Your morning jolt: Some GOP pushback on Sonny Perdue’s pick to replace Karen Handel

Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning is expected to formally announce his choice of state Rep. Jim Cole of Forsyth, his House floor leader, to replace Karen Handel as secretary of state.

Cole will serve out the final year of Handel’s term, and run for a full four years in November.

The governor’s decision to weigh in, announced at the close of 2009, sparked a deal of weekend push-back among Republicans. There had been talk that former state senator Brian Kemp of Athens, one of two Republicans already in the race, was to announce his withdrawal today. But we’re now told this is not so.

Doug MacGinnitie also has decided to stay in the contest. He issued the following statement this morning:

“I certainly respect the Governor’s decision making process, but his decision has not changed the reasons I entered the race. I would like to thank the Republican grassroots and statewide business community for their countless calls of encouragement and support over the weekend – they have been humbling and motivating.

Cole, 38, a three-term lawmaker from Forsyth in Middle Georgia, has served as an administrative floor leader for three years. He will serve out the final year of Handel’s term

The implication of Perdue’s action is that Kemp or MacGinnitie would leave the GOP vulnerable in that constitutional spot. But that’s not a likely scenario, given that the Democratic candidates in the contest are considered relatively weak — especially in terms of fund-raising.

This from Sadie Fields of the Georgia Christian Alliance:

Primaries are essential to the well being of the democratic process and historically are decided by the grassroots who work hard for the candidate of their choice. The advantage a candidate may have in an election should come as a result of hard work and by convincing others they are the one best qualified for the job.

The obligatory Facebook page to protest the Perdue decision has been started by Republican activist Mark Luttrell. PeachPundit has taken up the topic as well, quoting state Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Atlanta) as saying he’ll hang with MacGinnitie — if that candidate stays in the race:

I was close to joining “Lawyers for MacGinnitie” and will still endorse him. IMHO, Doug is the best qualified for SOS, but let’s not lose sight that all the GOP candidates are better than what the other side is offering.

Georgia’s super-heavy fines for super-speeders went into effect with the new year. Over the weekend, the Sunday Paper had this note of protest from one rural sheriff:

Emanuel County Sheriff J. Tyson Stephens, a past president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, says the new law amounts to yet another tax on citizens, one that will disproportionately deplete the pockets of the poor and lower middle-class.

“Let’s say you have a single mother who’s trying to get about and get her kids to day care and school and herself to work, and she slips up and has a ticket,” explains Stephens. “She pays that fine with her local jurisdiction, and then it goes to Driver Services, and they send her a notice sometime later she’s being assessed $200 on [her] super speeder violation, and we are talking about someone who could barely pay the first fine.

“So now she has to decide, does she pay the $200 to the state or does she feed her children that week? Obviously, she’s going to have to choose the rent and food over the super speeder law. Next thing you know, her insurance is canceled. It’s a domino effect, and I don’t see the need for it.”

The thermometer says we’re in the clutches of a harsh winter. Sanity requires that you establish a warm, spring-time finish line, but you’re too old to compete with the flat-ab crowd on Daytona Beach. The New York Post has this suggestion:

Now comes the Newsmax Cruise, organized by the ultra-conservative magazine and Web site run by Christopher Ruddy and financed by Pittsburgh far-right-winger Richard Mellon Scaife.

Departing from Fort Lauderdale on March 21, and returning a week later after stops in Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas, will be Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, John Fund, Ronald Kessler, and pundit Dick Morris, whose column runs in The Post.

Ads promise cruisers will get “to explore and discuss domestic and international events from a conservative prospectus.”

The ship will sail beyond U.S. waters. And, yes, there will be a casino on board.

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