Georgia Campaigns, Elections & Politics for May 16, 2013

Today we’ll have a quick hit morning political news as we stagger hurtle toward the 2013 Georgia Republican State Convention in Athens.

Robopoll on Georgia GOP Chair last night

Several people reported getting a robopoll last night purporting to be done from GAGOP HQ and using the 404-257-5559 phone number as Caller ID. I received the call myself. Quite annoying and unless it was done by the state party, it is illegal, as FTC regulations make it illegal to spoof a Caller ID phone number, even if it is a political call.

More on Nominating Republican Candidates by Caucus

Coweta County Republican Party Chairman Brant Frost contributes an editorial in favor of caucus nominations, an issue that may make it to the floor as a resolution this weekend. Here are a couple of the points he offers.

2. The process does not demand consensus.

In the convention system, it didn’t matter how long it took, a candidate had to get to half-plus-one of the delegates (and prior to 1936, Democrats had to get to 2/3rds). That meant the eventual nominee was a candidate whom everybody (or almost everybody) in the party could get behind and enthusiastically support.

In 2008, John McCain won just 23% of the pre-Super Tuesday vote but won 43% of the delegates. In 2012, Mitt Romney won just 36% of the pre-Super Tuesday vote but won 54% of the delegates. Rick Santorum in contrast, won 27% of the vote but received just 9% of the delegates.

3. The establishment is still in charge.

The people who replaced the convention system with an “open” process hoped it would take the power away from the establishment and give it to the people; in fact the opposite has occurred.

One would think that opening up the nomination process to the broader GOP electorate would diminish the power of the establishment, but that would be incorrect.

Money is the name of the game in the primary battle, and the establishment has plenty of it to spread around.

In other words, the rise of the primary system has not degraded the power of the well-heeled Republican establishment. They may not have the votes, but they have the cash that candidates need for the votes.

Head on over to GaPundit and let us know what you think about these suggestions to change the way Georgia Republicans choose their nominees.

Ultimately, the legislature will decide on any changes to the primary election system, as current state law requires primary elections to nominate candidates, and I don’t think they’ll change it anytime soon.

Call me whatever you wish, but I believe that voting is the American way to choose candidates, and I believe in the process of primary elections.

 Clinging stubbornly to our Bibles

Yesterday, we learned that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources ordered the removal of Bibles from lodges and hotel rooms in state parks after a complaint.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said, “Recently, due to a citizen concern, Georgia Department of Natural Resources management directed Parks staff to remove Bibles from cabins and lodge rooms until management can fully investigate the issue and make an informed decision.”

After a quick consultation with Attorney General Sam Olens that may or may not have included the phrase, “tell the American Communist Lawyers Unions to bring it,” Governor Deal ordered the replacement of the Bibles.

Given the often-glacial pace with which government works, I wonder if any Bibles were actually removed from rooms.

Gov. Deal signs Executive Order on Education Standards

Yesterday, Governor Deal signed an Executive Order asserting that the feds have no right to dictate educations standards to Georgia, and ordering that no federal education standards be implemented in Georgia.

Deal said,

“We’re all committed to giving Georgia students the best education possible and preparing them for highly skilled jobs so that they are competitive in the global marketplace,” Deal said. “We can achieve these worthy goals while at the same time protecting student privacy and maintaining local control over how and what we teach Georgia’s children.

“Common Core standards do not require information sharing with the federal government and they do not impose a federal curriculum. This executive order aims to send a clear and unambiguous message that, in Georgia, we will maintain local control over curriculum while working diligently to achieve high educational standards.”

State Senator William Ligon Responded

Senator William Ligon, an early alarmist proponent of rejecting Common Core responded with a statement that made a point different than what he probably intended to convey. Ligon’s statement read in part,

“I am pleased by Governor Nathan Deal’s decision to sign an Executive Order that recognizes the serious issues surrounding Georgia’s Common Core Performance Standards. While this is a step in the right direction and we appreciate the Governor’s efforts, this does not ultimately move Georgia out of the Common Core Program. The Executive Order issued today does however make a good faith effort towards preventing the disclosure of our student’s private information.”

“Governor Nathan Deal inherited the federal Race to the Top Mandates from the previous administration, and although I’m sure Governor Sonny Purdue had the best intentions at heart, Common Core continues to erode student’s education, removes control of educational standards from state and local authorities and causes significant privacy concerns.”

Pro-tip for politics: when you assert that the state should be setting its own educational standards, it undermines your point if each of the first two paragraphs contains a punctuation error. Two points to whomever can point them out. Three points if you spot something in the statement that I missed.