Okay, I finally get the House Tea Party Caucus. From jump street, these members stated that they were there to address the spending and that they didn’t care about being long-term members of congress. The Progressive Caucus on the far left and the T.P. Caucus on the far right aren’t team players and love that fact—rebels, renegades, revolutionaries.
It took me awhile to realize that many members of the state legislators were balling so hard in private life that being a U.S. Congress member would be a pay cut or take them from their families too much. The state house and senate isn’t the minor leagues to congress. With that in mind, some ballers feel that it might be cool being a congressman for a quick minute so they run, win and roll into D.C. with a creep-type attitude. They think they know everything but the job is complex and complicated.
Speaking of jobs, I think hard hitters on both sides have realized that congress and/or a presidential bid is a quick ticket to a lucrative gigs on T.V., radio or the speaking circuit. My friends from the Hill joke that the average Congressional Black Caucus member makes more money as a MOC than they did before congress and than they will after congress. Oh, other southern members and their staffs know how to “parlay” a few years at the congress into big money as K Street lobbyists or governmental affairs consultants in industries they monitored as committee members. “Do I know the Farm Bill…hell, I wrote the darn thing.”
Senator John McCain is a guy about order. As a POW, he had an opportunity to bounce out of captivity but didn’t out of respect for his fellow prisoners. Recently, he gave the Tea Party Caucus his behind to kiss because protest and governing is two different things. Speaker Tom Foley use to say that a jackass could kick down a barn but it took a carpenter to build one. Tea Party have provided some useful protest but legislating requires compromise and negotiations.
We should hand-out cool points to young members of congress like Rep. Tom Graves and Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia who (while really conservative) didn’t let the tide push them into the Tea Party Caucus. Sen. Saxby Chambliss gets cool points for his work with the Gang of Six and yes, that will get him a Tea Party primary opponent. As conservatives go, some are “less worst” than others and this moderate still can’t understand why the Tea Party movement hates centrists like Rep. Sanford Bishop who is with conservatives a surprising percentage of the time. McCain did what Bishop should have.
It’s one thing to be a congressional creep but relishing the status just isn’t cool. (Okay, this post was simply an excuse to rock Radiohead on my blog beause I thought about the Tea Party Caucus when dude sang, “I don’t belong here.”)
Political district lines on a map don’t reflect the reality of how people live. Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston supports the naval mission in Jacksonville, Florida, because some employees at the base live in southeast Georgia. The same statement can be made about Augusta, Savannah and Columbus. suburbanites often work, eat, shop, heal, pray and play in other congressional districts.
Georgia’s cities serve as regional hubs and elected officials know they should work together. Because I grew up Black in the South, the scariest thing to me are groups who want decisions made with little or no input from all involved segments of the community. It’s not rocket science: officials should maintain a line of communication and/or grow a network with everyone. From Rep. Sanford Bishop meeting with sons of the confederacy to Rep. Jack Kingston explaining fiscal conservatism at Savannah State University, decent people respect listeners and reasonable folks understand that others live in the area.
During the last election season, naïve activists constantly complained that swing district congressmen didn’t do what the activists commanded. Hello. What about the majority (albeit thin) that support what the members of congress are doing. We are in the redistricting process in Georgia and there is a strong possibility that my county will move in a GOP district. Will my head explode? No. The Blue Dog Democrats of today are similar, in my opinion, to the traditional GOP establishment of old. Their moderation prepped us for certain conservative elements.
Rep. Austin Scott defeated Blue Dog Jim Marshall but Marshall was so conservative that some Dems can’t tell the difference. If a congressman stays away from the craziest parts of his side and takes care of regional interests, I am fine. Black moderates should be breaking bread with Black conservatives as we team up to explain to the community that it isn’t about elected officials. It’s mostly about personal choices, decisions and consequences.
The worst case scenario would be my community being 100% blue and the next election being a red landside. In big cities, we have real liberals but rural Blacks are moderate to conservative. If a Republican wins an election, you better hope he or she isn’t far, far right. Someone should light a fire under groups Democrats help. Al Gore knows that Democrats help people who don’t bother voting.
To diversify our political portfolio, we should grow a new hybrid southern Black conservative. We need a bro with a goatee who was radical in college and knows all the Public Enemy lyrics or a sista with a natural who knows that we are going cuturally backwards. Oh snap, the new southern Black conservatism could simply be based on people who remember how we once “carried ourselves” and that community once meant something. It’s a shame that smart –sses on the right demonized Black nationalism because those cats’ primary thoughts was self-reliance and don’t depend on the government.
