There's hope. It's a good evening when the candidate branded as "a decent man" wins overwhelmingly. That's exactly what happened tonight when Jim Martin won the Democratic primary. Clearly, if negative campaigns always win, Jim would not be the nominee. Other candidates should take note. Jim, for whom community service is a family value, will be a great Lt. Governor. Congratulations, Jim.
Sphere: Related ContentTuesday, August 08, 2006
Martin Has Early Lead
With about 42% of the precincts reporting, Martin is well ahead, as is Buckner. Many large metro precincts are not yet in, but Martin is winning Bibb, a county where Greg won big in the primary.
Sphere: Related ContentWal-Martizing the War: Unbelievable Story
Did you know that non-existent Wal-Marts are saving soldiers lives in Iraq?
If not, it's probably because you don't listen to enough conservative talk radio. I don't listen to it much either, but yesterday morning, on my way back from Crisp County, I tuned into AM 940 hoping to catch the news. Instead (yes, I said instead), I caught Paul Harvey, who must be 150 years old because I can remember listening to him as a child. Anyway, you know how he weaves commercials into his script, almost as if it is a news item? Well, he did such a commercial for Wal-Mart.
Paul, with great passion, told the story of a group of marines going house to house in Iraq on an extremely hot day, digging out those insurgents. As several of the marines staggered back toward their post, one was so hot and dehydrated that he was desperate for water and near death. Paul says that this young marine credited something that was not even there that day with saving his life. Yes, it was a vision of a (nonexistent) Wal-Mart on a distant hill that gave him the courage to keep on going. Wal-Mart saved his life. Unbelievable!!
I would say that Wal-Mart should be ashamed of itself, but I doubt their capacity for self-examination. I am stunned by the stark commercialization of the sacrifices soldiers make to serve. We ought to object, and loudly, and, in particular with our pocketbooks.
This commercial, and it's placement is a lesson for Democrats. For three decades, the Republican message machine has successfully married patriotism, piety and profit. This neo-conservative threesome has patriots and people of faith stuffing money in the pockets of the old Republican establishment. When we wonder about why Democrats have trouble winning, it would be wise to remember that millions of listeners every day get a steady diet of this garbage.
Monday, August 07, 2006
It's None of My Business, But....
Or, maybe it is, since it's my district. Tomorrow, voters who live in HD 137 will choose between Allen Peake and Stebin Horne, both Republicans. There is no Democrat in the race, so I will not have the chance to cast a ballot. This was a crowded, four candidate, primary field, and in the primary, Peake bested Horne by a substantial margin. Some, including Horne, were a little surprised by this, but my husband called this race early when he was canvassing our precinct for Cathy and saw all the Peake signs in yards. (It took about fifteen minutes to canvass my precinct for Cathy. Lots of Republicans around here!)
I am not thrilled with either of these candidates. They both espouse ideology that is fundamentally different, in some very important ways, than what I believe. But, as I listened to ads on morning drive time radio in Macon today, I came to the conclusion that I hope Horne pulls this one out of the fire. (I do not expect a thank you note for my endorsement. It will probably help his opponent more than him.)
Horne is conservative and has all the Republican family values who-ha on his website, but I think that Peake is a neo-con cut from the same cloth as Staton. What a pair they would make in Atlanta. Plus, Peake keeps talking about running the state like a business. I get that government should careful guard taxpayer dollars, but government is about public service, not about making money. That's a key and important difference. In fact, wasn't it FDR who said that some things are more important than making a profit? Government ought to be about blending sound business principles with serving the people of this state.
Finally, both candidates toe the line on abortion. (Can you be a Republican in Georgia and support choice? I don't think so.)Horne favors the "three exceptions" rule, while Peake goes to the radical extreme of allowing for abortion only if the life of the mother is at stake. That's right, victims of rape, incest and child rape are SOL. I would love to have a conversation with him about who determines that the mother's life is at stake and what repercussions a physician might face if someone disagreed with their assessment. Don't think that it wouldn't happen. Our legislators have amazing expert capacity. They are experts on education, healthcare, economic development, law and social policy. Why not medicine as well? Perhaps we will end up with an abortion court, where mostly men will review evidence and determine whether or not a women can have an abortion.
Of course, a women's right to choose is an argument that has little relevance to the people in my neighborhood. I'm not suggesting they don't care about the issue. I'm surely not suggesting that no one here ever has to make that difficult choice. It's just that they generally have enough money to insure that the choice, to have an abortion where it is legal, can be made by their family, not by the Georgia legislature. Send Peake to the State House and, if he has his way, abortion will not be legal in Georgia for very long.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
What are the Hecht Elves up to?
