Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum, Ann Romney headed to Georgia

We know that Newt Gingrich, who avoided the Republican presidential contest in Michigan, will be at the state Capitol this morning.

We know that Gingrich has declared a win in Georgia, which he once represented in Congress, to be crucial to his GOP presidential campaign.

What we didn’t know is whether a win-hungry Rick Santorum, deprived of victory in Michigan by Mitt Romney last night, will put all his eggs in Ohio and seek a post-industrial rematch with Romney. Or might he concentrate on the South?

We’re told this morning that the former Pennsylvania senator, who has a foray into Tennessee today, will be in Dalton at 8 a.m. Thursday for a rally outside City Hall.

Atlanta, GA – Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum will visit Georgia tomorrow morning, beginning with a manufacturing plant tour and a Town Hall meeting in Dalton. Santorum will then head toward Atlanta, holding an 11 a.m. rally at the Atlantic Aviation hanger, 240 Airport Road, at Peachtree Dekalb Airport. The event is free and open to the public.

***
We’ve also just gotten word that Ann Romney, wife of Mitt, will be in Georgia for two events on Thursday: A noon appearance at Smokejack Barbecue in Alpharetta, and a 5:30 p.m. appearance for the opening of Romney state headquarters on Maple Street in Buckhead — just down from Newt Gingrich’s headquarters. Both Romney events are open to the public. Take the spousal visit as a sign that her husband isn’t likely to be here before Super Tuesday.

***
And you thought Occupy Atlanta didn’t make much of an impression.

State Capitol police were called to haul a number of protestors out of a Senate Insurance and Labor Committee hearing on SB 469, a measure that – among many other things – would make it a crime to conduct mass picketing at private residences.

From my AJC colleague Kristin Torres:

The bill, drafted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, passed unanimously through the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee despite nearly an hour of testimony — mostly by union members, advocacy groups and individuals who opposed the bill. Committee members made one change, making it a “high and aggravated” misdemeanor and not a felony for someone convicted of conspiring to commit criminal trespass.

A taste of the language:

A person, or organization that he or she is affiliated with or acting on behalf of, commits an offense when he or she engages in targeted picketing of a private residence that has or intends the effect of interfering with the resident’s right to quiet enjoyment, or when such targeted picketing has or intends the effect of violence or intimidation.

Keep in mind that several condo complexes were within earshot of Occupy Atlanta’s fall camp-out at Five Points in downtown Atlanta.

The measure is sponsored by state Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville. Protestors say at least one of their number was arrested and is awaiting a bail hearing. We’ve got a call into the Georgia Building Authority for details.

***
After eight years in the Legislature, state Sen. Greg Goggans, R-Douglas, chairman of the State Insurance and Labor Committee, has decided not to run for re-election, citing the economics of his orthodontic practice in southwest Georgia. From the Blackshear Times:

“This is a very important decision for someone running in the Seventh Senatorial District. It is the largest district in the state covering 4,500 square miles. To serve this district requires a tremendous amount of time away from family and from business. It requires a lot of travel. The expenses are beyond what the $17,000 a year salary covers.

“By announcing my decision now, it will give potential candidates the time to discuss this important decision with their families and to examine their abilities to make it work.”

***
The AJC’s Politifact Georgia this morning challenges GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s assertion that the nation’s unemployment rate is going down because more people are giving up and leaving the workforce.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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196 comments Add your comment

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:23 pm

liberalefty….That is not an answer.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:24 pm

liberalefty…..Nope, President Bush will always be knows as a two term President. Hussein will not.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:24 pm

DannyX..Wow, really, you just called Michelle an “ape”. Now that is not classy at all. DannyX that is the most racist comment I have seen all day.

td

February 29th, 2012
12:25 pm

ole gal

February 29th, 2012
11:54 am

I think you are talking about SB469. This bill only effect union picketing.

“It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in mass picketing at or near any place,
21 including private residences, where a labor dispute exists in such number or manner as to
22 obstruct or interfere with or constitute a threat to obstruct or interfere with the entrance to
23 or egress from any place of employment or the free and uninterrupted use of public roads,
24 streets, highways, railroads, airports, or other ways of travel, transportation, or conveyance”

liberalefty

February 29th, 2012
12:25 pm

uga

yep the 2 term president who let BIN LADEN kill 3000 AMERICANS and knock down the TWIN TOWWRS…by the way why is the GOP hiding THE SHRUB?…

liberalefty

February 29th, 2012
12:26 pm

Carole

February 29th, 2012
12:26 pm

UGA 1999
liberalefty…Not racist but rather accurate. Obama is not black.
++++++
Ok, keep fighting with Liberalefty and completely ignore the fact that your side (actually just you) continues to say that this WHITE guy sat in a black church for 20 years. Oh and without question he did marry a black woman. But he’s also a Muslim.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:29 pm

liberalefty…How many times were the twin towers attacked under Clinton. How would you have suggested that we had stopped 9/11?