Gladys and the Pips said we got to use our imagination to “keep on keeping on.” Dominique Wilkins played well with the Georgia Bulldogs but the year after his departure for the N.B.A., the Dawgs went to the Final Four. They had spent all of their effort trying to get Wilkins the ball. UGA made the “best of a bad situation” and rural moderates should do the same. Hell, rural Blacks might have more status in districts without big cities and those GOP congressmen should know that a third of the Black electorate could mean they never face opposition and won’t need to dial for dollars–think about it. If they need a model, they can look at Rep. Bishop and Rep. Kingston.
The Pips said, “You’re too strong not to keep on keeping on.”
Congressional redistricting should embrace split counties in some situations as the logical reflection of the divisions between people. We know the cigar-chomping leaders will make the decisions behind closed doors and spin their maps as “the best interest of all Americans.” But, a case can be made for putting like-minded people in the same districts because some of us are weary after a lifetime of constant fighting.
Democrats and Republicans don’t understand each other and rarely communicate peacefully. Heaven only knows how many people in south Georgia only have friends away from work who are just like them and that’s cool in a free society. The problem is leaders of one party might make decisions that involved the entire area with limited input or knowledge of others. From home schooling/private school to church, the only Blacks some people know are on Tyler Perry T.V. shows. Have mercy.
During Georgia’s redistricting hearings, the usual suspects bounced up to the microphones to declare that this county or that county shouldn’t be divided because of the tremendous amounts of love and happiness inside those county or city lines. Child, please. Railroad tracks and highways divide most rural southern areas—east is east and west is west and never say they meet. Oh, the Chamber of Commerce types will have you think that all is well and bless their hearts, all is well insider their worlds.
In southwest Georgia, I wouldn’t mind seeing all strong Democrat population pockets placed in the 2nd Congressional district. Yes, the neighboring 3rd, 8th and 1st districts would be even more GOP and that’s fine because they are “balling” down here or as the kids say, they are like “butter” because you know they are on a roll.
In Worth and Tift counties, U.S. Highway 82 neatly divides the GOP northern section from Blue areas in the south. Some would also argue that the Red areas of Lee County deserve placement in the conservative 8th. While I am a cosmopolitan guy with a wide variety of friends and associates across God’s green earth, it sincerely hurt my heart to hear that so many conservatives felt the centrist Democrat congressman in the 2nd didn’t listen to them at all…zero…zilch. Really? I know for a fact that said congressman breaks his neck to hear from everyone and while his final votes reflect the majority of his district, he tries to hear from the other side more that 99% of the southern GOP members of Congress try to hear from the Dem side. When Georgia’s GOP senators dialog with Democrats, instant talk of primary challengers starts.
The fact that Georgia has two GOP senators is a game-changer for me anyway. Here is the logic: everyone has two senators and one House member representing them in Washington. Georgia’s senators are legislatively similar and also similar to most GOP House members. If you are a non-conservative Georgian, you should hope like crazy that you have a Democrat House member to hear your concerns. For me, that’s representation is more important that being connected with the other half of my county.
At the redistricting hearing in Albany, Georgia, Brad Hughes, a promising young public servant from Early County, Georgia, stated that having two members of the state house serving his area was like the best of both worlds. Well, the same logic could apply to congress for the next ten years. Keith MacCants at Peanut Politics asked recently on his blog who should run against Rep. Bishop in 2012 since Mike Keown has decided to seek other office. Hughes, who ran against Bishop in the past, would be better than most conservatives at bridging the political divide. Can he win? No. But he can position himself to be appointed congressman by the governor if Bishop is selected by a president to be a cabinet secretary or maybe the historic next ambassador to ag nation Cuba. You heard it here first and remember that a GOP president also would like a cool Dem or two on his team and despite the noise from last year, Bishop is one of the best peacemakers.
I am uniquely qualified to write about peace between parties because I am a Democrat who supports Georgia’s GOP U.S. senators but please don’t tell anyone or the guys will get primary opposition. If conservatives want out of my 2nd congressional district, I say good riddance and I hope you have the time of your life chilling with like-minded people somewhere else. You should “get” while the getting is good because if Keown couldn’t turn the 2nd red in 2010, it can’t be done anytime soon. Green Day had it right with Good Riddance and Bill Joe was a big Obama support in 2008.
If you ask asked the people south of Hwy. 82 down here if they want to be in a Dem congressional district for the next ten years, they would look at you like you were crazy. Heck yes, they want into the second congressional district and heck yes, the GOP people north of the Hwy. 82 would like to have a safer conservative in the 8th district for the same period of time.
Cynthia Tucker’s recent column on race and redistricting is so correct. She wrote:
If black covers think they have made substantial gains simply by having more black representatives in Congress, they’re wrong. They’d have more influence if they were spread through several legislative districts, forcing more candidates to court them.
