InsiderAdvantage Georgia

Karen Handel enters race for US Senate

Thu, 17 May 2018 06:00:00 EST

This morning, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel announced that she will run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Saxby Chambliss. She joins Congressmen Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, and Jack Kingston as announced candidates; David Perdue, a businessman and cousin of former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, has announced an exploratory committee to raise money for a potential race.

This announcement was well-timed for the start of the Georgia Republican Party State Convention this weekend in Athens.

Handel brings substantial advantages to the campign, though money will not likely be one of them.

In most campaign cycles, this might appear to be an early announcement for an election more than a year in the future, but with two of the Congressmen who have already announced for the seat bringing sizable warchests approaching $2 million each, it makes raising enough cash to fuel a competitive campaign more challenging.

When the Messenger Gets Shot, Others Are Sure to Follow

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:00 EST

In the world of White House politics and the politics of handling the White House press corps, the president's press secretary is the most visible target and often the first to fall when the media turns on an administration. And it appears that press secretary Jay Carney may well be approaching the point at which his deft handling of the media in past years suddenly becomes a liability in the middle of not just one but multiple presidential controversies.

I have known a few other past presidential press secretaries, but not Carney. As a rule of thumb, I would say that, although they always press their man's case with careful but passionate words, presidential press secretaries generally tend to be one of the highest ranking members of any administration who behind the scenes understands the gravity of an issue or scandal and are more grounded in the reality of a situation.

In Carney's case, I have no visible indication that this is the case — but based on his background, I suspect that he follows that rule of thumb. Born in Washington, D.C., with a Yale education and a Time magazine Washington Bureau background, there isn't much doubt that Carney understands, at the very least, the mindset of the D.C. bubble. While it would be hard to argue that his pedigree suggests much in common with the average American, it is one that is likely of value in his current position.

And regardless of how those who view him nightly or grill him daily feel about Carney, we can all marvel at how young he looks to be 47 years old. Even the burden of speaking for President Obama has not seemed to age him.

But despite his boyish looks, it seems likely that Carney is more than aware that he has recently gone from being a comfortable presidential spokesman to that of a presidential messenger facing "fastballs" and "curves" from a press that just a few months ago was not into playing hardball. And why is that? No, it's not because of Benghazi, and no, it's not even because of the IRS picking on conservatives. Does anyone think that those issues would get anyone but the so easily dismissed and looked down upon "conservative media" riled up? The answer is "no way."

Another path for reinvigorating the GOP?

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:00 EST

While Virginia Republicans walk around the Commonwealth wringing their hands, asking, “what have we done by nominating this madman for Lt. Governor,” a handful of Georgia Republican activists still want to bring their nominating convention system to Georgia.

If the goal is to continue to elect Republicans across the state and to bolster our odds for the national elections and next Presidential campaign, there's another way worth considering.

Molly Ball, who writes for The Atlantic, compares today's Republican Party to the Democratic Party of the 1980s and 90s, and it's an apt comparison.

The party is in desperate straits. It has lost the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections. It consoles itself with a majority in Congress, but even there its ranks are dwindling. On nearly every issue of national significance—from social affairs to fiscal matters to foreign policy—its positions are increasingly out of step with those of the majority of Americans. Riven by factions, it sometimes seems more like a collection of squabbling interest groups than a coherent political entity. People have started muttering that it might become merely a regional concern, or even go the way of the Whigs and die out.

This is the plight of the Republican Party today. “If we’re being honest,” the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, moped earlier this year, “we have not really won a decisive presidential election since 1988.” Polls show that the party’s stance on practically every issue is a loser: same-sex marriage, international affairs, immigration, even taxes and the deficit. But this dismal situation was, a quarter century ago, the plight of the Democrats.

Then, the solution had a Georgia flavor, as United States Senator Sam Nunn was an early member of the Democratic Leadership Council, which sought to bring the Democratic Party closer to the mainstream and the White House. The DLC succeeded, propelling Nunn's fellow charter member Bill Clinton into the Presidency.

Going forward, then, who is positioned to help lead a Republican Party to a path that maintains its current conservative base while broadening its appeal to make national elections competitive?

InsiderAdvantage/Fox 5 Atlanta Statewide Poll: Isakson Enjoys Strong Approval Rating While Candidates Vie for Other U.S. Senate Seat

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:00 EST

A poll conducted last Thursday in Georgia shows incumbent U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson with a strong approval rating. Political analyst Matt Towery says that Isakson's approval rating coming at the middle of a term in office is considered “excellent.

Towery: “This poll is very good news for Isakson and it dispels any notion that somehow Republicans might not like their senator.”

Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage and Fox5 Political Analyst says that the numbers suggest “voters in next year’s GOP primary might be looking for a Republican nominee more like Isakson.”

Click through for the actual numbers.

Runoff elections an endangered species in Georgia?

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:00 EST

Last June the United States Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against the State of Georgia claiming that the Peach State's election procedures did not meet federal requirements for giving overseas and military voters sufficient time to vote in runoff elections for federal offices.

“We are committed to protecting the right of Georgia service members, including those serving our country overseas, to vote in our elections,” said Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

UOCAVA [the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act] requires states to allow uniformed services voters (serving both overseas and within the United States) and their families and overseas citizens to register to vote and to vote absentee for all elections for federal office. In 2009, Congress enacted the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act, which made broad amendments to UOCAVA. Among those changes was a requirement that states transmit absentee ballots to voters covered under UOCAVA, by mail or electronically at the voter’s option, no later than 45 days before federal elections.

Last month a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia agreed with the U.S. Attorney that Georgia's current runoff elections do not allow sufficient time and ordered the state to confer with plaintiffs and propose a remedy that will ensure sufficient time for overseas ballots in federal elections.

Within twenty days (20) of the issuance of this order, Defendants shall confer with Plaintiff and thereafter submit to the Court written proposed changes to Georgia’s election laws that show full compliance with UOCAVA as to all future federal runoff elections.