Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for August 18, 2016

On August 18, 1591,the English settlement at Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks of what is now North Carolina was found deserted.

On August 18, 1795, President George Washington signed a treaty with Great Britain called the Jay Treaty, after Supreme Court Justice John Jay who negotiated it. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led opposition to the treaty.

On August 18, 1862, Confederate Major General of Cavalry J.E.B. Stuart was nearly captured, losing his distinctive hat and cloak and written copies of Lee’s orders near Verdiersville, Virginia.

The Georgia General Assembly adopted a joint resolution urging the creation of a federal Health Department on August 18, 1908.

On August 18, 1916, the Cherokee Rose was designated the official state flower of Georgia by a joint resolution of the State House and Senate.

The practice of tipping service employees was outlawed by legislation signed on August 18, 1918.

Georgia Governor Hugh Dorsey signed legislation regulating the practice of architecture and licensing practitioners on August 18, 1919.

The Georgia Board of Public Welfare was also created on August 18, 1919 when Gov. Dorsey signed legislation establishing that body and a companion bill that created the Community Service Commission.

On August 18, 1924 Gov. Clifford Walker signed legislation that would allow a referendum on a Constitutional Amendment to allow Atlanta, Savannah, or Macon to consolidate their respective municipal governments with their county governments. Macon-Bibb County merged in 2014 after voters passed a referendum in July 2012.

The Beatles played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on August 18, 1965. AtlantaTimeMachine.com has a couple images from the night.

On August 18, 1991, hardline Commies in the Soviet Union arrested Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev as part of a coup against Gorbachev’s reforms.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Ranting on Facebook about politics may be counter-productive if you think Facebook is for fostering stronger friendships or for promoting political candidates, according to new research.

[S]ocial media marketing firm Rantic…. recently surveyed more than 10,000 people on Facebook, spread evenly across political affiliations. It found that 94 percent of Republicans, 92 percent of Democrats, and 85 percent of independents say they have never changed their view of an issue because of a Facebook post. The majority of people from all political affiliations also say social media is an inappropriate place to express political beliefs. That’s despite the fact that the survey showed 39 percent of Republicans, 34 percent of Democrats, and 26 percent of independents have posted political content on Facebook.

The majority of both Republicans and Democrats say they judge their friends based on what they write on social media about politics. What’s more, 12 percent of Republicans, 18 percent of Democrats, and 9 percent of independents who responded say they’ve unfriended someone because of those posts.

On the other hand, my own informal research says that most Facebook users enjoy silently judging their “friends.”

The Georgia Department of Labor reported that unemployment ticked down to 5 percent in July, from 5.1 percent in June. That’s down 7 tenths of a point from the 5.7 percent unemployment in July 2015.

“The unemployment rate dropped as Georgia employers hired more people and created more jobs,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “Many employers are turning to Employ Georgia, our online recruiting service to post their new job openings and recruit employees.”

The Georgia Public Service Commission unanimously approved Georgia Power’s report of spending $160 million from July to December 2015 on construction for two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.

This decision is not a ruling on whether the expenditures are reasonable and prudent but only acknowledges that the Company has spent the funds on the project.

“The Plant Vogtle project continues to make progress. While there have been setbacks, in the long run Plant Vogtle will provide economical and carbon free electricity for generations of Georgians,” said Commission Chairman Chuck Eaton.

The Commission certified Georgia Power’s share of the construction cost of Plant Vogtle Units Three and Four on March 17, 2009 at $6.114 billion. Georgia Power owns 45.7 per cent of Plant Vogtle with its partners, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the City of Dalton Utilities.

Mark Blumenthal writes about the shorthand that journalists often use lately to describe an electorate that has highly unfavorable opinions of both candidates.

Americans hate both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Or so you’ve heard. And to some degree it’s true. Tracking polls by SurveyMonkey and other organizations find both presidential candidates to be unusually unpopular.

But it’s wrong to conclude that a majority of Americans dislike both candidates because, simply put, they don’t. The overwhelming majority of voters like one of the two candidates better than the other, and those attitudes are closely consistent with their current vote choice.

Confusing? Let’s look more closely at the numbers.

