Georgia Women Vote

Ben Smith at Politico is reporting that Jeb Bush will not run for the senate seat vacated by Mel Martinez in 2010.

Fine. By. Me. Enough with the shrubs.

Here's a lesson in how not to get what you want. Macon City Council has been feuding over the distribution of the hotel-motel tax. This is not, at this point, a huge amount of money each year, by the way. To this point, the Cherry Blossom Festival has been the lone recipient of the money, working on the theory that the festival puts "heads in beds." As in, people come to Macon from all over the place for the festival. The CBF has also enjoyed most favored status because of the people connected with it. Bill Fickling, for instance, is the person credited with bringing the trees to Macon in the first place. Former state representative Allen Freeman was once the director, and though a couple of elections the festival successfully fought to keep his opponents from examining his personnel file, of interest because of his sudden departure. Now, with the "become self-sufficient or else" warning issued the the Georgia Sports and Music Halls of Fame, the struggles of the Georgia Children's Museum and the enormous and as yet unfinished new location for the Tubman, others want in on the action.

Council has been fighting over a resolution to ask the General Assembly to divide the proceeds of the tax, and I think that is is likely to pass after being referred back to committee. Who has insured the passage? Well, ironically, Erick Erickson, who opposes the redistribution of the tax. Last night, between planning lunch with D.C. lame ducks dignitaries and editing Red State, Erickson announced that the plan was dead on arrival at the local legislative delegation. Staton, he said, told him so.
Talk about a way to unite the democrats on council against a common enemy. If this was Erickson strategy to encourage council to do their due diligence (which I think they have not done), it was a poor choice. I know of no local legislator who is less popular with democrats than Mr. Voter ID. Did I mention that only two of the fifteen members of Macon's City Council are republicans? Did I mention that Elaine Lucas is married to David Lucas, another member of the local delegation? Bottom line, I think this now will pass, but the local legislative delegation will then have to sponsor legislation to change how the tax is distributed. I don't think that will happen, but it will be a political hot potato, and I think could jeopardize the funding from that same tax for the Hall's of Fame.  That's not a win.

This is sad. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for commerce because of a grand jury investigation in to his own sort of "pay to play" scandal.  Ick.

I've always liked Bill Richardson, but back in the dark ages of 2007, when I mentioned to a fellow Edwards supporter from New Mexico that Richardson might be my second choice, to my surprise, she expressed her hardy disagreement and disaffection for the Governor. "He can't be President, she said. He can't even vet for V.P." She then went on in some detail about her reservations about Gov. Richardson, much of which I dismissed as one person's point of view. But it was one credible person's point of view, so it did get my attention long enough to make me wonder how much I new about Richardson. And, now this. Yuck.

Let's just say: I hope that James Carville is wrong.

Reading JMac's piece about "new" media vs. "old" media,  and chatting with Flack about what to do about the Georgia Women Vote archives got me to thinking about the role of e-media in the election, and from a historic perspective, in particular about the treasure chest of primary source documents: firsthand accounts, photographs and video of every aspect of the historic election of 2008. Sure, just like a trunk in your grandmother's attic, there's a lot of junk, but there are also some gems in the mix, and they need to be preserved for future generations. I'm not sure how "new" all this is, though. From the beginning of time, people have come together in communities to tell their stories and create the history that is passed on from generation to generation. Now, the community is broader and the media is different, but this act of coming together to tell our stories isn't new-it's ancient.

During the election cycle, I had some amazing opportunities both be a part of history, to write about it, photograph it and publish what I recorded on the web for all the world to see. Pretty amazing, really. Here are just a few examples:

1) Jane Kidd's election as chair of the DPG, the first female chair in 30 years.

2) Hearing Barack Obama get heckled at s 5000 person union event in Iowa in August of 2007, and leaving the hall certain that he could never win the Iowa caucuses.

