If you’re a Democrat, you’ll like Bill Clinton’s analysis of last week’s presidential debate:
On the other hand, there’s something oddly familiar and disquieting about his choice of this phrase: “Who are you going to believe — me or your lying eyes?”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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Continue reading Bill Clinton in defense of Barack Obama — again »
Aside from a yet-to-be-confirmed visit from Hurricane Isaac, the driving force at the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa is scheduled to be Ann Romney, whose job it has been to emphasize the softer side of her husband.
Ann Romney is currently scheduled to address delegates at 10:30 p.m. Monday. But according to the New York Times, this is what you’ll see if you are tuned into one of the Big Three television networks:
CBS plans instead to show a rerun of “Hawaii Five-O,” its hit police series. Viewers of NBC will see a new episode of “Grimm,” about a homicide detective with the supernatural ability to sense evil. And ABC plans to show “Castle,” a series about a best-selling mystery novelist who helps solve crimes.
The networks, which reap considerable advertising dollars even from summer reruns, have told the Romney campaign that they will broadcast an hour of convention coverage on the final three nights — but no more.
Advisers to Mitt Romney, facing a …
Continue reading Your morning jolt: TV networks snub Ann Romney and RNC opening »
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on Tuesday became the latest figure at the Capitol to declare his support for a $100 gift cap for state lawmakers, vowing to build support for ethics reform in the General Assembly. From the Gainesville Times:
“It’s a process, and the legislature’s got to get comfortable with it,” Cagle said.
Cagle, who spoke to the Kiwanis Club in Gainesville Tuesday, said he supports a measure like the one [Sen]. Josh McKoon proposed last session that died….
The lieutenant governor said a July 31, non-binding ballot question is likely to push GOP lawmakers to embrace stronger ethics rules:
“I think there’s going to be a lot of support — a lot of support,” Cagle said.
Senate President pro tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, last week pledged his support for a gift cap. At this month’s state GOP convention, House Speaker David Ralston declared it to be the wrong approach.
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The Associated Press has pinned down a location for President Barack Obama’s visit to Georgia next …
Continue reading Your morning jolt: Casey Cagle joins call for $100 gift cap on lawmakers »
Possibly, this isn’t a surprise to you, but Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich may have been more normal than we thought – by Washington, D.C. standards, anyway. From the Post:
[A]ccording to adultery Web site Ashleymadison.com… the District is home to nearly 38,000 registered users. The site also named Washington the place with the highest per capita membership in its 13-million-strong user base.
“Simply put, the more successful you are, the more prone to cheating you are, and Washington is full of successful people looking for something outside their marriage,” said Noel Biderman, CEO of Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, in a statement.
We have heard talk that a certain Georgia congressman, in lectures to new freshmen, warns them that “nothing good happens here after 10 p.m.” He might want to expand his audience.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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Continue reading The U.S. capital for marital cheaters? Washington D.C. »
Back in 2006, Marvin Olasky of World magazine was one of the few conservative Christian evangelicals willing to criticize Ralph Reed, then a candidate for lieutenant governor, for his involvement with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Today, Olasky has a Q&A with former U.S. House majority leader Dick Armey, whose group FreedomWorks is a major financial backer of the tea party movement.
Armey alleges that there was some moral – or immoral – collusion between President Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the U.S. House and a Georgia congressman.
Update: Gingrich was at a Gwinnett County rally this afternoon for Republican nominee for governor Nathan Deal. He told my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin that he was aware of Armey’s comments. “It’s just not true,” Gingrich said.
An excerpt of the Armey interview:
Olasky: What went wrong in 1994 after Republicans won Congress by pledging to “restore bonds of trust between the people and their elected …
The White House is out to kill talk that President Barack Obama might swap out Vice President Joe Biden for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012.
“There’s absolutely nothing to it,” senior adviser David Axelrod said Tuesday night. “The president is blessed to have a spectacular vice president and an outstanding secretary of state. They’re both doing great work, and he wants to keep them on the job.”
