Archive for the ‘Republican Governors Association’ Category

You know that the metro Atlanta effort to pass next year’s transit sales tax struck something of a sandbar earlier this month, when the campaign’s top political strategist, Glenn Totten, abandoned the project. Possibly with some encouragement.

A retooling is underway. Right now, Paul Bennecke, the former political director for the Republican Governors Association, is the only name of note attached to that campaign effort, which is being financed by the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

An overlapping $3 million statewide effort – remember that counties will be grouped into a dozen regional tax conclaves – is being underwritten by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which on Wednesday announced one of the most carefully balanced political teams we’ve ever seen.

Talk about your lions and lambs bedding down together:

– Heath Garrett, principal political strategist with the Stephens and Schriefer Group, is a former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson;

– Chris Carpenter, the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: The lions and lambs of Georgia politics on one team »

Tim Pawlenty has signed Nick Ayers, former protégé to former Gov. Sonny Perdue, to run his ’12 Republican campaign for president – if the former Minnesota governor decides to jump in.

Which now seems more likely. From the press release, quoting Pawlenty adviser Phil Musser:

House Speaker David Ralston (left) and Tim Pawlenty after a meeting last year

“Nick has proven his incredible talent in the political arena many times over. He has also long been our top choice for this job, and we are thrilled he has agreed to lead this campaign. He’s a man of character, faith and integrity who will take this organization to the next level, and hopefully to the nomination of the Republican Party.”

The hiring of Ayers further illustrates the splintering of Georgia’s Republican establishment among several potential presidential candidates. Perdue – who brought Ayers into Georgia politics — and Gov. Nathan Deal have lined up behind Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. speaker.

Much of the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Tim Pawlenty picks Nick Ayers to run ‘12 presidential effort »

Tom Crawford has posted this at the Georgia Report:

The Republican Governors Association has become the biggest independent spender by far in the governor’s race, pumping more than $5.4 million into the campaign to support former congressman Nathan Deal.

In its disclosure report filed Tuesday, the RGA said it has spent $5,416,530 in Georgia to produce and buy air time for attack ads aimed at former governor Roy Barnes, the Democratic nominee. The money has been channeled through a shell campaign fund, RGA Georgia 2010 PAC.

By the time the ballots are counted on Tuesday, the RGA may well have spent more than $6 million in its efforts to beat Barnes. If there’s a runoff between Deal and Barnes, the RGA could conceivably end up spending as much as $7 million or $8 million on the governor’s race.

The RGA has spent almost as much as Deal reported raising in his last disclosure report for the period ending Sept. 30, which was $6.29 million.

RGA money has more than erased any …

Continue reading Georgia Report: RGA spends $5.4 million to beat Roy Barnes »

One day after a statewide poll showed Republican nominee for governor Nathan Deal’s lead contracting, his campaign and an ally organization leveled three TV broadsides at Democrat Roy Barnes.

The 30-second spots by the Deal campaign and the Republican Governors Association focus on Democrat Roy Barnes’ occupation as a successful lawyer, and attempt to pair him with President Barack Obama.

Ironically, this first ad – from the Deal campaign – accuses the Democrat of using “scorched earth” tactics in his attacks on the Republican. The photograph, you’ll note, resembles the “wheat fields of despair” ad the Deal campaign lobbed at Republican rival Karen Handel in the August runoff:

In the child molester case mentioned above, Barnes represented the individual at a single bond hearing – not the trial – and was paid by the man’s employer.

The following RGA spot develops the Deal charge that Barnes and his law firm appeared before judges appointed by Barnes …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Republican tag-team levels three TV broadsides at Roy Barnes »

The TV battle for governor went deadly serious today, as Democrat Roy Barnes pushed out a dark ad that accused GOP nominee Nathan Deal of once attempting to weaken the state’s rape shield law – and the Republican Governors Association focused on a Barnes gaffe that helped sink him in 2002.

The Barnes ad:

The RGA ad:

Background of the Barnes ad

The script:

Male narrator: “It was my niece. If Nathan Deal had won his fight to weaken the rape shield law, and my niece took the stand, she would have been forced to defend what she wore and that she didn’t deserve to be raped.

“How many women could stand that insult? How many rapes would go unreported? Thousands of angry women finally forced Mr. Deal to retreat. And I haven’t forgotten. Have you?”

Click here to read supporting info from the Barnes campaign. Here’s the statement from the Deal campaign. Capital letters are always a sign of a ticked-off spokesman:

In the final weeks of the campaign, Roy Barnes has …

Continue reading TV war gets deadly serious in governor’s race »

Some have said that the officialdom of the Republican Governors Association in Washington would rather crawl over broken glass than see Roy Barnes return as governor of Georgia. It may not come to that.