A friend of mine, an older women, here in Macon got an odd call yesterday. The female caller claimed that she was from the Martin campaign and wanted to be sure that my friend knew that "Martin is the pro-choice candidate" in this race, and then asked if she still planned to support him. My friend told her "yes" that she still planned to vote for Jim Martin. The caller seemed surprised and said, "you do?" and then hung up. Odd call, my friend thought, to be coming into Middle Georgia, and an odd way for the call to end.
Today, I checked with the Martin Campaign, and while they were doing some phone banking yesterday, they were not phonebanking this particular message. Shadows of Orlando Jones?
Another friend said that her voice mail was full of robocalls from Hecht. One was a Steen Miles call touting Hecht as "the little guy with the big heart." Where was his heart when he dropped the rape mailer?
The same friend said that her pastor said that the bishop had called asking that the pastors promote Hecht. Humm...seems a bit problematic to me, and perhaps a problem for Martin if this did happen.
And then there's the Hecht ad that aired last night on network here. The message is that Hecht is the candidate who best helps Taylor. I don't know about that! It seems to me that Hecht and Taylor bring the same players to the table. If Martin in the nominee, then he opens the door to a broader, more diverse group of supporters.
The Telegraph did pull their endorsement of Hecht, drawing a line in the sand. Here's part of what they had to say:
The race now comes down to Hecht and Jim Martin in the runoff. Jim Martin has an excellent record of public service as a legislator and as head of the state Department of Human Resources. However, we thought Hecht, also a former legislator, combined a unique blend of experience, new ideas and exuberance.
Before the July 18 primary, however, the race turned dark, and Hecht's campaign sent two mailings that discredit him and his effort to become lieutenant governor. The first was in poor taste, but the second was down right rotten. It took Martin's comments dealing with a bill he proposed as a means to increase rape convictions out of context and turned them around to attack him. It was a move that Hecht admits was "too harsh" and "over the top." We think so, too. Until this episode, voters could not have gone wrong with either candidate, but desperation brings out the best and worse in people. In a sea of dirty tricks, it's important to draw the line somewhere. We draw the line here. We endorse Jim Martin.
Sphere: Related Content
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Martin Earns Rare Marshall Endorsement
Congressman Jim Marshall has joined scores of other leaders in endorsing Jim Martin in the the primary runoff for the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor. Here, Marshall joins other leaders in lending his support to Jim. Congressman Marshall typically "stays in his own race", so in the instance, Jim has earned rare public support from the Congressman.
Macon Telegraph to Endorse Martin
Jim Martin is in Macon this afternoon, canvassing neighborhoods with supporters including the likes of Congressman Jim Marshall, City Councilman Mike Cranford, City Councilman Rick Hutto and former commission chair, Tommy Olmstead. A large, diverse and enthusiastic group of supporters met Jim at 4 PM, and they are knocking on doors as we speak.
The group is distributing a flyer that details many of Jim's Middle Georgia endorsements and including among them is The Macon Telegraph. This is quite a surprise and a major coup for Jim. The paper originally endorsed Hecht in the Democratic Primary for Lt. Governor, but, apparently, tomorrow, the Telegraph, which has the third largest circulation in the State, will endorse Jim Martin in the runoff. I have lived in Macon for over 20 years, and it is rare for this newspaper to do an about-face on endorsements. Clearly, the Martin momentum in the mid-state continues to grow!
Friday, August 04, 2006
Can Mark Taylor Make Lemonade?
Based on the Rasmussen poll released today, here are a few of the things Sonny Perdue brings to the table:
1) Rasmussen has him ahead by 14 points, a number that sounds a lot like the margin (15) by which Bush beat Kerry in Georgia. For Mark Taylor to win in November, a fair number of Georgians who voted for Bush will need to vote for Taylor. Not a terribly easy get.
2) Perdue has, for months, bragged about his grassroots organization. He has published the names of his county chairs, and there is one for every Georgia county.(We don't even have county parties in every county, so we have ground to make up quickly on the grassroots front.)
3) As of June 30, Perdue reports about 9 million cash on hand to Taylor's million. This is almost the converse of the position Perdue was in in 2002, when he won. Now, he has the cash and the grassroots network.
4) Rasmussen says that the issues most on the mind of voters is the economy and jobs, followed by immigration. Taylor and Perdue are tied (good news) among the economy votes, but Perdue is way ahead with the Lou Dobbs fan club. Do Democrats have a clear platform on immigration?
5) Perhaps the hardest thing to swallow is that the voters rather like Perdue. 34% have a "very favorable" view of him as compared to 15% who have a "very favorable" view of Taylor. Only 9% have a "very unfavorable" view of Perdue, compared to 16% for Taylor.
