If Andre' or the AJC had bothered to ask

This is what they would've learned about DPG finances:

Dear Leaders, 

Most of you probably saw an article last week in the Political Insider that referred to a $40,000 payment the DPG made to the Smithsonian for inauguration activities.  This same article reported that the DPG is $140,000 in debt.  Our staff is currently working on a comprehensive 2008 Annual Report that should be complete and ready for your review prior to the beginning of the session, however I wanted to take this opportunity to correct this misinformation in the Political Insider. 

The financial disclosure report referenced in the article is a State report and included only state monies. It did not included Federal funds. The State report is being amended.  The report was filed the day of the runoff election and inaccurately stated the party's debt as $140,000.  In fact the only debt that the party is carrying is a House Caucus loan of around $119,000.  As you know, the party is legally responsible for both caucuses finances, therefore we report any debt owed by either caucus on our disclosure reports.  The additional $20,000 debt reported was paid several months ago and was inaccurately left on the report.  The report is currently being amended to accurately reflect that the only debt carried by the party is the House Caucus loan.  In contrast, the state party had tens of thousands of dollars of debt when I became Chair in early 2007. 

The $40,000 payment made by the DPG to the Smithsonian is a deposit on a location for the Georgia Inaugural Ball.  The Georgia State Society, based in DC and chaired by Rep. Sanford Bishop and made up of many other Georgians, is hosting the Georgia Inaugural Ball.  The Georgia State Society is just beginning to raise money for the Ball and had not yet raised the money to pay the deposit on the location at the Smithsonian.  The Society asked the DPG to make the deposit to reserve the space by the deadline with the agreement that the entire amount would be restored to the party before the end of the year.  We agreed in order to assure that Georgia would be positioned appropriately during this historic inauguration. 

I hope that this clears up any concerns you may have had related to the Political Insider article.  More than $7.5 million moved through the DPG in 2008 to help our federal and state candidates.  We built and managed the largest field program in state history, employing hundreds of field organizers.  We registered over 200,000 new voters and the party is ending the year without debt.  We will be presenting the full DPG 2008 Annual Report to you in early January. 

I look forward to continuing to build the relationship between the state party and our caucuses during the 2009 session.  Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to be helpful and please feel free to forward to Caucus members.

Best regards, 
Jane

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This is like the funniest thing I have ever seen

Worth the click.

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Don't Forget the Social Infrastructure

President Obama has an ambitious and necessary plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy by investing in infrastructure repair and development. That's all well and good, but shoring up the social infrastructure-access to basic health care, good school etc.-is just as important as roads and bridges. Without that, we will not have the skilled, healthy workforce needed to do those jobs, now or in the future.

Take for example the much-discussed lab that went to Kansas rather than Georgia. While folks are focused on the group protesting the plan in Georgia, we have just sort of skipped over one of the other key reasons the Georgia site lost out: a less skilled workforce. And why is that? Years of neglect and a current Governor who brags when our schools move from 49th to 48th. Woo-hoo! Let's have a party! Maybe even a prom at the Governor's mansion. Maybe we can play "Go Fish." Embarrassing, isn't it?

Seriously, protests or not, do you really think a company would locate a lab here if they found the workforce lacking? That's not a problem you can solve in 9 months, but it is an indication of the long term neglect of public education in Georgia and misdirection of our schools. I guarantee you one thing: if Georgia schools were a bridge, you'd take one look and refuse to drive across. Yet, we depend on our schools to be the bridge for our children to their future and the engine that drives economic development. But, with more cuts looming, we sure don't act like it.

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Far Be it From Me to Be Giving Barnes Advice...

But, please, Governor, if you're going to run, tell us sooner rather than later. You really the only democrat who could start late and still finish, so if you're not in, tell us so that those who are in will have the time they need to raise the money and build the name id. In analyzing Martin's race, folks sort of brush over the fact that he did not start until about March. Let's not do that again. And, please, God, let the bloody primary happen on the republican side this go round. Been there, done that, don't want to do it again.

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Women "Genetically" Wired for Housework?

Alan Franks must've lost a bet. Why else would the junior economics and business major at Mercer University's Stetson School of Business and Economics send the op ed, Housewife economics keep women at home for publication in today's Telegraph? (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.) This is the editorial equivalent of having to wear your underwear on the outside of your pants at the formal. I suspect that women are going to be giving him hell about this for the foreseeable future.

Franks makes the argument that simple "laws" of economic make it more sensible for women to do the housework while men bring home the bacon. Read the whole piece, but be prepared to pick your jaw up off the floor, several times. As I read it, I initially thought that it was a witty, tongue-in-cheek piece, but no, I think the poor guy really means it. Here are a couple of money quotes:

Genetically, women are more apt to perform longer, less intense tasks, whereas men are genetically programmed to perform shorter, more intense tasks. But beyond genetical and sociological reasons, there is an underlying economic theme that supports the notion that a woman contributes more to society by performing duties that we stereotypically view as "housewife" activities.