Just 35 percent of registered voters now rate Trump favorably (a decline from 41 percent the week of the Republican convention), while 64 percent rate him unfavorably.

Clinton’s ratings are slightly better, with 40 percent now rating her favorably and 59 percent unfavorably. So it is certainly true that majorities (plural) dislike each of the candidates, but it’s a little misleading. Why? Because those two majorities involve mostly different people, and the overlap between them is modest.

Just over one in four voters (26 percent) actually rate both Clinton and Trump unfavorably. That’s a relatively high proportion, with potential consequences for third-party candidates this year. But most of the rest – the vast majority of voters nationwide – like one candidate and dislike the other. More specifically, they either rate Clinton favorably and Trump unfavorably (38 percent of all voters) or rate Trump favorably and Clinton unfavorably (33 percent).

WABE spoke to UGA Political Scientist Charles Bullock about what November portends for Georgia.

The newly minted Trump [Georgia] team said the expansion does not mean they think the state is in danger of slipping away, but University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock said actions speak louder than words.

“Campaigns don’t spend money on things which are sure bets or lost causes,” said Bullock.

Bullock said Georgia did not get this kind of attention from either party in 2012.

Jennifer Hazleton, the Trump-Pence campaign’s new communication director in Georgia, responded to Clinton campaign tweets boasting that Trump has had to shift energy away from more traditional battleground states.

“If they want to spin this into some sort of fairy tale where they think that that means that resources are being pulled elsewhere, they can live in that land of delusion all they want, but that’s not reality,” Hazleton said.

Bullock said Democrats promoting a purple Georgia narrative is nothing new. For years, they’ve pointed to changing demographics, a growing number of minorities, the changing voting behavior of younger voters and educated women in the state.

“I think people just looked at it and said, ‘Well, sure. A party would say this even if they themselves didn’t believe it.’ You kind of have to have that message to keep up the faith among your partisans,” he said. “The polling that has come out within the last couple of weeks have given them some data to go with the theory.”

Maggie Lee, writing for the Macon Telegraph has more on the Trump Georgia move:

“Our playbook is going to (be) the same as the party has always approached Georgia: We believe Georgia is a red state, it’s going to stay a red state, that Georgia will deliver a victory for Mr. Trump in November,” said Jennifer Hazelton, communications director for the Trump campaign and one of the new hires.

Hazleton had no comment when asked about any possible plans to buy ads or about a campaign budget for the state.

State Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, has been a supporter of Trump for months. He said that with the election entering the home stretch, he expects to soon see what campaigners call a “ground game.” That’s person-to-person contact from the campaign like knocks on doors and phone calls.

“Clinton’s going to have media bias here, and they’re going to have a ground game here so there’s no reason to not combat that with your own offensive initiative,” Jones said.

The Green Party is considering suing Georgia because it failed to turn in sufficient valid signatures to earn a spot for Jill Stein on the November ballot.

In a letter delivered late this afternoon by email, Steve Harvey, Director of the Elections Division for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office wrote: “Upon review . . . I hereby inform you that your total number of valid signatures submitted is 5,925, and . . . did not meet the requirement . . . Dr. Jill Stein will not appear on the ballot in the General Election”.

“Our experience with this year’s petition drive illustrates many of issues we raised in our pleadings and testimony before Judge Story,” said Hugh Esco, cochair of the Georgia Green Party. “We are exploring multiple strategies for challenging this determination. Ultimately, in spite of the technical deficiencies used to justify this ruling, the Georgia Green Party far surpassed its burden to demonstrate a ‘modicum of support’ as required by the Courts; and the voters of Georgia have a constitutional right to see their candidates of choice on the printed ballot. We trust the Courts will agree.”

So, when you miss a field goal, sue in court to move the goalposts after the fact.

Georgia’s Council on American-Islamic Relations will begin an outreach effort.

“During the 2000 presidential election, many American Muslims voted for George W. Bush,” said CAIR-GA Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “However, the rise of violent extremism overseas and of Islamophobia here at home led some conservatives to fear and even loathe their neighbors. Georgia Muslims – who love God, family and country as much as any other American – hope to put those fears to rest by addressing them head-on at their source.”

