When you start your campaign for Governor with “Now a lot of people say I’m crazy,” maybe the disclaimer wasn’t really necessary. Here’s another interesting thing he said in an interview with Christina Cassidy from the Associated Press:

In terms of financing his campaign, Barge said he expects to have $100,000 in contributions by the end of the week and had already received individual pledges that would help him quickly reach $1 million.

It’s worth noting again my oft-repeated statement that political campaign funding pledges are worth 10 cents on the dollar on a good day.

It’s even worse than it appears, but it’s all right

The number of voters who cast ballots in the wrong districts in early voting for the September 17th Macon-Bibb County election has doubled to 36, while the Secretary of State has opened an investigation.

“I believe we’ve got the majority of the wrinkles worked out,” [Elections Supervisor Jeanetta] Watson said. “I’m glad we caught them early on.”

Meanwhile, six candidates for Mayor of the Macon-Bibb consolidated government debated yesterday at Mercer University.

Bibb County Commission Vice Chairman Joe Allen, former Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop, businessman David Cousino, former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis, Commission Chairman Sam Hart and Mayor Robert Reichert took questions submitted by law students at the forum, which was organized by the university’s Democratic and Republican clubs. They were watched by about 30 students and a few faculty as they spoke about economic development, crime, poverty, budget cuts and government transparency.

A group called Macon/Bibb 20/20, in addition to using a majority of middle Georgia’s slash quota, has raised $22,000 to spend on the September elections.

The CEO and spokesman, forester Blake Sullivan, said the group is working for a new, better government that can bring more economic opportunities and narrow a racial divide.

“It starts with good government, and that’s really the people who can work with the community but also the people who can lead the community,” Sullivan said.

He said the new, independent political committee will work on get-out-the-vote campaigns. Such committees cannot coordinate with any candidates or campaigns, but Sullivan said his group could work to get the vote out in areas with better candidates, whom he declined to name.

“We’re working for people that want good government,” he said.

One flier from Macon/Bibb 20/20 Inc. was sent to District 1, where political veteran Gary Bechtel is running against veteran Harold J. Young. That flier is pushing people to vote in the Sept. 17 election, calling it a “one-time, unique chance to create a positive future for our community and for our families. It’s time to elect leaders in our new government who will work together for the good of the entire community.”

T-SPLOST funds lag in River Valley

Funding from the 1-percent sales tax known as T-SPLOST is lagging 13 to 18 percent behind projections in the River Valley district, one of three that passed the measure last year. From Georgia Public Broadcasting:

“This is a long program. It’s a ten year program,” [TIA Administrator Mike] Dover stressed. “Collections are actually behind projections anywhere from 13 to 18 percent, but we’re not pushing the panic button just yet.”
The River Valley region was expected to collect about $59.4 million each year. Halfway through this year, the tax in that area had added up to about 43 percent of that projected total.

Federal farm bill future fouled-up

Differences between versions of the Senate and House versions of the federal farm bill remain a sticking point headed toward a September 30 deadline for reauthorization. Two Georgians illustrate the differences. From the Rome News-Tribune:

The Senate passed a new bill with support from both Georgia members, Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.
The bill, Chambliss said, “not only saves $24 billion with sequestration cuts included, but also provides an effective safety net for farmers and ranchers to rely on in times of need.”
But the House version essentially cut the bill in half, removing the funding for food stamps, school lunches and other nutrition assistance programs.
“For the first time in 40 years, the farm bill is true to its name,” said Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger. “With the massive welfare section taken out, the legislation is finally about farm policy and not unrelated government spending.”

 Georgia Senate candidates on Syria

Congressman Phil Gingrey addressed the Canton Rotary Club and discussed the expected Congressional vote on Syria. From the Cherokee Tribune:

During the question and answer portion of his 30-minute talk to the local Rotary, Gingrey fielded a comment from the audience that just a short while earlier President Barack Obama had won critical support from House Speaker John Boehner for a punitive strike against Syria.
Gingrey said he was caught off guard by the decision made by his party’s leader in the House.
“We’ve got some serious deciding to do about Syria,” Gingrey said.

Gingrey, a Marietta Republican who represents all of Cherokee County in Congress and is seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, said earlier in a statement that the U.S. “must not get mired down in the Syrian civil war.”
But he did say in the statement that the use of chemical weapons was intolerable.