.....

In the arena of home chores, the typical wife gives up less effort than the husband would in performing basic home activities. Whereas it takes an equal effort from both the husband and wife to bring in a supportive income, the man would have to put forth much more energy than the wife to accomplish the same home chores with the same quality. Simply put, a woman's place may well be in the home, but not because the male is better at bringing in a supportive income. Rather, wives often find themselves at home because of the economic laws of competitive and comparative advantage. Housewives around the world, smile, because you are queen for a good reason.

If you ask me, poor Alan is going to an awful lot of trouble to avoid washing the dishes. There's some good news for him though, I sure that Albert Mohler will have a job for him once he graduates.

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A GREAT Secretary of Agriculture

I think Congressman Bishop would make a GREAT ag secretary. That would mean we'd have to have a special election in that district. On second thought, I think that Salazar would make a GREAT ag secretary. Don't you?

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I've Had Just About Enough of This Nonsense

Like a toddler who isn't getting enough attention, Andre's is flipping over the furniture again-posting his frustrations with the DPG on Peach Pundit, a republican blog. This is like complaining about your husband to his ex-lover. Except I'm not sure that Andre' and Erick were ever officially dating, given that Erick's been busy condemning an entire denomination.

There certainly are things that need to improve with the DPG, candidate recruitment being at the top of the list, so complain about the party. Fine. I don't mind criticism, especially constructive criticism, but it does sort of send me to the edge when someone who once worked for the party consistently behaves in a distracting and destructive manner rather than constructively attempting to become a part of the solution(s). It also send me over the edge when folks go over to republican-land to vent their spleen-especially when that criticism is devoid of a single constructive suggestion.

Amazing, really, that Andre' doesn't want anyone to brag about the seats we picked up in the House. I happily spent hours-for free-helping Bubber Epps who finally defeated Allen Freeman after two previous close calls. I have friends in the blogosphere who freely gave their time and talent to get commercials cut for him, as well. And, he won in a tough district, by less than 100 votes. That may not matter to Andre', but to us in Middle Georgia who genuinely believe we will be better represented, it does matter. And, I happily turned over every rock I could find to help Pat Dooley get the resources she needed to win her race, as did many other democrats and democratic groups. I'm curious about what Andre', who is a member of the state committee, did to help recruit candidates or get the ones we had in the field elected? Maybe he should write about his own efforts and in those we might find some solutions. One point of interest-he praises Rep. Winfred Dukes for calling for an investigation into the party's dealings in a school board race, but fails to mention that Dukes is Vice Chair of Candidate Recruitment for the DPG, presumably responsible for, oh, I don't know? Candidate recruitment? But, there is not a word of criticism for Dukes, just Jane Kidd. Maybe Jane spirited Dukes away to some undisclosed location. Clearly, it is ALL her fault.

Now, Andre is attempting to use the results of the Martin and Powell campaigns as support for his ongoing campaign to attack Jane Kidd. Perhaps Andre's thinks we'll elect him. Or maybe Vernon Jones. There clearly is a long line of people who want to work for free at a job guaranteed to award a permanent spot on the dunking booth perch so Andre' and others can gleefully hurl their softballs.

But, let's take a breath and look realistically at what the results of the runoff do, and do not mean. Of the 35 U.S. Senate seats up for re-election this cycle, exactly four incumbents, all republicans, were defeated. Three of those seats are in states with democratic governors-North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Oregon, and all three of those states went for Obama in the presidential election. Only Alaska, where Mark Begich barely defeated convicted felon Ted Stevens, had a republican governor (you might've heard of her) and voted for McCain in the presidential election. Oh, and, by the way, in these four races, only the two women, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, got more than 50% of the vote in the general election. Shaheen had the advantage of high statewide name recognition because she was a former governor. Think Barnes v. Chambliss. And, then in one of the stupidest political moves in my memory, Liddy Dole called Kay Hagan "godless" and that race was all over-probably the presidential, too in N.C. So, except for the narrow defeat of Ted Stevens (did I mention that he was a convicted felon?), there was no state in the whole county that McCain carried in the presidential that ousted an incumbent republican senator. But, obviously, Georgia should be cutting edge.

So what do the Georgia results mean? We do need a more coordinated, pro-active approach to candidate recruitment. We do have enough democrats in Georgia to win statewide elections, if we can figure out how to get them to the polls. And, we do need to raise money-not easy to do as the opposition party, but it will be easier with a democratic president, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. And, by the way, would you rather the party have money in the bank after an election or rather that they spent all they had, and more to help candidates? And, fyi, the 40K for the space for the inaugural party will be reimbursed in full to the party by another organization.

