Republicans for Roy, the gun dude from Alabama, and other matters

The campaign of Democratic nominee for governor Roy Barnes has announced the formation of a steering committee of “Republicans for Roy.”

There have been clues that this was coming.

One hint was this Barnes ad on the web site of National Review, a popular Internet watering hole for conservatives:

In announcing his “Republicans for Roy” committee and its web site, Barnes made specific reference to Tom Perdue, the enfant terrible of the Georgia Republican party – and U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’s former campaign manager.

Perdue this week called on Republican nominee Nathan Deal to withdraw – citing the candidate’s failure to reveal his dicey financial situation.

The members of “Republicans for Roy.”

– Curtis B. Avery, Jr., a retired cattle farmer in Harris County;

– Gale Buchanan, former U.S. undersecretary of agriculture, a resident of Cook County;

– Carlton E. Joyce, a Chatham County attorney;

– State Rep. Bob Lane of Statesboro, who retires this year after 30 years in the Legislature. Chairman of the House Game, Fish and Parks Committee, Lane gave Barnes $1,000 last December;

– Martin Nesmith, an Evans County businessman and Barnes appointee to the state Board of Regents;

– Berrien County Commissioner Steve Roberts;

– Former Houston County commissioner Larry Snellgrove;

– Charles B. “Charlie” Tanksley, a former Cobb County state senator and a longtime Barnes ally;

– Lisa Underwood of Lee County, the former co-chair of the Republican caucus within the Georgia Association of Educators;

– and Jeff Wainwright of Taylor County, past president of the Georgia Peach Council.

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But Republicans – supporting other Republicans – may have made the most entertaining news of the day. Dale Peterson, the rifle-slinging candidate for agriculture commissioner in Alabama, has pushed out a YouTube attack on Roy Barnes – very similar to the one that made him an Internet sensation this summer:

Chris Schrimpf, spokesman for the Republican Governors Association, says his group is paying the bills on this one.

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Gary Scott Holt, creator of a new Georgia political blog called The Scott Papers, says he’s filed an ethics complaint against Democratic nominee for governor Roy Barnes, for Barnes’ alleged failure to disclose expenditures as a lobbyist in 2007, while representing the Atlanta Beltline.

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