Georgia Women Vote

Just last month, there were three of them-all women, all about my age, all white.  Three of them. Not one lone extremist. Three of them, standing in the afternoon thunder shower, across from the  Holocaust Museum in DC, holding signs saying, "Jews Killed Jesus," "God Hates Jews," and "Jews are Going to Hell." One had a sign down by her right side, apparently of lesser importance, depicting a human fetus as the meat in what was captioned, "Obamaburger." Three of them, supporting one another. Three of them who had to travel there, make the signs, and stand on a street corner in a thunderstorm. 

I wanted to walk across the street and ask them what it was in their life experience that led them there-to stand on a street corner and use their first amendment right to spew that sort of hatred, and how their obvious hatred for Jews got all tied up with the dig at Obama about abortion, and what it's like to live, day in, day out, carrying that sort of hate. And how it is that there was no one in their life who stepped up to challenge them, to say, "have you lost your mind?" But, I didn't. Do we ever?

They were women. They looked like me. And there were three of them. Somehow that made it worse.

And, then today, this. Are they related? To each other? To the person who shot Dr. Tiller? Probably only by hatred.

Apparently, the Republican candidates for Governor are busy debating who is best to take on Barnes. I find the tone of Ox's email missive today to be quite humorous, really. Look, he's acknowledging suburban counties are trending Democratic in Georgia. That's really good news for Democrats. I wonder if Ox understands that Barnes, the champion of Georgia's Sunshine Laws, might just take him to the woodshed for his appointment of the donor to the board that meets in secret? This could be fun.

Here's the text:

Memo
From: Kathryn Ballou, Campaign Manager
To: Team Ox Leaders
Date: 5 June, 2009
RE: Roy Barnes


Who can win in November of 2010:

John Oxendine has received more votes in three of the past four general elections in Georgia than any other single candidate on the ballot of either party. 

John Oxendine has proven he can win in swing counties and traditional Democrat counties in a general election.  John regularly carries counties such as Fulton, Richmond, Dougherty, Muscogee, Bibb and other counties that historically vote for Democrats in November.
 
John Oxendine has over 14 years of executive management experience in state government and over 7 years of management experience in the private sector.

The Polls:

To date, every poll that has been released has John Oxendine in the lead among announced candidates. The latest poll by Democrat leaning Daily Kos has John Oxendine defeating Roy Barnes and the other Republican candidates losing to Roy Barnes. Polls show the other GOP candidates in single digits in statewide name ID and approval ratings.
 
Only John Oxendine has the name ID to compete with Roy Barnes statewide. Other GOP candidates will have to raise millions of valuable campaign dollars (in this stressed economy) just to mount a professional campaign to introduce themselves both to GOP Primary voters and General election voters.

Our Party needs a proven statewide vote winner with high approval ratings, who poll after poll demonstrates he can defeat Roy Barnes.  That person is John Oxendine.

Image:

John Oxendine has been a leader on duty for Georgians for over 14 years. Georgia knows that John Oxendine knows how to manage a crisis. Georgia knows that John Oxendine understands state government.


John Oxendine is the only candidate who has the ability to present a Ronald Reagan conservative image to carry traditional rural Democrat counties against Roy Barnes in November.


John Oxendine is the only candidate who can hold the line on the suburban counties that have started to trend Democrat.


That is why John Oxendine remains the best positioned candidate for the Georgia Republican party to nominate to face Roy Barnes in November 2010.

       
John Oxendine
Governor 2010

I have been so totally MIA from these pages, and really miss writing, but my reason is a good one. Georgia's WIN List has just hired our very first PAC Director, Anna Beck, who many of you may know from the Martin or Reddy campaigns. She began work today, and we are very excited about the expertise she brings to her new position. Plus, last week, we hosted an really fun, very successful "Fact, Fiction, Politics" event with one of our endorsed elected officials, Rep. Stacey Abrams. It was a blast.

So, busy time.

But, I could not let tonight pass without saying this about the sad event in Kansas:

A place of worship should be a safe place for anyone. There is a reason they call it a "Sanctuary." 

This piece by Galloway is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, a memo "mysteriously" dropped in his lap. (He should probably check to see if the postmark is from Americus.) And, the Democratic Governor's Association lists the Georgia gubernatorial race as competitive, given Casey's withdrawal, no matter who is the nominee. But. Then they go on to say that if Barnes is the nominee, then the it "only enhances" the chances that a Democrat will again occupy the Governor's mansion. None of the other candidates-like those who actually have declared-were mentioned in the piece.

