Bongs For Broun!

Broun Votes To Ease Up On Medical Pot:

"U.S. Rep. Paul Broun offered Democrats a peace pipe and sent Republican leaders' hopes that he'd toe the party line up in smoke this week by voting to ease federal restrictions on medical marijuana laws."

Get a load of Blake and his "peace pipe" allusion.

"The Republican congressman from Athens was sworn in Wednesday and cast his first vote in the House of Representatives late that night in support of an amendment to stop the U.S. Justice Department from prosecuting people who distribute medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

"The measure failed 262-165, but Broun said he fulfilled his campaign promises to respect states' rights and be independent by bucking GOP leadership and joining just 14 other Republicans who voted for the amendment, proposed by Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif."

The real laugher? "Rep. John Barrow, D-Savannah, a former Athens-Clarke commissioner, voted against the amendment, as did Georgia's six other House Republicans besides Broun."

[snicker] I have no idea what's in store the next 18 months, but I can predict two things from this: number one, that vote would never have been cast by Charlie Norwood. And number two, Broun just picked up a, er, significant voting block here in Athens.

A Victory For Athens

If the results hold true (as Billy reports below Paul Broun is extending his lead), then this really is a victory for Athens-Clarke, no matter how you slice it. And you have Jim Whitehead and his anti-Athens strategy to thank for it.

Since I wrote last week, I can't tell you how many people I've heard from the past few days saying that Paul Broun, Jr. was the only choice, and that there was no way we could "let that (fill in the blank) from Augusta tell us what to do here in Athens." Over and over, even from friends who would have preferred death to voting for a Republican. Several even said they were forgoing the "none of the above" strategy in favor of the hometown Broun.

Throw in the MCG satellite campus brou-ha-ha, and Broun targeting Democratic voting households with calls and mailers, and I think we saw an "Athens surge" at the polls yesterday. Coming on the heels of ACC Dems failure to put Marlowe in the runoff, this would suggest we're still a force to be reckoned with, no matter how much Ralph Hudgens et al want to draw us out of existence.

As Mike-el pointed out in comments "Broun taking A-CC 5,122-601 is just staggering." And if the vote count holds, it is the reason Mr. Broun will go to Washington.

Let's just hope the Republican Broun remembers the largely Democratic "Athens surge" that put him there.

Broun Extends Lead

98% reporting, and the lead is now 371.

Meanwhile, they are debating not so much Iraq, but whether the all-night session is or isn't a stunt, in the Senate.

Not So Fast!

Well, well, looks like we may have spoken too soon in the comments. With 95% of the votes in, Broun is leading by 271 votes. In fact, Peach Pundit is calling it for Broun. I don't know about all that, but Broun is once again outperforming expectations.

Since we're gonna try to stay up and watch the Iraq debate, or whatever it is they're planning to do all night in the Senate, we'll put up news as we come across it.

The 10th...in '08

Tomorrow we will have the runoff special election between Jim "Did I say that out loud?" Whitehead and Paul "Sure I live in Athens" Broun, Jr. So that's what we should be talking about here on AthPo, right?

Nah. If I go and hold my nose and pull the lever for Broun tomorrow, it will only because of Whitehead's "Augusta v. Athens" comments; otherwise I may sit out my first election in years. This election isn't much of a choice, is what I'm saying.

But I'm operating under the theory that neither can do too much damage in the year or so before the election next year. By the time they get settled in and get a staff hired, they'll have to start thinking about that election. And, since it's kinda what we do here (or what used to be done here, anyway), I thought we'd go ahead and think about it now.

Question 1: Which Democrat(s) will challenge whoever wins tomorrow?

Will Marlow be back? Despite the woe-is-meism of a lot of Democrats after Marlow failed to make the runoff, I still think Marlow could make a run at it. If the state party continues to build on some of the inroads they're trying to make in the rural parts of Georgia (including of course the mountains of the Northeast that make up a lot of the 10th), and if Marlow starts early with a bona fide ground attack up there, he could make a race of it (especially if Broun is his opponent).
If not, the Dems need a true star. For example, is there any chance we'll ever see Don Johnson run for anything again? I would love it, but I don't know if it will happen.

Question 2: Should Democrats vote for Broun because he will be easier to beat in '08?

The conventional wisdom seems to be that the national Republicans will put much more money and energy behind getting Whitehead reelected than Broun.