Speaking to the Cobb County Young Republicans meeting Tuesday night, Senate candidate Karen Handel stated her opposition to US involvement in Syria. From the Marietta Daily Journal:

Handel said given that she was asked about her position on Syria as soon as she walked in the door of the pub, she wanted to address that topic first.
“Based on what I know today, I would vote no against military action in Syria,” Handel said.
Handel gave credit to President Obama for bringing the issue to Congress.
“However, we are where we are today because of lack of leadership, we’ve been leading from behind when it comes to foreign policy matters, this line in the sand was drawn many months ago, nearly a year ago, I believe, and yet as it was crossed nothing happened,” Handel said. “We have to always put U.S. national security interests first, and, as of now, the president has not articulated the mission, clearly defined the mission and objectives of that mission to warrant and sanction going in with military action at this time.”

Congressman Jack Kingston discussed the issue with the Savannah Morning News:

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston said Monday he thought President Barack Obama’s decision to seek Congressional approval for a military strike against Syria instead of acting on his own was the right one.

“The American people need to focus on this, and this will be part of the process,” the Savannah Republican told reporters Monday at a Starbucks on the city’s eastside. “But we’re going to have a lot of questions.”

Kingston called the situation “horrific,” but said he was leaning away from voting toward a strike.

“Right now, I’m leaning no, but I want to find out how wide of a strike this would be and what would be the ramifications of it,” Kingston said.

The congressman said feedback from constituents on the matter has been limited but largely negative.

“The feedback that we have been getting has been in opposition of it,” he said. “However, I think that we have to have a good learning curve as a nation. We all need to know the answers to some of the basic questions.”

Rep. Paul Broun told Patch.com that he opposes US military action in Syria.

Broun’s press secretary Christine Hardman emailed the following statement from Broun to Dacula Patch:

“I do not believe America should be militarily involved in Syria. Without there being any direct threat to American national security, I do not find military intervention in Syria to be within our national interest, particularly in our current economic state.”

Georgia and the South

Southern right-to-work states are a battleground for union expansion, concerning some Republicans.

The prospect of the United Auto Workers gaining a new foothold at Volkswagen’s plant in Tennessee worries some Southern Republicans, who say laws banning mandatory union membership have helped lure foreign automakers.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam warned Tuesday his state’s prospects could suffer if the UAW succeeds in representing workers at Volkswagen’s lone U.S. assembly plant in Chattanooga. It’s an argument that many Southern politicians have made, fearing that union representation would deter businesses — and badly needed jobs — from coming to their respective states.
“We have heard from other folks that we’re recruiting that that would be dampen their enthusiasm with Tennessee,” Haslam said.

Presumed Democratic Senate nominee Michelle Nunn is modelling a new national Democratic strategy to de-emphasize their party’s role in partisan gridlock in Washington and focus on local issues. From the Associated Press, via Marietta Daily Journal:

In Georgia, Democrat Michelle Nunn launched her bid for an open U.S. Senate seat in Georgia with a two-week, 10-city tour that she dubbed “What Washington can learn from Georgia.” She planned community service events and offered a dual message at each stop: Folks can get along and make things happen on the ground without Washington.

Democrats hope their approach in those races and others will lure back just enough moderates or even conservatives in states where the party has been competitive recently. Sheheen trailed Haley by 60,000 votes — 4.5 percentage points — in their first matchup. Grimes has won statewide already. Obama lost Georgia by 5 percentage points and 8 percentage points with minimal effort in the state.
These contests won’t turn the South’s political complexion at once, but any success could offer a roadmap in states like Alabama and Tennessee, where there are few if any obvious Democratic candidates for top offices next year.
There are national consequences, as well.
Republicans must gain six more Senate seats to control the chamber for the last two years of Obama’s presidency, and they can’t afford to lose seats in Kentucky and Georgia. Democrats, meanwhile, want to cut into the GOP’s 30 governor’s seats ahead of the 2016 presidential election, and executives elected in the next few years also could become two-term governors who influence congressional and legislative redistricting after the 2020 census. Republicans used that power after 2010 to draw districts that helped them maintain control of the U.S. House even as Democrats won key Senate races and the White House.
Democrats explain their 2014 Southern approach as taking advantage of what Republicans give them.
“Democrats focus on recruiting candidates who understand the lives of people in their states,” said Danny Kanner of the Democratic Governors Association. “Republicans focus, almost exclusively, on an ideological agenda that panders to the right wing of their party.”

 Gainesville to keep guns on school grounds?

Gainesville City Schools are considering keeping rifles handy on school campuses according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Gainesville City Schools Superintendent Merrianne Dyer says the rifles would be placed at Gainesville High School, Gainesville Middle School and Wood’s Mill Academy.

Dyer said the weapons would be locked inside safes in the offices of school resource officers. She said all school resource officers are armed, but recent training showed that handguns they carry would not be effective in long hallways or corridors.

Gainesville police had approached the schools about the idea in April, shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.