My county is divided between Congressmen Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott and both are likable and intelligent men fully prepare to serve a cross-section of Georgians. But, as Ms. Tucker wrote, corralling most Blacks into a few districts make the contiguous districts areas ultra White. Voters in ultra White districts equate congressional time spent with Blacks to time spent with liberals because they don’t understand that most rural southern Blacks are actually moderate to conservative in their mindsets on issues. If not for the vitriol created by ultra conservative media, Michael Steele could have drawn 25% of the Black vote into a moderate section of the Right–even Bishop would have likely switched.
Thoughts of brother Steele brings me to another Tucker point: hyper Black districts and therefore hyper White districts discourage moderation. For more on the importance of moderate, one can read almost every previous post on this blog.
I started work at the U.S. Congress when Rep. John Lewis was the only Black member of the Georgia delegation and most southern congress members spent a third of their time in the Black community. Oh, Bishop and the Blue Dogs will serve conservatives on a fair level but will conservatives give an equal ear to the center and the left. An interesting but forgotten fact is that Newt Gingrich had a Black female chief of staff in his personal office back in the day. Ms. Tucker should have an intern count the number of Black staffers in White southern congressional offices and the number of White staffers in Black members’ offices. As they say in sports, we can’t win for losing.
There is a controversial painting of all American presidents that includes President Obama standing on the U.S. Constitution. The guy was president of the Harvard Law Review and a University of Chicago constitutional law professor but he doesn’t respect the Constitution. Really?
I saw the painting hanging in the district office of U.S. Rep. Austin Scott. Readers of this blog know I appreciated GOPer Scott removing Rep. Jim Marshall because Marshall, a law scholar himself, decided that Speaker Pelosi and the White House wasn’t his cup of tea. The two Georgia U.S. Senators, Scott and Rep. Jack Kingston are the most bearable Republicans in Georgia because they are good guys in person. But, the ultra conservatives are busy and seemingly require that the GOP leaders limit input from Democrats. Kingston has a well-earned reputation for going to policy-hostile events and breaking down his voting record. That’s how you do it and Bishop, Barrow and even Marshall did the same.
If the picture is in Scott’s office, it is there because Scott feels that the White House’s policy contradict the framers intend; Scott is on a fiscal correction mission. When Rep. Sanford Bishop was a freshman, his Washington office initially didn’t have Georgia flag outside the front door. In an interesting twist, Bishop got the old flag (stars and bars included) but state legislator Austin Scott was (I think) the only GOPer who support changing that flag and he caught hell for it.
The artist who created “The Forgotten Man” said he knew the work was a little strong and I personally think it is too strong. I always respect President George W. Bush and argued with those who thought he wasn’t bright—dumb people rarely graduate from Yale. The birther junk and whatever comes next are insults and thank you to those of the other side who want to stick to the issues. I saw the facebook video statement of Rep. Scott regarding the killing of Bin Laden and yes, he was of the few conservatives who gave President Obama credit.
Democrats have always allowed Bishop, Barrow, Marshall and other Blue Dogs flexibility to included conservative elements in their actions because conservatives are Georgians too. I am concerned that the far Right will not allow the same leeway to any GOP members of congress. Of course, the views of real liberals fall on death’s ear but even moderates and centrists should keep an eye on redistricting and hope that they end up in moderate districts.
When Jon Stewart said that Bill O’Reilly was the “thinnest kid at fat camp,” he meant that O’Reilly was the best person at Fox News and one might say the same about Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Gang of Six) and Austin Scott.
Jon McNaughton’s The Forgotten Man is art and art is designed (like Spike Lee’s and Tyler Perry’s work) to provoke thought. You be the judge.
I have a new theory about campaigns and elections. Of course, my new theory could be fact that everyone other than me already knows. My theory is that for some people the business of campaigning is more important than actually governing ( i.e. Sarah Palin). Could prepping for campaigns and campaigning be where the money is?
Roy Barnes raised and spent over $28 million dollars running for governor of Georgia but didn’t win. Much of that money went to media buys like T.V. and radio ads. Old school people like me just assumed a sizable old fashion Get Out the Vote effort was coming and that rallies with sweet smelling Georgia barbecue would be held from one end of the state to the other end. It never really happened because the fancy Buckhead type consultants (who aren’t cheap themselves) pushed ads, ads and more ads. I have never been so tired of political ads and many of the spots were negative against Nathan Deal which was nonsense because everyone knew that Barnes and Deal basically liked each other.
Few noticed that former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones was in Nathan Deal’s corner and was standing right there during the victory party. Good for Jones because the same fancy Democrat Buckhead crowd didn’t want him running for U.S. Senate against Saxby Chambliss. Sure, Vernon has some history but hey cast the first stone and he would have done better than Jim Martin (I voted for Saxby for regional reasons.) But, the real winners of that election were the fancy fundraisers and political operatives who got candidates who could raise money and pay them.
