Archive for the ‘Shirley Franklin’ Category

Only in America could tag-team wrestling serve as a sensible political model.

Eight days after Mitt Romney slapped a half-nelson on President Barack Obama, clearly winning a first round on points, their two surrogates will climb into the ring this evening to give their principals a breather.

Aborist Amra Boanerges trims trees in downtown Danville, Ky., as the town spruces up ahead of hosting the vice presidential debate between Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan scheduled for tonight. Boanerges said the throngs of visitors for the debate will feel welcome in a town he likened to a “modern-day Mayberry.” AP/Bruce Schreiner

The one and only debate between Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the GOP challenger, will take place in the small college town of Danville, Ky., said to be one of the most Mayberry-like cities in the nation.

Don’t expect the encounter to be neighborly. With 26 days left, too much is at …

Continue reading Don’t look for Mayberry in tonight’s vice presidential debate »

Former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin was conspicuously silent during the debate over the transportation sales tax, but she’s ready to talk about the impact of its defeat. Below is a portion of a post she’s written for her website, Blogging While Blue:

It doesn’t mean metro Atlantans will never support alternative transportation funding models in the future.

It doesn’t mean the State of Georgia is off the hook for leading the development, planning and funding a metro Atlanta comprehensive transportation and environmental plan. Or that the Governor doesn’t have the obligation and responsibility to do everything in his power to invest in a transformative, smart transportation network of trains, rail, buses, roads, bridges, trails, sidewalks and highways. Transit is worthy of state funding in a smart transportation plan.

It doesn’t mean metro Atlanta should play second fiddle in the race for state funding for its needs -to clean the air we breathe or to improve …

Continue reading Shirley Franklin: Transportation issues belong on Nathan Deal’s shoulders »

No doubt you have always wondered whether Shirley Franklin ever found love while she was mayor of Atlanta. The answer is a complicated “no.”

Franklin explains on Blogging While Blue, while pondering over that illicit romance between ex-Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon and the man who might be the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq:

As a divorced woman serving as the city’s CEO, I was not faced with Chon’s ethical dilemma. Maybe I was too old. In fact, fostering any personal relationship was nearly impossible. The scrutiny and eagle eye attention from the public can be a deterrent for any prospective suitor.

“This is just one more disadvantage of being a baby boomer or, more accurately, an aging woman. This may sound strangely personal to some readers, but running for office can be a personal relationship bust. Truth be told, from my experience, personal/romantic relationships are difficult to establish and are virtually nonexistent.

“Often times it wasn’t clear …

Continue reading Why (sigh) love escaped Shirley Franklin at Atlanta City Hall »

We told you last night that GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum will make his first post-surge appearance in Georgia on Sunday. This morning, The Hill newspaper in D.C. reports that Santorum has included this state in a first round of TV ads – to match frontrunner Mitt Romney:

The campaign is making the purchases in Arizona, which votes Feb. 28., and in Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahhoma — all Super Tuesday states except for Arizona — according to Santorum senior campaign adviser John Brabender. The campaign did not disclose any more details about the ads, such as the cost or exact markets where they will air.

Another sign that Santorum will present a full-court press on Super Tuesday: The Times-Free Press today reports that the former Pennsylvania senator will be the headliner at a Chattanooga tea party gathering. A recent poll has Santorum leading in that state.

***
Meanwhile, financially pinched Newt Gingrich – or at least, his affiliated super PAC — this …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum will join TV war in Georgia »

Texas Gov. Rick Perry this morning called the controversy over GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney’s faith a campaign distraction, ]saying out of work Americans aren’t interested in “side issues and sideshows.”

Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Perry again said he didn’t agree with a statement from one of his key Texas supporters, a Southern Baptist pastor who asserted that Romney is not a Christian, and that Mormonism is a cult.

“We clearly said we didn’t agree with that statement,” Perry said.

However, others do. Among them the Rev. Bryant Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta and president of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Denis O’Hayer of WABE (90.1FM) has posted this interview with Wright. Some excerpts:

”It is a cult, in the sense that it does not adhere to what would be traditional or orthodox biblical teaching. It’s really been kind of comical at the outrage of …

Continue reading Mormonism is more like Islam, says Southern Baptist president »

The final paragraphs from a fine post by former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin at Blogging While Blue, on growing old:

Like many seniors who expected to retire, many of us are continuing to work and in many cases competing with younger people for the same positions. If we aren’t competing, we are working side-by-side. Did you notice the man who bags the groceries in your neighborhood store is no longer a teenager? Or the clerk at the dry cleaners? Or the usher at the movie theater? These are not high-paying jobs and sure old people enjoy the social engagement of work but most are working because they need the money. Today in Atlanta, one in nine residents is over 65-years-old and the ratio is declining. By 2030 the Atlanta Regional Commission projects that number will be one in five.

The collapse of the financial markets compounds the challenges the aging population face. Savings and retirement funds accumulated for a lifetime are diminished or wiped out with little chance of …

Continue reading Shirley Franklin on the anxiety of growing old »

Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman announced via Twitter on Thursday that he’s a thoroughly modern man when it comes to Darwin and climate change – unlike a certain Texas governor.

From the Associated Press:

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy,” Huntsman tweeted.

Although Huntsman didn’t mention Perry by name, the tweet was sent within hours of a campaign stop by Perry in New Hampshire where was asked by the crowd about both topics.

While Perry dodged a question about climate change, he has previously said the theory is unproven. On Thursday, he defended the teaching of creationism in schools because evolution “has some gaps to it.”

Why is this worth a mention? Because on Wednesday, Huntsman will be at the state Capitol in Atlanta to meet Gov. Nathan Deal and as many state legislators as possible.

Perry already has a firm contingent of supporters in the Capitol, and Deal is still formally tied to Gingrich …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Jon Huntsman, Christine O’Donnell headed to state Capitol »

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 »

Monica Pearson of Channel 2 Action News is conducting a cross-country search for the former superintendent of the scandal-ridden Atlanta Public School system:

Pearson might want to check in with former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, who said she called Hall after the report was released last week. Posted by USA Today via 11Alive:

“I called to say I was thinking about her, and I hoped she could relax and reflect,” Franklin said. “She said she was intending to do that. This is a really tough report to internalize.”

Franklin said Hall did not offer an apology to her during that conversation.

“I didn’t ask for an apology, and my conversation was short,” Franklin said. “I think she has appropriately apologized to the teachers, students and to the general public.”

Meanwhile, the AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes a look at Franklin’s evaluation of Hall’s tenure as school superintendent.

***
Cobb County has become the latest Republican-controlled bastion in metro Atlanta to …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: In search of Beverly Hall »

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? »