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:29 pm

Carole..So you are saying that a white guy cannot sit in a black church. Are we back to segregation?

liberalefty

February 29th, 2012
12:30 pm

uga 1999

why are u aksing me? i’m not the president is…THE SHRUB WAS WEAK AND INCOMPETENT THANK GOD HES GONE…

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:31 pm

liberalefty….HAHA “aksing”? This is great.

“i’m not the president is”…..WHAT???

DannyX

February 29th, 2012
12:34 pm

Here’s another one Carole,

How many times on this blog has UGA gone on and on with his “Blacks voted for Obama because he is black,” whine?

Teddy Roosevelt

February 29th, 2012
12:36 pm

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:36 pm

DannyX….You cannot argue with facts. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15297.html

96% of blacks voted for Obama. Why is that?

Samuel L. Jackson

February 29th, 2012
12:36 pm

“I only voted for Obama because he is black”.

Carole

February 29th, 2012
12:36 pm

UGA 1999
Carole..So you are saying that a white guy cannot sit in a black church. Are we back to segregation?
+++++

Nice try. Not just a black church. You know darn well you folks call it a “black liberation” church. Where he supposedly was learning all of these racist things and how to hate white people. You mean a white man would actually sit in a church like this for 20 years?

I know it kills you to admit that in THIS country a man with one drop of black blood is considered black. A man who looks like President Obama is DEFINITELY considered black. Oh and by the way, he refers to himself that way. So explain to me how you have to right to refer to him any other way?

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:36 pm

DannyX….I know your side has a hard time dealing with facts.

DannyX

February 29th, 2012
12:38 pm

“96% of blacks voted for Obama. Why is that?”

According to you because he is white!

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:38 pm

Carole….Who are “you folks”? I have never called a church a black church or a white church, it is God’s church.

Why would a white man not sit in that church for 20 years. Explain your comment?

Teddy Roosevelt

February 29th, 2012
12:38 pm

danny this one is more up your boat, and no I’m not in the tea party

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sbvXvS3LhA

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:38 pm

Carole…EASY…Because he is not black.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:38 pm

DannyX…..Ok, that is fine.

Becky

February 29th, 2012
12:39 pm

Did you ever notice the side losing their argument starts spewing banality. (look it up)

DannyX

February 29th, 2012
12:40 pm

“danny this one is more up your boat, and no I’m not in the tea party”

Teddy, UGA says Obama is white. In that case blacks voted for Obama because he is white.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:41 pm

Becky….Do you mean like Liberalefty?

BTW….You do know that in all of the recent polls that Romney will beat Obama?

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:42 pm

DannyX…Did I say Obama is white? Please show me where I said that. MORE LIES FROM THE LEFT.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
12:43 pm

Uh oh, Obama’s approval rating is at 43% and dropping fast. You guys better come up with some more lies fast.

Teddy Roosevelt

February 29th, 2012
12:44 pm

I didn’t vote for Obama because I do not generally agree with his politics, but I guess that’s beside the point right?

Becky

February 29th, 2012
12:44 pm

appears the “good” reverend graham got a big whoop a$$ from his daddy and is now walking back his comments about the President’s faith. Love it!

Bernie

February 29th, 2012
12:47 pm

Give it up Newt your 15min is just about over, it will not be long now for sure. Newt can go back to WASHINGTON,DC and resume his record paying ” HISTORIAN JOB” (wink! wink!). Newt is the highest paid Historian in America! who knew!

Conyers Guy

February 29th, 2012
12:47 pm

UGA 1999…Are we back to segregation?
You often talk like you wish we were.

reebok

February 29th, 2012
12:48 pm

Rick Santorum’s gonna save us from the perils of birth control and book learnin’…

reebok

February 29th, 2012
12:49 pm

To Boortz’s credit, he doesn’t pretend to be anything other than an entertainer…his job is to enrage people and get ratings…whether something he says is true is not relevant, as long as it works.

WOW

February 29th, 2012
12:51 pm

@ UGA

Poll Date Sample Obama (D) Romney (R) Spread
RCP Average 2/10 – 2/28 – 48.7 44.7 Obama +4.0
Rasmussen Tracking
2/26 – 2/28 1500 LV 44 45 Romney +1
Politico/GWU/Battleground
2/19 – 2/22 1000 LV 53 43 Obama +10
USA Today/Gallup
2/20 – 2/21 881 RV 47 47 Tie
Associated Press/GfK
2/16 – 2/20 1000 A 51 43 Obama +8
Quinnipiac
2/14 – 2/20 2605 RV 46 44 Obama +2
Democracy Corps (D)
2/11 – 2/14 1000 LV 49 45 Obama +4
CNN/Opinion Research
2/10 – 2/13 937 RV 51 46 Obama +

Sugar foot

February 29th, 2012
12:52 pm

Nooter, is a CARPET BAGGER from Pennsylvania.

