Fresh Loaf

How kooky is today’s GOP? It’s off the deep end — and swimming for open sea.

What other conclusion are we to draw from U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal’s decision last week to solidify his Republican bona fides by casting his lot with the birthers?

Deal has long been the most level-headed of Georgia’s GOP congressmen. But these days, rational behavior and reasonable positions don’t win Republican primaries — just ask Dierdre Scozzafava of New York’s House District 23. If you want to compete with the likes of John Oxendine — Deal’s opponent for governor — you best be prepared to board the crazy train.

As the Tea Parties prove, this is a national phenomenon, but it’s doubly disturbing in a red state like Georgia, where most of the top elected officials are Republicans who now feel pressure to act like loons. (And then there’s Rep. Paul Broun, who really is a loon.)

In other words the GOP’s “big tent” is being reduced to a padded cell.

Lest you think this is more liberal whining, the purpose of this post is to draw your attention to an interesting blog item on the increasingly conservative Peach Pundit:

The real news here is that Deal has done what no other candidate in this race has been able to do thus far: He has taken a position so “out there” that Ox has been able to take a stance that makes him seem sensible and sane.

However, the comments suggest that not everyone on the right sees sanity the same way.

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Rasmussen reports that John Oxendine still leads candidates battling to become the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee. According a telephone survey conducted by the pollster, 27 percent of likely Republican primary voters favor the state insurance commissioner.

The Ox’s© lead, however, has shrunk by four points — and the number of undecided voters has grown. Rasmussen says many likely voters still haven’t formed an opinion about the candidates — which isn’t surprising for a contest that’s still 10 months away.

Here’s how the other pachyderms stack up:

Twelve percent (12%) prefer Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, while nine percent (9%) like Congressman Nathan Deal. Handel and Deal were tied at 13% each in the previous survey.

Rounding out the list is State Senator Eric Johnson, State Representative Austin Scott and conservative businessman Ray McBerry, each with three percent (3%) support among primary voters.

Seven percent (7%) favor some other candidate, and 35% are not sure. The number of undecided voters climbed four points from two months ago, suggesting that the race is far from decided.

That “other candidate” favored by seven percent of poll respondents could easily be a Libertarian. Pray to God it’s not this guy. Rasmussen will release details on the Democratic gubernatorial candidates tomorrow.

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Remember how Michael Steele — the newly elected GOP Party chief, NOT the porn star (NSFW!) — promised his party would reach out to potential voters with an “off-the-hook” PR blitz? It would improve the Republican image — even with “one-armed midgets!”

Here’s the first blast! The GOP Problem Solver. Ask a question, and the GOP genie in the Internets will tell you the solution.

And what if this newfangled contraption’s answer “doesn’t make sense?”

“Then the terrorists win.”

(Hat tip to shorterexcerpts)

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Jason Pye at Peach Pundit posts an email from Susan Meyers that says Jim Wooten, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s lone conservative voice and a 30-year veteran at the paper, will retire this summer.

In news that may shock some, be regarded as inevitable to others, Jim Wooten, the voice of principled conservative thought at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, announced to the staff Friday he will retire this summer after three decades at the newspaper.

Wooten, an award-winning journalist, can be thanked for his years of columns and editorials calling on elected officials to spend taxpayer funds as if it were being depleted from their own wallets.

…

As the Associate Editorial Page Editor, it is believed Wooten will continue to post a weekly Thinking Right column as he enjoys life as a Middle Georgia farmer. To read Wooten’s bio please click here.

Who’s gonna take Wooten’s place? DaleC?

UPDATE: Here’s where to go for details if you’re interested in becoming the paper’s new conservative columnist.

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There’s a rumor going around (mostly peddled by Peach Pundit’s Erick Erickson) that Rusty Paul, a former state Republican Party head, has been trying to build support for a potential bid to unseat Sue Everhart, the current GOP chairwoman.

Paul says it ain’t so.

“I have not made a single call to a single person seeking support for a run for party chair,” says Paul, who already serves on the Sandy Springs City Council and runs his own political consulting business.

But, as is often the case, the rumor may have the details wrong, but it’s on target with regard to the underlying issue. Fact is, there’s a rift in the party right now over what went wrong during the lackluster election season.

Sure, the state GOP eventually managed to hang on to the U.S. Senate and PSC seats, and didn’t lose any ground in Congress, despite facing a top-o-the-ticket threat from the Obaminator. But Georgia is still a really red state and a sitting Republican senator who hadn’t been caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy (more…)

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Fresh off getting shellacked in last week’s presidential election, Arizona Sen. John McCain is coming to Atlanta to stump for Georgia’s embattled Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Zell and the Colonel

Well, of course, he’s not actually coming to Atlanta itself. That’s not the real America. Instead, he’ll appear just inside Cobb County at the Cobb Energy Center at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

There’s talk that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may appear on behalf of Saxby as well, but it won’t be on this trip. Nor will McCain be accompanied by Joe the Plumber.

Oddly, the Georgia GOP’s website contains no mention of Thursday’s rally, but it does list a Saturday event you’ll no doubt want to attend. At 12:30 p.m., Saxby will appear at Poole’s BBQ in Ellijay. For many years now, the restaurant’s owner, Col. Poole — who resembles a taller, older Sonny Perdue — has appeared at Republican gatherings in his trademark canary-yellow suit and outsized red-white-and-blue top hat.

(more…)

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It hasn’t worked so far, but let’s try it again.

