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Posts Tagged ‘Karen Handel’

The primary elections next month will place the foundation for what kind of Georgia we want to have.  With secondary consideration for party politics, I want to point out a different view of a few candidates.

Helen Blocker Adams, Augusta Mayor: Helen has a heart of gold and I have never ever known a person so committed to a place.  Augusta is an old boys city but Helen is about bridging the divide between regular folks and that is a good thing.

Aaron Johnson, Dougherty County School Board: We hear too much about elected officials who aren’t smart or those who don’t spend time explaining policy and budgets to the people.  Well, Aaron Johnson can break macroeconomics down so smoothly that I can understand it.  Look, one of the biggest problems with personal responsibility is that regular folks don’t get the limited role of government or grasp governmental fiscal constraints.  Well, you have an econ professor who has sat on a dozen citizen boards running for school board and he is neck and neck with a nice Country Club type lady who attended private school.  Really?   Actually, Johnson’s opponent did a fine job in the candidate forum at Darton College but she would be a better city commissioner than school board member.

The big picture about Aaron Johnson tossing his hat into the ring is that his hat should be in another ring in a few  years.  He likely doesn’t like the speculation but I don’t care.  His students emailed this blog years ago to say that he should be considered for Congress when Rep. Sanford Bishop retires.  Dude clearly loves his wife, baby, college, and church too much to start that fly to DC every Sunday night stuff.  But, I hate the Georgia congressional map because I want Albany to have a congressman, Macon to have and congressman and Columbus to have a congresswoman.  We don’t need to share.  To me, the election of Aaron Johnson to school board would give  him years to work in K-12 education and preps him to be one of our best shots at having congressman from our part of Georgia.

Vivian Childs, U.S. Congress:  The GOP is giving lip service to wanting to dialog with the minority community.  Who better to do that than someone from said minority community?  During the primary season, I have personally seen Mrs. Childs warmly discussing issues with Black voters who welcomed her to the discussion table.  Okay, they didn’t know she was a Republican because they never met one who wasn’t angry or ticked off.  Oh, she is just as ticked off as the rest of them but as a Black woman she knows how to channel that energy into productive action.  Why is Vivian Childs a member of Delta Sigma Theta who hasn’t use that bond as a campaign opportunity?  I think she is too nice to play the soror card but that niceness is her best tool at breaking Rep. Sanford Bishop’s lock on the second district. Well, she has gotten her foot into doors that never would have opened for other GOP candidates.

 

U.S. Senate Race:  First of all, the race for U.S. Senator from Georgia is really a midterm referendum on the Obama White House.  Control of the Senate by the Dems or the GOP will likely come down to this one seat.  I have choice words for people who help put President Obama in office but aren’t wise enough to know that he needs Dem control of the Senate to finish his presidency properly.

If this Senate seat stays with the GOP, I hope it will be a Republican who doesn’t ignore Blacks folks because so many of us are with the Blue team.  Yea, I will be a Democrat voting in the GOP primary to select a quality person if Michelle Nunn doesn’t win in November.

Karen Handel, U.S. Senate: GOP candidates seem to be running away from Blacks who know them and who have supported them in the past.  Karen Handel graduated from Frederick Douglas High in Maryland but you don’t hear about that from her team.  Plus, she was chairwoman of the Fulton County Commission.  Black folks know her but her handlers must equate Black with liberal and are trying not to alienate the far Right.  Check this out right here, if she had some of those Black friends a few years ago, she would be governor today.

Jack Kingston, U.S. Senate: Savannah is a chocolate city and Jack has had a functioning relationship with the Black community on the coast for over 20 years.  His knowledge of agriculture and the military makes him the GOP candidate best suited to serve the interests of Georgia south of Atlanta.  But, Jack is alienating Black voters in the process of impressing the far right with his level fiscal conservatism.  Jack is still a good dude.

David Perdue, U.S. Senate:  First, Perdue is an outsider who made me laugh with his ad about the congress being made up of babies and his opponents being babies.  The Karen Handel baby was wearing her signature pearls.  Funny.  But on a serious note, a Black GOP friend, yes I have those, told me that Perdue came to Albany and sat down with 32 local pastors.  So, he seems to be the only GOP Senate candidate who is talking with my community during the primary process.

Summary: Voters should consider the big picture next month because politics as usual simply isn’t working.