Perdue is not an easy mark for Taylor, yet Taylor seems to savor a fight, and he's a tough politician. It would be a mistake to count him out, but you've got to admit, there's a big mountain to climb here! The question is, can Taylor take lemons and make lemonade? We shall see. The Rasmussen piece is below.
August 4, 2006Sphere: Related Content
Republican Governor Sonny Perdue
Lt. Governor Mark
Taylor (D) spent the first half of 2006 winning the right to be challenge
Governor Sonny Perdue (R) in this November's election. The second half of the
year may be a bit tougher.
Perdue has a 53% to 39% advantage over Taylor in the latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in Georgia (see crosstabs).
That's not much different that our last poll before Taylor's primary victory. As if a 14-point lead wasn't enough, Perdue began the general election campaign with $9 million in his campaign war chest while Taylor had just over $1 million.
Thirty-five percent (35%) of Georgians consider the economy to be the most
important voting issue this November. Immigration was named most important by 17% followed by National Security and the War in Iraq at 13% each. The candidates are even among those who see the economy as number one but Perdue has a big lead among those who see immigration as most important. Seventy percent (70%) of Georgia voters believe that election ballots should be printed in English only while 27% believe they should be printed in English and Spanish. Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters have a very favorable opinion of Perdue while just 9% have a very unfavorable view. For Taylor, the numbers are 15% very favorable and 16% very unfavorable.
Crosstabs are available to Premium
Members only.
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge
Premium Service for Election 2006 offers the most comprehensive public opinion
coverage ever provided for a mid-term election. We update the President's Job Approval Ratings daily and are polling every Senate and Governor's race at least once a month in 2006. Rasmussen Reports was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and
Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.
During Election 2004, RasmussenReports.com was also the top-ranked public
opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest
competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
Keeping it in the Family?
When I was growing up, my mother was particular about us girls not airing the family's dirty laundry in public. (Not that there was any such laundry. See, I still hear my mother's voice.) "Keep it in the family" was a common phrase and meant that whatever disagreements we had, the neighbors did not need to know. As I got older and professionally trained as a family therapist, I learned that there is line between healthy privacy and dysfunctional secrecy: secrecy designed to hide things like abuse or addiction.
Why am I talking about this? Because, a political party is a little bit like a family and subject to similar problems. When does sunshine cleanse and heal, and when does it cause problems? Sometimes I think that if some of our dirty little secrets saw the light of day things would change. But that choice is not without cost. For example, at a local county meeting a member asked that adequate and public notice be given regarding all meetings. The chair replied, "Are you still planning to run for office?" A not-so-veiled threat. The currency of politics-favors, access, status, money-perpetuate a system where many are "in it" for what they can get out of it. That does not tend to promote an open process and makes it tough to grow local parties. So, at what point, is it appropriate to shine the spotlight on those who run closed, dysfunctional systems?
Martin's Mid-State Strategy
What a difference three weeks makes! On July 18th, Bibb County voters bucked the statewide trend and handed Greg Hecht a substantial victory over Jim Martin. Both candidates are slated to be in Macon this weekend. Hecht's campaign sent out a notice that Greg will be at First Friday tonight and Martin will be in Macon tomorrow to canvass and for a press conference with local elected leaders who have endorsed him. Martin will meet supporters (you are invited) at 315 College Street at 4 PM, and then head out to canvass.
That Martin is coming to Macon at all at this point in the campaign, an area he lost overwhelmingly in the primary, is a testament to the strength of his campaign. Translate: he must think that he is doing very well in metro if he's coming down to Macon to stump for votes the weekend before the election!
On the contrary, this week has been a rough for for Hecht who suffered through the withdrawal of the Creative Loafing endorsement. Some say, "big deal." I say, go ahead and put a brave face on it. The Loafing switch in and of itself is not a huge problem for Greg, but I suspect that it reflects the climate of an electorate who became disenchanted with Hecht in the final week before the primary. If that disenchantment holds, his voters are at risk to (1) switch or (2) simply stay at home.
Middle Georgia could be crucial territory for both of these candidates. The backlash against Hecht that hit Atlanta just before the primary has just in the last week begun to be common knowledge down here in these parts. It will be very interesting to see whether Hecht weathers the storm and again leads Martin in this area of the state.
Martin's list of mid-state endorsements has grown considerably since the primary and includes the likes of Congressman Jim Marshall, City Councilman Mike Cranford, Rep. David Lucas, Tommy Olmstead and Councilman Rick Hutto. Some of the folks on this list, I didn't think ever agreed about anything, but on this they do agree: Jim Martin, a man of integrity, is the best choice for Democrats on Tuesday.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
GWV Poll Results: Hecht and Martin
Based on the results of the online poll posted day before yesterday, it appears that Martin's momentum may be continuing. With 50 votes cast, Martin received 34 votes (68%), Hecht received 15 votes (30%) and 1 person was "undecided." I expect that Jim would take those results on Tuesday! Let's just hope that vote count does not reflect the number who will vote in the real runoff!
