Nah, we don't have any of those fancy-schmancy polling widgets, so just use the comments thread.
Which local race are you thinking about the most, or put another way, which local race has got you excited? On a similar tip, who are you lukewarm about?
Comments below.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
C'mon, ride that train. Or not.
Just to take a break from some campaign politics for the nonce, let's take a look at some actual policy. Got a question on a previous thread about whether I'd ride the choo-choo to the ATL. (I had mentioned that I'm not a supporter of the Brain Train.)
So let's talk about the Brain Train for a second, and I'll tell you why I'm not supporting it. There are basically two reasons, one practical, one fiscal.
The practical reason is that I just don't think the BT is going to go anywhere I need to go in Atlanta, except for the airport. Folks, Atlanta is all sprawled out. (I know, shocking.) To get anywhere, you either need effective public transportation or you need a car. Now, effective public transportation is something I do support, and very strongly. But Atlanta doesn't have it yet, and I don't know if they will even in my lifetime. Try to get the rich folks in North Fulton to let MARTA come in and see how far you get. Gwinnett County is also severely lacking in that department. So, I wouldn't take the choo-choo to Atlanta, because it's easier to drive my car to where I need to go rather than braintrain it to a central hub and take my chances with public transporation which may or may not go where I need it to go.
To a certain extent, then, I think that pushing the Brain Train through right now is really putting the cart ahead of the horse. Regional public transportation is great, but we need the local public transportation to support it in place first. I don't believe that Atlanta is there yet.
Here's a little bit of a sociological sub-reason to this as well. Americans, and especially those who live in the South and West, are ingrained with car culture. Now, that's not necessarily a good thing, but it is what it is. You'll need a sweeping change in the cultural zeitgeist to overcome that, and it won't happen overnight or even over a generation. So, even having the Brain Train in place doesn't guarantee that people will use it, and most people probably won't.
Now my fiscal reason is a little simpler. Friends, I love public transportation, but we cannot afford this right now. Estimates vary on the cost of this project, but it's going to be expensive. Legislators, do me a favor, please. Put that money into health care, into PeachCare, into public education, or helping small businesses stay afloat in the first few years of existence. Hell, put the money into helping local governments fund more and better public transportation on the local level. I'd love to buy the choo-choo, but we've got other more pressing problems to pay for first. The revenue to pay for choo-choos has to come from one or both of only two sources - either cut spending or raise taxes. I'm not a huge fan of the latter, for obvious reasons, and while I favor spending cuts, this legislature tends to pull money out of things like, oh, I don't know, having enough teachers, or making sure your kids can see the doctor.
Friends, I'm convincable on this issue. I'm open to debate, and I'd like to know why I should get behind the choo-choo, but right now...well, not so much.
So let's talk about the Brain Train for a second, and I'll tell you why I'm not supporting it. There are basically two reasons, one practical, one fiscal.
The practical reason is that I just don't think the BT is going to go anywhere I need to go in Atlanta, except for the airport. Folks, Atlanta is all sprawled out. (I know, shocking.) To get anywhere, you either need effective public transportation or you need a car. Now, effective public transportation is something I do support, and very strongly. But Atlanta doesn't have it yet, and I don't know if they will even in my lifetime. Try to get the rich folks in North Fulton to let MARTA come in and see how far you get. Gwinnett County is also severely lacking in that department. So, I wouldn't take the choo-choo to Atlanta, because it's easier to drive my car to where I need to go rather than braintrain it to a central hub and take my chances with public transporation which may or may not go where I need it to go.
To a certain extent, then, I think that pushing the Brain Train through right now is really putting the cart ahead of the horse. Regional public transportation is great, but we need the local public transportation to support it in place first. I don't believe that Atlanta is there yet.
Here's a little bit of a sociological sub-reason to this as well. Americans, and especially those who live in the South and West, are ingrained with car culture. Now, that's not necessarily a good thing, but it is what it is. You'll need a sweeping change in the cultural zeitgeist to overcome that, and it won't happen overnight or even over a generation. So, even having the Brain Train in place doesn't guarantee that people will use it, and most people probably won't.
Now my fiscal reason is a little simpler. Friends, I love public transportation, but we cannot afford this right now. Estimates vary on the cost of this project, but it's going to be expensive. Legislators, do me a favor, please. Put that money into health care, into PeachCare, into public education, or helping small businesses stay afloat in the first few years of existence. Hell, put the money into helping local governments fund more and better public transportation on the local level. I'd love to buy the choo-choo, but we've got other more pressing problems to pay for first. The revenue to pay for choo-choos has to come from one or both of only two sources - either cut spending or raise taxes. I'm not a huge fan of the latter, for obvious reasons, and while I favor spending cuts, this legislature tends to pull money out of things like, oh, I don't know, having enough teachers, or making sure your kids can see the doctor.
Friends, I'm convincable on this issue. I'm open to debate, and I'd like to know why I should get behind the choo-choo, but right now...well, not so much.
Cowsert's website is up
He let us know last night. Anyway, it's a pretty nice website; some of the photography is top-notch. He's messaging on two things - common sense (which I like), and conservatism (which I used to like in some respects until some of Mr. Cowsert's colleagues in the GOP hijacked the word and redifined it to mean hating on gays, Mexicans, and anyone else who isn't white, fundamentalist, and Southern. Ahem. For what it's worth, I've met Bill, and I don't think he's got an intolerant bone in his body, but that's not particularly true of some of his fellow Republicans.)
Sorry about that. Sometimes... Anyhoo, Bill's website is up. The issues section is pretty nice, although I think many of us would like a leeeeeeetle more detail about his plan on health care. He wants to allow small business owners to join a pool of insurance buyers, which is a good idea, since 90% of Georgia's workforce works for small businesses. Still, while that might make a dent in the number of uninsured folks who are driving up health care (and thus health insurance) costs, he doesn't say anything about the insurance companies themselves, which - some believe - share a part of the blame.
Cowsert also says that he's "committed to fully funding our educational system." OK, Bill, if you get elected, we're holding you to that. You may have noticed a big honkin' University in our back yard. We take education pretty seriously around here, and given the dropout rate in the Clarke County public schools, I don't know that Athens voters are going to look too favorably on three years of education cuts, followed by an election year education funding orgy, as Sonny did, with the help of the GOP-held state legislature.
One other issues point, and then I'll let you make up your own mind. I liked what Cowsert has to say about transportation and air pollution. But then I read a little deeper, and caught this: "I will work with state and regional transportation officials to promote making Hwy 316 an interstate-style road without excessive fees and tolls." Hmmm...without excessive fees or tolls, meaning that the option is open. I'm not strongly decided on that particular issue, except that I'm opposed to having to pay to drive to Atlanta, and I'm pretty sure that Atlanta will get the lion's share of the revenue. Bill also loves him some Brain Train, which I don't really care for.
Finally, Bill has a blog. It's apparently the happening thing for candidates.
