Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for May 7, 2014

George Washington attended the first inaugural ball on May 7, 1789 on Broadway near Wall Street in New York.

Washington arrived at the ball in the company of other American statesmen and their wives. That evening he danced with many of New York’s society ladies. Vice President John Adams, members of Congress and visiting French and Spanish dignitaries, as well their wives and daughters, joined in the festivities. Eliza Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, recorded her impressions of the ball in her memoirs, noting that the president liked to dance the minuet, a dance she thought was suited to his dignity and gravity.

On May 7, 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant disengaged his Army of the Potomac from fighting against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ending the Battle of the Wilderness.

Although the Wilderness is usually described as a draw, it could be called a tactical Confederate victory, but a strategic victory for the Union army. Lee inflicted heavy numerical casualties (see estimates below) on Grant, but as a percentage of Grant’s forces they were smaller than the percentage of casualties suffered by Lee’s smaller army. And, unlike Grant, Lee had very little opportunity to replenish his losses. Understanding this disparity, part of Grant’s strategy was to grind down the Confederate army by waging a war of attrition. The only way that Lee could escape from the trap that Grant had set was to destroy the Army of the Potomac while he still had sufficient force to do so, but Grant was too skilled to allow that to happen. Thus, the Overland Campaign, initiated by the crossing of the Rappahannock, and opening with this battle, set in motion the eventual destruction of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Therefore, even though Grant withdrew at the end of the battle (which is usually the action of the defeated side), unlike his predecessors since 1861, Grant continued his campaign instead of retreating to the safety of Washington, D.C. The significance of Grant’s advance was noted by James M. McPherson:

[I]nstead of heading north, they turned south. A mental sunburst brightened their minds. It was not another “Chancellorsville … another skedaddle” after all. “Our spirits rose,” recalled one veteran who remembered this moment as a turning point in the war. Despite the terrors of the past three days and those to come, “we marched free. The men began to sing.” For the first time in a Virginia campaign the Army of the Potomac stayed on the offensive after its initial battle.

Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta History Center have produced a series called 37 Weeks, which chronicles serially Sherman’s March to the Sea through Georgia in 1864. This is week three of the series, with episodes clocking in at under two minutes. If you enjoy learning about Georgia’s history, it’s great watching.

May 7, 1864 saw some of the first fighting in the Atlanta campaign, northwest of Dalton, Georgia.

Keith Richards recorded the first version of the guitar riff that would become “Satisfaction” early in the morning of May 7, 1965 before passing out.

On May 7, 1996, Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell responded to the FBI Report that ranked Atlanta the most violent city in the nation. Campbell would succed in replacing headlines about Atlanta’s violent crime by substituting headlines about official corruption.

Jimmy Carter’s Presidential campaign received a boost on May 7, 1976 when he received the personal endorsement of the President of the United Auto Workers.

Happy Birthday to Bill Kreutzman, one of the drummers for the Grateful Dead. On Kreutzman’s 31st birthday, the Dead played at Boston Garden. The next night was the legendary Cornell show.

Early Voting

Secretary of State Brian Kemp reminds Georgians that early voting will be open this coming Saturday, May 10, 2014.

“Every Georgian should have the opportunity to vote in the May 20^th Primary Election,” said Kemp.  “The good news is that it is easier than ever to vote early.  Georgians have the opportunity to vote early this Saturday at locations across Georgia.”

Regular early voting will continue till Friday, May 16^th.

If you’re voting this weekend, please email us photos of the polling places or tweet us your photo with @gapundit in the body of the tweet.

Click here to find your early voting locations.

As of yesterday’s Absentee Voter file by the Secretary of State’s Office, 63,762 voted had applied for an absentee ballot or voted early.

