Georgia Might Be Riper for a Political Jolt Than Anyone Wants to Admit

Every few years someone whispers about a “blue wave” in Georgia, and most of the time it’s wishful thinking. But this cycle feels different, not because Democrats are suddenly surging, but because Republicans are carrying more political baggage than usual, and voters across the state are feeling real‑world pressure that cuts deeper than party loyalty.

Georgia families from the exurbs outside Atlanta to the timber farms in Southeast Georgia are getting hammered by the same problems: cost of living, insurance rates, housing, groceries, and wages that haven’t kept up. That’s not a damn ideology. That’s pain!

And when voters feel squeezed long enough, they start looking for someone to blame.

Democrat Geoff Duncan on the campaign trail

Add to that the global instability with Iran, which has injected uncertainty into national politics at the worst possible moment for the party in power. Foreign crises don’t automatically shift elections, but they do shake voter confidence, especially among independents and soft partisans.

Then there’s the elephant in the room:

The GOP’s unwavering, iron‑clad loyalty to Trump.

For years, that loyalty has been a political asset in rural Georgia. But when economic frustration meets political fatigue, even the most loyal voters sometimes step back, stay home, or quietly split their ticket.

That’s how “mini waves” happen, not with a dramatic flip, but with a slow erosion of turnout and enthusiasm in places that used to be automatic.

So is a blue wave guaranteed? No.

But is the ground shifting under the surface?

In a lot of places, it sure looks like it.

If a political jolt hits Georgia this year, it won’t start in Atlanta.

It’ll start in the places no one watches, the exurbs, the small towns, the timber counties
where voters are tired, stretched thin, and no longer impressed by political loyalty tests that don’t put food on the table.

Weak Candidates, Strong Positions

One source of frustration for many voters is that their favorite candidate just cannot get the votes to advance in a race fr certain offices. The fact is that just being the candidate with the best ideas does not make you the best candidate for the office.

To be an effective politician, a person must 

1. have the proper positions on important issues

2. convince people to vote for them 

3. be able to accomplish something when elected. 

For the first point, many times the positions a candidate support are not the positions the majority of voters support. Politicians often get around this problem by misinforming voters as to their real positions or agendas.

For the second point, a person has to be likable, or at least more likable that their opponent(s). They have to be a better salesman or saleswoman of themselves and their positions. They must be able to take advantage of their strengths and the weaknesses of their opponents and the voters.

For the third point, many good people are able to get elected,, but unable to finish the job. Look at Ron Paul, he has good ideas, but cannot get anything passed because he is ineffective in the system. Others get in there and work across the aisle, thus end up compromising to get something passed. Unfortunately, both of these strategies have given us both bad and good legislation. 

Fear, Negativity Drive Today's Republican Party

It's very clear that a new reactionary ideology has taken root in the Republican Party. The Republican Party is pushing for economic and social policies based on fear. Fears of massive transformation, turmoil and chaos underway in our society. And, fears about how those transformations will impact lives largely defined by self-interest, power and money. Some fear-generated policies are consciously created; others, not so. That is, some reflect a yearning for restoration of a way of life that no longer works in today's changing society and globalized world. Other policy positions reflect conscious manipulation of those fears; But all driving the positions the Republican Party with assistance from the unrelenting Tea Party demands and is determined to enact.

The way I look at it, their ideology and policies reactionary because they are a retreat away from creating positive, responses to large-scale upheaval and change; and towards objectives that fail to address the sources of problems they aim to fix. (Just sit and watch the wave of negative, doom and gloom, lookout the sky is falling political ads that will fill your airwaves this election season against Democratic Candidates for Federal, State & Local Office). Worse, their view of the impact their policies would have upon society doesn't correspond to factual reality.  Government for example is viewed as the embodiment of fear of being taken over by forces that are dangerous, and therefore must be opposed or defended against. Driving this ideology is the fear of losing control over one's life when confronting the reality of the interdependence and interconnection characterizes today's world. For some, those fears lead to the belief that you can live without help from anyone or anything.

When people are emotionally overwhelmed with feelings that their world, their values and identity are turned upside down or destroyed, they may embrace beliefs that are extreme, rigid or elect candidates who represent those beliefs. Such people become increasingly vulnerable to dysfunction because the everything around them continues to change and evolve in ways that frightened them into embracing false beliefs to begin with. They want to feel safe and protected against a changing world, but their solutions don't work.

