Fresh Loaf

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine took to the Twitterverse earlier to announce he’d raised about $420,000 in his quest to become the GOP gubernatorial nominee. His campaign says he’s raised a total of $1.45 million to date and has “slightly over one million” cash on hand.

“John Oxendine’s positive message offering real solutions for the issues facing Georgia is clearly resonating with people all across the state,” said Tim Echols, campaign manager. “John Oxendine’s Contract with Georgia offers specific policy solutions the people of Georgia are looking for from a leader.”

Hmmm. Positive messages.

Last Thursday, Oxendine’s supporters heard a little bit of that positivity. In an email to fellow members of the Ox Army, the candidate asked supporters to scrounge up whatever coins they had in their couches, seal them in an email, and fax them to his campaign. The deadline for fund-raising reports was drawing near, Oxendine wrote, and he wanted to frighten his fellow elephants fighting for the nomination.

Sure, Oxendine touted the “Contract with Georgia” you’ll be hearing a lot about. But he also looked into the future, saw that former Gov. Roy Barnes had won the Democrat nomination, and decided it was time for some scare tactics!

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Georgia Republican Congressional candidate Mike Evans — who knew? — has joined The World’s Greatest Catholic Newt Gingrich in calling for U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to resign over her comments about torture. STEP DOWN, MS. SPEAKER!

Evans, who wants to succeed gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal in Congress, said in an unexpected and rather hilarious press release:

“It’s unbelievable that a leader trusted with so much power would attack the integrity of the Intelligence community for petty political posturing. Someone this irresponsible does not deserve to serve in a role that makes her second in line to the Presidency.

The person who’s first in line, however? Badass. Evans continues:

“If the voters of north Georgia trust me to be their voice in Congress, I will not sit idly by while radical liberals endanger our country and our families to cover up their hypocrisy.”

Evans is a former State Transportation Board chairman. He resigned from that post after he and Gena Abraham, then-state Department of Transportation commissioner, disclosed they had fallen in love. They later married and now reside in Forsyth County. Prior to Evans’ service on the transportation board, he served four terms as a state representative.

(Courtesy MikeEvans.org)

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Paste magazine, the Decatur-based music mag that’s reaching out for help during a crushing advertising downturn, says it’s reached the halfway point in its campaign.

From the magazine:

When we launched the campaign, we had no idea what to expect. We knew some readers had offered to help, but we braced for the worst. The response has been phenomenal. Readers, press and even advertisers showed remarkable support. We’ve been amazed, humbled and inspired.

So far we have raised $148,000! That was the minimum that we needed to keep us going into the summer; we never expected to hit this goal so quickly. Thank you! We have the most amazing readers in the world, and we now know—in a very real way—that we hold this thing called Paste in trust for you and will work diligently to honor that.

We still have a ways to go. Most of our debt will be paid out of revenues when the economy starts to rebound and advertisers return, but we need $300,000 to take care of bills that spiraled up during the ad slump. We’re halfway to that goal and more confident than ever that Paste will make it.

If you’re one of the thousands that have donated, you have our deepest gratitude. This crazy campaign is working. If you haven’t donated solely because you thought the effort was futile, it is not. And just check out those amazing songs that are yours for whatever you want to donate.

More musicians — including Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices, Neko Case, Cee Lo Green — have been added to the Paste Station Download Vault, a 120-song repository available to contributors. There are also contest prizes, such as tickets to the Austin City Limits Festival and “an entire Of Montreal Skeletal Lamping Collection.” For more information about the magazine or to contribute to the effort, visit Paste magazine.

The full release from Paste follows after the jump.

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Just received from state Sen. David “Border War!” Shafer, R-Duluth:

With Casey Cagle’s decision to run for Governor, Georgians must elect a new Lieutenant Governor in 2010. I wanted to let you know that, with the support of my family and the encouragement of my colleagues in the General Assembly, I will seek this office.

I have filed paperwork creating a campaign committee so that we can prepare for the effort. Chuck Clay will serve as chairman of the committee, and Bartow Morgan will serve as treasurer. Chuck is a former Senate Republican Leader and past State Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. Bartow is the CEO of The Brand Banking Company, Gwinnett County’s oldest and largest community bank.

Shafer says the campaign will formally launch after the legislative session ends. He’s holding a start-up fundraising event, however, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the 49th Floor of One Atlantic Center. If you want to help with his campaign, send him an e-mail.

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