Sorry about that. Sometimes... Anyhoo, Bill's website is up. The issues section is pretty nice, although I think many of us would like a leeeeeeetle more detail about his plan on health care. He wants to allow small business owners to join a pool of insurance buyers, which is a good idea, since 90% of Georgia's workforce works for small businesses. Still, while that might make a dent in the number of uninsured folks who are driving up health care (and thus health insurance) costs, he doesn't say anything about the insurance companies themselves, which - some believe - share a part of the blame.
Cowsert also says that he's "committed to fully funding our educational system." OK, Bill, if you get elected, we're holding you to that. You may have noticed a big honkin' University in our back yard. We take education pretty seriously around here, and given the dropout rate in the Clarke County public schools, I don't know that Athens voters are going to look too favorably on three years of education cuts, followed by an election year education funding orgy, as Sonny did, with the help of the GOP-held state legislature.
One other issues point, and then I'll let you make up your own mind. I liked what Cowsert has to say about transportation and air pollution. But then I read a little deeper, and caught this: "I will work with state and regional transportation officials to promote making Hwy 316 an interstate-style road without excessive fees and tolls." Hmmm...without excessive fees or tolls, meaning that the option is open. I'm not strongly decided on that particular issue, except that I'm opposed to having to pay to drive to Atlanta, and I'm pretty sure that Atlanta will get the lion's share of the revenue. Bill also loves him some Brain Train, which I don't really care for.
Finally, Bill has a blog. It's apparently the happening thing for candidates.
Mayor Heidi is gonna clean this town up
...one greenway at a time. If you'd like to help her in her effort to do that, then you should stop by the Sandy Creek Nature Center this Saturday at 9:00 am. She'll provide bags and refreshments.
Hey, as far as candidate events go, it beats punch and cookies.
Random aside: Heidi's campaign committee is called "Elect Heidi Mayor Again!" I dunno, sounds a little ungainly. I prefer Heidi 2.0, or perhaps "Heidi Part II: The Reckoning." But what do I know?
Hey, speaking of candidate events, the man we've annointed to make Ralph Hudgens cry like a little bitch, Mac Rawson, is having a soiree next month. It could be a big deal, so we're telling you now. It's going to be in Winterville on September 14, and will feature Gov. Roy Barnes and other dignitaries. In an effort to make the event as unstuffy as possible, sources in the Rawson camp tell me that barbecue will be served, and the hit to your pocketbook will be reasonably light. Y'all go.
Speaking of fundraisers, Congressional candidate Terry Holley, the man we've annointed to have his lunch eaten by Charlie Norwood, will be breezing through Athens this week to raise some cash. Folks, don't waste your time or your money on this one. As of his June 30th disclosure, Holley had raised less than $8,000 for this race (Norwood raised a shade over $1.1 million in the same time period) and had less than $2,000 cash on hand. (Norwood has over $1 million on hand.) Not to criticize Mr. Holley or anything, he's a nice guy with good ideas, but if you're thinking about writing some candidate checks, then please, consider Rawson (he needs your help and he's got a shot against Hudgy), or Jane Kidd or Bill Cowsert, whichever floats your particular boat. Another thing about Holley, for a candidate who wants to represent Athens, we haven't seen very much of him, other than at Democratic party functions (and those cats are already voting for him.)
Hey, as far as candidate events go, it beats punch and cookies.
Random aside: Heidi's campaign committee is called "Elect Heidi Mayor Again!" I dunno, sounds a little ungainly. I prefer Heidi 2.0, or perhaps "Heidi Part II: The Reckoning." But what do I know?
Hey, speaking of candidate events, the man we've annointed to make Ralph Hudgens cry like a little bitch, Mac Rawson, is having a soiree next month. It could be a big deal, so we're telling you now. It's going to be in Winterville on September 14, and will feature Gov. Roy Barnes and other dignitaries. In an effort to make the event as unstuffy as possible, sources in the Rawson camp tell me that barbecue will be served, and the hit to your pocketbook will be reasonably light. Y'all go.
Speaking of fundraisers, Congressional candidate Terry Holley, the man we've annointed to have his lunch eaten by Charlie Norwood, will be breezing through Athens this week to raise some cash. Folks, don't waste your time or your money on this one. As of his June 30th disclosure, Holley had raised less than $8,000 for this race (Norwood raised a shade over $1.1 million in the same time period) and had less than $2,000 cash on hand. (Norwood has over $1 million on hand.) Not to criticize Mr. Holley or anything, he's a nice guy with good ideas, but if you're thinking about writing some candidate checks, then please, consider Rawson (he needs your help and he's got a shot against Hudgy), or Jane Kidd or Bill Cowsert, whichever floats your particular boat. Another thing about Holley, for a candidate who wants to represent Athens, we haven't seen very much of him, other than at Democratic party functions (and those cats are already voting for him.)
Monday, August 21, 2006
Doug McKillip, Regina Quick, and E to the H
Here's what I know.
First of all, I got no dog in this fight. If you asked me right now for whom I would vote, my answer would be "uh..." (As opposed to "eh")
So here's what I know about these cats. Some of it's positive, some of it's negative, but like they say, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have... you get the idea.
E to the H Culpepper
Well, he's got a cool name. And the establishment Democrats, most of whom are no longer actually Democrats, seem to love him. That's cool, if you dig that crowd. His website is the best of the bunch from a design standpoint. And, he's running as an independent, a move that would probably work well in a lot of other districts, but maybe not so much in this one, where a lot of the electorate is still fairly proud to call themselves Democrats. (God knows why, given the state of our state and local Democratic parties, but I digress.)
A lot of folks are talking about the fact that E to the H is a closet Republican. Maybe so, I don't really know him to speak to him. But, I would say this. Don't assume that the independent label is a harbinger of a 5% vanity vote, like it is in most cases. Culpepper has some very smart people working for him. He could surprise some people.
As far as issues go, I'm not impressed. Culpepper's website is - well, prosy is a good word. I'm all in favor of lots of issues stuff, but the language is kind of stiff and formal. More importantly, after reading it, I'm still not sure what he stands for, other than the Brain Train. For instance, dig this section about economic development:
Um...how? I mean, that's all very lovely, and we're sure you've done a lot in your long and storied career. But there's no real mention of what you're going to do in the future. There's a maxim in marketing about selling benefits, not features. Past accomplishments are features, but plans are benefits.
However, worth checking out is the "Q&A with E.H." section, where the campaign talks a little more in-depth about the independent run and jazz like that.
Finally, here's something else I know about E to the H's campaign. They should quit their bitching about the poll floating around. They've spun this as being akin to a push poll, disseminating inaccurate information. I would note that, while they've alleged the information is inaccurate, they haven't put out the "real facts" as they see them. In any event, based on what I've heard about the polling questions (and if the Culpepper folks want to give me some more detail, they can and I'll re-evaluate my position on this), this is normal political polling procedure. You test your positives, your opponents' positives, your negatives and their negatives. It's how you develop a good message. Now the only way this is a push poll is if the sample size is way out of the ordinary. Normally, you would sample 400 - 500 folks. If the sample size is closer to 2,000 or so, then it's a push poll. I'm hearing that the poll came from McKillip's campaign or the state Democratic Party, so if one of those fine organizations would care to shoot me their survey and sample size, we can clear this up once and for all.