We remember when Austin Scott was running for governor with the idea of raising smaller amounts of money and keeping it a people’s campaign based on his ideas and policy facts. On the other side of the fancy streets in Buckhead, the GOP types have even fancier offices that require much money to maintain. I think they look past the bright young man with good ideas and toward the four or five candidates who could put big money on the barrel head. Nathan Deal is the new governor and Scott is heading to congress.
Fairness requires that I acknowledge the effort put forward by Rep. Sanford Bishop’s opponent’s team. They hustled hard and made that thing too close—they were a well-oiled machine. I was ticked with the Barnes campaign and the state Democrat party because they were spending money on those freaking ads when people weren’t rallying in person, face to face like the other side was. When we did get together, it was so cool.
The first rule of politics is save yourself and Bishop got old school with his last Get Out The Vote push. He won that election with little help from the top of the ticket and because the people woke up at the eleventh hour.
Looming on the horizon is the 2012 presidential election year. While the presidential race outcome is unclear, you can bet that my community will be there for President Obama in huge numbers. An old theory of mine is that conservative candidates could fair well during that Obama wave if they could swim. My old friend Karen Bogans in Savannah is the only hope the GOP has in winning the 12th District race; she is smart, direct and has the political and professional credentials. Could an African American conservative get out of the GOP primary is the question but her campaign would be hard on the Obama White House yet surprisingly usefully to the Obama presidency at the same time. Hey, she criticizes me all the time and I would be upset if her comments weren’t true and didn’t need to be said.
I told Bogans that she could get a sizeable amount of the Black vote and win a congressional seat without raising and spending much money. She said those fancy folks in Buckhead must get their business/coin or they will push someone else up. I have concluded that the process of campaigning and prepping are likely more lucrative than actually serving in office. Sarah Palin gets $800K for one speech while President Obama gets half that amount as an annual salary. If you are going to be in the game, you must know the rules and the new golden rule is “he who has the gold..rules.”
It’s 5:15 a.m. on Day Lights Saving Time Sunday morning and my clock just fell back. In American politics, it feels like we are falling back in time also. Are we near a cultural Civil war and isn’t “civil” war the ultimate oxymoron. The one thing that is sure is that we need to have a better understanding of other’s points of view and the governmental process under which we function and live.
The Tea Party is a good place to start. By Tea Party, I mean the original Boston Tea Party. We have conveniently forgotten that the British taxes at the center of the debate were to recoup funds spent on the colonies’ defense during the French and Indian War. War and defense cost money. The Boston Tea Party wasn’t a protest inside the current form of government; it was an effort to overthrown the current form of government and some current protest today have the same thing in mind.
President Obama and most reasonable Americans know that the fundamental concerns of the Tea Party Movement are valid: federal spending and debt; size and role of government; and grow of entitlements. The nation would be better if all America “carried themselves” with a moral compass and a sense of shame as we did in the past. The government currently addresses problems that shouldn’t be problems at all. However, extremists on both ends of the political spectrum would ignore the U.S. Constitution and the foundation of this great nation.
It would be socialism if the government provided a nice house for every American. The government should provide a fair climate where every American has an opportunity to grow and prospers but if that doesn’t happen, you deal with the cards resulting from your actions or inactions. On the other hands, extremists on the far Right would interweave church and government for better moral fiber. Would America be better if we all followed a faith? Yes. But, the question becomes should the government mandate this faith and which one? As much as we respect them, the founding fathers at times goofed. Slavery is one obvious time and some believe that Christianity should have been the official faith with tolerance for other faiths.
We shouldn’t play with the intent of the founders or the foundation of this country. We are in a mini Civil War in the South base largely on energy policy and health care policy. President Carter was correct in the 1970s: we need a comprehensive energy policy to end our dependence on foreign oil. The Cap and Trade provision of the energy legislation passed by the U.S. House fueled the Tea Party protest. New York Time columnist Thomas Friedman has written several great books on our energy futures and we must make tough decisions and changes. Of course, the agriculture community gets my deference because we all must eat the food they grow but we must figure out farming methods that use less energy. The last Farm Bill promotes research on producing renewable energy.
I must be half asleep because I am about to type: the problem with President Obama. Okay Tea Party people here it is: We Obama supporters and President Obama himself know that some things could have been done better or differently. The same could be said about Bush 43 who I actually liked on some level. President Obama is real…straight real…too real. We elected him to implement big changes but the adoring crowds weren’t listening to the guy. He constantly said, “It won’t be easy…It’s won’t happen overnight….I can’t do it alone…we must do the hard part.”
As quiet as it is kept, Michelle Robinson Obama was raised in the model conservative family environment and if she starts speaking freely and sternly about how we are “carrying ourselves,” her importance in history might overshadow her husband. The residual benefit Sanford Bishop’s congressional service was always his positive image for the all kids. The Huxtables on the Cosby Show and the Obamas in the White House have the same benefit. The Georgia GOP botched the opportunity to have Dr. Deborah Honeycutt in Congress as a conservative example from a southern family but Mario Rubio and Austin Scott will be there to provide a fact-base form of conservatism that moves the nation forward with dialog rather than fear.