While that makes sense to me on an intellectual level, I've got a bit of a psychological problem with "wishing" for a particular opponent. I guess it comes from watching sports playoffs; it seems like when you wish for the easier opponent, they end up beating you. They are, after all, the one that won to get there in the first place.

But then again, it does reinforce my other reason for voting for Broun.

Give your thoughts on these and other questions regarding the '08 10th race in the comments (and I guess if you must talk about the runoff, you can do that too).

[In the spirit of full disclosure, and in case it's not obvious from this post, I am (like my predecessors on AthPo for the most part) a Democrat and a liberal. I am from Athens, after all (although we're not all both of those things)].

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

As you may have noticed over on the right, I am the first to take advantage of Blackfin's cry for help. I am Billy Merck, and you may have seen me over at Athens World. I also have my own legal blog, The Georgia Law Blog.

I have been following AthPo since the La Puerta del Sol days, and if I can do anything to help get that kind of discussion going again on here (that or 50+ comment threads on whether or not people should post anonymously, either way), I'll consider my tenure here a success. I look forward to it, and I hope you do too.

Help Wanted...

Well, obviously, we are not contributing to this blog as we used to. In response to some of the complaints/comments, we going to try to open up a bit by inviting some fresh blood to be front pagers.

If you're interested, send a "resumé" to blackfinday@gmail.com.

"Resumé" can mean whatever you think is important for us to know about you and why you want to get involved, but obviously things like occupation, time in Athens, political leanings and shoe size will be helpful.

Whitehead: "I Don't Know A Lot Of The Political Ins And Outs"

Scrolling around the Daily Planet's Voter's Guide to the 10th District Congressional runoff next week, I was surprised to hear Jim Whitehead admit in one of the posted audio clips that, since he's only been in politics for "twelve years, basically," he "doesn't know a lot of the political ins and outs," concerning when to show up for a debate and when not to.

Not a very comforting thing for the leading candidate for Congress to admit, is it? He also admits in another clip that he "never said I-raq wasn't an important isha." Oh.

So where are the AthPol readers lining up (yes it's been dead around here, yes we've been slack, mea culpa, etc.)? I've been hearing rumors from Clarke and Oconee Democrats that many are planning on going to the polls next Tuesday, putting in their voting machine card, not selecting a candidate, then hitting "cast ballot", which apparently will tally up as a "vote for neither" or none of the above.

Sounds interesting, but largely a waste of time to me. Isn't the same thing achieved when you just don't show up?

Frankly, this may be the first congressional election I've ever taken a pass on.

New Local Blog

James Garland, formed District 1 Commission candidate, has started his own blog called "The Other Athens." Kudos to him. James has always been active in the comments section of this blog (back when there was an active comments section), and here's hoping his new blog stirs some debate and conversation.

Since we're so %&$ing slack.

Of course, it wasn't two days before a relatively benign post by James was hijacked by local one-issue wack-job Winfield J. Abbe, whom some of you may remember from the now-defunct Online Athens forum as CrunchMeow.

Actually, I think it's going to be a lot of fun....

Gasp!

Immigration Bill Provisions Gain Wide Support:

"Taking a pragmatic view on a divisive issue, a large majority of Americans want to change the immigration laws to allow illegal immigrants to gain legal status and to create a new guest worker program to meet future labor demands," a new poll found.

A "large majority of Americans" except here in the 10th Congressional District, if the "leading candidates" are to be believed.

Really?

From today's Banner Hearald: Whitehead's people are snarky bitches who think it's funny to put signs up across the street from an opponents event, and Greene's people are just bullies....

"The minutemen are coming"

The Race Heats Up

Get Them Illegals

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I was astounded reading Tom Crawford in Flagpole this morning about some of the leading District 10 Republican candidate's positions on the War in Iraq. Er, I mean, "War on Illegals" since the war in Iraq has...

"...not been a big thing in our district," said state senator Jim Whitehead, a former University of Georgia offensive lineman [and leading candidate to replace Charlie Norwood]. "Immigration is the number one issue, pure and simple."

Damn straight. In fact, according to Whitehead, "Left-wing political activists [are] intentionally registering illegal aliens to vote, including known Al Qaeda terrorists. This is a pivotal issue for the future of America. We have to have the intestinal fortitude to protect all Americans."

LOL. I wonder which of you "left-wing political activists" here in Athens in hiring "known Al Qaeda terrorists" to register and vote next month? C'mon, fess up, before Whitehead decides to, "except for the football team, bomb the University" and all of Athens.

