Rep. Tom Price on Obamacare

“As the President said, I think their goal is that 80 percent of this [Obamacare] website will work and get folks through. In the operating room if I did things 80 percent, that was malpractice.”

How will Gingrey shake-up shake out?

Four key staffers have left the Gingrey for Senate campaign and many are asking how it will effect the race. Quote of the Day goes to Mike Hassinger, who told the AJC:

Considering that Gingrey had $2.6 million in his campaign bank account in September and no Republican has seized hold of the race, Atlanta-area Republican political consultant Mike Hassinger — who is unaligned in the Senate race — said Gingrey still has a good shot.

“This sounds like when the rock bands used to break up, they always cited the artistic differences, and everyone wanted to know the real story,” Hassinger said. “Well, sometimes, it’s artistic differences. Sometimes, it’s the direction of the campaign.”

Mark Rountreee, with whom both Hassinger and I have worked in the past, wrote on Facebook about the staff changes:

[I]t’s six months from the election and [Gingrey] has quite a bit if money (more than the rest on last count). He’ll hire other folks to take the lead. There’s time. But Chip’s a good guy and his loss is significant.

Plus three points to the Gingrey campaign for a quick recovery and announcing a new lead consultant in the same news cycle.

By day’s end Tuesday, Gingrey had already hired a new general consultant to replace Lake: Cam Savage of Indiana, who previously worked for U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In my opinion the next question is whether another campaign will be able to pick up both Chip Lake and Justin Tomczak. Those two guys would bring a lot to a competing campaign, especially Justin, who is one of the most talented grassroots coordinators I know. I’d expect the Kingston and Perdue campaigns to be talking to both of those guys, as I think they’re the ones best able to benefit from adding those guys and flush enough with cash to hire them.

Also, +1 to all involved for handling a public breakup with class and without name-calling. It could have gotten very messy.

Georgia College Republicans not Animal House

The Georgia Association of College Republicans is collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Project as part of their Statewide Service Day today. For a list of College Republicans chapters and contact information to find out where you can drop off your donation to Wounder Warrior Project locally, click this link.

Tomorrow night at 5:30 PM, Morehouse College Republicans will hold a dinner at 5:30 ($40 tickets) and at 6:45 will hear from Alveda King.

Gov. Nathan Deal announces 150 jobs in Harris County

A Korean-based automotive parts manufacturer, KOPLA, will bring 150 new jobs to Harris County, according to an announcement by Governor Deal.

“We are proud that Korea’s presence in our state continues to grow,” said Deal. “Our booming automotive industry and key business resources create a perfect location for KOPLA and we have no doubt that this state-of-the-art automotive manufacturer will continue to succeed.”

U.S. Supremes will not block Texas abortion law

Fox News is reporting that the United States Supreme Court declined to accept a challenge to abortion restrictions passed by the Texas legislature after the infamous Wendy Davis filibuster.

The four liberal justices who voted in favor of the request said they would have overturned the appeals court’s Oct. 31 ruling that allowed the law to take effect.

In its 20-page ruling, the panel of appeals court judges acknowledged that the law’s provision  requiring doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital “may increase the cost of accessing an abortion provider and decrease the number of physicians available to perform abortions.”

However, the panel said that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that having “the incidental effect of making it more difficult or more expensive to procure an abortion cannot be enough to invalidate” a law that serves a valid purpose, “one not designed to strike at the right itself.”  The provision has led at least 12 clinics in the state to stop performing abortions since the ruling.

A spokeswoman for the Texas Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday said the office is “pleased” with the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Robocalls against Braves Stadium financing

The Atlanta Tea Party started a series of “patch-through” robo-calls to voters in Cobb County in which a pre-recorded message is played and then the recipient is offered a chance to connect to the County Commission offices.

Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee said the calls jammed up the county’s switchboards, creating a potential safety problem.

“Some life-threatening event may have occurred…that we can’t get to now because we’re being choked up,” Lee said.

Rather than apologizing, Debbie Dooley of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots said the robocalls will continue until Cobb County elected officials pay attention to voter concerns.

“They refuse a referendum. They’re making the decision, these five people,” Dooley said. “There will be other calls that go out. This is just the beginning.”

Lee says the deal will not go to a public vote.

A neat trick for campaigns to learn

Last night, I spoke to Buckhead Young Republicans as part of a panel that included Mark Rountree of Landmark Communications, Martha Zoller and Dwight Roberts of zPolitics.com, Jessica Szilagyi Smith of The Perspicacious Conservative, and Baker Owens of That’s Just Peachy.

Many candidates will find themselves addressing groups in areas that have flat-screen televisions all over the place. It’s neither difficult nor expensive to put your campaign logo and contact information on those screens when you talk, like I did last night. Over the coming days, I’ll work on a tutorial of how to do this with no laptop, no cords, no muss or fuss.