Top Five Counties for Early/Absentee Votes

Fulton………..4073
DeKalb………3489
Muscogee…..3340
Cobb………….2996
Gwinnett……1896

Early/Absentee Votes by Party

Republican…..36097……56.61%
Democratic….26128……40.98%
Nonpartisan….1134………1.78%
Missing data…..403………..<1%

Early/Absentee Votes by Gender

Female………….35114…..55.07%
Male……………28634…..44.91%
Missing data……..14

Early/Absentee Votes by Race

Amer. Ind. or Alaska Nat……16……….<1%
Asian or Pacific Islander……187………<1%
Black, not Hispanic……….18627…..29.21%
Hispanic………………………….157……….<1%
Other………………………………217……….<1%
Unknown……………………….1785……2.80%

White, not Hispanic………42771…..67.08%

Two Democrats hope to meet Secretary of State Kemp in the General Election this year, and Walter Jones profiles them for Morris News.

The Democratic duo, Doreen Carter and Gerald Beckum, must face one another in the May 20 primary before the winner takes on Kemp in November.

Carter is a former city council member in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia, population 2,000. Her campaign for the statehouse came up short two years ago.

If elected this year, she wants to focus on overseeing smoothly run elections, efficient operation of the Secretary of State’s Office and boosting business opportunities, according to her campaign materials.

“I will use the executive Office of the Secretary of State to encourage legislation that seeks to make voting easier for legal citizens of our state, not harder – especially for the elderly and those of foreign origin,” she said.

Beckum was mayor of the 1,200-person town of Oglethorpe for 20 years who had planned to run for the U.S. Senate until party leaders convinced him to aim for Kemp instead. He agreed since he opposes one-party rule like the Republicans have enjoyed recently.

“I think it’s bad for the state of Georgia, whether we have all Republican or all Democrat,” he said.

If elected, he’ll focus on ensuring at least one week of early voting at the option of local officials and streamlining businesses’ interactions with the Secretary of State’s Office.

Yesterday and Tonight on Georgia Public Broadcasting

It’s arguably a small point here, but one of the most cogent observations I’ve seen about this year’s campaign season comes from GPB’s News Director of TV, Radio & Digital Rickey Bevington via Bill Nigut.

For so many decades, the picture of a candidate voting ON election Day has become an iconic image, meant as a final gesture to help encourage voters to head to the polls. Yet here was [Michelle] Nunn, voting fully two weeks before the May 20 primary election. What’s going on here?”

The Nunn camp clearly believes that early voting has the potential to boost her numbers in a Democratic primary.

Bill asked a similar question of Tharon Johnson, a top national Democratic strategist on last week’s “On the Story.” Hopefully we’ll be able to see that segment online soon.

Tonight, I’ll be on GPB with Bill and his co-host Bobbie Battista, and some of the sharpest minds in Georgia politics. How I lucked into a seat at that table is beyond me, but I’ll make the most of it whenever I’m invited. I hope you’ll tune in at 7 PM on Channel 8 here in Atlanta, or your local Georgia Public Broadcasting station.

Here’s the early voting announcement by Michelle Nunn, and an excerpt

ATLANTA, GA – Michelle Nunn, former CEO of the Points of Light Foundation and candidate for U.S. Senate, stood with volunteers, family, and friends as she cast her ballot early for the 2014 primary. Nunn and the group took advantage of early voting at the Adamsville Recreation Center in Southwest Atlanta.

Nunn also highlighted the convenience of early voting across the state and encouraged all Georgians to take advantage of the opportunity. You can go to mvp.sos.state.ga.us/ to find your early vote location.

Nunn and the volunteers underscored the campaign’s larger field operation that aims to motivate more people to turn out to the polls during the early voting period. Georgia voters can vote early through May 16. The primary election is May 20.

Television Ads

Phil Gingrey “Deliver”

Delvis Dutton “Safety & Freedom”

Erick Erickson radio spot for Karen Handel

Senate Campaign Shorts

United States Senate candidate David Perdue endorsed term limits and to limit himself to no more than two terms.

“As the political outsider in this race, I am more determined than ever to fight for term limits,” said Perdue. “Most of what is wrong with Washington today is a direct result of career politicians focusing on their reelection instead of doing what is right.”

