Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 23, 2014

On the Presidential campaign trail, Franklin Delano Roosevelt arrived in Atlanta on October 23, 1932, speaking to 10,000, and continued on to his “second home” at Warm Springs, Georgia.

FDR campaigning in Atlanta and Georgia in 1932.

When he arrived at Warm Springs, FDR gave a short speech:

“Two more weeks to go. . . . First, let me say this: this old hat, a lot of you people have seen it before. It’s the same hat. But I don’t think it is going to last much longer after the 8th of November. I have a superstition about hats in campaigns, and I am going to wear it until midnight of the 8th of November. . . . Well, it’s fine to see, and I’m looking forward to coming down here for the usual Thanksgiving party at Warm Springs, and having a real old-fashioned Thanksgiving with my neighbors again. I thank you!”

On October 23, 1971, the Coca-Cola Company launched the advertising campaign “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”

Georgia-born Clarence Thomas was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on October 23, 1991.

An Ignominious End to John Barge’s Political Career

It is being widely reported that Republican (in name only) State School Superintendent John Barge will endorse Democrat Valarie Wilson today in a campaign event.

Sitting State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge (R) will join State School Superintendent Candidate Valarie Wilson (D) to make a special announcement and host a press conference on Thursday at 12 p.m. in front of Tucker High, 5036 LaVista Road, Tucker.

This brings Republican State School Superintendents who ended their political careers at their own hands to three. If you recall, Linda Schrenko ran for Governor in 2002 and was later convicted of embezzlement; Kathy Cox filed for personal bankruptcy in 2008 and resigned in 2010 to take a job in the private sector. Now Barge, who ran for Governor this year and appears to have spent the rest of his time seeking employment elsewhere without much success.

Two things about this. First is it shows that the election for State School Superintendent is not about who is the best candidate – it’s about the bureaucratic educational establishment retaining control of the Georgia Department of Education. The term “bureaucrats” does not include teachers, though many will follow the lead of the administrators who are supporting the Democratic candidate – by bureaucrat, we mean primarily people who draw a check from the Department of Education or a local school system and do not teach students.

It is the bureaucrats who are threatened by a candidate who will take a carefull look at how much money is spent by DOE outside the classrooms and seek to move more of that spending toward classrooms.

It is within the very large Department of Education, which educates exactly zero students, that Democratic activists will be hired and burrow in to career positions where they will outlast any State School Superintendent and affect education outcomes for years into the future.

It is the state’s educational bureaucracy that has delivered the results we have gotten for our tax dollars. Electing yet another bureaucrat like Valarie Wilson will mean that Georgians continue to get more of the same results.

The second issue is that the State School Superintendency has become a stepping stone – from Schrenko who sought the Governor’s Office, to Cox who left to work in the private sector, and now John Barge, who has spent the better part of at least this year seeking higher employment.

It is well-known that John Barge has been an absentee Superintendent for months, turning the office into a mobile campaign, and now seeking out-of-state employment and holding press conferences with other politicians in the middle of the day on a Thursday, when he should be at work.

So I have two questions for Dr. Barge.

First, what kind of deal did you cut with Valarie Wilson to help her win election as Georgia State School Superintendent. Since your job search appears to be going nowhere – either in Cobb County or in Utah –the most-likely scenario, in my opinion, for your endorsement, is that you cut a deal.

If no deal has been cut, will Barge and Wilson both pledge that Barge will neither be offered nor accept, a position as an employee, consultant, or contractor, with the Georgia Department of Education if Valarie Wilson is elected?

Second, will John Barge reimburse the taxpayers the cost of his job search, including his absences during the Gubernatorial campaign, and the time he’s spent on his job search instead of performing the job he has?

Richard Woods calls for decreasing use of test scores for teacher evaluations

via Press Release from Richard Woods, the Republican candidate for State School Superintendent:

Woods Calls for Major Decrease in the Use of Test Scores in Teacher Evaluations

At Wednesday’s Fall Bootstrap Conference made up of the state’s education community, Richard Woods, candidate for State School Superintendent, called for a reduction of the emphasis on test scores in evaluating teachers in Georgia.

Under the state’s new teacher evaluation system, 50% of a teacher’s effectiveness is set to be based on test scores. Woods is calling for a starting point of 20% with the possibility of making further reductions after a top-down review of the system is conducted.

