The Mine Canary Coughs
Back at the beginning of the year, I did a post for the Coffee House calling Ralph Reed the Abramoff Mine Canary, on the theory that if anyone was going to be hurt electorally by the Abramoff scandal, it would be Ralph, who's running for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia as the first stop towards a presidential run sometime next decade.
Ralph's judgment day with Georgia Republican primary voters is next Tuesday, and while the Mine Canary hasn't died, he's definitely coughing and looking a mite ill.
Until recently, Ralph looked like he was likely to win his primary against state senator Casey Cagle, buttressed as he was by support from the rancid cream of the national and Georgia GOP (as we speak, Republican voters are being treated to robo-calls on Reed's behalf from Rudy Giuliani and Zell Miller). But shortly after Cagle launched a truly vicious ad campaign focusing on the Abramoff scandal and such ancillary issues as Ralph's support for the Abramoff/Norquist pet cause of the Northern Mariana Islands, Reed began sinking in the polls. And while the race is still close, and Ralph will presumably run a pretty good GOTV operation, he's in big trouble.
It's perversely delicious to see the master of the culturally-based negative campaign strategy get hoisted on his own petard. And it's also an interesting sign that the man who has always paid so much attention to dollar signs was recently forced to loan his campaign a half million smackers to stay competitive financially with Cagle.
If Ralph goes down next week, it will be a clear indication that Republican corruption carries some electoral freight, even among Republican primary voters in a very conservative state. And if Ralph survives his primary, he will be a nice symbol of what's wrong with the GOP right down to November.
That, folks, is a win-win proposition.
Well, I know I am going to do what I can. I plan to crossover in the primary to vote against Reed, and Perdue as well, since there are no Democrats in the primaries that I find particularly appealing. If I've no one to vote for, might as well vote against those I truly dislike.
Here's a direct link to the anti-Reed ad.
July 12, 2006 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know what you're looking for but I've known Jim Martin for 20 years and he's a very competent and honorable guy. If that's not what you're looking for in a representative, then he's not the person for you.
http://www.jimforgeorgia.com
He did an interview on the Mike Malloy show that provides a pretty-good overview:
http://www.jimforgeorgia.com/Mike_Malloy_May30.mp3
July 12, 2006 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
So Reed's primary opponent did not simply wait for Ralph to be dragged under by Republican scandals, but thoughtfully tossed him an anvil.
Are Democrats paying attention?
July 12, 2006 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
"If Ralph goes down next week, it will be a clear indication that Republican corruption carries some electoral freight, even among Republican primary voters in a very conservative state."
I agree with that, but... "And if Ralph survives his primary, he will be a nice symbol of what's wrong with the GOP right down to November."
How would that be a "nice symbol?" I think it would be an example of John Dean's latest book in which he says that these 27 or so (and growing) percent of hard righters need someone authoritarian to tell them what to believe, and who to follow. They are incapable of evaluating the message they are getting. I heard someone quoted on NPR tonight say they will vote for Ralph Reed because "He is a Christian."
We have to forget this 30 percent and go for the swing-voters who just might listen and think. The Reed followers are lost personally and politically, and to cow-tow to them is ridiculous. They need a little hitler to follow, and thankfully, there is no democrat (so far) who wants to fill that bill.
Jan Knaus
July 12, 2006 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Okay, because you asked nicely I will look again.
Truthfully though I keep hoping for a really bold candidate to challenge the GOP worldview and I'm not seeing it in any of the leading Democratic candidates. I will in all probability vote in the general election for whichever Democratic candidate wins the primary. But I really, really, really want Ralph Reed to lose. Defeat Reed first, then Cagle.
July 12, 2006 5:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just watched the Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidates debate. It was great. I had forgotten how much fun politics can be.
Despite some recent very strong attack ads between the leading candidates, Cathy Cox and Mark Taylor, the atomosphere of the debate remained cordial throughout. It was entertaining as well as informative.
Southern Democrats are just more fun than Republicans.
July 12, 2006 5:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Regardless of who wins or loses various races, the cake may be already in the oven and baked for America and it's economy after 6 years of unfettered incompetence, lies, and corruption at the highest levels of government.
July 12, 2006 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
In other words, we may not yet be able to drown the government in a bathtub, but it only takes a modest sized spa to do so. Thus is progress under a republican administration.
Hoppy in Sacramento
July 12, 2006 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
I dunno. I wish I shared the mood of optimism here. Seeing today's Bush bounce -- right up to 40% -- makes me feel that we're not in a fresh new world of reason and clarity, one in which the corruption and hypocrisy actually matter to voters.
Same Rove. Same Novak. Same Reed. Same ChoicePoint only now it's in Mexico. Same Iran on Israel's new schedule of aggression. Or same Iran on mid-terms-calibrated schedule. Or same Iran only not during Crawford vacation. Same faces in the House talking about warehousing same unindicted detainees. Same Pat Roberts with same unfinished report. Same voting machines and scrubbed voter rolls. Same turkey we ate in 2002 and 2004 coming back to be re-eaten on Thanksgiving Day 2006.
July 12, 2006 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Reed acted as the Joseph Goebbels of the 'christian' Right, then one of its chief bagmen. I sincerely hope his political career is taken behind the barn and put down before it had a chance to run a race. He should share the same crying towel with his "close friend", Katherine Harris.
Reed's no more a Christian than my dog. As a bagman he's only a bit more competent than Fred LaRue. He's only notable as a liar, and by the depth of his prejudices.
All that said, I have to agree with PW: whether Reed is alive politicaly after next Tuesday or not, the alleged Republic his smarmy campaign has taken place in may already have been fatally damaged by Cheney, his mouthpiece, and their friends.
If I could travel twenty years forward in time for only five minutes, I'd spend it buying a 'contemporary' American History book, just to see how the past five-and-a-half years will be judged. That's assuming I wouldn't be trapped in a 'faith-based' security checkpoint, stuck in a breadline, or walking through radioactive rubble.
July 13, 2006 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
You go, girl!
July 13, 2006 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
That has to be the single dumbest thing I've heard or read in the last couple of months.
July 13, 2006 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe this is slightly OT, but every time I've seen Bill Gates for the past 6 mos or so being hailed as the poster boy for progressive causes.. I remember back to earlier last year and the year before when it was found he'd hired Ralph Reed, paying him 20 grand a month, plus bonuses to work as a consultant to Microsoft, the company even doing an about face and actually lobbying against a gay marriage bill as a result of Reed's involvement with the company...
July 13, 2006 9:41 PM | Reply | Permalink