3) Stomping through the Iowa snow in January of 2008 with United Steel Workers and John and Elizabeth Edwards, going with the to the pre-caucus John Mellencamp concert and then watching as Obama did what I had thought in August he could not. He delivered his victory speech in the same hall where Edwards hosted Mellencamp the night before.

4) Watching John Edwards speak to a Sunday crowd in Dublin, Georgia, standing beside a patch of collard greens. He would drop out the race soon after.

5) Sharing the Hotel Ft. Des Moines with the Clinton Campaign and Fox News during the Iowa Caucuses.

6) Listening as John Lewis spoke to the Georgia delegation in Denver the day Obama accepted the nomination. It was the 45th anniversary of King's historic "I Have a Dream" speech, and of those who spoke to the crowd on that day,Lewis is  the only one still living. He would also speak at Invesco that evening.

7) Watching Ted Kennedy speak like the lion he is at the DNCC.

8) Standing with Jane Kidd and Shirley Franklin as they cast Georgia's delegate votes.

9) Being there at Invesco as Obama accepted the nomination.

10) Helping host a Georgia party for the fabulous new senator from N.C,, Kay Hagan. She's going to be a great senator.

11) Watching the counts-literally in one case-as Bubber Epps and Pat Dooley edged out their races and defeated incumbent republicans in Georgia.

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So, I got to do some pretty cool stuff and write about it. About two months before the general election, when McCain was surging in the polls, and I was worried, a good friend who has been watching politics since he was a child told me that if Obama did not win, there would be a revolution. Well, we all know the end of the story. Obama did win. The revolution happened at the ballot box, and 'new media' both helped facilitate and document the historic events. There were literally thousands of people like me, who happened to have front row seats to history, and then Twittered, blogged, or Facebooked to share their point of view with others, and with that helped to birth what I believe history will see as a revolution. That's pretty darn cool.

There are some words that emerged-or took on new meaning-in 2008 that I frankly would rather just not hear again. Here's my list. Feel free to add your submissions in the comments.

1) Bailout: The word will forever trigger memories of the 25 million Merrill Lynch’s Peter Kraus collected before resigning, after just three months work, mind you. Even if he worked 1000 hours in those three months that works out to $25,000 an hour - just slightly more than UAW workers make, mind you.

2) Maverick: 2009 should be the beginning of calling things what they are instead of what they aren't.

3) Recount: Always trouble, even when they lean your way. By the way, will we ever have a senator from Minnesota?

4) Runoff: God bless Jim Martin and Jim Powell, but let's just win it the first time, next time.

5) Superdelegate:  Need I say more?

6) Bush: That includes you, too, Jeb.

7) Dole : Whether we're talking about former senators or money for Wall Street, I can do without this word.

8) "Godly" or "Godless": When referring to politicians.

9) Great and Tax: When used as a phrase.

10) Love: When used by philandering politicians to describe their feelings for the spouse they've paraded out to distract the press as they confess to their sexual indiscretions.

11) Joe: When used in combination with anything that is not a last name: Joe the Plumber, Joe Six Pack, Mornin' Joe, Joe Lieberman. Okay, that one is a last name, but I'd just as soon not hear much from him, either.

12) Czar or Tsar: Bailout (oops, there I go) czar, auto czar, climate czar, energy czar. This is America, damn it.  We don't have czars, but Sarah Palin can see a country that did from her house. Besides, haven't we learned yet that declaring someone all-powerful does not make them all-knowing?

13) The Entire Palin Lexicon, including, but not limited to: You betcha, Wasilla, Hockey Mom, Pit Bull With Lipstick, Domestic Terrorist, Alaska, executive experience, blink, EBay, socialist and First Dude. I think we even have to get rid of the word "even." 

I am watching Roland Burris, the maybe newly appointed senator from Illinois, as he is being interviewed by Rachel Maddow. He seems like a good guy. The question is why would he put himself in the position to be used as a political pawn by Gov. Rob Blagojevich? It's a mess to be sure, and it's a problem for Illinois not to have two senators, but why did Burris agree to play, especially when he has a history of giving substantially to Blago? It defies reason.

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