Obama’s The Audacity of Hope outlined problems and solutions with healthcare. He pointed out that preventive care that comes with having every American seeing a doctor regularly could save billions and fund changes. Obama was half right because what was also needed was far Right teeth. I don’t mean a dental plan; I mean public policy with teeth, bite or strong consequences. The kids in my family love their Uncle Teddy and their uninsured Uncle Teddy has made diet and exercise adjustments to stay under 240 pounds. A doctor would tell me that 260, 280 or 300 pounds would trigger health problems that require expensive treatment.
Wait a second; if the doctor and the healthcare plan told Uncle Teddy that buffets could lead to a certain point where expensive treatment would be self-funded or not administered, I basically dug my own grave and they should spend that money on a nice fat double-breasted suit for my funeral. It sounds cold but that is the reality of avoiding taxing or charging some people to pay for life choices of other. While we are working out on the tennis courts, cats drop by with triple cheese burgers in hand. “What’s up, man.” What’s up?…your cholesterol levels and your blood pressure…that’s what’s up.
These mini Civil Wars could be avoided if good conservatives worked with moderates sincerely. In the South, we often find those individuals who feel they are more American than others for some reason. I am proud that I had a dorm assignment at UGA and briefly attended grad school at UF (Go Gators) but I knew that I want to be at my HCBU to study from people who reminded us that we helped built this great nation for free while not free. We actually toiled in southern fields for over a hundred years before America was America in 1776. How difference is “go back to Africa” from “I want my country back.” President Obama likely thinks that we can all join hands and sing “This land is your land…this land is my land” but he did grow up in my dirty South so he doesn’t know that no one is giving up or shares money and power without a struggle.
Oops, I am flashing back to those revolutionary days of youth when radicals hit us with too much “knowledge and wisdom.” That stuff could come in measured dosages. From the Boston Tea Party to John Brown to George Wallace to the Black Panthers to the current Tea Party, Americans must remember that our opinions and plans must be coordinated within our framework of government and among all Americans. If the people decide to move slowly, not at all or in another direction, we must respect the process.
After the ballot drama Bush v. Gore, Democrats acknowledged President Bush as leader of this nation. When President Bush decided that military actions in Iraq rather than Afghanistan only was the course, I respected that jacked-up decision (Cheney lied to 43). Oh, but don’t let regular people elected Obama; folks start talking about second amendment remedies and secession.
Big corporations, unions and lobbyists are fueling these civil wars…pitting Americans against Americans. It is shame that some politicians on both sides think the objective for the next two years is winning the White House in 2012. The clear objective is to reduce federal spending while growing the economy and creating the climate for job creation while keeping us safe.
New members of the congress should put the best interest of the nation above partisan politics because the people in this fast internet age have no problem tossing those guys out every two years…work together.
I need to go because it is communion Sunday at church. Yes, Democrats and moderates go to church and try to practice what is preached during the rest of the week. During my lifetime, overhyped people killed folks while they were worshipping in church…be careful with that fun rhetoric because civil wars are nothing with which to play.
The Albany Herald endorsed Mike Keown for congress in Georgia’s second district over Sanford Bishop. I think that newspaper is wrong because Bishop is uniquely qualified and appropriate to represent the urban/rural; liberal/conservative and yes Black/White hodgepodge that is the 2nd District.
Keown is a conservative pastor from a very rural area and speaks with a command similar to a stern father chastising a wayward child. That type sternness has been at the center of the far Right’s reaction to the election of President Barrack Obama. In our system of government, most American adults have the right to elect officials and the actions of those public servants should reflect the will of the people.
That concept sounds clear in theory but we know that a more detailed explanation is that elected officials do the work of those Americans that vote, vote, vote. President Obama and the Democrats did well in southwest Georgia in 2008 and those election results gave direction to Rep. Sanford Bishop. For some reason, the Tea Party division of the conservative movement feels their votes count heavier that other Americans’ vote. It must because they are smarter or something.
If Rep. Sanford Bishop did everything the Tea Party Movement wanted during the last two years, he would have been functioning in an unconstitutional manner because he would have ignored the desires of the majority that put him in office. As a moderate, I could accept a Republican taking this swing seat if the guy was a policy wonk like Austin Scott or a conservative with a personal history of talking with various communities like Rep. Jack Kingston, Senator Johnny Iasakson or former Senator Sam Nunn.
Bishop came to congress 18 years ago after serving in a majority White state legislature seat; he prides himself on relating to and having a comfort level with everyone. As a blogger, I watched the Keown campaign from day one and rarely saw them working to build relationships with my community. The tone in Tea Partiers’ voice when then say “Barrack Obama,” “Sanford Bishop” and “Nancy Pelosi” is something different from regular Republicans. You know the tone and if you have forgotten it shame on you. Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.