One other thing. (I know, I know, I already said "finally.") The Culpepper campaign is the only one of the three that is keeping us in the loop on their campaign news. So, if you're interested in who's reaching out to the new media, there you go. We're interested in that, but it's kind of our job to be interested.
And that's what I know about E to the H.
Doug McKillip
Well, what do I know about Doug McKillip? He's rich like Croesus. He cut me off in traffic once in his Mercedes. (DiDDY was with me, he can vouch.) He's run before for things. He put up a lot of yard signs before his uncontested primary - which kind of seemed like a waste of yard signs, considering how those things disappear.
Issues-wise, McKillip is more specific than E to the H. He opposes cutting funding for public education, and Peachcare. More importantly, on one of our pet issues, McKillip wants to do away with the law which prevents local governments from passing living wage ordinances. By the way, McKillip doesn't have an "Issues" section, per se, on his website, so browse around.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of McKillip, and not just because he cut me off on Atlanta Highway that time. I've met him, heard him talk, and it just seems like he's reciting the Democratic Party talking points, without putting a whole lot of thought into the issues or coming up with something new and exciting.
And that's what I know about Doug McKillip.
Regina Quick
Don't know much about Regina Quick. She's a Republican, but sources tell us that she's actually pretty liberal on a lot of issues. She seems like a nice kid, but I have no clue what she stands for. She's a Republican, so I don't see her doing very well in this district. No website.
And that's what little I know about Regina Quick.
Conspiracy Theories Abound...
...about this race. The big one going around town (and mentioned in a previous thread) is that the local GOP was less than thrilled with Regina Quick as a candidate and recruited Culpepper. If he wins, according to this theory, he'll jump ship to the GOP.
Yeah, I don't know about that. Multiple sources tell us that the local GOP is less than supportive of E to the H and his candidacy. Culpepper's website mentions that the local Republican party sent down an edict promising swift and sure vengeance to any members signing his petition. (I'm guessing that involves the water torture, three weeks at Gitmo, or at the very least, a flaming bag of poo on your doorstep.) So, I'm going to need more proof before I'm ready to buy that one.
If you want my theory, here it is. Culpepper wanted to run for State House. So he did. Sometimes, the easiest theory is the best.
Oh, you want more detail? You want at least something involving shrewd political manuvering? Fine, I'll expound on why he's running as an independent. Culpepper can't run as a Republican, because he'd get his ass handed to him in 115. (Plus, he is probably more of a Democrat than he is a Republican.) He can't run as a Democrat because some of his biggest financial backers aren't Democrats. Finally, as an Independent, he avoided a primary, giving himself more time to stockpile his resources for the election that matters.
Finally
To the Culpepper and McKillip anonymous lurk-flamers on the blog: Here's your thread. Go nuts!
First of all, I got no dog in this fight. If you asked me right now for whom I would vote, my answer would be "uh..." (As opposed to "eh")
So here's what I know about these cats. Some of it's positive, some of it's negative, but like they say, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have... you get the idea.
E to the H Culpepper
Well, he's got a cool name. And the establishment Democrats, most of whom are no longer actually Democrats, seem to love him. That's cool, if you dig that crowd. His website is the best of the bunch from a design standpoint. And, he's running as an independent, a move that would probably work well in a lot of other districts, but maybe not so much in this one, where a lot of the electorate is still fairly proud to call themselves Democrats. (God knows why, given the state of our state and local Democratic parties, but I digress.)
A lot of folks are talking about the fact that E to the H is a closet Republican. Maybe so, I don't really know him to speak to him. But, I would say this. Don't assume that the independent label is a harbinger of a 5% vanity vote, like it is in most cases. Culpepper has some very smart people working for him. He could surprise some people.
As far as issues go, I'm not impressed. Culpepper's website is - well, prosy is a good word. I'm all in favor of lots of issues stuff, but the language is kind of stiff and formal. More importantly, after reading it, I'm still not sure what he stands for, other than the Brain Train. For instance, dig this section about economic development:
"One of E.H.’s biggest priorities is finding the best way to create meaningful jobs here in Athens, which coincides with community improvement on a number of levels. E.H. has the unique expertise and leaderships credentials that will get the greatest return for the Athens community. Through involvement in statewide organizations such as Parks & Historic Sites, Rail Passenger Authority, and DOT; regional and corridor development initiatives such as 316 Alliance and BrainTrain Group; and involvement in numerous local arts, church, university, and business development programs, E.H has proven himself as a leader who can help bring greater economic prosperity to our region."
Um...how? I mean, that's all very lovely, and we're sure you've done a lot in your long and storied career. But there's no real mention of what you're going to do in the future. There's a maxim in marketing about selling benefits, not features. Past accomplishments are features, but plans are benefits.
However, worth checking out is the "Q&A with E.H." section, where the campaign talks a little more in-depth about the independent run and jazz like that.
Finally, here's something else I know about E to the H's campaign. They should quit their bitching about the poll floating around. They've spun this as being akin to a push poll, disseminating inaccurate information. I would note that, while they've alleged the information is inaccurate, they haven't put out the "real facts" as they see them. In any event, based on what I've heard about the polling questions (and if the Culpepper folks want to give me some more detail, they can and I'll re-evaluate my position on this), this is normal political polling procedure. You test your positives, your opponents' positives, your negatives and their negatives. It's how you develop a good message. Now the only way this is a push poll is if the sample size is way out of the ordinary. Normally, you would sample 400 - 500 folks. If the sample size is closer to 2,000 or so, then it's a push poll. I'm hearing that the poll came from McKillip's campaign or the state Democratic Party, so if one of those fine organizations would care to shoot me their survey and sample size, we can clear this up once and for all.
One other thing. (I know, I know, I already said "finally.") The Culpepper campaign is the only one of the three that is keeping us in the loop on their campaign news. So, if you're interested in who's reaching out to the new media, there you go. We're interested in that, but it's kind of our job to be interested.
And that's what I know about E to the H.
Doug McKillip
Well, what do I know about Doug McKillip? He's rich like Croesus. He cut me off in traffic once in his Mercedes. (DiDDY was with me, he can vouch.) He's run before for things. He put up a lot of yard signs before his uncontested primary - which kind of seemed like a waste of yard signs, considering how those things disappear.
Issues-wise, McKillip is more specific than E to the H. He opposes cutting funding for public education, and Peachcare. More importantly, on one of our pet issues, McKillip wants to do away with the law which prevents local governments from passing living wage ordinances. By the way, McKillip doesn't have an "Issues" section, per se, on his website, so browse around.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of McKillip, and not just because he cut me off on Atlanta Highway that time. I've met him, heard him talk, and it just seems like he's reciting the Democratic Party talking points, without putting a whole lot of thought into the issues or coming up with something new and exciting.
And that's what I know about Doug McKillip.
Regina Quick
Don't know much about Regina Quick. She's a Republican, but sources tell us that she's actually pretty liberal on a lot of issues. She seems like a nice kid, but I have no clue what she stands for. She's a Republican, so I don't see her doing very well in this district. No website.
And that's what little I know about Regina Quick.
Conspiracy Theories Abound...
