Karen Handel and the upside of unemployment in a down economy
In this economy, most people need a job in order to thrive. But not Karen Handel. The former Republican candidate for governor may have revived her political career by quitting hers.
As a public relations disaster, the week’s aborted attempt – the phrasing is intentional — by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to sever ties with Planned Parenthood will quickly become a case study in business schools around the country.
Karen Handel, a former GOP candidate for governor , is interviewed following her resignation from Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com
The nation’s largest breast cancer charity first announced it would shut off most money to the family planning organization – whose abortion services have long made it a target of pro-life forces. Then, in the face of an unexpected wall of protests, largely Internet-driven, Komen reversed itself.
As the senior vice president of public policy hired to help turn Komen into a Planned Parenthood-free zone, Handel had been hung out to dry. She resigned on Tuesday, to no one’s surprise. Komen badly needed Handel to depart, as proof to pro-choice forces that the charity’s turnabout was sincere. And Handel just as badly needed to jump into a lifeboat and cast herself adrift – to demonstrate her own sincerity.
But Handel also needed to look good doing it. The chaos of a mass news conference, with its shouted questions, might have come across as grandstanding. Also, like most unemployed people, Handel now had to think about her budget – and renting the required hall would have been expensive.
So selected journalists and a large Fox News satellite truck were summoned to the wilds of northern Atlanta, where — at the private home of her one-time campaign spokesman Dan McLagan — Handel conducted a series of quiet, one-on-one conversations. She had nothing but good to say about her former employer, unless one read between the lines.
By giving Planned Parenthood advance notice of the split, and the loss of $680,000 in grants, Handel said Komen had allowed the family planning organization to organize a “shakedown.” All invective was reserved for the GOP villain.
“Komen is a breast cancer organization. It’s not an organization that knows guerrilla campaigning and guerrilla tactics like Planned Parenthood unleashed,” Handel said.
Handel and Komen have — or had — more in common than an employment contract. Both have deep Republican roots. Komen founder and CEO Nancy Brinker served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary during the George W. Bush administration. Both the charity and the former candidate for governor have had to cope with hardening GOP attitudes toward abortion.
Komen’s problem boiled down to efforts by anti-abortion activists, even Catholic dioceses, to cast a cloud on the charity’s pink-ribbon brand. “I was tasked with identifying options that would allow us to move to neutral ground around this,” Handel said. “I embrace the fact that I led the process.”
There was no neutral ground for Handel in 2010, when the former secretary of state sought to replace Gov. Sonny Perdue. In a GOP primary runoff, rival and ultimate victor Nathan Deal criticized Handel for approving — as a Fulton County commissioner — the direction of $400,000 in federal grant money to Planned Parenthood. Told that the cash went to cervical cancer detection, Deal responded that this only freed up more money for abortions.
On a state level, Handel opposed restrictions on in-vitro fertilization. She opposed abortion — except in cases of rape and incest. Both positions put her at odds with Georgia Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion group, which declared her insufficiently pro-life. GRTL president Dan Becker noted Handel’s childless status, calling her “barren.”
After this week, Handel now has pro-life bona fides that would be hard to challenge, should she decide to run for office again. She dodged the question on Tuesday. “I learned a long time ago, don’t try to predict the future,” Handel said.
Asked whether she thought she would now be accepted by pro-life forces in Georgia, Handel was circumspect. “With Dan Becker? Are you kidding me? It does not change my relationship with that one individual one bit,” she said.
But Becker himself said he was impressed by Handel’s decision to quit. “We commend Karen Handel for being instrumental in exposing the link between Planned Parenthood and Susan G. Komen,” he said.
As I was typing these final paragraphs, the phone rang. The Christian Broadcasting Network — Pat Robertson’s outfit — was on the line. They’d read Handel’s comments on ajc.com, and wanted to put a camera in front of her.
The pro-life movement may have just found a new hero. The irony doesn’t escape Handel — or anyone else.
To read more on the topic, check out the AJC’s Atlanta Forward section.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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191 comments Add your comment
hl
February 8th, 2012
9:14 pm
look before you leap..he or she lives in the magical land of fairies. food stamps and health care is bad but breast exams are even worse. There is no reasoning.
td
February 8th, 2012
9:26 pm
Look before you leap…
February 8th, 2012
9:11 pm
@td
“They should take the money from PP and spend it more on those vans that go around.”
