Your morning jolt: Jon Huntsman, Christine O’Donnell headed to state Capitol
Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman announced via Twitter on Thursday that he’s a thoroughly modern man when it comes to Darwin and climate change – unlike a certain Texas governor.
From the Associated Press:
“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy,” Huntsman tweeted.
Although Huntsman didn’t mention Perry by name, the tweet was sent within hours of a campaign stop by Perry in New Hampshire where was asked by the crowd about both topics.
While Perry dodged a question about climate change, he has previously said the theory is unproven. On Thursday, he defended the teaching of creationism in schools because evolution “has some gaps to it.”
Why is this worth a mention? Because on Wednesday, Huntsman will be at the state Capitol in Atlanta to meet Gov. Nathan Deal and as many state legislators as possible.
Perry already has a firm contingent of supporters in the Capitol, and Deal is still formally tied to Gingrich – a convenient if unlikely shelter when everybody and his brother are trying to draw you into their fight.
***
Jon Huntsman will be preceded at the state Capitol by Christine O’Donnell, the former U.S. Senate candidate from Delaware. She’ll stop by on Monday. But O’Donnell made a bit of news this morning when, on NBC’s “Today,” she said she walked off Piers Morgan’s CNN show because of what she described as his “very inappropriate, creepy line of questioning.”
The Delaware Republican said she wanted to stop the “borderline sexual harassment that was going on.”
***
Roll Call reports this morning that U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., is the 48th richest member of Congress, worth $6.49 million. That’s up 2.6 percent over last year, meaning that Isakson’s investments are outperforming the national economy.
However, among his peers, Isakson has dropped slightly – he was the 46th richest last year. Still at the top is U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who’s worth $294 million.
***
With his Gang of Six activities, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., may be taking the biggest risk of his political career. But don’t think that means he’s not running in 2014, he said – yet again – on Thursday. From Larry Peterson and the Savannah Morning News:
“I’m wide open running again,” the Georgia Republican told reporters Thursday after touring the Efacec Power Transformers plant in Rincon. “I’m campaigning every day.”
He’s taken flak from tea party activists for helping lead an effort — which includes additional tax revenue — to reduce the federal budget deficit.
Some commentators say his willingness to risk the wrath of a group with big clout in GOP primaries means he won’t seek a third six-year term.
***
In a Thursday post, we mentioned that several Republicans from Buckhead and Sandy Springs – including Beth Beskin and Josh Belinfante – are considering entrance into the Senate District 6 race.
And that Democratic incumbent Doug Stoner of Smyrna, who’s district was hauled into Fulton County, has been approached about switching parties.
More potential GOP candidates are floating to the surface: Hunter Hill of Vinings, who ran against Stoner in 2008; and Bob Irvin of Atlanta, the former House minority leader.
Irvin’s candidacy would be interesting – given that he’s the past president of Common Cause Georgia and has been critical of the Legislature’s tolerance of “low-level conflict of interest and low-level corruption.”
***
On Blogging While Blue, former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin wonders whether, in their search for a constitutional majority, Republicans are repeating the big mistake that Democrats made during the 2001 redistricting session:
If the courts ultimately allow the Republican maps, their plan could still backfire for individual Republican members – many in places like Gwinnett County find themselves in districts that are much more competitive than in the past, as map makers have subtracted reliable Republican neighborhoods from these districts in an effort to create new Republican leaning districts elsewhere.
It’s worth noting that ten years ago Democrats thought they too were in reach of a constitutional majority in the Senate, but left so many districts with only narrow Democratic advantages that on Election Day in 2002 they lost in seven districts where their candidates came within 5% of a victory.
***
Maybe you didn’t notice, but this gambling crackdown ordered by Gov. Nathan Deal could create something of a re-match of the 2010 race for attorney general, which featured Republican Sam Olens versus Democrat Ken Hodges.
Olens won, and Hodges now represents some of the businesses in the governor’s sights. From my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin:
Atlanta lawyer Ken Hodges, who represents business centers that sell Internet time, said state law provides for legitimate operations to engage in sweepstakes promotions without running afoul of Georgia’s gambling statutes.