NEWTON LEROY MCPHERSON was born as the afore name.

FAILED TO QUALIFY AND BE ON THE VIRGINA STATE BALLOT.

VIRGINIA IS WHERE HE LIVES, WHEN HE’S NOT ON THE BUS.

Becky

February 29th, 2012
12:52 pm

WOW-don’t bother with the facts.

missmollie

February 29th, 2012
12:55 pm

Newt has Georgia sewed up via the legislature, governor and a herd of good ole boys & a few good ole girls Newt will stay in the GOP race as long as he has the price of a plane ticket from primary to primary with his Lady in Red who now introduces him, I am told??? A trip to Georgia (Ann R and RS) is a waste of time, IMO. Congratulations to Romney on his wins in Arizona and Michigan.. Why can’t those biased elite media “eat a little crow”???? Romney is on his way to the Oval Office.

Becky

February 29th, 2012
12:57 pm

Define elite media. Do you folks even know the definitions of the talking points you spew?

Elite media
Take back our country

What the heck do they mean?

Bobby

February 29th, 2012
12:58 pm

I’m voting for Santorum so Obama can be reelected in 2012. Even if Gingrich is the nominee, same thing. Romney concerns me but only a little. He so flip flops and is so out of tune with American voters I suspsect Obama can defeat him almost as easily as Santorum. Maybe Boortz and Hannity will both leave the USA.

dre

February 29th, 2012
1:01 pm

“After eight years in the Legislature, state Sen. Greg Goggans, R-Douglas, chairman of the State Insurance and Labor Committee, has decided not to run for re-election, citing the economics of his orthodontic practice in southwest Georgia.” Huh…had no idea they had an orthodontic practice in southwest GA.

Carole

February 29th, 2012
1:15 pm

UGA 1999
DannyX…Did I say Obama is white? Please show me where I said that. MORE LIES FROM THE LEFT.
+++++
Well you say he’s not black. So how about this, don’t leave us in limbo. What is he according to you.

Oh, and I can give a straight answer to a question. “you folks” is Republicans. See how easy that was.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
1:15 pm

Conyers….Really? Prove it.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
1:15 pm

Carole….But I didn’t say he was white either did I? There you go again putting words in other peoples mouths. Lies Lies Lies.

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
1:16 pm

Bobby….You do know that Santorum is beating Obama in the polls don’t you? Keep up the good work.

Angel Macaroni

February 29th, 2012
1:17 pm

Will the hypocritical theocrat Santorum be driving his Audi while extolling the virtue of American manufacturing? To him, Obama is a “snob” for encouraging college education, even though Santorum holds three degrees.

Marlboro Man

February 29th, 2012
1:18 pm

Who said the republicans wouldn’t run a Morman for president ? He will do in a tight, I guess.

missmollie

February 29th, 2012
1:18 pm

Be sure and go & greet/meet the next First Lady, Ann Romney, tomorrow at Smokejack’s BarbecueAlpharetta. (noon) and also at his Ga Hq at 5:30 PM in Buckhead (Maple St). (Thursday).

Carole

February 29th, 2012
1:19 pm

UGA 1999

Carole….But I didn’t say he was white either did I? There you go again putting words in other peoples mouths. Lies Lies Lies.
++++++

No one is lying. But if it makes you feel good bantering the word around feel free to do so. If you say he is not black yet genetically he is 1/2 black and 1/2 white then it stands to reason to a rational person that you’re saying he’s white. Forgive me for attempting to give you credit for being a rational person.

WOW

February 29th, 2012
1:20 pm

@ UGA

What polls?? Facts please

RCP Average 2/10 – 2/28 — 49.3 44.3 Obama +5.0
Rasmussen Tracking 2/26 – 2/28 1500 LV 46 43 Obama +3
Politico/GWU/Battleground 2/19 – 2/22 1000 LV 53 42 Obama +11
USA Today/Gallup 2/20 – 2/21 881 RV 46 49 Santorum +3
Associated Press/GfK 2/16 – 2/20 1000 A 52 43 Obama +9
Quinnipiac 2/14 – 2/20 2605 RV 47 44 Obama +3
CNN/Opinion Research 2/10 – 2/13 937 RV 52 45 Obama +7

UGA 1999

February 29th, 2012
1:22 pm

Carole….Ever hear of the word “milano”?