Archive for the ‘Donald Trump’ Category

Oh, the suspense was just killing us. So what did Donald Trump’s bigger-than-big news about President Barack Obama turn out to be? A promise to deliver $5 million to the charity of Obama’s choice within an hour of the president’s release of his college records and his original passport application.

You know who didn’t need this? Mitt Romney. Already, the GOP presidential campaign has spent the morning fending off Democratic attempts to tie him to statements by Indiana Republican candidate Richard Mourdock, who last night declared that a pregnancy caused by a rapist should be viewed as a protected “gift from God” — ineligible for abortion.

Now Romney must deal with this post-birther nonsense, as partial payment for that Las Vegas endorsement he received from Trump:

The offer from Trump stands until the close of business Oct. 31.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.

Continue reading An offer from ‘The Donald’ to Obama: $5 mill for college, passport records »

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 …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Casey Cagle joins call for $100 gift cap on lawmakers »

So Rick Santorum went three-for-three on Tuesday night, sweeping up Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado in those presidential contests. Bad news for Newt Gingrich, but good news for Mitt Romney – even though it may mean a longer slog.

In particular, Santorum’s strong showing could be another enticement for Romney, who makes a short visit to Atlanta today, to make a large commitment in Georgia as we get closer to March 6 and Super Tuesday.

Romney still needs to show he can win in a Deep South state – the Republican party’s geographic base. And no, Florida doesn’t count. A revived Santorum, especially one who does well in blue-collar Michigan on Feb. 28, could weaken the Gingrich campaign here by drawing away evangelicals.

That would give Romney, who won most of metro Atlanta in 2008, a decent chance to win a plurality in the state.

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The campaign of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich this morning unwrapped an endorsement from former U.S. Sen. Mack Mattingly and …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: What a revived Rick Santorum might mean in Georgia »

Without question, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition provided the biggest Republican presidential playground over the weekend.

No major gaffes appeared to have been committed, but there was some dispute over who gained the most from Reed’s fusion of Christian and tea party elements. The Los Angeles Times picked Michele Bachmann as its winner:

Real estate mogul Donald Trump, host of NBC's "The Apprentice, " speaks at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT

Bachmann, expected to announce her presidential intentions this month in Iowa, repeatedly brought the crowd out of its chairs with a blend of red-meat rhetoric and autobiographical detail. She attacked Planned Parenthood as a “corrupt organization,” swore a tireless commitment to repeal of “Obamacare,” deplored what she claimed was Obama’s “shocking” betrayal of Israel, and finished up, eyes closed, with a two-minute prayer.

The Washington Times preferred …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Ralph Reed’s return and ‘extreme’ words from Lynn Westmoreland »

During the state GOP convention in Macon last weekend, a number of Republicans complained of bias in the national media.

Which normally would be as newsworthy as declaring water to be wet. Except that the complainers were Herman Cain supporters, and the object of their discontent was Fox News.

Herman Cain speaks to Georgia Republicans in Macon. AP/The Macon Telegraph, Grant Blankenship

The cable TV network was ignoring the Cain campaign in favor of old friends who served as professional commentators, they charged.

This spring, Fox News suspended, then terminated, its contracts with former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich and former U.S. senator Rick Santorum, both of whom were considering GOP presidential runs.

But how to measure pro-Gingrich or anti-Cain bias? Why, you call Media Matters, the liberal organization that closely monitors Fox News. Spokeswoman Jess Levin provided a tally of Fox News appearances by possible GOP candidates between Jan. 1 and May 13 – the day …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Is Fox News biased against certain Republicans? »

Shirley Franklin’s Blogging While Blue this morning is all about talk of a 2012 Democratic challenge to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson:

Political insiders have told Blogging While Blue, that Johnson is making the rounds trying to measure support for his run. The biggest obstacle to challenging an incumbent congressman is name recognition and money. Johnson, a judge, should be able to leverage his contacts to raise a substantial amount of money.

In addition, Johnson is married to the daughter of Hamilton Holmes, Allison Holmes Johnson. Hamilton Homes integrated the University of Georgia in 1961 and was a pillar in Black Atlanta. What’s even more significant is that Allison grew up in Southwest Atlanta, which is seen as one of the political power centers of African American politics in Atlanta, and Johnson should be able to tap into her network of friends and associates.

The office of Gov. Nathan Deal this morning confirmed …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Fulton judge to run against John Lewis? »

Newt Gingrich will have to prove that he’s still relevant and Donald Trump may want to check his potty mouth at the door, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday, on the eve of the first debate in the 2012 race for the GOP presidential nomination.

The Greenville, S.C., event — to be broadcast at 9 p.m. tonight by Fox News — will be somewhat diminished by the fact that several major players will be missing.

Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina. Associated Press

Five candidates will be featured: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; Herman Cain, the former Atlanta radio talk-show host; former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas; and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.

Neither Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, nor Trump, the celebrity real estate magnate, will be in the state for tonight’s opening bell. Neither will former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But they’ll all come sooner or later. Since 1980, no Republican nominee has …

Continue reading Nikki Haley: Newt Gingrich will have to prove he’s ’still relevant’ in S.C. »

Morning TV chatter is circling around the likelihood that Osama bin Laden lived several years in his in-plain-sight compound.

How could the Pakistani government not know? many members of Congress are asking.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson isn’t one of them. Nor is Isakson yet buying into assertions from both the U.S. and Pakistani governments that there was no contact between the two about the Sunday raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death.

“You don’t land helicopters in a compound like that, in the middle of a foreign country, without some help and cooperation. So let’s just leave it at that,” said Isakson, in an interview with Denis O’Hayer of WABE (90.1) on Monday.

In other words, Pakistani claims of ignorance, and U.S. claims of lone wolf-ism may be a ruse for local consumption.

Isakson said he would wait until a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before he did any more speculating.

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Politico.com this morning wonders whether the Osama bin Laden …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Johnny Isakson skeptical of claims that Pakistan didn’t know of Osama bin Laden raid »

Continue reading Donald Trump and the F-bomb »

His close friend Karl Rove thinks Donald Trump’s presidential ambition is one big joke, but Ralph Reed isn’t so sure.

Earlier this week, Reed’s name surfaced as someone Trump had sounded out to run his campaign – an idea that the former head of the Christian Coalition slapped down.

Ralph Reed, founder of Faith and Freedom Coalition, at a 2010 rall in Atlanta. Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com

But in an NPR interview with Neal Conan and Ken Rudin on Wednesday, posted here, Reed declared himself “intrigued” by a Trump candidacy, and said he has encouraged The Donald to take a close look at the race.

The former chairman of the state GOP was first asked if the “birther” phenomenon was the fuel behind Trump’s sudden performance in national polls:

Reed: “I don’t know that I would reduce his poll performance to just one issue. After all, Donald Trump is somebody who’s been kind of a larger-than-life figure on the American stage for more than a quarter …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: An ‘intrigued’ Ralph Reed says he has encouraged Donald Trump »