“The people who I represent are not the only people doing this type of business in the state and I can’t speak for the others,” Hodges said Thursday. “But what my clients are doing is in compliance with the laws of the state of Georgia. Illegal gambling is not our model of business.”
Lori Geary and Channel 2 Action News offers up a look at what these Internet centers look like:
What’s curious about this whole episode that, 10 years ago, during the 2001 redistricting session, Gov. Roy Barnes initiated a crackdown on video poker – angering a crowd of convenience store owners.
***
The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes on former Atlanta Public School superintendent Beverly Hall’s assertion that 2010 and 2011 test scores in APS schools haven’t been questioned.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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145 comments Add your comment
td
August 19th, 2011
11:43 am
honested
August 19th, 2011
11:28 am
td
Creationism would require a creator.
Prove the existence (as well as location and plausible contact information) for a ‘creator’ or forever hold your peace.
Show me where I came from a monkey? Why can not evidence be found? If evolution is a slow constant change then why are there no creatures between me and a monkey?
Both sides can show the deficiencies in the others argument and therefor they are both called theories. Neither side can give 100% proof that they are correct.
honested
August 19th, 2011
11:50 am
td
Since you can’t prove my simple request (as proof of a falsehood is quite difficult) you deflect.
If there are no creatures between you and a monkey (which has nothing to do with evolution but I guess you are free to postulate as you wish) it would be a new interpretation of a long accepted hypothesis and quite comical to consider.
yuzeyurbrane
August 19th, 2011
11:52 am
Saxby won’t run if polls show him decisively losing Repub. primary.
One-Eyed Man in a Blind World
August 19th, 2011
11:54 am
td —
First, You cannot prove a negative. Second, you cannot disprove Creationism because it is not a scientific theory. Creationism is the belief that God brought into being the universe and all life forms, right? Note that I said “belief” in god not knowledge that he/she or it exists. So, in order for Creationism to be acceptable, since the premise is based on the fact that god, the creator, exists then there must be facts to support his/her/its existence. So, where are these facts? Show me a real scientist (not a fake Creationist “scientist”) that can prove that God exists.
Since you nor anyone else can produce these facts, it can safely be determined that creationism is not a theory and therefore should not be taught in our schools. Our schools are already falling behind the rest of the world. Do you really want to dumb down our students and race to third world status? Do you really believe that dinosaurs and man co-habitated together? Really?
findog
August 19th, 2011
11:57 am
creation belongs in bible study or philosophy class
evolution belongs in biology class
it is only the small minded that can not equate God blowing life into clay with life emerging from a primordial ooze
One-Eyed Man in a Blind World
August 19th, 2011
12:01 pm
td — where did you go to school? First, theory does not have to be 100% to be plausible.
You asked, show me where I came from a monkey? Why can not evidence be found? If evolution is a slow constant change then why are there no creatures between me and a monkey?
No one said you came from a monkey. We stem from a common ancestor. That’s why there are both monkeys and man. Apes share 98% of our DNA. We are more similar by DNA that a rat is to a mouse.
I suggest you open a book and start reading it.
Big Daddy
August 19th, 2011
12:03 pm
Um, Christine O’Donnell was not ELECTED to anything. The Tea Party dopes in Delaware nominated her on the GOP ticket, but she was trounced in the general election by Coons the democrat.
Centrist
August 19th, 2011
12:03 pm
Nothing of interest to many on this “Jolt”. Huntsman has NO chance, we already knew that every U.S. Senator is part of the self protected “mega-rich” who pay lower taxes than those with mostly earned income which Chambliss agrees should pay even more, and few folks care what a partisan like Shirley Franklin thinks about Republicans.
DannyX
August 19th, 2011
12:04 pm
“The flood covered the highest mountain tops (Mount Everest?) with fifteen cubits to spare.”
There is plenty of science in the Bible. Like Noah. What a great scientist he must have been. He was able to predict the biggest storm to ever hit earth, and he did it without fancy satellite pictures. He was then able to determine that this storm would cover the whole earth in water. He was then able to create an ark big enough to hold a male/female set of all plant and animal life. Think of how much food it took. Look how successful Noah was, he was able to save everything on the planet.