With More Poverty and Less HealthCare, Rural Georgia Would Benefit Most From Medicaid Expansion

Jennings Medical Clinic, Calhoun County

Unfortunately republicans don't see it that way!

Despite a majority of the state population residing in or around Metro Atlanta, Georgia is still a largely rural state. Georgia is a beautiful state and its many rural and isolated communities offer a vital and meaningful lifestyle. But Georgia's rustic landscape also makes assuring quality, affordable healthcare for rural residents a formidable challenge. Rural Georgians are less healthy and face greater obstacles to healthcare compared with its urban and suburban counterparts.

According to the County Health Rankings, Over in Emanuel County, 27% of residents under the age of 65 are uninsured. Other rural counties also have the same problem:

Tattnall County: 28%
Irwin County: 26%
Colquitt County: 27%
Tift County: 25%
Even Hall County, home of governor Nathan Deal & Lt. Governor Casey Cagle has 26% that are uninsured.

Because a good percentage of working Rural Georgians earns too little to afford private coverage, the ACA provide federal dollars for states like Georgia to expand medicaid programs to cover low-income working people. Expanding medicaid offers a way to cover low-income Georgians.

Regrettably, Gov. Nathan Deal (R) has been against  Medicaid expansion and now the republican state legislature have removed the powers of the governor to expand, who would have to get approval of the legislature. Given the high uninsurance rate in rural areas, is the governor's refusal to expand medicaid in the best interest of his constituents? NO!!

ACA politics are worsening the health care inequality between urban and rural Georgians. Hundreds of thousands of rural Georgians will fall into the coverage gap due to the denial of expanding medicaid. The media here in Georgia has given scant attention to the rural Georgians who have been denied healthcare coverage by their state leader(s).

Population has declined steadily in rural Georgia for decades. Rural counties have higher rates of poverty and fewer people in their prime working years to fuel the economy. The politicization of Medicaid expansion further denies rural residents and ensure the well-known disparities in health and life expectancy will continue. Beyond this, refusing to expand medicaid also penalizes already-threatened rural hospitals in which a number have already closed, thus forcing residents to drive, 30,40 miles to the nearest hospital for treatment.

Some of these hospitals have fewer than 25 beds and are at least 30, 40 miles from the next hospital. Critical access hospitals serve a poorer population that is more likely to be uninsured or older and eligible for medicare. They also usually are not able to offer the more lucrative services that drive revenue at a larger city hospital. Critical access hospitals can't turn away the uninsured, but treating these folks strain already unstable budgets. Faced with cuts in medicare reimbursements and no expansion of medicaid to cover its uninsured population, these critical access hospitals are either laying off, or facing closure, or they have already closed.

Rural areas of Georgia stand to benefit the most from medicaid expansion and will be penalized if the state's leaders continue to refuse federal funds. Georgia's rural counties already have the lowest incomes and highest rates of the insured. In an ideological battle over funding, who is representing rural Georgia's interest? It's certainly not the ruling GOP, nor the rural republican legislators who just sit there and say or do nothing to advocate for the rural cashiers at the local dollar general store, workers from the kaolin factory all because of trying to be "Politically Correct:!

It Must Be A Election Year!

It's 2014, it's a election year and to no one's surprise, the wedge and cultural issues are back just in time for the Georgia GOP & the midterm elections.

Legislation from allowing guns in churches, stripping the governor from implementing medicaid, a Arizona-Style anti-gay bill, restrictions on early voting, etc, etc are bills designed to cater to their base and to drive voter participation in this year's elections. Clearly instead of trying to make the lives better for Georgians, the republican-led majority are making things worse and creating problems for the sake for gathering votes at the ballot box.

Wedge Issues are issues that appeal to people's emotions. Georgia Republicans are skilled at employing these tactics to get most Georgians to avoid reasoned discussion of public policy on issues like economic fairness, education for example. They do this by appealing to voters emotional instinct.  While they have the general public, political experts and the media distracted with these emotional issues, they go off and the make the already wealthy even more wealthier at the expense of the working class worker. Issues like the Arizona-Style Anti-Gay bill and the Gun Bill that would allow guns to be carried in churches and on college campuses are a powerful distraction and allow Georgia Republicans to accomplish their goals while the public is pre-occupied with some trumped up emotional issue in a election year that they could care less about.