Keown ran a strong race but some other congressional district or statewide position would be better for him and better for us. Bishop won’t win this election if the people who gave him a mandate in 2008 don’t vote on November 2.
An Albany city commissioner, who is also a Darton College professor, told the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call that Rep. Sanford Bishop was a $100 million dollar industry in south Georgia based on this position on the House Appropriations Committee. In one of the poorest areas of the nation, the voters shouldn’t drop a congressman who secures funding for economic development, training and job creation.
This hard campaign has served the purpose of making Rep. Bishop aware that he must be in the middle of helping President Obama shape more-moderate policy if he wants a second term. And that’s it; the reason far right conservatives want Bishop gone from the Democrat Caucus is so the remaining Dems are so liberal that the presidency will go their way in 2012. The Tea Party candidate for president will be Sarah Palin and keeping Palin out of the White House starts with voting for Bishop on Tuesday.
Did the Albany Herald ever ask Mike Keown about his opinion of a possible Palin presidency? Keown keeps bring up my old boss Rep. Charles Hatcher, who Bishop defeated in 1992. As one of the last loyal Hatcherheads, I can say Hatcher always said you don’t get rid of committee chairs and appropriators because they deliver for home. Hatcher knew the Farm Bill like the back of his hand and wouldn’t jeopardize the provisions of interest to south Georgia by bouncing Bishop during tough times.
Our shrewd plot has been foiled a week before the elections. The moderators of Project Logic Ga have always supported candidates from our parties (Democrat for me and who knows for Helen) but we also prepped for the worst case scenario by sending best wishes to the best candidates from the other side. The residual benefit of this idea centers on saying “if you had more candidates like this one, you could get a wider range of support.”
Senator Johnny Isakson has been in the game since 1974 and has a comfort level with every segment of the Georgia electorate; who ever met Isakson and didn’t personally like him. The GOP botched opportunities with Dr. Deborah Honeycutt, a conservative with a comfort level in our community.
In South Georgia, wise people have noticed conservative Austin Scott’s career for years because he seems comfortable in many circles, knows the issues and votes his mind. Scott was recently talking with T.J. Holmes of CNN like they were college chums at homecoming. T.J. didn’t likely hear about a rough patch Austin had when he voted to change the Georgia flag a few years ago.
I don’t want to see real Democrats lose to GOP candidates but if and when it happens, I hope the GOP candidate would be reasonable and comfortable in every community. The shrewd plot was voting for the occasional conservative who supports our regional interests while thinking that fair-minded conservatives would do the same when the shoe was on the other foot…no, not shoe…boot. That situation is not the case (I was wrong) because I can’t understand why regional interests would not compell south Georgia to continue supporting Rep. Bishop.
The Boot Sanford Bishop idea must be rooted in the old Boot Roy Barnes and Boot Austin Scott efforts after the flag vote—for the record, I wouldn’t have change the flag nor would I tear down a concentration camp—lest we forget. While some might seem naïve, the thought of politically “booting” someone in the South comes from a fantasy of actually doing it and the concept has ugly connotations. I mentioned this to Bishop’s opponent at the Grits Festival this year and he sincerely had no idea about someone gleaming a corporal aspect. I can’t say the same about some of those guys supporting him.
I could trade a Blue Dog Democrat for Isakson or Scott but I don’t see Bishop’s opponent being comfortable in every community. GOP Congressional candidate Ray McKinney from Savannah is a regular guy who can talk with anyone but I have rarely seen Bishop’s opponent in different circles.
I was in a discussion this weekend about the worst-case scenarios for election night in November; the situations and outcomes that should have been debated and considered now.
Lately, the GOP in Georgia has been taking heat in my community because African American (AA) candidates Dr. Deborah Honeycutt and Melvin Everson couldn’t make it out of their primaries; the GOP voters spoke and the message bounced from GA to DC.
Former Governor Roy Barnes, who beat a field that included long-time Attorney General Thurbert Baker, heads the Democrat big ticket. The Black community supported Barnes for governor over African American Baker because they thought he had the best chance of winning. Frankly, a Black president and a Black governor at the same time just weren’t going to happen in the Deep South.
Barnes’ strategy seems to center on adding White moderates to the Dem base. But courting the center requires running from President Obama and national Democrats. Once again, the base gets taken for granted. Barnes and conservative Democrat Jim Marshall are slamming Obama’s health care reform with a risky passion but hey, what can the AA voters do since they won’t vote for the GOP candidate? The wild card in the race is Libertarian John Monds who is a Morehouse Man and Omega Psi Phi just might get enough votes to tip the election.