CAIR-GA plans to contact both progressive and conservative groups across the state, including Republican Party chapters and Tea Party-affiliated organizations. The Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization is offering to meet with each group’s members, deliver an educational “Islam 101” presentation and answer questions about hot-button topics such as terrorism.

“Georgia Muslims look forward to meeting, greeting and dialoguing with various political groups, including Republican and Tea Party-affiliated activists,” said Mitchell. “We’re willing to answer any and all questions about Islam and American Muslims, whether those questions are tame or critical.”

Jokes about Monica Lewinsky and Bill & Hillary Clinton could lead to discipline at the University of Georgia, according to the Red & Black.

A professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia is facing disciplinary action after sending an inappropriate email out on the Warnell listserv subscription email system.

As previously reported by The Red & Black, the incident occurred during the last week of July, when Thomas Harris, a professor of forest business management, sent an email containing an image with references that connected Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president of the United States with the Monica Lewinsky scandal that occurred during Bill Clinton’s second presidential term.

“While it appears that this was intended as a humorous political statement, let me remind everyone that the Warnell listserv is not an appropriate place to share political views,” he said. “We are all public servants who will faithfully serve our elected leaders and the citizens whom they represent regardless of political party.”

All six Chatham County Superior Court judges recused themselves from hearing a case alleging wrongdoing in a lower court.

“The defendant is the Recorders Court of Chatham County, and although Judge Tammy Stokes is not named as a party, it is obvious that her actions and conduct are the subject of the lawsuit,” Chatham County Superior Court Judge James F. Bass Jr., said in an order filed for the judges.

He had initially been assigned the case.

“The public must believe in the absolute integrity and impartiality of its judges . … even without a showing of actual bias, prejudice or unfairness. . . it is inappropriate for any trial court judge to preside in any action wherein one of the parties holds a judicial office on the same or any other court which sits in the same circuit.”

State Rep. Brett Harrell (R-Snellville) received a Legislative Service Award from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.

Harrell, R-Snellville, received the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia Legislative Service Award from ACCG Associate Legislative Director Todd Edwards and Gwinnett commission chairwoman Charlotte Nash.

“This past year, Rep. Brett Harrell stood strong as opposition to House Bill 411,” Edwards said during the presentation. “House Bill 411 had many reiterations … but at the end of the day, what it would have done is increase the truck weight limits on our roads from 80,000 pounds to 84,000 pounds with a 4 or 5 percent variance so it would have been raised essentially to 88,000 pounds.”

Harrell serves on the House Transportation Committee where he voiced his opposition to the truck weight increase. Edwards explained that higher weights would have been detrimental to counties because the heavier trucks would have put more stress on local and state roads, which would in turn lead to more tax dollars being spent on repairs.

Muscogee County Elections Director Nancy Boren negotiated a killer deal on used voting machines with the assistance of a former employee.

Not long after [former Muscogee Elections employee Maigen] Ogle got there, she noticed that there was a lot of surplus election equipment because Colorado mails ballots to voters. Ogle knew that it was the same Elections Systems and Software equipment that was used in Muscogee County.

“It was a newer version of what we used in Muscogee County,” Ogle said.

“I called Christy and told her I was interested in purchasing some of her surplus equipment,” Boren said. “I told her to give me a price and I would see how much I could afford.”

When Coburn called back, she had a price.

“She said you can have it all for $10 — if you come and get it,” Boren said.

“The gift of Nancy is she moves faster than the state as a whole and she was able to negotiate the agreement,” King said. “As soon as we found that out, we immediately indicated our support for that and I have been working with Nancy for a couple of months.”

“It is a huge deal because it extends the life of the voting system and has tremendous value for the taxpayers in Muscogee County,” King said. “She was able to acquire the equipment at very little cost. In terms of bang for the taxpayers buck, Nancy has done a tremendous job.”

What Boren was able to acquire was 700 TSX voting machines of which Musocgee County got 400, the state 200 and Richmond County/Augusta 100. Boren also acquired 154 optical scanners that are used for mail-in ballots. Muscogee County had five in use and Boren was able to add 10 more to the inventory, which should speed up the counting process.

The updated equipment, valued at $1.2 million, ended up costing Muscogee County about $16,000.

The difference is the new ones are faster with more memory, which will help elections officials, King said.