Oliver North raising money for Chambliss
October 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm by Ken Edelstein in NewsThe Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition plans to protest the appearance of Oliver North at a fundraiser today for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
The protest rally will be held at 5:30 today at Hammond Drive and Ashford Dunwoody Road (across from Perimeter Mall) — outside the Crown Plaza Hotel, where North is appearing.
Chambliss is now locked in a tight race with Democrat Jim Martin. So North — who was convicted for a felony but got off on a technicality — seems like problematic guy for the Republican incumbent to associate himself in right now. Why get tangled up with a controversial, hard-right Republican icon, when you need to convince voters you’re something more than a partisan hack?
As an aide to President Reagan in the mid-to-late 1980s, North put together the Iran-Contra scam, an in which he and other White House aides sold weapons to Iran and used the proceeds to arm Nicaraguan “Contra” rebels. He admitted to lying to Congress and was convicted violating a ban on funding the Contras, but got off on a technicality because he’d received a grant of immunity before testifying on the matter. He’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier (the Iran-Contra scandal was a foreign policy disaster), but he’s become something of hero on the right-wing talk circuit.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Ken you’ve got to be smarter than you’re letting on. Chambliss doesn’t need to appeal to liberals who hate North, he’s shoring up his support among conservatives, who make up by far the largest voting segment in Georgia.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
You have reported a story that didnt exist…..no surprise though. North was here to do and event for the Fulton County GOP not Sen. Chambliss. Saxby was at the event and gave remarks just like Georgia’s SOS, other Senator and a number of other elected officials. As a matter of fact Saxby was not even in the room when North gave his remarks. Shawn Hanley, Chairman Fulton GOP