Popping the balloon: John Smoltz says he’s not interested in Congress
Had a text-message exchange this morning with former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who was caught off-guard by Republican interest in seeing him run for U.S. John Linder’s seat in a July primary.
Linder announced his retirement Saturday morning. We immediately got a call from Washington letting us know that Republicans intended to approach Smoltz to enter the campaign to replace him.
Pardon the language, but the brief conversation with Smoltz went something like this:
Me: jim galloway w ajc politics here. Could u call re ur interest in linder seat? Thx.
Smoltz: I do not know what you are talking about I am not in any way involved in anything regarding politics sorry.
Me: [Certain Washington source] says u would make gud candidate to replace john linder who has announced retirement. Interested?
Smoltz: Sorry I am not.
Smoltz followed this messages with a phone call an hour or so later, and — and from a volleyball tournament in Alabama — confessed that he’d thought someone had been playing a joke on him.
Assured that the GOP interest in him was indeed real, Smoltz still said no to a congressional run. “It’s not in my plans,” he said. Ever? The pitcher said he’s learned never to say never, but repeated his lack of current interest.
With that balloon popped, we move on.
One Republican strategist this morning noted the importance of the timing of Linder’s announcement. The end of March marks the end of the first quarter federal disclosure period for campaign contributions.
So the first fund-raising numbers for candidates to replace Linder will be made public in mid-April, letting us know who – at least in financial terms – are the most viable. So the sprint may be even shorter than the July primary date implies.
The names currently in the mix this morning:
– A Web page has been set up by Seth Weathers in an attempt to generate buzz for long-time Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway. Says Weathers on www.draftbutchconway.com:
Conway will be a strong reasoned voice for the FairTax to continue the fight Congressman Linder started.
Sheriff Conway has been a national voice for illegal immigration enforcement, doing so through implementing 287g in Gwinnett County. He has drastically reduced the number of illegal immigrants in our county.
– Don Balfour (R-Snellville), the chairman of the state Senate Rules Committee and a Waffle House executive;
– Ralph Reed, the former head of the national Christian Coalition and ex-chairman of the Georgia GOP. The Gwinnett County resident lost a 2006 primary race for lieutenant governor to Casey Cagle.;
–State Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who – this time last year – was engaged in an all-out race for lieutenant governor. He suspended his campaign when Cagle, anticipating back surgery, abandoned his 2010 plans to run for governor;
– Chuck Efstration, chairman of the Gwinnett County Republican Party and assistant district attorney;
– State Rep. Tom Rice (R-Norcross);
– State Rep. Clay Cox (R-Lilburn).
If you know of anyone else, we’d like hear.
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter.
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69 comments Add your comment
Skin And Bones
February 28th, 2010
7:49 pm
Hey Chris, I’m right there with you. I don’t even think “Smoltz” is an American name.
Now if Chipper Jones runs, he has my vote. It doesn’t get any more American than Jones. Wait a second, is he related to Vernon Jones?
OK, what about Dale Murphy, is he running? HE’s got MY vote!
Marko
February 28th, 2010
8:47 pm
Mike Hampton could be a good candidate. Anybody know if he is a democrat or republican?
John Smoltz not throwing in the Congressional Game | Politisite
February 28th, 2010
9:14 pm
[...] via Popping the balloon: John Smoltz says he’s not interested in Congress | Political Insider. [...]
misterwax
February 28th, 2010
9:17 pm
the left wing idiocy on this board is amazing….so it the spreading of gossip under the name of news by this lame fish wrapper.
Rex D
February 28th, 2010
9:56 pm
Is anyone going to give Jim Galloway credit for getting Smoltz on the phone, and getting a straight and definitive answer???
Harry
February 28th, 2010
10:16 pm
@misterwax Go subsribe to that conservative rag that has no readers: The Gwinnett Daily Post–talk about fish wrapper. It’s so typical of you lazy exurban SUV-driving 770 morons who elect dolts like John Linder who is retiring to a white racist farm in Mississippi. I’m sure tighty whitey Boortz will be flying over there quite a bit in the future.