Yeah, cuz when a woman finds a lump on her breast, it’s ok to wait weeks until the mobile unit shows up.
Does your wife read any of the stuff you post on here?
If a woman finds a lump then she should go to her doctor.
My wife lived thru communism as a child before she came to the US. She is more conservative then I am. I read to her all the time about what the topics are on these blogs and what I am posting. After reading about a topic the other night, she told me that if she can come to this country at the age of 13, not speaking English and not being in school since the 3rd grade, graduate from HS, get a degree from Oregon state and get a job and keep it for 20 years then there is absolutely no excuse for anyone else. She said those that chose not to get an education and work should starve in the streets.
Philiopo
February 8th, 2012
9:27 pm
Look before you leap- Is there really any difference between Target and JCPenney? I Think Not!
td
February 8th, 2012
9:30 pm
hl
February 8th, 2012
9:14 pm
look before you leap..he or she lives in the magical land of fairies. food stamps and health care is bad but breast exams are even worse. There is no reasoning.
Can you not comprehend what you are reading my friend? I am all for breast screenings and my wife gets one every year. I am not for any organization that funds PP and their baby killing organization.
hl
February 8th, 2012
9:30 pm
Last comment ..Nancy Brinker started an organization to honor her sister and some made it political but it wasn’t her. She tried to direct money to folks that would use it for early detection. Unfortunately TD and others dirtied it. They didn’t offer alternatives because they don’t really care.
Sad really..but they have to live with themselves.
fultonpeach
February 8th, 2012
9:46 pm
Haven’t ever given to Komen because of their link to PP. I am glad that my friends are finally learning it and also PP and Livestrong. When I give to a charity, I want to know where it is going. Only 24% of Komen funds go to research. Anyone know of a more direct way to donate to RESEARCH?
hl
February 8th, 2012
9:48 pm
td…I feel sorta bad for you because pp saves a lot of lives but you are so closed minded you don’t see it. Just google the number they help each year.
You don’t agree so I do hope you find a clinic that helps folks with precancerous tests and go with it. It is not Komen because they don’t spend there money towards that.
Good luck to you though.
WAW
February 8th, 2012
9:52 pm
So a lady, who is a clerk at a Catholic Hospital run buy a for profit hospital management company, gets pregnant because her insurance will not cover the pill because the property owner of the building has a religious objection to it. She finds out that she has breast cancer on top of that and Planned Parenthood is the only people who care about her? Something’s wrong here and I think it’s Right Wing Social Engineering and the party of No spinning.
Carol
February 8th, 2012
9:54 pm
Sounds like a perfect spot for her. They pay well and she gets to play herself: the self-righteous hater Christian.
Bored..
February 8th, 2012
9:57 pm
Three days of this, Jim. Time for a new topic.
President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
February 8th, 2012
10:00 pm
Watch Idiocracy. Pro-lifers might learn something. Then again, probably not.
Truth Squad
February 8th, 2012
10:07 pm
I think Team Obama deliberately picked this fight because; 1) it’s the right thing to do; 2) most states already had such a regulation in place; 3) the current Supreme Court refused to take up the issue; 4) the culture wars turnoff Independents; 4) most Independents are women, especially single women;6) the use of birth control by active women is nearly universal; 5) this guarantees that the eventual Republican nominee will have to embrace the fiasco at SGK, PP, as well as endorse the personhood amendment, and cheerlead the war on contraception.
Oh yeah, the anti-gay stuff just doesn’t sell like it used to in the 90’s.
There’s still time for the Republicans to pull away from the cliff’s edge. I wouldn’t hold my breath that they will.
YourStripesAreShowing
February 8th, 2012
10:11 pm
Having read Mr. Galloway’s work for many years it has always been clear that he is a die-hard leftie, but at least usually his work is entertaining and often informative. This column, however, is one of the nastiest little “hit” pieces he has ever done.