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Everyone has agendas this election year and there is much to sort out.  My agenda is based on the best interest of Georgia and the South but the word trump has always been a cornerstone of this blog.

To me, some factors “trump” other factors and the factors of race, faith, region, country, money, and gender can be prioritized 100 different ways by 100 different people.  For example, a local congressional candidate from a different party knows person X’s interest better than a candidate from X’s party from the other side of the area.  At the end of the day, Colin Powell and Condi Rice care more about Black people than the Red party.  Actually, they joined the Red party because in their hearts they felt they were helping every American.

If I won the sweepstakes, I would use some of that money to convene a summit on the Black agenda for this election year in middle Georgia.  The meeting would include folks from both major political parties and of every racial background.  While the “Changing Mindset” outline found as a tab at the top of this blog would be the central theme, some other matters need to be put on the table.

https://projectlogicga.com/changing-mindsets/

 

Voter Suppression: It’s clear that some leaders of the GOP plan to counterbalance changing demographics by making it hard for certain people to vote. President Obama recent comments on this topic should be heard.

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/obama-takes-on-assaults-to-voting-rights-223929923741

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-the-real-voter-fraud-is-people-who-try-to-deny-our-rights/

 

Georgia 2nd Congressional District race:  As quiet as it is kept, many Black Republicans know that the voter suppression efforts from their party is hogwash.  These good Americans believe that the conservative agenda is in the best interest of everyone and that silly tricks and shady methods drive reasonable people away from their party.

GOP primary voters have the opportunity to select a candidate, Vivian Childs, who might plant the seeds that change the whole political arena.  Let’s be honest, the GOP often pushes Black candidates who seem a little bland on the Black hand side.  With the trump matter in mind, Vivian Childs, Andrew and Deborah Honeycutt, Karen Bogans in Savannah and Michael Murphy are Black Georgians who are conservative but they lived in the Black world, attend Black churches, and likely have Black gold fish.  I personally saw Mrs. Childs in fellowship with her sorority sister, the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta.

Fraternity and sorority trumps political party in my community and you can best believe that the Childs campaign will never function in a way that dishonors her bond.  Okay, I worked for Rep. Sanford Bishop and I was dumfounded by the ugliness of some previous campaigns—hell, if they kept the debate civic they would have won.  Childs vs. Bishop would have a residual benefit of showing how to disagree without being disagreeable.

President Obama On the Ballot: Oh yea, the primary this spring and the general election in the fall are referendums on the president in some way.  The Republicans want control of the U.S. Senate because with both houses of Congress they can make the rest of his hair gray.  If the Senate candidates are constantly attacking Obamacare, their election is a vote on Obamacare.  To me, the people who elected Obama in the first place should vote this year also.

Senate Candidate Breakdown:  I want to put a few points about these candidates on the table…as I see it.

Michelle Nunn– Don’t sleep….she can win.  While she will be running from Obama, she can’t win without a massive pro-Obama turnout.  Her father wasn’t big on being a political party person and hopefully is the same way.  She might do well with suburb Atlanta GOP soccer moms.

Paul Broun– The Democrats so so so very much want him to be the GOP nom because he has a record of being ugly to candidate and President Obama.  He would drive large numbers of ify voters to the polls for the dems and the national fundraising for Nunn would be huge courtesy of his youtube videos.

Jack Kingston– If region trumps party with me, Kingston is the people’s champ from south Georgia.  Georgia political power is now centered in north Georgia and that is scary because you can count the Black folks up there.  Jack served Black Savannah and Savannah State University for years and dude has lived in part-time in D.C.  Because he likes to play that Andy Griffin role, Kingston knows Black and White rural Georgia inside and out.  The economic engines of our state outside of Atlanta are agriculture and military.  Those Tea Party people would cut both of those areas to the bone but Jack knows what’s up.  He should come to our summit and explain that statement about free lunch kids cleaning the schools.

Karen Handel– She would hold the GOP women vote against Nunn.  She should play up her hard knock life story.  Who knew that she attended Fredrick Douglas High School in suburban D.C.  The lady was chair of the Fulton County Commission.  Her campaign clearly doesn’t want to tap her potential support in our community.  Did I mention that she went to Doug?