Advisers to Clinton said the same, and another Obama adviser called the idea “nuts.”
Where, then, is this fantastical rumor coming from?
A student of the Obama-Clinton relationship could trace its roots to the summer of 2008, when Clinton supporters lobbied for Obama to pick her as his running mate and he, after considering it, declined. Then, after he chose her to be secretary of state, people in her orbit started musing aloud that she could shift into a different role down the line, although Clinton never went near that idea.
But it wasn’t until …
The re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has been cursed with a great deal of money and a tailwind of public disappointment with Democrats in Washington.
So when it comes to getting the help of big-name Republicans, Isakson has found himself rather far down on the priority list.
Possible ‘12 GOP contender Mitt Romney/AP
That said, at least one prominent GOP presidential possibility will make a fund-raising appearance with Isakson. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is expected here by the end of the month.
Former President Bill Clinton hosted a fund-raiser in Atlanta last week for Isakson’s Democratic rival, state Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond.
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Remarks by U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, anticipating a government shutdown should House Republicans take control of that chamber, attracted Washington attention through the weekend.
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer made Westmoreland the topic of a post on the White House blog:
“But …
Continue reading Your morning jolt: Look for Mitt Romney to make pitch for Johnny Isakson »
Bad news arrives on U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop’s doorstep this morning, courtesy of Politico.com:
Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) awarded three scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to his stepdaughter and wife’s niece between 2003 and 2005, according to records from the non-profit group.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga. Associated Press
Bishop is the second Democrat found to have funneled Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship funds to relatives, threatening to turn the program into a larger political problem for the party. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) recently paid back $31,000 to the foundation for scholarships that she improperly awarded to various relatives and children of a top staffer.
Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), chairman of the CBC Foundation, has promised an “extensive audit of the scholarship program” run by the organization.
Bishop, though, also appears to have favored family members with CBC scholarships.
In 2003, Emmaundia …
Continue reading Your morning jolt: Sanford Bishop steered Black Caucus scholarships to relatives »
Cock an ear toward downtown Atlanta and listen closely.
That sound you don’t hear is the pitter-patter of Democratic footsteps running away from Bill Clinton.
Former President Bill Clinton/Associated Press
The former president arrives Thursday evening as the star of a fundraiser for Mike Thurmond, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. The base price of entry is a solid grand —$2,400 if you want a photo with the great man.
Thurmond is running against Republican incumbent Johnny Isakson, the best-funded candidate on the November ballot, and could use the cash.
Clinton’s visit comes a neat month after a similar foray South by President Barack Obama — which prompted weeks of debate over who could afford to be seen with him, and who couldn’t.
Democratic nominee for governor Roy Barnes decided he ought to be seen elsewhere.
Clinton has set off no similar talk of a stampede.
Polling hints at, but does not fully explain the difference between the two men.
Earlier this summer, a …
Continue reading Why it might be safe — or at least, safer — to be seen with Bill Clinton »
A notice just showed up on the web site of Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Thurmond, announcing that former President Bill Clinton will be in Atlanta for a $1,000-a-head fundraiser.
The 5 p.m. Thursday event will be at the Sheraton Atlanta.
The fundraiser will provide an excellent occasion for Thurmond – notice that he is “Mike” now, rather than “Michael” – to emphasize his connections to the Clinton wing of the Democratic party rather than the less popular wing dominated by President Barack Obama.
Former President Bill Clinton/Associated Press
Thurmond was a 2008 supporter of Hillary Clinton for president, and his connections to Bill Clinton go back to the welfare reform days of the early ‘90s, when Gov. Zell Miller assigned Thurmond the task of working with the White House on the issue.
Thurmond was allegedly offered a federal post by the president/husband. But Hillary Clinton suggested instead a statewide run for labor commissioner.
Thurmond could use whatever …
Continue reading Your morning jolt: Bill Clinton comes to ATL for a Mike Thurmond fundraiser »
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