The U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge states, “I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.” According to the group promoting the effort, the three congressmen running for U.S. Senate from Georgia previously signed the pledge. Yet, they have not held themselves to the three-term standard.

Jack Kingston rolled out a slate of mid-Georgia endorsements, led notably by State Senator Ross Tolleson.

Among those officials announcing their endorsement today, State Senator Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) chose to back Kingston because of his focus on service.

“America needs leaders in the U.S. Senate. Jack Kingston is willing and able to help lead America back to greatness,” said Tolleson.  “Jack Kingston will not be worried about re-election but rather about serving the people of Georgia and turning the country around.”

Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley accounted his support to Kingston’s values of frugality, hard work, and commitment to family.

“Jack Kingston is the only person running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia that is a truly proven conservative,” Jolley said.  “Jack Kingston is frugal, he is a hard worker and he has strong family values that I trust to be genuine.”

Georgia Chamber and Congressional Races

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce released its scorecard on the state legislature this week. State Rep. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick), a candidate for Congress in the First District was one of seven to receive failing grades, and he says it’s a “badge of honor.”

“I have found that many individuals who are familiar with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce believe receiving an ‘unsatisfactory’ grade from the Chamber is like getting a badge of honor,” the Brunswick Republican said. “I agree.”

Chapman is the only legislator running for Congress this year who got lower than a B+.

For instance, in the 1st Congressional District that Chapman is running in, Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, received an A+. Rep. Delvis Dutton, R-Glennville, got a B+. Even Sen. Jason Carter, the Democratic challenger to Gov. Nathan Deal, received a higher grade than Chapman with a C+.

Of the dozens of special-interest groups issuing scorecards after each legislative session, the Chamber is the oldest and has the deepest pockets. Its members are owners and executives in businesses of all sizes across the state, and the issues it pushes aim to help those employers in some way.

Chapman, a former small-business owner, considers himself an advocate for employers who defends his voting record and disagrees that all of the Chamber’s positions were positive for business. For example, he opposed the transportation sales tax, the hospital-provider tax and opposed legislation that would have prevented parents from blocking pornographic materials on their children’s cellphones.

Would-be Congressman Dr. Bob Johnson stepped in it badly enough that he ought to keep an eye out behind him to make sure Jack Bauer’s not trailing him.

A candidate for Congress in Georgia said earlier this year that he’d rather see another terrorist attack on the United States than have Transportation Security Agency screenings at airports.

Bob Johnson, a doctor and Republican candidate in Georgia’s solidly-red 1st District, said at a February candidate forum that the TSA is “indoctrinating” Americans.

“Now this is going to sound outrageous, I’d rather see another terrorist attack, truly I would, than to give up my liberty as an American citizen,” he said, according to a video clip obtained by POLITICO. “Give me liberty or give me death. Isn’t that what Patrick Henry said at the founding of our republic?”

http://youtu.be/a2-tJMbU-Ko

Dammit, Bob! Johnson has since walked the statement back.

“In the heat of the moment, while making the point that I would much rather fight the enemy than our federal government, I said something stupid and should have chosen my words more carefully,” he said. “…As a Constitutional conservative, it angers me that we are giving up our liberty to the bureaucratic TSA and spying on our own people in the name of false security and that has to stop.”

The fact that the videotape dates from February but just showed up first in the national political media suggests that someone has been sitting on the video waiting for an opportune time. Anyone care to speculate?

I wrote the other day about John Stone’s ad in which he calls the other candidates in the race for the GOP nomination in the Twelfth Congressional District “the Three Stooges,” and suggested he spellcheck his ad next time. “Judgment” is properly spelled with one “e” in America, while Brits spell it “judgement.” Also important to prevent yourself from becoming the Fourth Stooge: a background check on yourself. Jim Galloway wins the headline of the week award for “John Stone throws rock, hits glass house of bankruptcies”

what Stone fails to mention is his own glass house. He’s visited federal bankruptcy court not once, but twice. Stone freely admitted having those financial blemishes on Monday:

“I do. Far in my past. Back in 2000, which is the whole point. We’ve got current members of our U.S. House who have bankruptcies in their past. A number of our district chairs here in Georgia with the Republican party have bankruptcies. But it’s in the past, before you run for Congress.