...about this race. The big one going around town (and mentioned in a previous thread) is that the local GOP was less than thrilled with Regina Quick as a candidate and recruited Culpepper. If he wins, according to this theory, he'll jump ship to the GOP.
Yeah, I don't know about that. Multiple sources tell us that the local GOP is less than supportive of E to the H and his candidacy. Culpepper's website mentions that the local Republican party sent down an edict promising swift and sure vengeance to any members signing his petition. (I'm guessing that involves the water torture, three weeks at Gitmo, or at the very least, a flaming bag of poo on your doorstep.) So, I'm going to need more proof before I'm ready to buy that one.
If you want my theory, here it is. Culpepper wanted to run for State House. So he did. Sometimes, the easiest theory is the best.
Oh, you want more detail? You want at least something involving shrewd political manuvering? Fine, I'll expound on why he's running as an independent. Culpepper can't run as a Republican, because he'd get his ass handed to him in 115. (Plus, he is probably more of a Democrat than he is a Republican.) He can't run as a Democrat because some of his biggest financial backers aren't Democrats. Finally, as an Independent, he avoided a primary, giving himself more time to stockpile his resources for the election that matters.
Finally
To the Culpepper and McKillip anonymous lurk-flamers on the blog: Here's your thread. Go nuts!
Administrivia
New policy on candidate links. We're only providing the linky goodness to the candidates that interact with us. Don't worry, not feeding us press releases and information won't affect how we cover candidates, except to the extent that we have less information on which to base our comentary.
Petty? Perhaps. But hey, if you don't keep us in the loop, then why should we bother to give you any help?
Check to the right to see the list of candidates who give a fat rat's ass about local electronic media. (You might need to refresh.)
Among the candidates who should know better: Jane Kidd, Tom Chasteen, Charlie Maddox, Jim Ponsoldt, and some others. Shame on you.
And, if you're a candidate, or know someone who is, the address is athenspolitics@gmail.com.
One other thing:
James Garland has an "En Espanol" section on his site. That's a really good idea, and we extend a laurel (and hearty handshake) to Garland for remembering that there is a wide and diverse Athens community.
Petty? Perhaps. But hey, if you don't keep us in the loop, then why should we bother to give you any help?
Check to the right to see the list of candidates who give a fat rat's ass about local electronic media. (You might need to refresh.)
Among the candidates who should know better: Jane Kidd, Tom Chasteen, Charlie Maddox, Jim Ponsoldt, and some others. Shame on you.
And, if you're a candidate, or know someone who is, the address is athenspolitics@gmail.com.
One other thing:
James Garland has an "En Espanol" section on his site. That's a really good idea, and we extend a laurel (and hearty handshake) to Garland for remembering that there is a wide and diverse Athens community.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Open Thread: ACC Mayor's Race
Sorry folks, been a little busy, but let's pick it back up with the mayor's race. We haven't heard much out of this one lately, so give us some scoop, why dontcha?
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Couple of things
1. VOTE, bitches. Turnout is pretty bad.
2. E to the H (Culpepper, that is) has launched his website. It looks pretty nice, actually. Content-rich. Check it out, and post some comments about it.
3. My battle royale with Charter Communications is still ongoing. They decided not to show up yesterday. Look for my new blog: http://chartercansuckme.blogspot.com coming soon. (Unless that domain is taken, which wouldn't surprise me.)
2. E to the H (Culpepper, that is) has launched his website. It looks pretty nice, actually. Content-rich. Check it out, and post some comments about it.
3. My battle royale with Charter Communications is still ongoing. They decided not to show up yesterday. Look for my new blog: http://chartercansuckme.blogspot.com coming soon. (Unless that domain is taken, which wouldn't surprise me.)
Pretty Peach Sticker Redux
Martin, Hicks, and Overend.
Turnout looked to be shit, as expected.
What's the good word out there?
Turnout looked to be shit, as expected.
What's the good word out there?
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Up yours, Charter!
Ok, this isn't necessarily political, per se, but I've got to rant. Please note, if you're an elected official, there's a special note for you at the bottom of this post. So, Ms. Publius and I have Charter cable and high-speed internet over at the dojo. Now, a few weeks ago, Charter was kind of in and out, or in our our neighborhood, pretty much just out. I called Charter a few times, was told that there was an outage in my area due to some maintenance and upgrades. I was told we'd be back up and running in just a few days.
Not so much.
In fact, we've now been almost three weeks sans internet at the ol' homestead. The supposed maintenance outage has been resolved, but still no internet. So, we call in to the helpful folks over at Charter. After 45 minutes on hold (while listening to recorded ads touting their great customer service), we finally get to a real live human being in their tech support department. Now this guy is clearly on top of his game. In fact, we can actually hear him flipping the pages in his "resolve any technical issue through asking questions" notebook. After an hour of back and forth, Einstein has a solution: It's clearly our network card.
Well, no, says Ms. Publius (who was kind enough to spare me most of the tech support ordeal), you see we both own laptops, and his (mine) worked on both a wireless and plugged-in connection at work, only a few hours ago. And, to boot, we have no connection on hers either. So, if it's the network card, clearly, both of our laptops would have had to have lost their network cards independently within the last two hours.
"Ma'am, listen to me, it's your network card," says Einstein.
"Can I talk to your supervisor?" says Ms. P, "I don't think you're understanding our problem."
"Why? So he can tell you the same thing? It's your network card!"
...and so on. Here's the best part, though. Einstein (hereafter referred to Captain Technology) actually asks Ms. P if she could "put her husband on, so that he can explain it" to me. Aw shucks, lil lady. Don't you know that having a Y chromosome actually gives the bearer the ability to understand a higher level of technology? (Shit, I can't even program the VCR.)
Finally, we convince him that it isn't the network card and that Ms. P is perfectly capable on her own of understanding big words like "network card," connectivity," and "douchebag," and he promises to send someone out on Monday between 1pm and 5pm. Well, Ms. P is pretty strong-willed, especially when she's pissed off. She semi-politely informs Captain Technology that we have jobs - jobs which *gasp* require our presence at a location other than our home during normal business hours. Captain Technology, suitably cowed, arranges for a Saturday appointment.
Well, AthPo readers are pretty bright, and you've probably noticed that I'm actually typing this post on a Saturday. You might assume that Charter showed up, fixed the problem, and I'm happily sitting on my couch, watching tv, and luxuriating in my refound internet.
Not so much. In fact, we called to confirm this morning that Charter would be dropping by today. Nope. After another 45 minutes of holding, etc, we get to another service moron. Our appointment was in fact not scheduled for today, it was scheduled for Monday, or perhaps Thursday. Ay, there's the rub. So Ms. P asks again for a supervisor. No problem, but you'll have to hold, as there are about 6 people ahead of us waiting to talk to him too.
Sigh. If anyone needs me, I'll be here. Political stuff returns tomorrow. Don't forget to vote Tuesday.
A special note to all of our readers who are candidates or elected officials:
Guys, I know we just signed on with Charter for another ten years or so, but seriously, can't we allow some competition or something in the marketplace? Charter is shit. Don't believe me, ask around. I'll bet there are hundreds of your constituents who have had equally shitty experiences with these douchebags - I know most of my friends have.
