vote in his polls for both the Democratic and Republican nominee for President.

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Why I Fell Off the Face of the Earth for Three Days

Sorry, folks. We've been out of the state this weekend and blogging was not possible. (Taking care of family is more than just political rhetoric!) Yet, somehow, you survived. I have been percolating on a couple of posts, so stay tuned this afternoon for a post on the new "grassroots" war on abortion.

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Bloggers Rule or Rules for Bloggers???

Over the last couple of days, the Edward's campaign found itself in a bit of a sticky wicket. It seems that two women hired by the campaign, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, to reach out to liberal blog-world were called on the carpet by some ultra-right wingers who feigned offense at some posts on these women's own blogs. To read more about what happened and the Edward's campaign's response, check here.

The real story here is that bloggers will play a more significant role in this Presidential election than some anticipated, and it is interesting to watch how bloggers are informally and formally working to create "rules" for what began, and still very much is, an anything goes, bottom-up movement. I suspect as with most "charismatic" movements (I'm not talking about speaking in tongues here), as bloggers seek more mainstream recognition (like press credentials), formal codes of ethics will emerge. Melanie, over at Blog for Democracy posted about that last week, in fact. I also suspect that litigation will act, as it often does, to create "rules." For example, the more bloggers who are sued for libel, the more careful we will all be.

I'm interested in your thoughts about this, so, here's are a few questions to get us started:

Should people who work for a candidate or for a party blog, other than in their official capacity for the party or candidate? If they do blog, should they do so under their own name? Do you think that astroturfing is a fact of life in politics today? If you had hired someone to work on your campaign and found an offensive post on their personal blog, would you fire them?

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Poll & New Front Page Posters Wanted

Paging women from Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus and all points between. Georgia Women VOTE! has had a good year. Blog traffic is increasing, and we are attracting visitors from all over the Georgia, other states and, yes, other countries. With the Presidential and Senate races upon us, I think that it is time to add more front page posters. I am particularly interested in including folks from parts of the state other than Middle Georgia. If you are interested, send your contact information and a sample post to amymorton@aol.com.

I am also interested in readers thoughts about what would make the content here more interesting. What would you like to see us do differently at GWV? Please take a moment to complete the poll, or put your response in comments. Thanks!

Get Free Research Polls

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Thanks, Sid!

Over on Cracker Squire, Sid Cottingham has weighed in on my candidacy for DPG Candidate Recruitment Vice-Chair. Sid is, himself, "one hard-working Democrat!" Thanks, Sid!

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