That seemed to be the thinking down at the state Capitol today, where House Republicans re-elected Glenn Richardson of Hiram as speaker and Jerry Keen of St. Simons as minority leader. The only real turnover was the election of Jan Jones of Alpharetta as majority whip, replacing Barry Fleming, who left the Legislature to get his clocked cleaned by Congressman Paul Broun in the 10th District race.

Granted, Richardson and Keen both had opposition – from GOP outsiders David Ralston of Blue Ridge and Tom Graves of Ranger, respectively – but, although caucus votes counts are kept secret, neither incumbent seemed to be in much danger.

(more…)

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Even worse than losing an election, the national Republican Party has lost its way. The party that worked so hard at dividing America with one cultural wedge issue after another now finds itself divided, split into two camps: those who realize they need to reform the party and those who don’t.

At this point, I’m hoping only the most blinkered partisan would deny in his or her heart that the GOP somehow ended up being the party of ignorance, fear and intolerance. At least, those have tended to be the tools that party strategists have used to rally the troops.

By ignorance, I mean the systematic attacks on book-learnin’, evolution and competence reflected in the personality cults surrounding Pres. Bush and Gov. Palin, and in the ridiculous war on “elites,” whatever that means. Fear-mongering – over terrorist attacks, Iran, etc. – was, of course, the Bush administration’s default position. And the intolerance shown against gays and immigrants is hardly in keeping with real American values.

In the waning days of the presidential race, David Frum and other Republican leaders and strategists acknowledged that their party was floundering and that the Rovian tactics of smear and knee-jerk social conservatism won’t work anymore.

(more…)

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Peach Pundit has a post about the death of Zoo Atlanta’s pregnant elephant, likening the tragedy to the devastation that befell the Republican Party on election night.

In other news, a donkey assumed dead in a catastrophic 2004 landslide (well, not really) was discovered alive and grinning late Tuesday.

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By the time Georgia polls close at 7 p.m. tonight, we here at CL will already be snookered on Diet Coke and moonshine, liveblogging in this digital Utopia about all the races up for grabs.

CL Editor Ken Edelstein will hold court at Manuel’s, staff writer Scott Henry will report from Jim Martin’s party at Park Tavern, and senior writers Mara Shalhoup and Andisheh Nouraee will monitor results and send dispatches from undisclosed locations. I’ll be in Stepford — oops, Buckhead — at the Intercontinental Hotel where the Georgia GOP is holding its fete. If you have any questions you’d like me to ask lawmakers, leave ‘em in the comments or send me an e-mail here.

Here’s a good list of key states to watch and what time their polls close. Here’s a neat-o map of the United States that shows where the presidential race stands. Here’s a place where you can win $20 of Andisheh’s money. And here’s a picture of a kitten dressed as a pirate.

Be sure to return and join us in a liveblogging celebration of America and insomnia. And if you haven’t done so already, go vote.

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Are we dreaming? The political newsletter/polling firm InsiderAdvantage has posted an editorial that suggests … well, I’ll let you guess that from the headline: “Is Karen Handel Georgia’s Version of Katherine Harris?”

The post begins by hinting that the GOP secretary of state – and presumed 2010 gubernatorial candidate – is damaging her reputation with decisions that seem based on partisan politics. But then it takes a detour, arguing that Handel’s recent decision not to expand early voting hours will hurt Republicans:

Note to Karen: GOP voters vote before work – impossible given the current lines – or after work – sorry, parking lot full; skip the vote. As it stands, her unwillingness to extend voting hours will guarantee big problems for McCain and Chambliss.

The message seems a bit muddled, but this much is clear: We’re not the only ones who seem concerned that Handel has improperly politicized her office, an issue I wrote about last week.

I called over to see who wrote the editorial – it was unsigned – but haven’t found out yet.

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You could go to your local bar to watch the Election Night returns, you could fight the crowds at Manuel’s or you could party down with the parties – that is, the official political parties and their major candidates.

The Georgia Democratic Party and the Obama campaign will be cutting a rug at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta, beginning at 7 p.m. RSVP required.

Democratic Senate hopeful Jim Martin will be partying separately, in the Park Tavern’s event facility overlooking Piedmont Park.

Republicans, on the other hand, prefer to cluster together for warmth. Most GOP bashes will be consolidated in the Intercontinental Hotel in Buckhead.

We also have a home-grown presidential candidate, former Cobb County Congressman Bob Barr. The Libertarians will be holding their Election Night gala at the Mansour Center in Marietta. No, I’ve never heard of it, either, and I used to work up there.

The shindig begins around 7:30 p.m. and Barr is expected to address the crowd at 9:30 p.m. As the party’s own less-than-optimistic website notes, “If you don’t hear any noise, look for suite 100.”

Are there any other Election Night wing-dings we should know about?

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A couple weeks back, the AJC’s esteemed Jim Galloway ran a blog item that had Georgia politicos buzzing. In it, he quoted Senate Majority Leader Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, attacking the state’s new early voting program as a vehicle for voter fraud. Johnson called early voting “a mistake” and explained that it gave cheaters extra time “to go out there and pick up homeless people, and carry them to the polls, and register cats.”

Sen. Eric Johnson

Putting aside for a moment the fact that homeless people have as much legal right to vote as anyone else, Johnson’s statements were jaw-droppingly ironic because early voting in Georgia was a Republican initiative that party strategists believed would give the GOP an advantage at the polls. Statistics have shown that absentee voting is more popular among Republicans than Democrats. Therefore, the reasoning went, if absentee voting were extended to a month and folks no longer had to give an excuse to get an absentee ballot, then early voting could serve as an effective, state-subsidized get-out-the-vote effort for the GOP.

But it doesn’t seem to be working out that way. (more…)

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