We need real science in our schools. Perry will not allow the great scientist Noah to go unchallenged. The Bible is also a science book.
Go Perry, Go Mexico!
clem
August 19th, 2011
12:11 pm
td, on the trajectory we are headed the middle class, which you and I probably belong, will be smaller and smaller with each passing day….you know this to be true….my thesis is proved by tuning on the tv or reading the newspaper each day…what world do you live in……still waiting for comments on your beloved leader rogers and graves
DannyX
August 19th, 2011
12:13 pm
Wow Centrist, you don’t seem to give your centrist candidate much of a chance.
Keep your spirits up! Don’t sell out your centrist values. Centrists like you need to keep exposing the Rick Perry Tea Party extremists. This country needs its centrists more than ever. Hang in there Centrist!
Centrist
August 19th, 2011
12:20 pm
@ DannyX – don’t have a clue what you are posting about. I don’t care for ANY of the presidential candidates so far, including Perry. Waiting to see who the Libertarians nominate.
Frederick Douglass
August 19th, 2011
12:23 pm
td @ 10:42:
I don’t know what a Tea Party takeover would look like exactly, but to be on the safe side, I’m bunking with some of my long lost cousins in West Africa until it’s over.
Elephant Hunter
August 19th, 2011
12:23 pm
td,
again, you are being an ignoramus. Evolution is not about human evolution…human evolution is one hypothesis…you do know what a hypothesis is don’t you?
Neither myself nor any other scientist is saying you came from an ancestor that we share with apes…they humor it as a plausible hypothesis that may one day be testable.
Elephant Hunter
August 19th, 2011
12:25 pm
until that day comes, evolution is primarily focused in microbiology. What does your bible say about micro-organisms? Oh yeah…nothing. The humans that made it up did not know about micro-organisms or even germ theory.
Centrist
August 19th, 2011
12:27 pm
Forget about td. She is a moron and remains cognitively dissonant. She does not even understand what the theory of evolution is…she just listens to her evangelical fascist leaders and never questions them.
There is a reason why she will never make anything of herself and posts on political blogs all day every day.
Centrist
August 19th, 2011
12:29 pm
“Fake” Centrist is back @ 12:27. Total jerk.
DannyX
August 19th, 2011
12:34 pm
Obama is my messiah. Democrats are the chosen people even if many of them simply choose not to work and demand to be coddled by taxpaying suckers.
td's status
August 19th, 2011
12:34 pm
I’d just like to inform everyone that td has gone to lunch….for the rest of the day to avoid further embarassment.
LOL
August 19th, 2011
12:35 pm
Obama believes in creationism as well. It’s called job creationism. Unfortunately no one can seem to prove this either. It sounds good on paper though….
DannyX
August 19th, 2011
12:37 pm
@ DannyX – don’t have a clue what you are posting about. I don’t care for ANY of the presidential candidates so far, including Obama. Waiting to see who the Republicans nominate.
honested
August 19th, 2011
12:38 pm
centrist
Real or fake?
Who cares who the lobototarians nominate, they are guaranteed third place.
Then there is the cabal in the Clown Car (even huntsman) they seem to be vying for second place.
Gumby
August 19th, 2011
12:39 pm
If you don’t like what bozos like Perry and Bachmann stand for then for God’s sake don’t vote for them just because you live in a Red state. If you want to live in a Tea Party version of Iran then vote for them and may God have mercy on us all.
Wizard of Oz - er, Obama
August 19th, 2011
12:41 pm
Pay no attention to that inflation number, unemployment number, gas prices, food prices, income disparity, expansion of wars into the Middle East, etc. Instead, start looking at dirty secrets of the other side, where they went to school, etc. Ignore all of my transgressions, failures, and abysmal results. Look closely….you like malaise….you like mediocrity. You like being just another failed nation among many in the world.
Gumby = Dumby
August 19th, 2011
12:43 pm
What a stupid statement. Because Texas is the same as Iran. You’re the equivalent of Baghdad Bob.
John Lewis
August 19th, 2011
12:45 pm
Both are better than the Socialist President in office! Liar in Chief…what a joke! The Grand Czar is clueless on everything!
