Perdue, Obama and Bubber Epps

Allen Freeman has a rather casual relationship with the truth, especially when it comes to his campaign mailers, radio spots and television ads. In one recent mailer, Allen was anxious to alert voters that "Bubber (Epps) gave major contributions to Barack Obama for President." Actually, Epps gave $250.00, as did his wife, to the DNC's Obama Victory Fund - can't imagine that's a major contribution in Freeman's world of $23,000 radio ad buys and $6,500 Atlanta condos paid for with campaign contributions, but whatever. Frankly, this cycle, Freeman is running so fast from the "R" beside his name, I'm shocked that he didn't give to Obama, too.

But Freeman only told half the truth. (Kind of like when he talks about "deploying" for Desert Storm when in fact he never left the country.) Epps Brothers (Bubber's business) gave $500.00 to Perdue for a New Georgia on 10/17/2006. I believe that contribution makes Epps the only candidate in this race to make significant contributions to candidates of both parties. Allen has spent so much time supposedly making himself an expert on Bubber's business, I'm shocked that he missed that tidbit. The bottom line? While Allen likes to talk about being an independent representative for the district and bends himself into a pretzel to avoid mentioning his own party affiliation, he's really just a lapdog for Atlanta Republicans who are literally sucking the lifeblood out of the Middle Georgia economy.

Did I mention that Allen used campaign contributions to pay $6,500 for an Atlanta condo (State Ethics Commission, March 2008 campaign finance disclosure) for the legislative session? I'd love to know exactly what "campaign activity" goes on in that condo and whether he also took per diem from the state for that period.

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Freeman Flyer Flap

Rep. Allen Freeman (R-Macon) is in trouble with a veteran for misleading voters about his own military service, and this is not the first time. In today's Telegraph, a local veteran, Jerry Fincher, calls Freeman's hand for a misleading campaign mailer that he says implies Freeman was deployed to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm. He was not. He was in the National Guard but did not go to the region. The mailer says that Freeman is a "decorated veteran of Operation Desert Storm" and includes a photograph of him in uniform in the desert-the California desert. It's printed on the picture, if you look closely. Most people do not look closely-most spend less than 20 seconds looking at a piece of campaign mail.

As I said, this is not Freeman's first trip around this rose bush. I recall seeing the exactly same picture-or one very, very similar-in his campaign material before. I believe that it was during the 2004 cycle, and he drew very similar criticism. It seems that either he did not learn, or he decided the potential political benefit was worth the risk.

Frankly, I have never understood his approach on this issue. It just makes no sense. Serving in the National guard is an honorable thing to do, but it's not honorable to fuzzy-up the truth about what the service included. Why not just be proud enough of what you did to be completely clear about it?

What's the truth? This is what I found, and much of it is from his own biography. After high school, Freeman initially attended North Georgia Military College and then attended Georgia Southern. Freeman served in the Georgia Army National Guard from 1988 until 1993, the same year he graduated from Georgia Southern. According to his "Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty" he had "Foreign Service...0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days" and "Sea Service...0 Years, O Months, 0 Days. Freeman was a Medical Supply Specialist and his highest ranking was Private First Class.

His claims of being a "decorated" "veteran of Operation Desert Storm" are misleading. He was never deployed to the Middle East, or anywhere else out of the country. He did receive two ribbons: the Army Service Ribbon, a ribbon given to any member of the U.S. Army, including ROTC or the Army National Guard, who complete initial entry training-as in, basic training. He also received the National Defense Service Medal. According to Wikipedia:

The National Defense Service Medal is awarded to anyone who serves on active duty in the United States military during the above time periods. For service in the Gulf War and War on Terrorism, it is also authorized for members of the Reserves or National Guard ordered to active duty or who are performing "reserve service in good standing" which normally translates as regular attendance at monthly drills and performance in yearly training.

Fincher also takes issue with Freeman's claim in the mailer that he "stood up" to members of his own party regarding the War Veteran's Home closure. Freeman claims to have called the Governor to "protest how the matter was handled." Call the Governor? He couldn't even call a press conference, and we know he knows how to call a press conference for really important things, like attacking his opponent. Now, he wants the vets there to just be happy that they won't be homeless before Christmas. Maybe he figures that in 2009, this is going to be someone else's problem, and the way this race is shaping up, he might be just about right about that.

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Huge Crowd for Epps!

There's a huge crowd at the kick-off event for Bubber Epps, who is running against Allen Freeman in HD140. There are at least 350 people crowded into the Epps' large pavilion. I'd put a lot of the folks in that critical "swing voter" category. Based on this turnout, Freeman, who is apparently on restriction from the Telegraph's editorial page for submitting a canned letter as his own, is in big trouble in this race.

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Speaking of Allen Freeman...

You all remember Rep. Allen Freeman, right? I agree with Erick that he may well face his toughest challenge yet. I really think this is a seat democrats can pick up this year. Here's why:

1) HD140 covers parts of Bibb, Twiggs, Wilkinson and Jones counties. That area has trended more democratic since 2006, slightly. The DPI is now 51.6. That means that all things being equal, a Democrat has a good chance of winning-and remember, no matter what he tells you-Allen Freeman is a republican.

2) Freeman's opponent this cycle is James "Bubber" Epps, a Twiggs County businessman who has deep, deep roots in Twiggs, Jones and Wilkinson counties. (His wife is on the county commission.) All of those counties under-preformed in 2006. In this presidential year, with a hometown boy on the ticket, they are likely to over-preform.

3) Epps has the ability to reach across party lines and attract republican support. News reports along this line are confirmed by what I'm hearing from folks in the community.

4) The district includes two precincts in East Macon. In 2006, on election day, the rain poured and democrats were hardly united behind the top of the ticket. Neither Marshall nor Taylor were running organized, funded, GOTV in the area, and turnout was abysmal. With Obama at the top of the ticket, you can expect a healthy turnout in those precincts and an organized field operation-especially if Barr gets the Libertarian nod.

5) The republican brand is tarnished beyond recognition, and for good reason. This year, I suspect that the party in power will feel the brunt of the voter's discontent about the basics: fuel prices, transportation, jobs and the housing crisis.

One final comment of this race. This can definitely be a pick-up for democrats, but get your checkbook ready. I predict that between the two candidates, this is at least a half million dollar race. That's a lot of change down here in the midstate.

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