Karen Handel is a normal decent human being, who unlike so many in this forum is not a raving lunatic on one side or the other of the abortion “debate”. It seems very unlikely that she will in any way profit from this recent turn of events, and very unlikely that she will ever try to serve the public again in any high-profile position. It is no wonder our government is so screwed up when decent folks like her are treated like this and hounded out.
Mr. Galloway, shame on you! You should be grown up enough to be above this nasty hatred and name calling. Maybe it is time for you to consider retirement as well.
vuduchld
February 8th, 2012
10:12 pm
Ok, so the Komen minions hired a bimbo and she turned out to be…a bimbo, why is this news?
Look before you leap...
February 8th, 2012
10:16 pm
@td
If a woman finds a lump then she should go to her doctor.
You really don’t get it, do you?
Ya know, I don’t think this one of those times where you are being intentionally intellectually dishonest, I think it is actually wholesale ignorance on your part. Or hysterical blindness, who knows.
Normally, when I leave these blogs at the end of the day, I am chuckling because the image I have of you looks very much like when I watch my dog chase his tail. Tonight I am just sad for you.
I am not a religious nor particularly spiritual person, but tonight here is my prayer for you:
May you never know hunger nor face a challenge that forces you into a choice between feeding OR sheltering your family.
May all your enterprises be profitable and rewarding.
May all your choices be good ones
May you never need the help of a stranger
May you and your family be forever free of plague, locusts, floods and blight
Amen
atlfunlver
February 8th, 2012
10:18 pm
Another backwards a@# political wonk from Georgia that puts us in the national spotlight as village idiots…thanks and go away (or get a Jenny Craig gig)
Look before you leap...
February 8th, 2012
10:19 pm
@Truth
There’s still time for the Republicans to pull away from the cliff’s edge. I wouldn’t hold my breath that they will.
Well this is not for the entire GOP, but for the right-wingers, they can’t see the cliff unless they look in the rear view mirror.
Look before you leap...
February 8th, 2012
10:23 pm
Philiopo
February 8th, 2012
9:27 pm
Look before you leap- Is there really any difference between Target and JCPenney? I Think Not!
I actually would not know, my wife is a die-hard Nordstroms fan.
Makes AMEX and Nordie’s happy, I am a GAP kinda guy.
But I like Ellen, might pop into JCP just for yucks, right near Nordies, I can browse there while my sugar pop does her best to stimulate the ecnomony.
Dave
February 8th, 2012
10:42 pm
I find it amazing that there are people here who will quote Jesus when justifying a women having an abortion. It’s your body, but never forget it’s a beating heart and your soul.
Planned Parenthood benefits from Komen’s politics – WilliametteLive.com | Rss News Desk | Daily News Magazine
February 8th, 2012
10:45 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
honested
February 8th, 2012
11:12 pm
Now that a few days have been spent ruminating over karen handel, can anyone identify any useful accomplishment she has provided to her home county or the State at large?
All I am aware of is a rigid, misguided, misleading ambitious climber unconcerned with the degree of damage she inflicts on any entity that allows her entry.
Rockerbabe
February 9th, 2012
12:20 am
I don’t believe a thing Handel says, nor do I believe the bishops either. Komen fell victim to Handel’s political beliefs. Politizing women’s healthcare on any front is going to dust up a storm everywhere.
Brinker says she made mistakes in Planned Parenthood case – Washington Post (blog) | Rss News Desk | Daily News Magazine
February 9th, 2012
1:23 am
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Georgia graduate & native
February 9th, 2012
2:22 am
Why do all the Republicans whine so much about how everybody is unfair to them? Whine, whine, whine! Newt Gingrich blames the media as do all the rest of the spineless Republicans. Stop making such stupid decisions when all you do is support corporations and their wealthy benefactors. The Republicans get the less educated worked up about abortions and gay marriage, while they steal the public blind. For proof, see Mitt Romney’s tax returns and way hello to his millions in the Cayman Islands.
Lib in Cobb
February 9th, 2012
5:12 am
Abortion is legal, no one will force anyone to have one. Three percent of all the services provided by PP are abortions. PP helps those people who have no where else to go. Handel is gone and that is good.
Handel’s actions were the equivalent of throwing bloody towels at those entering a PP facility. Shame on you Karen.
Those who are pro-choice forced Komen to reverse it’s original decision, much like Bank of America’s decision to charge $5.00 per month for the use of a debit card.