But it sure has been expensive. Tom Crawford at the Georgia Report has this financial tidbit:

The RGA set up a political action committee called RGA Georgia 2010 that is making independent expenditures on behalf of [Republican Nathan] Deal in the governor’s race. Disclosure reports filed last week show that the RGA PAC has now spent more than $3.2 million, largely on negative ads attacking Barnes.

That’s more than twice the amount of money spent by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), which has turned over a total of $1.5 million to the Democratic Party of Georgia to support the Barnes campaign.

In effect, the RGA has assumed responsibility for producing and airing the negative ads that Deal normally would have paid for out of his own campaign coffers. That flow of …

Continue reading Georgia Report: RGA spends $3.2 million to stop Roy Barnes »

From the Savannah Morning News:

Former Gov. Roy Barnes’ law firm has appeared at least 37 times before judges he named, winning clients hundreds of millions of dollars.

Democratic nominee for governor Roy Barnes/AP

In one such case, decided last month, the Democratic governor hopeful’s firm helped win a $459 million judgment.

Barnes didn’t appear personally at the trial, but he appointed Marvin Arrington, one of the judges in the case. Official records show Arrington, a Superior Court judge in Atlanta, has contributed $2,000 to Barnes’ current campaign.

Arrington also gave $10,000 to Barnes’ 2002 campaign on Dec. 3, 2001, records show. Barnes named him to the Fulton County Superior Court on Jan. 17, 2002….

Barnes spokesman Emil Runge did not dispute the accuracy of a Georgia Republican Party document describing the cases.

Runge didn’t answer questions about them, but denounced Deal.
“As a fellow lawyer,” Runge said, “Nathan Deal knows better than to recklessly call into …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: GOP says Roy Barnes’ law firm appeared 37 times before judges he appointed »

Some people spent Labor Day weekend at the beach, some over a grill in the backyard. Gov. Sonny Perdue worked on what may be his next vocation.

From RotorNews, a publication of Helicopter Association International:

Two-term Governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue has managed to add two significant aviation ratings to his commercial pilot certificate. On September 6th, the Governor took advantage of the Labor Day holiday and passed both the Helicopter Commercial and Helicopter Flight Instructor practical check rides.

An experienced 3000-hour Commercial Pilot, the Governor added a Private Helicopter rating in August of 2008. Since then he has worked with Ron Carroll of Blue Ridge Helicopters in Lawrenceville, GA to gain the skills necessary to accomplish these ratings.

A spokesman for Perdue confirmed the accomplishment, but was unable to say whether the governor was in actual pursuit of future employment.

***

This week, the liberal group Media Matters captured a clip of FoxNews’ …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Meet Sonny Perdue, your new helicopter instructor »

The Republican Governor’s Association today cut loose a second TV ad against Roy Barnes – clearly a campaign to establish a Pavlovian relationship between the Democratic nominee for governor and President Barack Obama.

The RGA accuses both Obama and Barnes of ruling with “an iron fist.”

Not details have yet come from RGA, but we’re told that the 30-second spot will see a significant amount of play in metro Atlanta and beyond – through Thursday. And then will pick up again next Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday.

Update: Nick Ayers, the former Sonny Perdue aide and RGA executive director, just sent a message indicating the new TV spot will stay up through the Labor Day weekend — the cash was sent yesterday — and has been joined by a 60-second radio ad, also playing statewide, on the same theme.

RGA TV Ad: Roy Barnes, Georgia “Iron Fist” from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

The script:

“One man ruled with an iron fist, giving us politics and laws we did not …

Continue reading The latest RGA ad: On the ‘iron fists’ of Roy Barnes and Barack Obama »

Eight years ago, the alliance that lined up against Gov. Roy Barnes included opponents of the Northern Arc, a proposed roadway that stretched across the top of exurban Atlanta.

People won’t vote for you because of a road. But they sure will vote against you. It was an exercise in the power of NIMBY that Barnes apparently hasn’t forgotten.

This from Larry Peterson with the Savannah Morning News:

Republican governor hopeful Nathan Deal likes at least part of a proposal for an interstate linking Savannah and Knoxville via Augusta.

But Deal’s Democratic opponent, Roy Barnes, is wary about the potential thoroughfare, under study by the Federal Highway Administration.

Barnes says he’s concerned about environmental and quality of life impacts – which are among the issues the study will address.

Deal, a former north Georgia congressman, is especially upbeat about portions of the route that would tie Savannah to Augusta.

“With the deepening of the port of Savannah,” he said, “we must …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: For Roy Barnes, I-3 may be a case of deja vu in concrete »