Postscript:
Less than two hours after I slapped this angry post up, I got a very nice email from none other than her Honor herself, Mayor Heidi. She brought my rant to the attention of the proper folks in the local gummint, which was far more than I was expecting.
See, I wrote this post initially for two reasons: first, I was righteously pissed, and second, there's an old saying in customer service/marketing that every customer who has a bad experience tells ten friends. I just took that adage to the next level.
But with Mayor Heidi getting involved, well, it's a good thing. I doubt this will ever progress much farther. Charter will (hopefully!) come by and fix my shit tomorrow, and all will be right with the world. Still, this is a good reminder of why Heidi got elected and why she's most probably going to get re-elected. Details and retails, kids. She gloms on to the little details - very little that goes on in this city is off her radar. And she's a master of retail politics - reaching out to folks one-on-one. And, for a lot of voters, "I can't believe she supported rental registration/the smoking ban/what have you" is trumped by, "I bitched about something and she called me personally."
Anyway, the substance of my Heidi email was that she forwarded my complaint over to the right folks, I can file a formal complaint (which probably won't do much good), and as many of you said, the dish and dsl is the way to go. She also mentioned, rightly enough, that I probably wouldn't be particularly satisfied with any of the other providers. (Judging by context, I'm guessing that the lack of competition thing is more FCC than ACC.)
So, the bottom line of Heidi's email is that there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do, unless I'm into filing compaints and shaking my fist in impotent rage. (I'm not. Well, ok, I sorta am.) But none of that really matters. Like I said, my shit'll get fixed, or I'll switch to BellSouth. The important thing, from a political perspective is that sometimes, City Hall is on your side. And just like I told ten friends about a bad experience with Charter, I'll give credit where where credit is due, and tell you guys and more about a good experience with the ACC gummint.
Not so much.
In fact, we've now been almost three weeks sans internet at the ol' homestead. The supposed maintenance outage has been resolved, but still no internet. So, we call in to the helpful folks over at Charter. After 45 minutes on hold (while listening to recorded ads touting their great customer service), we finally get to a real live human being in their tech support department. Now this guy is clearly on top of his game. In fact, we can actually hear him flipping the pages in his "resolve any technical issue through asking questions" notebook. After an hour of back and forth, Einstein has a solution: It's clearly our network card.
Well, no, says Ms. Publius (who was kind enough to spare me most of the tech support ordeal), you see we both own laptops, and his (mine) worked on both a wireless and plugged-in connection at work, only a few hours ago. And, to boot, we have no connection on hers either. So, if it's the network card, clearly, both of our laptops would have had to have lost their network cards independently within the last two hours.
"Ma'am, listen to me, it's your network card," says Einstein.
"Can I talk to your supervisor?" says Ms. P, "I don't think you're understanding our problem."
"Why? So he can tell you the same thing? It's your network card!"
...and so on. Here's the best part, though. Einstein (hereafter referred to Captain Technology) actually asks Ms. P if she could "put her husband on, so that he can explain it" to me. Aw shucks, lil lady. Don't you know that having a Y chromosome actually gives the bearer the ability to understand a higher level of technology? (Shit, I can't even program the VCR.)
Finally, we convince him that it isn't the network card and that Ms. P is perfectly capable on her own of understanding big words like "network card," connectivity," and "douchebag," and he promises to send someone out on Monday between 1pm and 5pm. Well, Ms. P is pretty strong-willed, especially when she's pissed off. She semi-politely informs Captain Technology that we have jobs - jobs which *gasp* require our presence at a location other than our home during normal business hours. Captain Technology, suitably cowed, arranges for a Saturday appointment.
Well, AthPo readers are pretty bright, and you've probably noticed that I'm actually typing this post on a Saturday. You might assume that Charter showed up, fixed the problem, and I'm happily sitting on my couch, watching tv, and luxuriating in my refound internet.
Not so much. In fact, we called to confirm this morning that Charter would be dropping by today. Nope. After another 45 minutes of holding, etc, we get to another service moron. Our appointment was in fact not scheduled for today, it was scheduled for Monday, or perhaps Thursday. Ay, there's the rub. So Ms. P asks again for a supervisor. No problem, but you'll have to hold, as there are about 6 people ahead of us waiting to talk to him too.
Sigh. If anyone needs me, I'll be here. Political stuff returns tomorrow. Don't forget to vote Tuesday.
A special note to all of our readers who are candidates or elected officials:
Guys, I know we just signed on with Charter for another ten years or so, but seriously, can't we allow some competition or something in the marketplace? Charter is shit. Don't believe me, ask around. I'll bet there are hundreds of your constituents who have had equally shitty experiences with these douchebags - I know most of my friends have.
Postscript:
Less than two hours after I slapped this angry post up, I got a very nice email from none other than her Honor herself, Mayor Heidi. She brought my rant to the attention of the proper folks in the local gummint, which was far more than I was expecting.
See, I wrote this post initially for two reasons: first, I was righteously pissed, and second, there's an old saying in customer service/marketing that every customer who has a bad experience tells ten friends. I just took that adage to the next level.
But with Mayor Heidi getting involved, well, it's a good thing. I doubt this will ever progress much farther. Charter will (hopefully!) come by and fix my shit tomorrow, and all will be right with the world. Still, this is a good reminder of why Heidi got elected and why she's most probably going to get re-elected. Details and retails, kids. She gloms on to the little details - very little that goes on in this city is off her radar. And she's a master of retail politics - reaching out to folks one-on-one. And, for a lot of voters, "I can't believe she supported rental registration/the smoking ban/what have you" is trumped by, "I bitched about something and she called me personally."
Anyway, the substance of my Heidi email was that she forwarded my complaint over to the right folks, I can file a formal complaint (which probably won't do much good), and as many of you said, the dish and dsl is the way to go. She also mentioned, rightly enough, that I probably wouldn't be particularly satisfied with any of the other providers. (Judging by context, I'm guessing that the lack of competition thing is more FCC than ACC.)
So, the bottom line of Heidi's email is that there isn't a whole hell of a lot I can do, unless I'm into filing compaints and shaking my fist in impotent rage. (I'm not. Well, ok, I sorta am.) But none of that really matters. Like I said, my shit'll get fixed, or I'll switch to BellSouth. The important thing, from a political perspective is that sometimes, City Hall is on your side. And just like I told ten friends about a bad experience with Charter, I'll give credit where where credit is due, and tell you guys and more about a good experience with the ACC gummint.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Open Thread 2: State Senate 47
Skipping around a little, let's take everyone's pulse on State Senate 47, where Mac Rawson is taking on Ralph Hudgens.
Go.
Go.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Open Thread: District 1
Got an email in the ol’ inbox the other day. Fella who is a regular reader (didn’t know we had those, really) wants us to do some open threads about each race. Now, y’all are going to talk about what y’all are going to talk about, and these things usually end up digressing, but never let it be said that we don’t give the people what they want. (Unless, you know, what they want is daily posting or something.)