David Perdue– this political newcomer is was balling in the private sector. Perdue was CEO at Reebok and at Dollar General.  DG sure brings revitalization to some rough areas and heaven knows the jobs are needed.  His campaign website contains a list of companies he has helped: Rockport, Hanes, Levi’s, Polo, Coach, and Greg Norman.  I kid you not; I can get dress in a Polo shirt, a pair of Levis, Hanes drawers, old Rockport Dressports, and Greg Norman footies.  Look for forward to Dems asking if these companies gave back to our communities.

Governor race: This race will be a referendum on Governor Nathan Deal and the GOP in the state houses refusal to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.  We need to hear the GOP alternative to Obamacare because current the uninsured are using the emergency room as a doctor’s office and that’s costly.

State House and State Senate:  With secondary regard for party, stay on your state legislators’ behinds because voter suppression and stand your ground start with them.

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The Georgia Republican State Convention is popping this weekend so it’s time to play “count the negroes.”   I will get calls from Black GOP friends and associates regarding the size vehicle you could put all of the African-Americans at this event in at one time comfortably.   Escalade seems appropriate because we love ourselves some Cadillacs.

 
Georgia contains the best Black area in the world, Atlanta, and therefore, the state has many many business-oriented, self-made Blacks who are conservative to moderate on paper.   Secondly, outside of Atlanta, Blacks are use to functioning with GOP elected leaders.   The opportunity has been there for GOP candidates to enjoy 10, 20, or maybe 30% of the Black vote but they don’t want it because the regular GOP crew would see sizable Black numbers as an indicator of liberalism.

 
The 2014 U.S. Senate primary on the GOP side could be decided by a few votes.   This week, former Secretary of State Karen Handel jumped into the race.   This former Atlanta area elected official could have been governor if she cultivated a little of the Black support she experienced in the ATL but she was defeated in a primary runoff by 2500 votes.   Of course, the maneuver I am suggesting would have required Black voting in the GOP primary but wise folks know that the Dem team is weak in Georgia so the GOP primary is often where leaders are picked. I do it all the time.
 

Rep. Jack Kingston is in the senate race also. …Jack…cool Jack….my man Jack.  Careful, Jack. Please.   One on one, Kingston is one friendly guy but the GOP information (or disinformation) machine requires the delivery of rough talking point (yes, the Dems do the same thing.)   Jack is well liked in the Black community from Augusta to Warner Robins to Valdosta because he supports our military bases and farms.   So, Kingston should play that Rep. Austin Scott/Rep. Sanford Bishop nice guy role by voting the party line but limited the non-policy attacks on the president from the other party.   The Obama administration is currently giving them plenty of real targets so fire away nicely.

 
Handel or Kingston could get 20% of their primary votes from crossover Blacks who aren’t GOP if they play their cards right.   The percentage is more than enough to tip the scales to victory and if Michelle Nunn doesn’t jump into the race, the whole state should vote in the GOP primary.

 

In the land of MLK, “I have a dream” that one day the GOP—the party of Lincoln- will have a state convention with brothers and sistas with goatees and naturals.   I mean the bros should have goatees.   You know, guys who grew up on Black self-reliance discussions at the dinner table. People who are uncomfortable with the government being all up in their business.   People who don’t need the state to tell them to care for and feed their children.

 
Surprisingly, Clarence Thomas is one the most afro-centric cats on the nation stage and as Chuck D said about someone else “don’t tell me that you understand until you hear the man.”   A new Black conservatism could be based on Thomas’s book about his grandfather. Black southerners are primed to be separated from real liberals and from the thug element of the hip hop culture.   However, we can’t find a home inside the Right because the far Right likes ugly talk too much.   What’s a brother to do?

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Handel and Helen at GOP State Convention

Handel and Helen at GOP State Convention

Helen Block Adams (HBA) sits down with Georgia Secretary of State and Candidate for Governor Karen Handel at high noon on Friday.  I bet HBA will have all the candidates for governor before the end of the year. 

In my opinion, a party that seems stagnate could use some fresh blood with a woman perspective for governor and/or congress (stay tune for something big…hopefully.)  You have the Nathan Deal crew, the Eric Johnson crew, the Ox crew, and the Austin Scott youth crew before you get to the drama on the Democratic side. We will see.  The GOP should learn that you get more people with honey than cutting them down and the Dems need to learn that our community won’t always be marshalled around.

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http://www.newsradio1230.com/

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