Fresh Loaf

Politico today rehashes an Insider Advantage article that reports U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., plans to run for governor. The news site — famous for WINNING THE AFTERNOON! — included a picture of this “Nathan Deal” character, who looks eerily similar to … holy shit.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, you must respect the state Constitution and bow out at the end of your term, sir! The citizens of Georgia will not sit idly by as you try to hoodwink us into another eight years!

Thanks to Jason Pye, this egregious powergrab was caught before it gained momentum.

(Screenshot from Politico.com)

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After the AP’s recent revelation that Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin was on the short list for a cabinet post she didn’t get, the Politico adds insult to injury by pointing out that Pres.-elect Obama hasn’t chosen any Southerners for prominent administration appointments. Unless, that is, you count the most thankless of White House gigs.

To be fair, the official voice of the White House will come with a Southern drawl: Robert Gibbs, Obama’s soon-to-be press secretary, is an Alabama native.

Why have no Southerners been selected? UGA’s Charles Bullock hazards a guess:

“Who comes to mind immediately?” asked Bullock. “No one, really.”

“The leading politicians in the South at least for the last generation have been active as Republicans,” Bullock added. “You just don’t have Democrats that come to mind as the go-to person or the expert. It highlights the thinness of the Democratic bench in the South… The skill set is so depleted.”

Sad, yet true. Who are his choices: former U.S. Rep. Ben “Cooter” Jones? Zell Miller?

(more…)

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A new InsiderAdvantage/Politico poll shows U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss with a three-point lead over Democratic candidate Jim Martin.

From Politico:

The poll shows Chambliss leading Martin by 3 percentage points, 50 percent to 47 percent, with 3 percent of respondents undecided. The first-term GOP senator’s lead is within the poll’s four-point margin of error. The Politico/InsiderAdvantage poll surveyed 523 likely voters on Nov. 23.

The poll numbers are almost identical to the general election results, when Chambliss fell just short of the 50 percent necessary to win the seat outright on Election Night. He led Martin 49.8 to 46.8 percent, with a Libertarian candidate taking three percent of the vote.

“This thing’s going to be a nail-biter. We don’t know who’s going to turn out and we don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but it’s going to be a close race,” said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery.

Towery says a visit from Barack Obama could change the race. Chances of such an event happening before the Dec. 2 runoff, however, seem increasingly unlikely.

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U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss has created an online uproar because of comments he made to a North Georgia crowd.

As quoted by Politico.com:

The Republican is outwardly confident, but there’s urgency in his voice as he tours North Georgia, trying to boost turnout in his predominately white base: “The other folks are voting,” he bluntly tells supporters.

Now, read in this context — “predominately white base” followed by “other folks” — I can see how people might see the connection. But I seriously doubt this is what Chambliss implied. Then again, the Republican incumbent — who is in danger of facing a runoff or even losing his seat to Democratic nominee Jim Martin — is considered to be running one of the most fouled-up races of 2008.

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From Politico.com:

In an interview just a month ago, [Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin] dissed the job, saying it didn’t seem “productive.”

In fact, she said she doesn’t know what the vice president does.

…

Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co.” asked her about the possibility of becoming McCain’s ticket mate.
Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

I guess John McCain explicitly stated what he wants his vice president to do.

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In light of the questions about special mortgage deals Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., received from embattled Countrywide Financial Corp., Politico has surveyed the lawmakers’ colleagues to inquire about their mortgages. Of those surveyed, 23 senators have yet to respond.

Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, however, did.

Chambliss says he took out a mortgage 15 years ago through a banker at Bank of America. No special terms were included in the deal. Isakson obtained his through a real estate associate at HomeBank. The mortgage was subsequently sold to Synovus and then Chase. It was paid June 1.

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