Nero
August 19th, 2011
12:46 pm
Wow…America burns and Obama goes to the elitist Vineyard for 10 days. He said he would come up with a job plan when he gets back. How long has he been working on this plan? How long has he been in office? I have a fiddle he can borrow!
Centrist
August 19th, 2011
12:48 pm
@ Gumby – same could be said about voting for Obama. If you want to live in a socialist version of Greece, vote for him again and may God have mercy on us all.
DJ Sniper
August 19th, 2011
12:58 pm
Funny how some of you criticize Obama for going on vacation, when Mitt Romney is going to be at Martha’s Vineyard at the same time. And let’s not even begin to talk about how much vacation time our previous commander-in-chief took.
Here is a very interesting reading piece. Obama doesn’t pose the greatest threat to this this country, and neither do any of the GOP presidential nominees. It’s the Koch Brothers.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=1
honested
August 19th, 2011
12:58 pm
Wizard
You have an ear for deflection….
Did you work for the shrub administration?
honested
August 19th, 2011
1:01 pm
For you flat-earthers com misapplying the term ’socialist’ to the President.
If only.
A good dose of Socialism would help a much larger percentage than the rampant corporatist fascism that took hold in 2002 and has unfortunately continued to some degree since 2009.
Hint: Sucking up to the top 2% will not create a vacuum strong enough to put you there!
Alabama Communist
August 19th, 2011
1:02 pm
More Breaking News On Huntsman and Christina Visit to Georgia….. A source within the state captial reported that Christina Slapped Huntsman when he enter the wrong restroom door at the Capital thinking he was in the Governor office
Nero
August 19th, 2011
1:08 pm
Ha! Deflection. And then we bring in Romney. I’ve never cheered for Romney. So I could care less. He’s not the President of a country going through tough times with increasing unemployment. Hard to relate (translate win confidence and votes) when while most Americans are foregoing vacations because of high gas prices and inflation, he runs off to Martha’s Vineyard. I love how when this is brought up all you have the intellectual ability to respond with is “well Bush did it too!”
Bush was not dealing with 9% plus unemployment, wages tanking, inflation to this level, etc. either. Hey if the guy wants to take vacation and appear clueless go right ahead. It only helps the case he’s in over his head. “I have no solutions but on the 9th hole I’ll think of something and get back with you after Labor Day. How ’bout that?” So by all means, justify his trips to Europe, Hawaii, and the Vineyard all you want. When his poll numbers continue to drop like the stock market and he loses because of stupid decisions like this, don’t come crying to me. He’s an idiot for doing this. He’s showing he is nothing but an elitist. And even Maxine Waters thinks this. She’s the only one saying what so many are thinking on the Left. Blacks are sitting at 20% unemployment while Obama goes golfing and bike riding in the retreat of the rich white elites. The base is crumbling. And he’s trying to move to the center but even the moderates are dumping him. At this rate America will be so desperate they’ll demand a change in the Constitution to beg for W back. It’s getting that bad.
clem
August 19th, 2011
1:19 pm
“Rick Perry’s an idiot, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that,” Bartlett said Friday on CNN’s “American Morning.”
this from a repub
DJ Sniper
August 19th, 2011
1:22 pm
Obama is not the first president to take a vacation when things are going bad, and he won’t be the last. Some of you act like he’s the one who started this practice.
Honested, I do wonder about people who call Obama a socialist. I wonder how many of them are just parroting stuff they heard from Fox News.
honested
August 19th, 2011
1:23 pm
Even a nuclear detonation would not make me wax nostalgic on shrub.
Frederick Douglass
August 19th, 2011
1:25 pm
Nero
You’re right about one thing, Bush wasn’t dealing with 9% unemployment, he was too busy laying the ground work for 9% unemployment.
DannyX
August 19th, 2011
1:28 pm
“I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive.”
George W Bush, shortly after 9-11 terrorist attack.
Nero
August 19th, 2011
1:43 pm
Blaming Bush? Wow. But I thought he was an idiot who couldn’t tie his own shoes…strange that he could control the world’s largest economy. Irony is that Obama’s people say the President doesn’t have that much control over the economy when people wonder why Obama is not doing much. But then they turn around and say Bush singlehandedly tanked the economy. Methinks the logic would apply across the board and not have an exemption based on having a D behind your name. Amazing that Bush had control over people signing loans they could not afford or credit cards they could not pay off.