Road Scholar
February 9th, 2012
6:24 am
If you don’t want an abortion, do not have one!
If you don’t want birth control, don’t buy it!
Where does it say you have to do it; but hospitals should make all proceedures/drugs available to all…if they want it.
GodHatesTrash
February 9th, 2012
6:32 am
There is a special place in Hell for sanctimonious christianists like Handel, in a crowded room full of santorum.
Mountain Man
February 9th, 2012
7:06 am
RCW – “Planned Parenthood does more in one day to prevent abortions than Right to Life groups do in one year.”
How right you are! The trouble with the anti-abortion crowd is that they are anti-contraception, too. The greatest weapon in th battle against abortion is contraception.
woodrow
February 9th, 2012
7:12 am
Handel should not have a position of authority. I’m glad she resigned rather than getting fired. Komen has suffered enough of her hijinks.
Double Zero Eight
February 9th, 2012
7:18 am
Maybe Karen will have the time to get her college degree
to enhance her chances of being elected governor.
Edward Ruffin
February 9th, 2012
7:21 am
Karen should have been this clear about her pro-life stance prior to and while running for governor. It would have been a great help to her.
Middle of the Road
February 9th, 2012
7:22 am
“Dems are that naive not to know that every dollar given to PP by on outside group that pays for a legitimate health issue is just another dollar they can divert to abortion services.”
So you are saying that if Komen doesn’t give PP a grant for mammograms, they will continue to do the mammograms and not do abortions? Even though the purpose behind their organization is “planned parenthood”,, in other words, not having babies you don’t want. They would be perfectly in line with the intent of their organization to just cut the mammograms and keep the abortion funding. Komen, on the other hand, has its purpose as preventing and treating breast cancer, and it is in line with their organization’s goals to fund mammograms and get as much early detection as possible. That is why (apparently) they decided to fund the PP mammogram initiative in the first place. Sounds like they were apolitical in the first place, then the right-wingers started saying don’t contribute to Komen because they are linked (however tenuously) to PP. Then politics came in and they hired Handel to try to appease the anti-abortion crowd, which she initially did when she contrived to strip PP of its grants. Then the backlash came because now Komen WAS political, and the pro-choice people started withdrawing donations. Then Komen backtracked and now BOTH groups are mad at them for getting in the middle of a political war.
So the net result of Handel’s actions: reduced contributions for Komen from both the left and the right, and increased contributions for PP from the left. Smart move, Handel!
Edward Ruffin
February 9th, 2012
7:23 am
And while I’m here………..all you pro-death people in the above comments, us pro-life people could care less about your bodies. We don’t give a rip if you slice your belly open, get a tattoo, pierce your nose, jump off a cliff. Abortion is about a baby and whether or not that young life gets a chance to live.
Middle of the Road
February 9th, 2012
7:24 am
Hey, maybe Planned Parenthood should hire her. She has done a good job for them so far…
Middle of the Road
February 9th, 2012
7:30 am
Pro-life is a misnomer, about as bad as pro-abortion. No one is pro-abortion, many are pro-choice. Most anti-abortionists call themselves pro-life but that is too broad of a reach. Are they pro-life when the death penalty is being discussed? Most are not. Are they pro-life when wars are being contemplated? Most are not. Are they pro-life when aid to starving children in Africa is contemplated. Most are not. So they are not really pro-life, they are just pro-life in the womb.
And for you anti-abortionists that quote scripture to justify your opposition to abortion, I challenge you to quote Jesus’s words to justify war.
Abraham Linkin
February 9th, 2012
7:35 am
The problem that liberals have in this country is that conservatives have big mouths and an even bigger need to open them. The conservative/Christian/Republican/whatever you want to call it movement is VERY PROACTIVE about getting themselves heard, and pushing their agenda onto the American people. Unless and until there is an equal liberal PR campaign against these factions, the U.S. is headed to the backwoods.
Just look at the Alliance Defense Fund website. They were quoted in this and the Proposition 8 articles. Conservatives are organized, have money and will go to any length to ensure that YOU hear what they have to say. Come on Libs. Sitting back and letting someone else do the grandstanding is only going to cost you.