Then we have Paul Broun, Jr. who "rejects Democratic criticisms of Bush and the war and lists the need to 'stop the invasion of illegal aliens" as a more pressing issue. "I believe that patriotism runs very deep in Georgia." Whatever one has to do with the other.

And someone by the name of Bill Greene, Crawford notes, "lists [illegal immigration] not just as the top issue, but as the top two issues on his campaign website."

Er..."Illegal immigrants are a detriment to the American economy and their refusal to assimilate is an affront to American culture."

Almost as offensive as all those businesses making millions off undocumented laborers, eh Bill?

The xenophobia is astounding. Crawford notes in his column that Democrat James Marlow seems to be the only candidate talking about the War in Iraq (as opposed to the War on Illegals) and that this may create an opening for the more moderate Marlow to make a runoff. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm returning to the streets of Athens to hunt for terrorists. More later.

And we have our answer...

A letter to Jane Kidd mass circulated by Terry Holley...

Dear Jane,
This morning I had tried to send an email concerning qualifying, but my email was not cooperating. To bring you up to date, I waited until late yesterday to see how many people had qualified and decided that with three candidates running, it was not in the best interest of the Party or myself to enter this race. We had a window of opportunity immediately after Mr. Norwood’s passing and we blew it. Now, with some county committee’s endorsing a particular candidate, I have serious concerns as to why these counties are violating our bylaws and why our DPG officials have been waiting to give an interpretation on this. I certainly have informed our county chairs that I believe that this is a violation of our state party bylaws. I believe that you and I discussed this issue very early on which is why the state party would not give an endorsement. Competition is not bad, but each candidate deserves an equal opportunity as we move forward in this race. Also, I appointed Barbara Sims as first vice-chair for the district today.

With regards,
R Terry Holley, Chair
10th Congressional District
Democratic Party of Georgia



Now see, I have been a BIG anti-Terry guy since January, but after he (wisely) decided not to qualify I was gonna let it go, not bring him up again, stay positive, etc.

And then he goes and sends this letter out to everyone...

Seriously... what a little bitch he is. And a slackass too (see below). With Dems like Terry Holley, the GOP deserves to be in power in Georgia.

Terry Holley- Man of substance or slacka$$?

Terry Holley , who a few democrats are still suppporting for the 10th despite the overwhelming support for Marlow, has a little trouble keeping up with his paper work....
But really, he's the best choice for support of local dems and he really has a chance of beating Whitehead...

Status of his filings for last cycle


Status of his filings for this election cycle

New Blog

Check out Tondee's Tavern, a new Georgia Progressive blog.

10th District Update

Fundraising so far: (Rasied/Spent/Remaining/Debt)

GREENE, WILLIAM LAWRENCE	10	$60,293	$21,677	$38,616	$0	03/31/2007
MARLOW, JAMES B JR	10	$36,385	$8,580	$28,005	$0	03/31/2007
NORWOOD, CHARLIE	10	$1,660	$123,612	$781,283	$0	03/31/2007
WHITEHEAD, JAMES LESLIE SR	10	$265,271	$21,810	$243,461	$0	03/31/2007

Who wants to bet that when Holley files his report it shows he raised LESS than Norwood (who's dead, remember?)

In other news...
Andre has a Q&A with Marlow over on Unfiltered Politics
and

BFD has some dialoge with both Holley and Marlow here

UPDATE: Paul Broun has apparantly been raising money for some time...

UPDATE 2: I really can't spell worth a crap...

From over at PeachPundit

Pretty good catch from the guys at PeachPundit on this photo. See if you can spot what they caught their eye...

Here it is in context.

Yeah, this guy's gonna win...

Athens In Black And White

Last night's vote made that abundantly clear:

"The commission voted 8-2 against letting the financially struggling ACTION Inc. sell its 1.7 acres and 100-year-old former schoolhouse to a developer with plans for 17 townhouses. Commissioners George Maxwell and Harry Sims voted to approve the plans."

Whether Elton Dodson is right in claiming "Those who would use this as a wedge issue to imply that we do not support ACTION are out of line," doesn't make the racial discrepancy in the vote or in the debate any less of a wedge.

Race is a big problem in Athens. And despite where you come down on the ACTION, Inc. issue, last night's debate/vote was a rather ugly, desultory affair, carefully dancing around the thousand pound elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.