“Parents would immediately understand the fallacy if 50% of their child’s final grade were to be based on test scores,” said Woods. “That same fallacy holds sure under a system where 50% of a teacher’s final grade is based on test scores.”

In Georgia, standardized test scores count 20% of a high school student’s final semester grade. In many lower grades, standardized test scores are not even included in a student’s final average. Since his run in 2010, Woods has consistently raised concerns over the overemphasis on test scores in evaluating teachers.

Georgia Association of Educators leader campaigns for Democrats

The Democratic campaign organization calling itself the Georgia Association of Educators is putting on a full-court press for ~~candidates who promise them more taxpayer money~~ the Democrats they have endorsed.

Georgia Association of Educators President Sid Chapman is touring the state this election season in an attempt to “get out the vote” and drum up support for education issues.

Chapman, also the former president of the Clayton County Education Association, visited the Clayton News Daily and Henry Daily Herald offices along his tour throughout the state this month.

He recently announced GAE’s endorsements for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jason Carter and the Democratic candidate Valerie Wilson for state schools superintendent. Carter opposes Republican incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal, and Wilson faces Republican opponent Richard Woods on the November ballot.

Chapman lauded this year’s education funding efforts by Deal, who procured half a billion dollars more in Fiscal Year 2015 funding for schools. He said there is still much to be done in public education.

“We don’t expect it all to be fixed over night,” he said. “But we need to be moving into the right direction.”

Chapman listed major concerns GAE seeks to address this year, including fully funding education, eliminating unpaid furlough days and getting school district’s back to 180-day calendars.

He said state health care benefits, too, are a concern for educators throughout the state.

Note that none of the GAE’s stated concerns include efficiency, graduation rates, or preparing students for college or technical school. If you want Georgia’s education system to reflect the excellence to be found in the Clayton County school system, this is the guy to listen to. In 2008, Clayton County was the first school system to lose its accreditation since the late 1960s.

Political headlines

Spending money efficiently in GA-12 is difficult – New York Times The Upshot column.

Georgia’s 12th Congressional District, stretching from the South Carolina border to the middle of the state, is covered by four television markets. Because portions of those markets cross district and state borders, a lot of money is wasted broadcasting ads to people in other congressional districts and in South Carolina.

The proliferation of set-top boxes to which specific commercials can be sent, and similar capabilities for satellite dish systems, make it possible for campaigns to spend smarter.

“Having alternatives to spending a lot of money is a relatively new concept,” said Elizabeth Wilner, senior vice president for political advertising at Kantar Media, which tracks broadcast ad spending. “But there are more options now than there were even a few years ago for more targeting of voters, like local cable and addressable satellite, or using analytics to at least identify cheaper programming through which you can reach the same audiences.”

President Obama’s campaign used targeting alternatives during the 2012 presidential race. It bought segments of an audience rather than an entire audience, which might contain people a campaign doesn’t care about reaching. But in statewide races with large media budgets, segmentation might not be as much of a concern, as viewers in South Carolina living near Charlotte, N.C., could tell you after the barrage of ads in the North Carolina Senate contest.

Education unions are a major part of Jason Carter’s campaign support – US News & World Reports.

Carter has locked in the support of public schoolteachers, whose unions have become hard-hitting political bankrollers, typically for Democrats. The nation’s two largest teachers unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have said they plan to spend at least $40 million and $20 million, respectively, nationwide on this year’s election cycle. The Georgia Association of Educators – a local affiliate of the National Education Association that represents more than 42,000 members – endorsed Carter’s campaign in August, likely due to his promises of increasing education funding without raising taxes.

State Rep. Terry England, Chairman of the State House Appropriations Committee, sets the record straight on education funding under Governor Deal – via Facebook.

The Democrat seeking to become our state’s next governor has been telling voters that Republican Gov. Nathan Deal has “dismantled” education in Georgia.

The only thing being dismantled is the truth.

Gov. Deal absolutely has not “slashed billions of dollars from public education,” as Jason Carter falsely claims.

The fact is that the state’s first Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, increased education funding to a record $7.9 billion in FY2008 but over the next two years was forced to make almost $1.4 billion in cuts because of the impact of the Great Recession.

In his first term, Gov. Deal managed to restore that $7.9 billion funding level — which, by the way, is $2 billion more than when his predecessor, Democrat Roy Barnes, was governor.

According to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Georgia “allocates a higher percentage of its state budget to education than most states.”

