On August 26, 1864, having withdrawn from trenches and fortifications outside Atlanta the previous day, U.S. General Sherman sent most of his forces westward around Atlanta and toward the south of the city.
On August 26, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted. Ratification took place on August 18, 1920, as the Tennessee House of Representatives adopted it, but adoption became official on August 26, when United States Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the Amendment. It reads:
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
On August 26, 1939, the first televised major league baseball game aired, as the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds split a doubleheader in Ebbets Field.
On August 26, 1961, the 718th Engineer Light Equipment Company of Fort Valley and the 210th Signal Base Depot Company of Augusta were called up to take part in the American response to the crisis in Berlin.
President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for President by the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey on August 26, 1964.
On August 26, 1965, Sonny & Cher were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Got You Babe’, the duo’s only UK No.1. Sonny Bono was inspired to write the song to capitalize on the popularity of the term “babe,” as heard in Bob Dylan’s ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’.
On August 26, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill, called the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Georgia Politics
Yesterday, I went to the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Congressional Luncheon in Macon and got the chance to speak with Senator David Perdue before he went onstage. In addition to Senator Perdue, the crowd also heard from Senator Johnny Isakson.
And Congressman Rob Woodall introduced the main speaker, Dr. Frank Luntz.
My most interesting takeaway from the event was from when Frank Luntz asked for applause from people supporting the various presidential candidates. In my opinion, Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina received the most applause. We also got to see the dial groups on a Hillary Clinton ad that’s airing in one of the early states and on Donald Trump at the GOP Presidential Debate in Cleveland.
Here are a couple clips similar to what he said yesterday.
The Macon Telegraph wrote about Luntz’s speech to the Chamber.
Political strategist and pollster Frank Luntz spoke about the current state of politics during the Georgia Chamber of Commerce 2015 Luncheon at the Macon Marriott City Center. Luntz was the featured speaker at the event that drew about 900 business leaders along with local, state and national politicians.
“This is the first time in my life that I have no clue who is going to win,” Luntz said.
He touched on the attributes of candidates who have led to candidates such as Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gaining traction while Hillary Clinton is struggling so far.
Luntz said he is unsure if Clinton will be the Democratic nominee.
“We have never elected someone in the modern history of America who six months before the first vote had a 38 percent favorability rating,” Luntz said.
The New York Times had an interesting story about Donald Trump’s popularity among voters.
A review of public polling, extensive interviews with a host of his supporters in two states and a new private survey that tracks voting records all point to the conclusion that Mr. Trump has built a broad, demographically and ideologically diverse coalition, constructed around personality, not substance, that bridges demographic and political divides. In doing so, he has effectively insulated himself from the consequences of startling statements that might instantly doom rival candidates.
In poll after poll of Republicans, Mr. Trump leads among women, despite having used terms like “fat pigs” and “disgusting animals” to denigrate some of them. He leads among evangelical Christians, despite saying he had never had a reason to ask God for forgiveness. He leads among moderates and college-educated voters, despite a populist and anti-immigrant message thought to resonate most with conservatives and less-affluent voters. He leads among the most frequent, likely voters, even though his appeal is greatest among those with little history of voting.
But the breadth of Mr. Trump’s coalition is surprising at a time of religious, ideological and geographic divisions in the Republican Party. It suggests he has the potential to outdo the flash-in-the-pan candidacies that roiled the last few Republican nominating contests. And it hints at the problem facing his competitors and the growing pressure on them to confront him, as several, like Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, are starting to do.
His support is not tethered to a single issue or sentiment: immigration, economic anxiety or an anti-establishment mood. Those factors may have created conditions for his candidacy to thrive, but his personality, celebrity and boldness, not merely his populism and policy stances, have let him take advantage of them.
Tellingly, when asked to explain support for Mr. Trump in their own words, voters of varying backgrounds used much the same language, calling him “ballsy” and saying they admired that he “tells it like it is” and relished how he “isn’t politically correct.”
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz is promoting defunding Planned Parenthood to evangelical voters.
His latest pitch to religious voters came in a conference call Tuesday with church pastors from around the country.
“This is an incredible gathering of faith leaders across the country, of pastors who are standing up and answering the call,” Cruz said on the call.
It’s all part of an effort to build a grass-roots movement that his campaign can tap into and for him to be able to distinguish himself from the rest of the field to win what he calls the “evangelical bracket.” Cruz has some competition in that lane, notably from the last two Iowa winners former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum as well as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Tea Party favorite Ben Carson.
In the conference call earlier, and at every campaign event, Cruz attacks Planned Parenthood. He highlights the recent series of undercover videos from an anti-abortion-rights group accusing the organization of selling fetal tissue from abortions for profit.
“I don’t have to remind anyone here of the atrocities being committed every day by Planned Parenthood,” Cruz said in Iowa, adding, “These videos that have been made public make vivid what we already knew.”
Vicki Willard has made public her campaign for Republican National Committeewoman.
Georgia State Senator Josh McKoon has filed suit against members of the Coweta County Commission on behalf of three voters who say the Commission violated requirements of the Open Meetings Act before voting on a pension package for the former deputy fire chief. The alleged violation is that the Commission intentionally left the “golden parachute” vote off the agenda for the meeting at which it was voted on. McKoon told Fox 5 Atlanta
“What’s happened in this case is a real breach of public trust. These are taxpayers who are fed up with a government that’s trying to conduct business behind the scenes and behind closed doors. If the Commissioners want to commit $1.2 million dollars of tax money, they have the authority to do it, but they’ve got to stand and face the music and hear from the public before they do so.”
At 11 AM today, members of the Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis will be sworn in by Gov. Nathan Deal in his office. At 12:30 PM, the Commission will meet in Room 606 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building.
DeKalb changes Testing Schedule
The DeKalb County schools have changed the testing dates that parents said conflicted with the Jewish High Holy Days.
Superintendent Steve Green says Iowa Tests of Basic Skills testing will now take place on Sept. 9, 10, 11, 16, 18 and 21, with make-up days from Sept. 22-25. Testing for the Cognitive Abilities Test will take place Oct. 5-7, with a make-up day on Oct. 8. The changes remove potential conflicts with several religious observances, including Rosh Hashanah and Eid-ul-Adha.
“The revised school testing calendar removes all conflicts with religious holidays while ensuring timely testing for students,” Green said in a district press release. “We have been responsive to concerns that have been raised and we have sought and arrived at a solution that is in the best interest of our children.”
Culture of Corruption
Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Fanning-Lasseter spoke about what she calls a “culture of corruption” in government.
“I just don’t see it as a culture of corruption. This is something that has gone on for years and years, unfortunately, in DeKalb, in Fulton, in Gwinnett,” she said. “I think the corruption is not that bad in Gwinnett, as you look over in the other counties, I really don’t.”
Lasseter, 67, served 33 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe for taking $36,500 from an undercover FBI agent. The agent posed as a businessman seeking her vote on a real estate project. She was sentenced in 2012.
Despite her stance that Gwinnett is less corrupt than most places, Lasseter went on to say corruption is evident in the county. A number of county workers live in mansions or expensive subdivisions, she said, and “they’re not making that here at the county.” Still, she also said corruption is more prevalent among developers, though she admitted that she has no idea how widespread corruption in the county might be.
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