The big Dem ticket includes AA candidates Michael Thurmond, U.S. Senate; Darryl Hicks, Secretary of Labor; and Georganna Sinkfield, Secretary of State. While I think every candidate runs to win, my friends feel these candidates real value is to get out the Black vote and to help Roy Barnes secure the Governorship.
We must read the signs…literally. If you see a campaign yard sign for the GOP candidate for governor, you also see a cluster of other GOP signs. The same situation is true on the Dem side in my community. On the other side of town in areas of people who don’t look like me, you see Barnes signs and that’s it.
In other words, the White support Barnes will receive could only be for Barnes, the White and Black congressional Blue Dogs and that’s it. Is it every man for himself? The Dem ticket is D.O.A. without new voters who love President Obama and we are noticing the slighting he is receiving from his team.
That slighting seems to justify the vigorous campaign for Sanford Bishop’s seat. Okay, let me get this right: one of the most conservative Black members of Congress gets the biggest target. Mind you, Rep. Jim Marshall’s district was won by John McCain in 2008 and Austin Scott, the GOP candidate against Marshall, has a functional relationship with Blacks in his district and Blacks in the state legislature. Bishop must be flattered because the GOP really wants to remove a moderate CBC member so that the CBC will be as liberal as possible as they prep for 2012. The GOP is good at being bad. Dam good. Marshall isn’t catching the heat that some Blue Dogs are experiencing because he remembers Polonius’ speech from Hamlet—To thy ownself be true- and he votes “no” on major Dem legislation before bragging about it back home. They must think real Democrats won’t notice.
The worst-case scenario would be that all of the big ticket Blacks will end up having a bad election night while Marshall and Barnes win. If the governor’s race goes into a runoff, you can best believe my community would not come back out. Barnes is a smart guy and has time to adjust his approach. I am going to need President Obama himself to personal explain why we should care about Marshall.
Another worst-case scenario would be far Right conservatives taking over the congress; people who have little involvement or past interaction with folks different than them. On Meet the Press today, David Gregory played an old clip of Rudy Giuliani talking about the big tent that is the GOP and their numerous moderates. When asked if that was still the case, Giuliani didn’t have much to say. Rep. Jack Kingston under congress as a firebrand in the early 1990s but the tide as changed so much that GOP Rep. Bob Inglis of South Carolina, who lost to a Tea Party candidate, rightly points out that Kingston is now one of the only the voices of reason in South congressional politics.
On the bright side, President Obama’s White House might be pulled toward the center after election night or maybe before.
When Michael Steele sought the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, he produced a glossy “Blueprint” outline for moving his party forward in a productive and positive manner. As a Black moderate, I was hopeful that the brother would do for their team what Obama would be doing for our team.
Then, the anger started and that blueprint because a footnote. Or did it? In South Carolina, Republican Nikki Haley took the high ground and is on her way to joining Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal as Indian Americans in governorships. State Rep. Tim Scott is an African-American who defeated Strom Thrumond’s son for the GOP nod for congress. The Low County of South Carolina is evidentially Scottland.
Georgia has two “Scottland” battles with Black Watch monitoring closely. In military history, the Black Watch is the name of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. Of course, they worn the Black and Green tartan we came to love while rocking the preppy look in the early 80s and ordering from L.L. Bean. In Georgia’s 13th congressional district, Rep. David Scott faces a primary challenge from grassroots candidate Michael Murphy and Michael Frisbee before facing likely GOP nominee Dr. Deborah Honeycutt. Murphy speaks about our state’s future with wisdom and concern. Honeycutt should give Democrat leaders nightmares because she manages to go from Tea Party event to Black suburbs to the inner city without missing a beat.
The central concern for moderates this election is finding officials who support the middle class while working with everyone for real dialog and real results. Honeycutt could be the model for selecting African-American women with positive dispositions who firmly speak about the limited role of government rather than more programs and Band-Aids.
The other “Scottland” battle in Georgia pits Rep. Jim Marshall against Austin Scott. Readers of this blog know that I questioned Marshall’s commitment to the Democrat Party and felt he should have taken the highland by attending the Democrat National Convention event that nominated Barrack Obama. Black “watched” that occur and wondered if Dem officials were asleep on their watch. Austin Scott is a Republican who remains conservative while connecting with young people and occasionally working across party lines. In Georgia, the Blue Dogs have gotten us familiar with such cooperation so considering Deborah Honeycutt, Austin Scott or the GOP challenger to Rep. John Barrow seems natural.
The other “Scottland” battle in Georgia pits Rep. Jim Marshall against Austin Scott.Readers of this blog know that I questioned Marshall’s commitment to the Democrat Party and felt he should have taken the highland by attending the Democrat National Convention event that nominated Barrack Obama.Black “watched” that occur and wondered if Dem officials were asleep on their watch.Austin Scott is a Republican who remains conservative while connecting with young people and occasionally working across party lines.In Georgia, the Blue Dogs have gotten us familiar with such cooperation so considering Deborah Honeycutt, Austin Scott or the GOP challenger to Rep. John Barrow seems natural.