Sphere: Related ContentFour Wonderful Women: Four Chances for Change
Currently, fewer than 18% of Georgia legislators are women, yet women are typically 55% of the voters. On Tuesday, we have a chance to improve those numbers! Four candidates, endorsed by Georgia's WIN List, face runoffs next Tuesday. Gail Buckner, who wants to be your next Secretary of State, recently earned the endorsement of the AJC. Gail is an experienced, veteran legislator. In HD 58, Robin Shipp, an attorney who I first knew here in Macon and who is now counsel for Grady Hospital, is facing Allen Thornell. Robin was the top vote-getter in the primary and no doubt would be a stellar legislator. In HD 59, Margaret Kaiser, a business owner and community volunteer, took on incumbent Doug Dean. Margaret was within about 150 votes of Dean in the primary, and is working hard to win on Tuesday. Her drive, determination and history of investing in the community are great reasons to support Margaret. Finally, Bobbie Sanford, who has a long history of service to the community, is in a runoff in SD 43.
I'm not in favor of voting for a women just because she's a women, but when well-qualified women like these offer themselves for service, change is a very good thing indeed! Don't forget to vote!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
How (NOT) to Woo a Cox Supporter
In order to win the general election, Mark Taylor needs most of the 211, 978 people who voted for Cathy Cox to vote for him. In response to all those who've asked, yes, I'm "on board." Whatever that means. Yes, we need to be together as we move forward, and as Tom Bourdeaux said, Cathy was my first choice, but Sonny is my last choice, as in "last person on earth" to be our Governor. That said, those who have been Taylor supporters all along, should consider that when reaching out to the rest of us, some approaches are more effective than others, and some methods just might drive some to do the unthinkable: vote for Perdue. Consider this:
1) Mark Taylor got it right. Follow his example. On Saturday, Taylor shook my hand and said, "I would appreciate your support going forward." I said, "Thank you." Odd reply? After two weeks of Taylor supporters doing some of the things below, I was grateful that the candidate had the good sense to simply say the right thing. Take a page from that book.
2) The "Bash Cathy" approach will not win friends. Don't call to ask for support for Taylor and take the opportunity to criticize Cathy. It will be a short conversation.
3) Don't be arrogant. It's a turn off. A "bend over and take your licks" attitude may make you feel powerful, but will it get Taylor elected? I don't think so.
4) Don't ask lifelong Democrats if they are "on board." Do you really think I would vote for Perdue? Please.
5) Don't be manipulative. For example, don't tell us that Taylor can win the general, and if he fails to win, the loss will be the fault of those who failed to "get on board", or Cathy's fault because she chose to run at all. Give me a break. Tough primarys have produced many a Georgia Governor.
6) Don't blame Cathy for Sonny's tactics. Don't call and tell me that Cathy cooperated with Sonny and endorsed him sending out the letter to her supporters. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Cathy's been on a much needed vacation, and her donor list is available on the State Ethics Commission's website. Even Sonny's smart enough to figure that out. The tactic is classic Republican politics. In fact, Calder Clay sent a similar letter to Chuck Byrd supporters when Jim Marshall won that primary. Didn't work then, won't work now.
7) Ditch the full court press. Don't call our friends and tell them what we should do, or that you are going to find out "what kind of Democrat" we are. This is both offensive and manipulative, and while it doesn't make me want to vote for Sonny, it doesn't make me want to roll my sleeves up either.
Someone on this blog opined that the Lt. Governor doesn't need to do anything to reach out to Cox supporters; he won the primary and that's all he needs to do. I don't agree. Cox voters are the easiest pond for Taylor to fish. He needs those votes, and it would be a mistake to assume that all the fish will just jump in the boat. Whether they "ought" to is an irrelevant discussion. We have to deal with the realities of human nature. The Lt. Gov. knows how to ask. I suggest that others follow his example.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
All Our Eggs in One Basket?
I've heard some rumblings among our Democratic leaders in Georgia. Some are of the opinion that we need to put the bulk of our money and our energy into the Governor's race, working on the theory that we must elect Mark Taylor, and hopefully make some gains in the House and Senate, but that re-building a majority in the legislature is something that we can focus on in 2008. While I agree that the Governor's race is important, focusing on it to the exclusion of some of these winnable and defendable legislative seeks is awfully risky. We need to at least maintain the margins we currently hold in the legislature, margins that have at times allowed us to keep objectionable constitutional amendments off the ballot. (I said "at times.")
I am interested in your thoughts. Is it wise to put all our eggs in one basket? Do you think that Taylor will win and help others do the same?
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