Anyway, we’ll kick it off with a race we haven’t paid much attention to yet: District 1. James Garland, who is a frequent visitor here, is squaring off against Doug Lowry and Jim Ponsoldt.
Here’s what I know about these cats.
James Garland is sometimes off-puttingly wonky (and that’s saying a lot coming from me), but he’s also responsible for one of the classiest things I’ve ever heard a pol say. Those of you in know remember that Garland ran against Charles Carter in 2002 as well. Issues-wise, Garland wants to lower our property taxes, which as a property owner, I’m actually ambivalent about. He also feels like some of the development-related ordinances (particularly stream buffers) are restrictive, which bothers me somewhat, since I kind of like streams and creeks.
However, Garland is also saying a lot of good things that I do like. He’s opposed to the smoking ban, for starters. He also thinks that the county’s definition of family ordinance is crap. But the best thing James Garland is saying is something that a lot of folks on the Commission would prefer not be said at all. If you live outside the old (pre-unification) city limits, you’ve been consistently screwed since unification started, especially if you live in North Athens. So, Garland says we need to make sure that every person in ACC has access to the same services – meaning fire protection, water and sewer, etc. For what it’s worth, I agree. But, you can’t do that and lower property taxes, in my opinion.
Jim Ponsoldt is also a heckuva guy. He’s a law professor and is involved in various progressive causes around town. Ms. Publius had him for a class once. She liked him. Jim Ponsoldt doesn’t really care for John Barrow (esp. since Barrow went all Sean Hannity clone on us), although Ponsoldt did give him some money in 2004. (Barrow that is, not Hannity)
Doug Lowry I don’t know at all. I’ve seen him in public maybe twice. So, here’s what I know. He’s running for Commission, and he has the bitchinest ‘stache in the race.
Garland is the only one who has reached out to us over here, for whatever that’s worth to you. He’s working the blog community and keeping us in the loop on his press releases, etc. So, I guess if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from that it is that if you reach out to us, we’ll actually talk about more than whether you like John Barrow or not, or how cool your ‘stache is.
Whatever. Get to work – we want to know what you think, kids.
Anyway, we’ll kick it off with a race we haven’t paid much attention to yet: District 1. James Garland, who is a frequent visitor here, is squaring off against Doug Lowry and Jim Ponsoldt.
Here’s what I know about these cats.
James Garland is sometimes off-puttingly wonky (and that’s saying a lot coming from me), but he’s also responsible for one of the classiest things I’ve ever heard a pol say. Those of you in know remember that Garland ran against Charles Carter in 2002 as well. Issues-wise, Garland wants to lower our property taxes, which as a property owner, I’m actually ambivalent about. He also feels like some of the development-related ordinances (particularly stream buffers) are restrictive, which bothers me somewhat, since I kind of like streams and creeks.
However, Garland is also saying a lot of good things that I do like. He’s opposed to the smoking ban, for starters. He also thinks that the county’s definition of family ordinance is crap. But the best thing James Garland is saying is something that a lot of folks on the Commission would prefer not be said at all. If you live outside the old (pre-unification) city limits, you’ve been consistently screwed since unification started, especially if you live in North Athens. So, Garland says we need to make sure that every person in ACC has access to the same services – meaning fire protection, water and sewer, etc. For what it’s worth, I agree. But, you can’t do that and lower property taxes, in my opinion.
Jim Ponsoldt is also a heckuva guy. He’s a law professor and is involved in various progressive causes around town. Ms. Publius had him for a class once. She liked him. Jim Ponsoldt doesn’t really care for John Barrow (esp. since Barrow went all Sean Hannity clone on us), although Ponsoldt did give him some money in 2004. (Barrow that is, not Hannity)
Doug Lowry I don’t know at all. I’ve seen him in public maybe twice. So, here’s what I know. He’s running for Commission, and he has the bitchinest ‘stache in the race.
Garland is the only one who has reached out to us over here, for whatever that’s worth to you. He’s working the blog community and keeping us in the loop on his press releases, etc. So, I guess if there’s any lesson to be gleaned from that it is that if you reach out to us, we’ll actually talk about more than whether you like John Barrow or not, or how cool your ‘stache is.
Whatever. Get to work – we want to know what you think, kids.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
An AthPo Caption Contest! Maddox needs a new slogan.
So, Hillary and I were talking this afternoon (yeah, candidates, we bloggers do talk amongst ourselves quite frequently), and I learned that she hadn't yet seen Charlie Maddox's campaign literature. A quick tango with the scanner, and behold.
If you haven't seen Mr. Maddox's pushcard yet, it's terrible. As in, comparable to his website in quality. (To be fair, the actual piece is in color.)
Hillary and I and Mr. Brown were trading snarky slogans to accompany the terrible picture. Long story short, she suggested we open it up for the Athens politico-sphere in general. Herein, please find the picture from Mr. Maddox's hand piece. Go nuts. Whosoever writes the best caption gets to make out with the anonymous poster of their choice. I'll lead off.
"Isn't it time we had a Mayor who isn't afraid to stand up to the giant eagles? Isn't it time for Charlie Maddox?"
(One other note. Athens voters aren't stupid. Put some damn issues on your literature.)
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Lt. Gov. - The Dirty Tricks Brigade Strikes
Well, if you thought the race for Governor was getting dirty, just take a look at the next race on the ballot. Certainly, Greg Hecht has shown no mercy going after Jim Martin with some fairly distorted and disingenuous attacks, and of course, Casey and Ralph are scuffling around in the mud as well.
But the Lt. Gov. race has taken a turn for the nasty. According to an email from a loyal reader, someone is going after Jim Martin anonymously. Sez our source:
“This evening (Sunday) at around 8:00 PM, I answered my phone at our familyresidence in Winterville, GA and got what was either the most politically suicidal automated call that a candidate running in Georgia has ever authorized or a disgusting example of gutter politics at its sleaziest.
The ‘caller’ identified himself as ‘Orlando Jones’ and his voice had a mincing, lisping… delivery that was straight out of a bad, late-night sketch comedy show. "Orlando" went into great detail into how one of the Democrats running for Lt. Governor (Jim Martin) was finally a candidate that the gay and lesbian community could wholeheartedly support. The call claimed that Martin was working tirelessly "to legalize sodomy" and was leading the fight for gay marriage. It wrapped up with a remark about how, with Martin as Lt. Governor, gays and lesbians would finally have someone in office that they could count on to take their side on every issue.
There was no "paid for by the friends of" or "authorized by." There was no phone number for further information or how to volunteer. It was a stink bomb, pure and simple.”
So there you have it. For clarity’s sake, the call was a “robodial,” an automated call where a recorded message is played for whoever answers the phone. Now, having worked with a couple of robodial providers in past lives, I can tell you that they are notoriously close-mouthed about their political client lists. While most political consultants and vendors love to talk up their client lists, phone vendors keep them under wraps – in many cases because they make a good bit of money off of these types of calls. For what it’s worth, most of these calls don’t carry a “paid for” disclaimer, although disclosure laws do apply to them as well. Thing is, they’re usually untraceable. By the way, a friend who also got the “Orlando Jones” call verifies the content.