Middle of the Road
February 9th, 2012
7:45 am
The anti-abortion crowd lost when Roe vs. Wade came down. So they have switched to guerilla tactics, sort of like Al Qaeda. They switched to targeting the doctors who performed abortions, sometimes with bullets, and sometimes with protests. They sought to make it impossible to get an abortion by making sure a doctor would not want the hassle of doing one. Then they started loading up the procedure with additional requirements. Must have a 24-hour waiting period, must view an untrasound, must listen to anti-abortion propaganda, must stand on one foot, clap your hands and recite the Gettysburg address backwards. Then they started to try to cut the money off. That is where funding for PP comes in. They think if they starve PP to death, it will remove one avenue that women have for abortions.
Whay can’t they just accept that women want abortions and concentrate on keeping them from getting pregnant in the first place? Or go adopt 20 black kids so they don’t end up in orphanages.
American
February 9th, 2012
7:46 am
Handel’s next move will hopefully be OUT OF GEORGIA….
Middle of the Road
February 9th, 2012
7:49 am
“all you pro-death people in the above comments”
I love it – because I am pro-choice, I am now labeled pro-death. Even though the Supreme Court has ruled that abortion is not murder. If I cut off my arm, is that murder – it could grow into a human being under the right circumstances (a good cloning lab).
Tom
February 9th, 2012
8:07 am
Anyone who believes SGK grant monies to PP are funds “they can divert to abortion services” understands neither the concept of “restricted assets” and the accounting requirements of not-for-profits, nor FASB 117.
RAMZAD
February 9th, 2012
8:20 am
This can only be a bonanza for liberals, like me, and Obama’s re-election. Here we have a Right Wing pouffed fowl with no children, no vulva, no clitoris, and no brain telling independent women what they can not do with their vulva and clitoris.
I do believe that this has sent many Right leaning women back to the political drafting table. God bless you Karen Handel. More women will see that Republicans have nothing but draconian chains and sexist dogma for them.
J Throckmorton Malcontent
February 9th, 2012
8:39 am
Ms.Handel can lead the campaign of the righteous against tattoos and tattoo parlors–after all, that’s clearly a no-no in the Bible (Leviticus 19:28–right after the “man w/ man = abomination” verse). More of the reactionary effort to enforce Biblical based law should be focused on this, it’d do almost as much good as what they’re achieiving now.
Tom
February 9th, 2012
8:43 am
Logic, reviews for the supplanting of restricted assets for other uses is one of the primary procedures in the audit of a NFP or government entity.
td
February 9th, 2012
9:19 am
GodHatesTrash
February 9th, 2012
6:32 am
There is a special place in Hell for sanctimonious christianists like Handel, in a crowded room full of santorum
So what you are really trying to say is that God is going to sit in heaven and tell Karen that she is in trouble and going to hell because he favors peoples rights to murder his creations? You my friend are a fool if you believe that one.
clyde
February 9th, 2012
9:20 am
Karen Handel is a little sweetheart,isn’t she?She’d make a great mother-in-law.
td
February 9th, 2012
9:21 am
Democratic Man
February 9th, 2012
8:26 am
We supporters of women want free abortions. After all, its not a person…it’s a choice. It doesn’t matter if the abortion takes place after 6 weeks or 7 months…it not a person!
Did not Hitler make similar statements about the Jews to justify murdering them?
td
February 9th, 2012
9:24 am
RAMZAD
February 9th, 2012
8:20 am
This can only be a bonanza for liberals, like me, and Obama’s re-election.
You do realize that the only reason Obama is sitting in office today is because Christians stayed home four years ago? If they would have come out in the same % in 08 as they did in 04 then McCain would be President.
Mahopinion
February 9th, 2012
9:25 am
The problem with Handel is that she gets caught in lies and keeps digging.
On second thought…that’s the perfect resume for a politician.
Mahopinion
February 9th, 2012
9:30 am
Still didn’t get any answer from the anti-choice people that I asked the other day, so I’ll pose it again.
Would you still fight for the rights of the embryo if you knew it was going to be gay?
** crickets**
td
February 9th, 2012
9:38 am
Mahopinion
February 9th, 2012
9:30 am
Tried to respond but Jim will not allow the response.