The media loves the drama of the Tea Party but Colin Powell spoke of the sensible center. If the GOP spent some time, energy and resources, Michael Steele could have candidates with a better comfort level in all communities. It’s time to gift a few congressional seats to our GOP friends who supported Obama and the gift to the president will be a congress more like the average American.
In my community, we say, “If you don’t know, you better raise your hand and ask someone.” With that sage wisdom (is that a redundant term) in mind, I ask these questions about Georgia politics.
1. Is the GOP counting on young voters and Black voters not returning to the polls this year?
2. Why won’t the political parties start with the desired result and work backwards to achieve it?
3. Is the ultimate goal a better functioning America or destruction of the other parties?
4. Why won’t Michael Steele and company consider the general election when producing primary candidates?
5. Why won’t the Democrats realize that Senator Isakson can’t be beaten, not run any candidate against him and leave his sizable war chest out of the equation?
6. Would a non-contested Isakson be free to dialog now?
7. Why didn’t the GOP help Rep. Sanford Bishop become Agriculture Secretary if they seriously wanted his congressional seat? Did they forget that the Republican governor would have appointed his replacement?
8. When the ultra-conservatives say Bishop does not listen to people, are they saying that 158,000 voters are not really people?
9. Would Rep. Jim Marshall have been an easier and more logical target for Bishop’s opponent or David Scott’s opponent? Did anyone ask Newt?
10. Would Macon, Tifton and Warner Robins see GOP candidate Dr. Deborah Honeycutt and family as southern Obamas or Huxtables? Did I just go there? Is there anything cooler than a successful family?
11. Does anyone in the GOP remember that Rep. Marshall dissed (on some level) the Obama and Hillary presidential campaigns? Can’t you all see an opportunity there?
12. If any Blue Dogs gets bounced, who should it be? (Leading question…I’m just saying)
13. Would Ray McKinney or Karen Bogans do better against Rep. John Barrow than the current candidates?
14. Will the GOP produce women candidates who can reach Democrat moderate women in the general election or will tea stains be too strong? Did I just coin the term “tea stains” to describe those supported by the strong Tea Party movement who then try to secure enough “other” voters to win the general election?
15. Is Vernon Jones the Tiger Woods of Georgia politics? Would Jones make a good congressman if Rep. Johnson did not feel well? (Best Wishes to Rep. Johnson)
16. Did I tell you that Austin Scott was a bright dude who should be running for congress? Did anyone listen?
17. Is Florida senate candidate Mario Rubio the model for the smiling southern conservative candidate? Did he learn that watching Isakson? Is Rubio the next Obama?
Let’s see: State Rep. Austin Scott is running for Governor but some Georgians consider him yellow for siding with former Governor Roy Barnes and those flag-changing Democrats.Scott gets into a brouhaha with Black members of the General Assembly regarding a resolution honoring President Obama.
This situation sounds convenient (mutual benefit) to me.Scott gets some “cred” in the white hood (bad choice of terms) and the Black legislators get “cred” in Black hood for fighting the good fight.
The resolution sounds flowery to me and using “unimpeachable” and “vision” crossed the line for the full House.(Could you see the Democrat members voting for a similar resolution if McCain won?
On the Albany T.V. news last night, Scott said they are always playing the race card.“They” being the Blacks in the General Assembly is going to become “they” all Blacks globally in the media.During the interview, a framed sign from the “Boot Scott” for flag changing could be seen on his office wall.It was there like “Dewey defeats Truman.”This whole situation is a cool calculation on Scott’s part but I still think he would be better off taking Jim Marshall’s congressional seat.
This drama ends a week that included President Obama’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the president discussing his NCAA basketball bracket.At first, I thought the Leno visit was wrong but he mostly covered policy matters; the Special Olympics comment regarding his bowling was clearly a gaffe.The president is still a regular person so he gets to share the national interest in the “big dance” despite Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s joking comment that he should focus on the economy.
Obama doesn’t have a Messiah complex but it seems some of his supporters (don’t think followers) might.MLK, RFK and Malcolm X worked hard to keep the Black community from seeing them that way because they were not the Messiah and any movement focused on one person could end with the loss of that person.“I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promise Land.”
Let Obama be Obama: a real, regular dude.Did you see him at the NBA game sipping that cold beer?The Messiah turned water into wine (not Coors) but I had better leave that alone before I write that Messianic prophecy on the Second Coming doesn’t mention chilling at the Wizards’ game.He went to see the Wizards rather than the football team from New Orleans—the Saints.Is it a sign of the antichrist or a sign that some folks are as nutty as a fruitcake?
Project Logic Ga 