“You don’t run when you’ve got $660,000 in current judgments, outstanding.You put it behind you. You get it paid, you move on – just like our current House members and just like our district chairmen.”

A 2000 bankruptcy declaration showed Stone with $232,084 in unpaid debt, including three years of unpaid Virginia state income taxes. He was a staffer for U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Augusta, at the time. Stone said the bankruptcy was caused by “overburdening” medical expenses incurred by a family member.

Yesterday, Landmark Communications and RosettaStone released polling results in the 12th District, finding:

Rick Allen…………..40%
Delvis Dutton………8%
John Stone………….8%
Diane Vann………..3%
Eugene Yu…………15%
Undecided…………26%

I concur in most respects.

Guns and Butter

The Buford City Council adopted security procedures to govern public meetings in the Gwinnett County city.

The Buford City Commission voted Monday to enact security procedures and possible public screening at government meetings in response to the Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act signed into law last month by Gov. Nathan Deal.

The statute, dubbed by critics as the “guns everywhere” law, allows licensed gun owners to carry firearms into bars, churches and some government buildings. Commission Chairman Phillip Beard asked officials to seek the city’s exemption from the law or consider security and screening measures such as metal detectors.

“I’m all for guns. I’m a hunter myself,” Beard said. “But there’s a time and place for everything, and a public meeting’s not the time or place for guns.”

Beard said after the meeting that the municipal court in City Hall may exempt that building from the statute, but officials have to ensure security at other meetings. He said the “gun toting bills” satisfy gun advocates but do not ensure public safety.

“We had a man with a gun try to walk into our school board meeting last week and we had to call a police officer,” Beard said. “We’re going to have to ensure that these meetings are safe.”

Governor Deal announced yesterday that Georgia was named the #1 most competitive state for new job growth by Site Selection magazine.

“When I took office in January 2011, I made a promise to the people of Georgia that we wouldn’t stop until our state was the No. 1 place in the nation to do business,” said Deal. “We earned that designation in November for the first time ever, and now we’re adding ‘most competitive’ to our accomplishments. These rankings are not only a testament to our strong business climate, but they also speak to the commitment and support from our industry partners, communities and the people of Georgia.”

The magazine releases its Top 10 Competitive States every year in May. The Top 10 Competitive States ranking is based on an index of 10 criteria, most of which are tied to new projects and expansions tracked by Site Selection’s New Plant Database.

“Remaining competitive is key to staying ahead in the global marketplace,” said Chris Carr, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “With critical factors such as a qualified workforce, solid logistics infrastructure and connections in key international markets, it’s no surprise that Georgia outranks other states in this category and our state continues to be the best choice for industry-leading companies.”

As if to underscore the point, Deal also announced that a spin-off division of Kimberly-Clark will locate in Metro Atlanta.

Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Halyard Health, a health care company spin-off of Kimberly-Clark Corporate (NYSE:KMB), is expected to locate its global headquarters in Alpharetta, creating approximately 150-200 new jobs over the next two years. Kimberly-Clark filed a Form 10 Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the planned transaction.

“Georgia’s health care industry is uniquely poised to support Halyard Health,” Deal said. “This company is taking advantage of an eager, skilled workforce and an advanced life science and healthcare ecosystem. Special thanks to Kimberly-Clark for the major role it is playing in Georgia’s economic development and for supporting our state’s ever-changing health care industry – an industry that we are committed to growing.”

Halyard Health will be a publicly traded health care company with approximately $1.7 billion in annual net sales and leading market positions in both surgical and infection prevention products and medical devices. The new 174,000-square-foot facility in Alpharetta will house corporate officers and various corporate functions including finance, IT, procurement, engineering and quality.