The bottom line? Saxby was bad, really bad. But he was not a convicted felon. The time to win that senate race was in the general, and if the DSCC had spent in the general like they did in the runoff, there might've been a chance. Everyone with two neurons to make a synapse knew that Martin and Powell winning the runoff was a Hail Mary. We hoped for the miracle. We gave, we phoned, volunteers came in droves, but it just wasn't happening. And, that's not Jane Kidd's fault.

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Results of Poll in Governor's Race

Here are the results of the (non-scientific) poll on potential democratic candidates in the governor's race. While Poythress is on top, there are a couple of caveats. First, I had a note from Maddy this morning who wanted me to know that the poll was "stuck" not allowing her to put in a name for "other." So, in addition to the general nonscientific nature of the poll and the tiny number of responses, there may have been an actual glitch. Second, from my stats, it looks like one campaign made an effort to email the poll link to their supporters. It's totally fair game to do that, by the way, but it may have impacted the results. Of course, it may also indicate that one candidate is a bit better organized than others...


Thurbert Baker 3% (2 votes)
Roy Barnes 25% (15 votes)
David Poythress 36% (21 votes)
Dubose Porter 19% (11 votes)
Michael Thurmond 2% (1 votes

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Actually, Working

No, I have not been hiding under a rock since the election. I've been working. You know, that old fashioned thing most of us in the chattering class used to do to make a living. Turns out to be a good idea.

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Poll Question: Who Should Be the Next Governor?

Why am I doing this today? Because there's always the next race.

Rumors abound about who will throw their hat in the ring for the democratic nomination for Governor of Georgia. As of now, the only candidate I know is "officially" in the race is David Poythress, but once the run off is done, expect the announcements to come fast and furious. In 2004, this was just about the time of year when Cathy Cox called to say she was getting ready to run. And, I've already had a couple of those calls this year, and no, I'm not saying who. But this list represents some who are rumored to be thinking of running. Who's your primary pick? If he or she is not on the list, go ahead and add their name. Play nice.

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Update on Turnout in Bibb County

For what it's worth, Daryl cruised by Howard 3 (Mable White) and Howard 9 (North Macon Presbyterian) at lunch, and their were few cars, no lines. Both are strong republican precincts. Looks like a light turnout across the board.

By the way, the Bibb County Board of Elections will not allow poll workers to give poll watchers information about the number of people who have voted. I assume that they will not give it to the press either. Our numbers are from hard counts that the poll watchers themselves have compiled as they counted the people coming in to vote. I can understand not wanting poll workers to be distracted by poll watchers, but I do question how this information could in any way be protected or unavailable to the press or public. The number of voters in a given precinct is a matter of public record, right? We're not talking about exit polling, just counts.

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Poll Tour: Voting Light in Macon

I'm playing driver for Lauren Benedict, who you may have heard was attacked by a rogue manatee last week in Florida. She's Martin's local legal and a statewide poll watcher. Very fancy. Anyway, voting looks light to me. Reports indicate that at 10 a.m. this morning about 170 people had voted in EM-6. Over 700 voted there on Nov. 4th. The lunchtime crowds in the Godfrey's look light but steady. These are heavily democratic precincts.

Also, at Howard 8, when my son's friend voted this morning, only three people were there. That's a heavily republican precinct. So, voting may be light across the board.

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I'm Not Landslide Jim"

We're hearing from Jim Powell, and Jim Martin is standing with Hank Johnson and Tammy Duckworth. Maj. Duckworth introduced Jim Martin and implored the crowd to support Martin because veterans need Jim in the senate. Duckworth, who is head of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Illinois, said that Chambliss had opposed the New GI Bill and failed to do what was needed to protect soldiers in the field.

Martin says we are great because of our diversity. The question tomorrow, is simple: do we want to elect someone who wants to work with Obama, or someone who wants to be a firewall to progress."

Predicting a close election, Martin quipped, "This is not "landslide Jim" you're looking at here. This is going to be razor-close. Every vote is vital." Martin asked the crowd to remember what they say when you're on an airplane-put your own mask on before helping other. "Make sure all of you have voted or do it tomorrow."

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Crowd Growing, Awaiting Martin, et al

Probably 75 here now. I see Nancy Terrill, Betty Phillips, Sam Hart (newly elected county commission chair), Councilwomen Elaine Lucas and Lauren Benedict, Party Chair Steve Allen, grassroors stalwart Terrill Hill, and more.

And, all networks.

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Live Blogging Lewis, Duckworth, Martin

I am at Martin hq in Macon waiting for Jim Martin. I just met Tammy Duckworth who is very impressive. Bright future, no doubt. There are about 50 people crowded in the hq. Better-most were already here working! Stay tuned.

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