Keep in mind HE was well aware of the situation before being elected. HIS plan said unemployment would not go above 8 and it went above 9 even 10%. HIS plan was to put hundreds of thousands back to work. Last summer was supposed to be “recovery summer”. Where did that go?
And you’re right. Other Presidents have gone on vacation when times are tough. But smart, savvy Presidents know that when you are trying to instill confidence AND win reelection you do not go off jetsetting like the corporatist elites do that you demonize all the time. It’s called PR 101. It’s called Campaigning 101. He has to have the stupidest reelection team here. Like I said, if he wants to run off for 10 days for golf and bike riding where America’s elites go, by all means. Stay longer than 10 days Obama. You deserve it. You’ve done so much for this country. You need a break. Take your time on a job plan. It can wait. Trust me.
clem
August 19th, 2011
1:43 pm
for td
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/jon-stewart-rips-fox-news_n_931177.html
clem
August 19th, 2011
1:45 pm
prez may as well go on vacation the obstructionists in congress would screw up a one car funeral
Comrade Democrat
August 19th, 2011
1:48 pm
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ): “Its a tough fight but we got to eliminate the rich.”
crabby
August 19th, 2011
1:50 pm
This just in!
Obama is the first President to take a vacation! This is a colossal coincidence since he is also the first to use a teleprompter.
Comrade Democrat
August 19th, 2011
1:50 pm
clem – the Democrats already sent America packing in a one car (Volt) funeral.
Hypocrisy
August 19th, 2011
2:07 pm
I love how all the Libs who endlessly chided W and his chopping of wood at his ranch in TX are on here defending Obama running off to Martha’s Vineyard along with all of his other vacations. Nero, you are right. Standards that apply to one’s opposition do not apply to those on one’s own side. The Left is two faced – on here ranting about what a past President did but so upset that the great Orator In Chief is tanking his presidency. His failures, slip ups, and outright stupid decisions and moves will squander a chance at a second term. Epic fail. But good for America. I laugh thinking how they rant on here but are actually crying over their keyboards knowing all of these statements about Obama are actually right.
honested
August 19th, 2011
2:33 pm
Hypocrisy, no apologies. There are many things I wish the President had done.
Like:
1-Tell the repugs to pack sand and let the shrub tax cuts expire last year.
2-Stand firm during the health care debate and keep a public option (or better yet full fledged single payer on the table).
3-Invoked improved CAFE standards before the end of the first 100 Days
4-Impose a permanent moratorium on ALL offshore drilling until full preparation for disaster clean-up with all costs and materials borne entirely by the driller/oil company was in place.
5-End both the Iraqi War of Choice and the Afghan Fiasco and bring ALL troops home by the end of 2010.
But he didn’t do that, and even if he had you would still bitch about it.
Hypocrisy
August 19th, 2011
2:40 pm
honested – sounds like your guy is weak and spineless and you still like and defend him. Says much for your character. Sounds like the guy didn’t achieve anything he said he would either. So by your own statements, he’s been an empty suit for the past few years. And you want him reelected?
honested
August 19th, 2011
2:44 pm
hypocrisy,
Thinking about shrub, daddy bush, ray-gun and the hapless crew that popped out of the clown car in Iowa for the ‘debate’, B.H. Obama looks pretty good for another 4.
Hypocrisy
August 19th, 2011
2:52 pm
Well judging by the trend, America has about 4 more years left. Americans really cannot take much more inflation, gas prices, unemployment, bigger government, etc. It’s funny how you think a guy who did not achieve anything as you say looks pretty good. I guess you don’t really look for much in a person huh? High standards I guess.
DJ Sniper
August 19th, 2011
3:12 pm
While Obama does deserve some of the blame for what’s happening in this country, you also have to apply some of that blame to the GOP members of Congress whose sole mission is to make Obama a 1 term president. Half of them can’t even come up with ways to improve this country because they are so focused on that one goal.