Billy
February 28th, 2010
10:30 pm
If the AJC did not ignore the other counties in the 7th district, they would have already reported that Walton county businessman Tom Kirby announced and kicked off his campaign on Friday before John Linder announced his retirement. His Contract with the People is exactly what we need in Congress. Check out his web site at tomkirby2010.com
heartofdarkness
February 28th, 2010
11:51 pm
Someone said, “The requirements for the job [of congressman] is being able to very authoritatively predict what the future will bring, and then being very good at explaining why that prediction didn’t happen.”
But should this kind of wizard not appear, I’ll throw in with Mark Bittner.
Boots
March 1st, 2010
5:15 am
The Republicans are so desperate they’ll run anyone who has name recognition — probably even Jesse James, if he weren’t dead.
UNaffiliated Voter
March 1st, 2010
7:09 am
Draft an UNaffiliated candidate! OUTLAW democrackkks AND republicannots, for they are one EVIL force that has destroyed us…your votes dont matter anymore.
Bill Orvis White
March 1st, 2010
7:26 am
John is a true patriot who fought the tax code for years. Yes, I would prefer a NOTax system, but the FAIRTax comes closest. I think the dominant liberal media culture ran this honorable man out of town. He had another 10 years left in him. I do hope that perhaps Mr. McBerry could switch to that race? We need more patriots in Congress to stop the Hussein Obama agenda which is filled with Socialistic health care, crap and trade and a weak military policy towards the jihadists in Iraq and the West Bank, Gaza which is really, really Israel. We need to have John Boehner as the new speaker who will hopefully start impeachment hearings which will lead to Hussein Obama’s quick removal from the patriots in the US Senate.
B. Knight
March 1st, 2010
8:50 am
Jim, you are not 14 years old, so please don’t text like you are.
John Smoltz says he’s not interested in Congress – 1776 Coalition
March 1st, 2010
9:11 am
[...] read more, visit: http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/02/28/popping-the-balloon-john-smoltz-says-... Tags: David Shafer, Don Balfour, Gwinnett County, John Linder, John Smoltz, Ralph Reed, Sheriff [...]
Harry
March 1st, 2010
9:39 am
Bill Orvis-You’re insane.
Burned Certification, Congressman Retirement Links
March 1st, 2010
1:11 pm
[...] Former Atlanta Braves Pitcher John Smoltz on Seat: “Not in my plans” [...]
MLB Rumors-March 1st 2010 « Sports Talk, Rumors and Other Contrarian Insights
March 1st, 2010
1:18 pm
[...] –John Smoltz is NOT running for Congress. [...]
Base
March 1st, 2010
1:55 pm
The crooks and nuts line up!
It is so easy to scoop Jumbo G
March 1st, 2010
10:44 pm
Wait ’til Jumbo G and the other libs at the Urinal-Constipation find out that Ralph Reed is gonna run for Congress. They, then the national media wh@res, will go completely bananas. This is gonna be fun!!!!!
Terry B. Moses
March 3rd, 2010
1:37 pm
Good Lord this just shows the mentality of what some people call “wing nuts.” Smoltz 1. Was traded to the Braves by the Detroit Tigers when he was a minor leaguer. 2. Baseball is a business like all other businesses. Do you think all the players agree with the politics of the owners, the manager, the general manager, etc. You don’t even know if Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Smoltz all agreed on politics. How do you know what Chipper Jones’s politics are?
My team the St. Louis Cardinals has an owner who is one of G.W. Bush’s best friends. Do you think that someone who might be a Democrat is going to leave the team because of politcs? That is not even close to realistic.
It’s a free country and I love the first amendment as much as anybody but sometimes I wonder what people are thinking when they open their mouths.
“Another sign that Smoltz is a sellout. He sold out his country by staying with the Braves when they were owned by the anti-American Ted Turner and his now divorced wife Jane Fonda.”