Never ones to avoid a good conspiracy theory (I just finished reading “Crossfire” by Jim Marrs), here are a few scenarios to speculate about who was behind these calls.
Martin’s main opponent in the primary, ex-Sen. Greg Hecht: (Odds – very likely)
When looking at dirty tricks like this, suspicion naturally turns to the opponent. (Or the butler, if it happens to be an Agatha Christie novel.) Cui bono? In the short run, definitely Hecht. Observers are saying that Hecht’s early momentum is a thing of the past, and Martin is ahead in the polls. We have no way of telling what the various campaigns’ internal polls say, but Martin has been picking up some momentum, with endorsements by ex-Gov. Roy Barnes, Andy Young, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A series of robodials tying Martin in with the politically volatile gay rights movement could stall his surge and help Hecht. It should also be noted that Hecht hasn’t really proven himself to be shy about going after Martin. (Apparently, Jim Martin single-handedly murdered a bunch of kids or something – we don’t know. We didn’t get that mail piece.)
One of the GOP hopefuls, Ralph Reed of Casey Cagle: (Odds – somewhat likely)
Ask yourself again, Cui bono? In the case of Reed or Cagle, for either of their campaigns to do this would indicate some extremely scary polling about Jim Martin. I don’t think that polling is out there, although Martin probably does stack up well against Reed. Question is, is Jim Martin so intimidating to either Cagle or Reed, they feel forced to resort to this tactic this early? Jim’s a good guy, and he’s run a good campaign thus far, but no Democrat is that intimidating this early.
One of the other Democrats running for Lt. Gov.: (Odds – unlikely)
Robodials are cheap, but why would someone polling as far behind as the other candidates for Lt. Gov bother? There’s no way this moves them into a runoff situation.
A gay rights group, such as Georgia Equality: (Odds – not very likely)
While the gay rights lobby usually resembles the Keystone Kops more than an actual political force, this is just too heavy-handedly gay to be their work. (Remember, I didn’t get the call, I’m just going off sources here.) But seriously – there are smart politicos in the gay rights movement, and they know how much something like this can hurt a campaign. Plus, “Orlando?” Lispy voice? Legalizing sodomy? That sounds a lot more like what someone who doesn’t associate much with gay people expect them to be. Too stereotypical for Georgia Equality.
The Jim Martin Campaign: (Odds – highly unlikely)
I include this scenario in the interests of fairness. It’s not unheard of for a campaign to do this, so that they can play the martyr card. In this case, however, it’s just not very likely. As mentioned above, Martin has run a smart campaign thus far – and for them to do this for the sympathy vote is beyond boneheaded. Any possible positive press hit is far outweighed by the damage this does with moderates – not to mention any damage in the presumptive general election. Also, most observers think that Martin is sitting on a lead right now – so why squander that on something this risky? Besides, anyone with a lick of sense will tell you that this probably isn’t much of a story in the press, and even if it is picked up, the angle is not “poor Jim Martin,” it’s “Holy Geez, politicians are getting sleazier.”
Some other person or group, not directly tied to any campaign (Odds – very likely)
When shit like this goes down, the unconnected groups are the best bet. Remember everyone’s favorite 527c, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth? Stuff like this happens all the time, and the lack of a direct connection to any campaign makes it easier to do. Odds are, though, we’ll never know.
But don’t let that stop you. Bug your local journalists, and get the investigative resources of the ABH (I tried to type that with a straight face, I really did) on the case. And by all means, speculate away in the comments.
Oh, and by the way, if the name “Orlando Jones” sounds familiar, here’s why. 7-up anyone?
But the Lt. Gov. race has taken a turn for the nasty. According to an email from a loyal reader, someone is going after Jim Martin anonymously. Sez our source:
“This evening (Sunday) at around 8:00 PM, I answered my phone at our familyresidence in Winterville, GA and got what was either the most politically suicidal automated call that a candidate running in Georgia has ever authorized or a disgusting example of gutter politics at its sleaziest.
The ‘caller’ identified himself as ‘Orlando Jones’ and his voice had a mincing, lisping… delivery that was straight out of a bad, late-night sketch comedy show. "Orlando" went into great detail into how one of the Democrats running for Lt. Governor (Jim Martin) was finally a candidate that the gay and lesbian community could wholeheartedly support. The call claimed that Martin was working tirelessly "to legalize sodomy" and was leading the fight for gay marriage. It wrapped up with a remark about how, with Martin as Lt. Governor, gays and lesbians would finally have someone in office that they could count on to take their side on every issue.
There was no "paid for by the friends of" or "authorized by." There was no phone number for further information or how to volunteer. It was a stink bomb, pure and simple.”
So there you have it. For clarity’s sake, the call was a “robodial,” an automated call where a recorded message is played for whoever answers the phone. Now, having worked with a couple of robodial providers in past lives, I can tell you that they are notoriously close-mouthed about their political client lists. While most political consultants and vendors love to talk up their client lists, phone vendors keep them under wraps – in many cases because they make a good bit of money off of these types of calls. For what it’s worth, most of these calls don’t carry a “paid for” disclaimer, although disclosure laws do apply to them as well. Thing is, they’re usually untraceable. By the way, a friend who also got the “Orlando Jones” call verifies the content.
Never ones to avoid a good conspiracy theory (I just finished reading “Crossfire” by Jim Marrs), here are a few scenarios to speculate about who was behind these calls.
Martin’s main opponent in the primary, ex-Sen. Greg Hecht: (Odds – very likely)
When looking at dirty tricks like this, suspicion naturally turns to the opponent. (Or the butler, if it happens to be an Agatha Christie novel.) Cui bono? In the short run, definitely Hecht. Observers are saying that Hecht’s early momentum is a thing of the past, and Martin is ahead in the polls. We have no way of telling what the various campaigns’ internal polls say, but Martin has been picking up some momentum, with endorsements by ex-Gov. Roy Barnes, Andy Young, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A series of robodials tying Martin in with the politically volatile gay rights movement could stall his surge and help Hecht. It should also be noted that Hecht hasn’t really proven himself to be shy about going after Martin. (Apparently, Jim Martin single-handedly murdered a bunch of kids or something – we don’t know. We didn’t get that mail piece.)
One of the GOP hopefuls, Ralph Reed of Casey Cagle: (Odds – somewhat likely)
Ask yourself again, Cui bono? In the case of Reed or Cagle, for either of their campaigns to do this would indicate some extremely scary polling about Jim Martin. I don’t think that polling is out there, although Martin probably does stack up well against Reed. Question is, is Jim Martin so intimidating to either Cagle or Reed, they feel forced to resort to this tactic this early? Jim’s a good guy, and he’s run a good campaign thus far, but no Democrat is that intimidating this early.
One of the other Democrats running for Lt. Gov.: (Odds – unlikely)
Robodials are cheap, but why would someone polling as far behind as the other candidates for Lt. Gov bother? There’s no way this moves them into a runoff situation.
