Fresh Loaf

The Augusta Chronicle has published an endorsement of 10th District Congressional candidate Barry Fleming that, in its breathless admiration and over-the-top prose, is nothing short of an editorial blowjob:

Fleming, a former assistant district attorney, has led an exemplary personal and professional life. Besides his unassailable credentials, Fleming flashes the eloquence of a prosecutor and the moral persuasion that made Charlie Norwood a legend here and in Congress.
It shows in the accolades Fleming has earned in just a few years in the halls of power – awards from Georgia’s cities, hospitals, district attorneys, family advocates and more.
And if anyone in Athens is wondering about his loyalties, he has two degrees from the University of Georgia.

Urp. I think I’m going to be ill.

Fleming became majority whip in the state House when the Republicans took over because Majority Leader Jerry Keen wanted a reliable henchman to help him carry out dirty work, such as Keen’s draconian – and unconstitutional – sex-offender bill.

The Chronicle cites Fleming’s support from the Medical Association of Georgia as a sign of his leadership. Well, of course MAG endorses Fleming – it’s payback for his role in the “tort reform” legislation that’s helping the insurance giant line its pockets.

And the paper touts Fleming for trying to “empower prosecutors.” That’s a nice way to describe one of the most shameful and irresponsible bills of the last few years. Here’s how we described it when we gave him a Golden Sleaze Award last year:

The Kill ‘Em All, Let God Sort ‘Em Out Award
To Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem
At a time when other red states are announcing moratoria on executions and DNA evidence is being used left and right to spring people from death row, Barry “Widowmaker” Fleming wants to grease the path to Georgia’s electric chair.
The majority whip offered a bill to scrap one of the fundamental tenants of American criminal justice – unanimous juries – in order to allow folks to be put to death even if not one, not two, but three jurors were opposed. The Headsman of Harlem made it obvious that his bill was tailored to soothe his discontent with the recent case of convicted murderer Wesley Harris, who received a life sentence instead of a date with Old Sparky because of two holdout jurors.

Anyway, the most interesting part of the Chronicle piece is the reader commentary that follows the editorial. A number of folks have been turned off by Fleming’s slime campaign against incumbent Paul Broun’s distant personal past, as typified by his debate attacks. Just judging from the online debate, it seems increasingly as if this race is up for grabs.

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The conventional wisdom is that 10th District Congressional candidate Barry Fleming of Harlem has truckloads more campaign funding than GOP incumbent Paul Broun of Athens, he has the support of all the heavy-hitting Republicans in the state House and his views on, well, most issues are more in line with conservative primary voters.

But judging simply from the pair’s performance in last night’s Webcast debate, Fleming looks like a man in trouble. After less than one term in Washington, Broun is still not the most practiced speaker, but Fleming, sporting heavy bags under his eyes, consistently looked and sounded tired, sullen and shifty.

By all accounts, Fleming has waged a particularly nasty, mean-spirited campaign, dredging up a 25-year-old contempt of court charge against Broun for falling behind in his alimony. Fleming tried to defend his approach by saying the way Broun handled his personal affairs back then somehow reflects on how he deals with legislation now, but that explanation didn’t sound any more convincing than it reads.

Fleming accused Broun of supporting child Internet pornography, marijuana use and other vices because he broke with the GOP pack in voting against some nanny-state legislation. But Broun seemed to deflect the criticism effectively by claiming he was standing up for personal privacy, states’ rights and other conservative ideals – all without mentioning that he is a screaming libertarian.

Finally, Fleming, who’s served as majority whip in the Georgia House for the past two years, tried to argue that his record as a legislative leader qualifies him for Congress – that is, until the AP’s Shannon McCaffrey pointed out that the most recent General Assembly was a “dismal failure.” Doh!

I’d never seen Broun in action before and while I wouldn’t want him as my congressman, I’d certainly say he came across better in all respects than the sourpussed Fleming. But please let us know if you had a different take on the debate or the race.

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State Sen. Nancy Schaefer, R-Turnerville, a far-right evangelical Christian whose twin passions are restricting abortion rights and Scientology, recently announced that she will not be running in the 10th District Congressional race after all.

Less than two weeks ago, Schaefer mailed out an unintentionally amusing fundraising letter bashing Republican incumbent Paul Broun and fellow challenger, state Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem. In the letter, she alleged that “Broun has a sordid past,” but offered no details. Given her mile-wide self-righteous streak, however, that could mean he once lusted in his heart.

She dismisses Fleming – a guy whose most recent achievement was a bill to allow folks to be sentenced to death by non-unanimous juries – as a “liberal Republican trial lawyer.” On the other hand, compared to Schaefer, Jesse Helms is a liberal.

Why is Nancy not running? Her stated reason, according to an article in the Athens Banner-Herald, is that she is focused on helping her husband through upcoming major surgery. It’s also possible that she hasn’t raised enough money to challenge Broun, but Schaefer has never been troubled by such earthly concerns. This is the woman, after all, who, in the early ’90s, ran for Atlanta mayor and governor when she didn’t have a cold chance in hell of winning.

Apparently, she’s not planning to run for reelection to her Senate seat, either. I wish we could say we’ll miss her in the same way that the House wouldn’t be nearly as fun to cover without the antics of Christian nutcase Bobby Franklin. But frankly, Nancy the lawmaker has always been disappointingly subdued.

It will be interesting, however, to see what effect Fleming’s departure has on the delicate balance of power among the House leadership. As Majority Whip, Fleming often served as chief enforcer and all-around henchman to Majority Leader Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons. With Fleming gone, Keen could lose some of his influence – which would be the best outcome any of us could hope for.

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