Will he drop out?

Nathan Deal resigned from Congress earlier this year, so that he could spend more time in Georgia and devote more attention and energy to his bid to become our next Governor. Had he not resigned, he would have been next in line for an expected rebuke (or worse) from the House Ethics Committee for use of Congressional staff to protect Mr. Deal’s no-bid contract with the State of Georgia. http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/node/2057

In this summer’s Republican primary election, Deal came in second to Karen Handel; in the run-off, he came in ahead of her by a few hundred votes and she conceded even before the last ballots were counted. I did not like this; I think she might have prevailed in a final count and a recount. In any event, she should have stood her ground and continued to talk about ethics. Wasn’t that one of her campaign points – that she was the only not-ethically-challenged candidate in the race?

Be that as it may, Deal’s Democrat opponent, former Governor Roy Barnes – another good ole boy – has been hammering Deal on his alleged ethics violations as Congressman, and his unwillingness to, until recently, disclose his financial information. Now we know where that unwillingness came from: a $2.85 million business loan in 2009 and a $2.3 million investment in his daughter and son-in-law’s failed business in Habersham County. Wilder Outdoors, owned by Carrie and Clint Wilder, was established in 2006 and administratively dissolved on September 8 of this year. The Wilders are reported to have filed for bankruptcy. Nathan Deal asserts that he and his wife, Sandra, will not. They listed their home in Gainesville for sale last year for $985,000, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen (http://daltondailycitizen.com/election/x176916839/Newspaper-Deal-on-the-edge-of-financial-ruin) and have not found a buyer yet. There are currently 190 homes priced between $500 thousand and $1 million for sale in Gainesville. It’s a tough Real Estate market in Georgia.

How it will all work out is impossible to say, but I expect the Republican leadership in Georgia will have a heart-to-heart with Mr. Deal soon, followed by his departure from the race. Then what?

Media Power - Who wants to be Governor?

Lots of people, apparently!

On the Democratic side, here in Georgia, we have Roy Barnes and Thurmond Baker (and a bunch of others who are not getting any traction). Mr. Barnes, one-term Governor before Sonny Perdue defeated him in 2002, has the experience, the big bucks and many TV ads; he is way ahead in the polls. Mr. Baker, in second place in the polls, has the media atmospherics, a good reputation as Attorney General, and little else. Unless something drastic happens between now and July 20, Mr. Barnes will win the primary handily.

There is an even more crowded field on the Republican side, with John Oxendine, current Insurance Commissioner, and Karen Handel, former Secretary of State, in the lead. Former U.S. Congressman Nathan Deal is in third place and a man named Eric Johnson, unknown to me until I started seeing his ads on TV, in fourth. And others, whose names I still do not recognize.

In our red State, and with the Democrat primary pretty well concluded before the ballots are all cast, the Republican candidates are getting all the attention. Mr. Oxendine’s ubiquitous ads stress job creation. Mr. Deal’s awkward ad takes on ‘illegal immigration’, Mr. Johnson, who has been advertising on TV longer than any of the others, wants to lower taxes, and Ms. Handel, who has one ad out with what seems to be a limited buy, talks about government ethics. Mr. Oxendine is unlikely to win this race without a run-off. So, with whom will he be in the run-off? It should be Ms. Handel, but she is all but invisible on TV. Thus, it could well be Mr. Johnson, as his ads are everywhere.

A week from tomorrow we will know!

Pocketbook Politics

A small group of (mostly) Republican women in North Fulton County has launched a grassroots movement to get fiscal conservatives elected to office and shun social conservative issues (such as abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc.) that have in recent years given Republicans a bad name, causing many former Reps to declare themselves Independents.

I met the group’s principal yesterday, and two of her cohorts, at the launch luncheon for Karen Handel’s bid for the governorship of Georgia, and expect to hear more from them in the weeks to come. If ethics and transparency are coupled with fiscal restraint, they might just have a winner!

Look for www.pocketbookpolitics.com to go live soon.

Atlanta Politics

Lisa Borders, outgoing City Council Chair, endorsed Kasim Reed in the recent run-off to elect a new mayor, over Mary Norwood; she campaigned for him and stated in an interview that she thought her efforts had helped him get to victory. Fine. No problem.

But . . ., Ms. Borders sits on the Board of Directors of The White House Project, an organization that "aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency—by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women."

If women do not want to support other women for leadership roles, I guess that's their business.

But if you don't want to walk the walk, I think you should refrain from talking the talk. Off that board, Ms. Borders!