And in FY2013 — before Gov. Deal’s two most recent multi-million-dollar funding hikes for schools — Georgia’s K-12 spending as a percentage of total state spending was “the third highest in the nation,” according to the National Association of Budget Officers.

Governor Deal leads first meeting of Georgia Ebola Task Force – 11Alive.com.

“We don’t want what happened in Dallas to happen here,” said Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald is the Commissioner of Public Health who has been heading up the governor’s task force. She said a lot of coordination to prepare for Ebola has already happened, in part because Atlanta is home to the world’s busiest airport and both the CDC and Emory University Hospital.

Emory teams have now successfully treated three Ebola infected patients flown in for treatment.

New 11Alive/SurveyUSA poll shows Senate, Governor elections too close to call – 11Alive.

Democrat Senate hopeful Michelle Nunn holds 46 percent of the vote, while Republican David Perdue has 44 percent. SurveyUSA said support for Perdue has steadily, yet slightly declined over the past six weeks, while Nunn has gained ground, albeit not consistently.

Libertarian Senate candidate Amanda Swafford polled at 4 percent, not quite enough to determine if her presence in the race will force a runoff election. Seven percent of the 606 voters polled said they are still undecided.

Last week’s poll showed Nunn a little farther ahead of Perdue, with 48 and 45 percent of the vote, respectively.

In the race for governor, incumbent Nathan Deal, a Republican, is down one point from last week, to 45 percent. Challenger Jason Carter, a Democrat, is down three points, to 43 percent. Libertarian Andrew Hunt has 4 percent, and 8 percent of voters are undecided.

SurveyUSA says Carter had 59 percent of the vote in the greater Atlanta area last week, but now has only 49 percent — a significant drop that could account for the recent Democrat slippage.

The race for state school superintendent is also tight, with Republican Richard Woods slightly ahead of Democrat Valarie Wilson. Woods has 46 percent of the vote, Wilson has 44 percent and 11 percent of voters are undecided.

The part of David Perdue’s resume that’s been left out of most reporting and TV ads – TheDailyBeast.com.

“I’ve helped create and save thousands of American jobs,” Perdue says with a smile.“Regardless of what Michelle Nunn says.”

Perdue’s campaign categorically denies that Perdue himself outsourced jobs, stressing that his responsibilities at companies like Sarah Lee, Haggar, and Reebok were to grow international businesses and open markets for American brands overseas, never eliminate jobs domestically.

“David spent his entire career creating and saving thousands of good jobs here in America,” said Megan Wittemore, Perdue’s spokeswoman. “He focused on expanding operations and sales into new markets to make American companies more competitive, and revitalize American brands.”

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball has shifted its view of the Georgia Senate race – UVA Center for Politics.

With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, the picture in several key races remains hazy. But when the dust settles, the most likely result is a Republican majority, as the Crystal Ball’s outlook of Republicans adding five to eight seats has long indicated.

We currently expect both Toss-up contests in Georgia and Louisiana to head to runoffs. In the former, both sides are hoping to avoid that eventuality, although according to some of our sources, Michelle Nunn (D) might now have a better chance than David Perdue (R) to win outright on Election Day in Georgia, which would be a disaster for the Republicans.

The blunt math: Our present ratings leave Republicans with 49 seats and Democrats with 47 seats, with four Toss-ups: Georgia and Louisiana, which both might be heading to overtime, and Colorado and Kansas, where incumbents Udall and Roberts are in deep trouble — especially Udall — but retain a path to victory. To claim a majority, Republicans need to win half of the Toss-up states.

Georgians are concerned about rising energy costs that would be caused by proposed EPA Power Plant regulations – GaPundit.com

40 percent of Georgia voters are less likely to cast their vote for a candidate that supports EPA’s Clean Power Plan, versus just 22 percent who say they are more likely to vote for candidates that support the rule.

A plurality of voters in Georgia—47 percent—oppose the regulations. Opposition to the rule is strongest in states that stand to be hit hardest by the rule’s expected energy price increases and job loss impacts.

Middle-class voters and seniors are among the top opponents of the rule. The poll also finds that public opposition is led by concerns about job loss, possible energy rationing and increased electricity rates, especially for the middle class

Event Calendar

David Perdue: Statewide Tour – Newnan

October 23 @ 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM

Redneck Gourmet,

11 North Square, Newnan, GA

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 23, 2014