In terms of the winability of seat, Tom Crawford is on that page today as well.

What does this tell us? 

1) We need more candidates in for more House and Senate seats in Georgia. Like, right now.

2) If Barnes is our nominee, then this becomes a national race.

By the way, I have endorsed no one in this race, like several of the candidates and have actually written a check to someone other than Barnes. All that said, here's the bottom line. I want to win, and over the next several months, I intend to look at candidates, campaigns, polls and fundraising and try to figure out who can best take us to the winner's circle.

On Wednesday night, May 20th from 6 pm-8 pm, you are invited to join Georgia's WIN List for "Fact, Fiction, Politics: A Special Evening with The Honorable Stacey Abrams and her alter ego, novelist, Selena Montgomery." This is a low cost, $25, event that is sure to be a great time! Proceeds benefit Georgia's WIN List, a political action committee that work to elect progressive, Democratic women to state level office in Georgia. Rep. Abrams is one of the many outstanding women we have endorsed and helped to elect. See below for details.

Paid for by Georgia Win List

According to Tom Crawford, Rep. Westmoreland will not run for Governor of Georgia.

Rep. Westmoreland has struggled some with the commandments,  explaining his need to have a copy posted most everywhere, but he sure knows #11:

Just from having my eyes and ears open over the past month, I have come to a conclusion that will probably startle no one....it's gonna be hard for candidates for high state offices in Georgia to keep the discussion on course, i.e. keep focussed on state issues.    Republicans are so angry over the national losses sustained in the past election that they will constantly be throwing national issues at state candidates & will try to associate state candidates with national elected officials whom they dislike.  

Last night, I learned that Stacey Evans, a Democrat,  will file the appropriate papers to run for HD40, the seat Rob Teilhet is vacating to run for Attorney General. Stacey is an attorney with Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein. Her professional, political and civic accomplishments are too many to list here. She is the immediate past chair of Georgia's WIN List, a active member of Red Clay and engaged with many other organizations. Stacey will be an outstanding Representative, and I am thrilled that she has decided to offer herself for service.

We need about 20 more just like her!

A few thoughts as this Easter Sunday ends. Good Friday wasn't all that great this year.  Daryl's grandmother, Sammye Dorough, died Friday at age 95. We will miss her, but what a legacy she left in her family and community. I can credit her for both my husband's inclination to like strong women (lucky for me!)  and his love of cooking. She'd let him "help" make dumplings and biscuits when he was a child. Her husband died too young and she ran the farm and raised the kids and became an entrepreneur-even made a worm bed out back and ran "Sammye's Bait Shop"-dig your own and leave the money in the mailbox, always on the honor system, so said the small wooden sign nailed above the box. I hear that the "Bait Shop" also sponsored a race car at some point. Born before women had the right to vote, she asked for an absentee ballot  so she could vote for Jim Martin. And, last year after the election, her health was failing, but we knew her mind was sharp when she asked Daryl, "your guy won, didn't he?" Indeed, he did.

And, then there's the colored eggs. Aunt Berta Morton, Daryl's aunt in Jones County, not only taught nearly everyone who attended 1st grade in Gray, but she also developed a prolific hobby-creating those wonderful hollow colored eggs. She's 90 and is featured in the Jones County News this week. She also let us know that she was on the Internet. Take a look.

 

Eighteen million cracks notwithstanding, in Georgia, Democrats in the male-dominated General Assembly have yet to choose a woman as minority leader in the House or in the Senate. Democrats tend to elect more women to the state legislature than Republicans do,  and within our caucus, a number of women  do hold offices. Now, with Porter in the Governor's race and Teihlet in the AG race, it's time, no, past time that one of the seasoned Democratic women in the Georgia House became Minority Leader. On the House side, I can think of several women who would do a a great job. Folks like Rep. Nikki Randall, Rep. Kathy Ashe, Rep. Carolyn Hugley and Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield come to mind. But, what are the chances?

As we approach the 2010 cycle, Porter and Teihlet's focus on their own races will understandably diminish their ability to raise money for the caucus and coordinate recruitment efforts. There's a leadership vacuum, and not everyone qualified to fill it has a Y chromosome. That's all I'm saying.