A gay rights group, such as Georgia Equality: (Odds – not very likely)
While the gay rights lobby usually resembles the Keystone Kops more than an actual political force, this is just too heavy-handedly gay to be their work. (Remember, I didn’t get the call, I’m just going off sources here.) But seriously – there are smart politicos in the gay rights movement, and they know how much something like this can hurt a campaign. Plus, “Orlando?” Lispy voice? Legalizing sodomy? That sounds a lot more like what someone who doesn’t associate much with gay people expect them to be. Too stereotypical for Georgia Equality.
The Jim Martin Campaign: (Odds – highly unlikely)
I include this scenario in the interests of fairness. It’s not unheard of for a campaign to do this, so that they can play the martyr card. In this case, however, it’s just not very likely. As mentioned above, Martin has run a smart campaign thus far – and for them to do this for the sympathy vote is beyond boneheaded. Any possible positive press hit is far outweighed by the damage this does with moderates – not to mention any damage in the presumptive general election. Also, most observers think that Martin is sitting on a lead right now – so why squander that on something this risky? Besides, anyone with a lick of sense will tell you that this probably isn’t much of a story in the press, and even if it is picked up, the angle is not “poor Jim Martin,” it’s “Holy Geez, politicians are getting sleazier.”
Some other person or group, not directly tied to any campaign (Odds – very likely)
When shit like this goes down, the unconnected groups are the best bet. Remember everyone’s favorite 527c, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth? Stuff like this happens all the time, and the lack of a direct connection to any campaign makes it easier to do. Odds are, though, we’ll never know.
But don’t let that stop you. Bug your local journalists, and get the investigative resources of the ABH (I tried to type that with a straight face, I really did) on the case. And by all means, speculate away in the comments.
Oh, and by the way, if the name “Orlando Jones” sounds familiar, here’s why. 7-up anyone?
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Democratic Gubernatorial Debate
Did anybody catch it? Met the two "not real" candidates at Bishop Park at the Dem Spring Fling a while back. Mac is a hoot, but Bolton is just batshit crazy (I actually found myself agreeing with Mac a couple of times, like when he said the teachers needed a big pay raise). I thought the Big Guy got the best of it, although that may just be because I've already decided to vote for him. Thoughts anyone?
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Jane Kidd - Now with 40% more fundraising!
Just a quick correction if you happened to read this story in Tuesday's ABH concerning fundraising in the State Senate race for District 46.
According to the ABH's article, Jane Kidd raised $24,888.00. However, Kidd's disclosure reports indicate that the actual figure was $34,888.00. Sure it was just a typo, but seriously.
Anyway, in fairness to Jane, we thought we'd point it out.
Monday, July 10, 2006
The AthPo Straw Poll
I thought it might be kind of interesting to take the temperature of your local bloggers on where they stand on certain races coming up, so I sent around a quick email to AK from AthensWorld, JMac from Safe as Houses, Hillary from Antidisingenousmentarianism, and GAP from the now-defunct Daily Douchebag. Not everyone had a choice on every race – for instance, A.K. only weighed in on the governor’s race. By the way, thanks to everyone for jumping in on this one.
By the way, these aren’t endorsements. None of us are opinion leaders, nor do we pretend to be. This is just who we’re voting for, and it’s meant to spark some conversation. And since none of us are really what you’d call Republicans, we were less inclined to think on those races. If you’re interested, I’ve put a special Republican section at the end of the post.
Here’s who we’re voting for (by the way, we’re only talking contested races here, so you Mac Rawson, Jane Kidd, and Chuck Jones fans can simmer down. Your time will come.) Finally, don’t take our word for it. We’ve linked to a few websites – make up your own damn minds.
The Straw Poll Results:
Mark Taylor beats Cathy Cox, 4 to 1.
Jim Martin beats Greg Hecht, 4 to 0.
Shyam Reddy beats a passel of other Democrats (including Gail Buckner), 3.5 to 1 to 0 to 0 to 0 to ad nauseam.
Carlotta Harrell and Denise Majette tie, 2 to 2.
Bill Overend beats CR Chisholm and Brian Patterson 3 to 0.
Governor (Democrats):
Hillary: Cathy Cox
JMac: Mark Taylor
GAP: Mark Taylor
A.K.: Mark Taylor
Publius: Mark Taylor
Comments: A.K. sez, “Cathy Cox has affected my life in a bad way. She has apparently neglected her duty as Secretary of State while focusing on her gubernatorial campaign. Her office has gone from fast and efficient to five weeks behind…I have checked out Mark Taylor's website, and I'm not comfortable with him wearing religion on his sleeve, but if he isn't going to stand in the way of productivity and progress, then I'd rather vote for the guy who just does his job.”
Lieutenant Governor (Democrats):
Hillary: Jim Martin
JMac: Jim Martin
GAP: Jim Martin
Publius: Jim Martin
Comments: Hillary sez, “[H]is health care plan for small businesses seems like a smart move, and he doesn't try to cover all the bases.”
Secretary of State (Democrats):
Hillary: Leaning towards Gail Buckner
JMac: Leaning towards Shyam Reddy
GAP: Shyam Reddy
Publius: Shyam Reddy
Comments: Publius sez, “Shyam is almost too slick, but he’s a fundraising machine, which makes him a better shot to beat Bill Stephens or Karen Handel.”
State Superintendent of Schools (Democrats):
Hillary: Carlotta Harrell
JMac: Carlotta Harrell
GAP: Denise Majette
Publius: Denise Majette
Comments: No direct quotes this time, but no one was super excited about this race.
ACC Solicitor-General:
Hillary: Bill Overend
JMac: Bill Overend
GAP: Bill Overend
Special Bonus Section for our Steely-Eyed Republican Zealot Friends:
Voting in this section was light, but here’s the consensus. JMac prefers Ralph Reed to Casey Cagle in the Lieutenant Governor’s race. I like Reed, simply because he’s easier for Jim Martin to beat in November, and because Reed drags the statewide GOP ticket down. It’s strategery, bitches.
In the Ag Commissioner race, JMac loves him some Gary Black, while I, if I were a Republican, would cast a vote for local-boy-done-good Brian Kemp. Doesn’t matter. Tommy Irvin has been Ag Commissioner since dirt was a baby, and no one beats Tommy in November.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Open thread
Per Hillary's request. Qualifying is done, primaries in two weeks. Talk about candidates. Here's a speculative set of questions. Who wins Athens, Taylor or Cox? Has Cox's support in Athens dwindled in recent weeks?
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Got my first political mailing of the season yesterday from Cagyle. Did everybody get one of these? Cause if not, I'm wondering what got me on his target list. It's certainly not my voting record.
Hey Chuck, are you gonna make a big media buy? I think you need to flood the Cobbham district with Greek-apologist pieces (oh, that's right, they're not in your district; I forgot).
I'm going to have a little project where I keep all the political mail I get this season and study it. Why? Well, I'm a dork. But there's always a small chance I may come up with something interesting to say on here as a result.
Hey Chuck, are you gonna make a big media buy? I think you need to flood the Cobbham district with Greek-apologist pieces (oh, that's right, they're not in your district; I forgot).
I'm going to have a little project where I keep all the political mail I get this season and study it. Why? Well, I'm a dork. But there's always a small chance I may come up with something interesting to say on here as a result.
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