These things are a great way for them to raise $$$ from diehard supporters for their members while liberals and democrats have fewer pre-sold appeals and that maybe because, well they tend to use their heads before acting.

The Biggest Lie Ever Told: The Republicans are for "Small" Government

The Republican Party touts itself as the advocate for small government and individual liberty. Well, that's the biggest lie ever told in Politics.

For all the talk about how Democrats are the party of Big Government, let's keep it real...The Republican Party also love Big Government. A few marginal party activists, like U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, or even Paul Broun of Georgia have championed limited government, even libertarian policies. But this is not at all the norm for the GOP nationally, state and local.

It has also supported government subsidies for religious institutions, government restrictions on immigration and free passage across international boundaries, government denial of collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and government interference with women’s right to abortion and doctors’ right to perform it. The Republicans has rallied around, (Guess what) government interference with the right of same-sex couples to marry, government provision of extraordinarily lengthy imprisonment for drug possession (for example, in the “war on drugs”) and numerous other nonviolent offenses, government interference with voting rights (such as “voter suppression” laws), and government restrictions on freedom of information.

Wait.....now there is plenty of GOP support for small government when it comes to cutting taxes on the wealthy, limiting regulation of big business, gutting environmental regulations, weakening legal protections for workers and minorities, and slashing government funding for public education, public health, and social welfare services. But there is a common thread to this kind of small government action. It is all designed to serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of everyone else. (Look here in Georgia for example) Thus, the Republican Party opposes government alleviation of hunger through the distribution of food stamps, but supports government subsidies to corporations. I don't get it!

You can bet and you're already hearing it with this being the year that all 435 members of congress are up and many Senators face re-election and wanna be congressmen, women and senators are vying to occupy some of these seats, there will be plenty of rhetoric about freedom and limited government. But the party’s actual policies will reflect a very different agenda. For THOSE folks who can see beyond the deluge of SLICK campaign advertisements, it should be clear enough that the Republican Party’s claim to support small government  is a fraud, a scam, a outright lie! That claim is only an attractive mask, designed to disguise a party of privilege.

Let's Communicate in District 148, says Randy Head

That's the slogan for political newcomer Randy Head as he prepares to take on Buddy Harden for HD 148.

Over in Pulaski County, Emmett "Randy" Head (R-Hawkinsville) is preparing for his first run for public office, which is State Representative against Buddy Harden (R-Cordele) for HD 148, which consist of Crisp, Wilcox, Pulaski and rural Houston County (Clinchfield, Henderson, Elko, Kathleen, Grovania, Haynesville)

The 54 yr old Head was born and raised in Hawkinsville who owns a small business in Perry called Grillmaster, which is near I-75. He's married to Wanda Head who is a educator.

I am a small businessowner with experience in Agriculture and Pecan Production, says Head. As a person who has grown up in this area, it always been  dream of mine to work and serve the citizens who makeup this area of Georgia, the Heart of Georgia.

Head emphasizes progress for the district with economic development, agriculture, small business and communication in HD 148. We have an abundance of resources available in this area and we need to protect and expand upon these resources says Head.

Some of the issues facing HD 148 & the State Head wants to address include:

-Rural Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities
-Robins AirForce Base (BRAC)
-Create a atmosphere that will lead to the creation of more small businesses that is the engine that drives the economy and communities
-Equipping Law Enforcement with the necessary tools to keep homes and streets safe
-Sustaining and promoting Georgia Agriculture as well as fighting for Family Farms

Head then goes on to say, we need to maximize the potential of all of our resources in order to grow our economy and create jobs. To ensure our success, we need to be open-mined and lines of communication must be open in order to move this district and this forward to better ensure a bright future for our children and grandchildren. His website is http://www.randyhead.org

32 Years Later & This How Georgia Looks Now

Mao of the 1980 Senate race between Herman Talmadge (D) & Mack Mattingly (R)

 

 



Map of the 2008 Senate ace between Jim Martin (D) & Saxby Chambliss (R)

Look how much this state has changed since then.

2012 Was Just a Preview of the on coming Georgia GOP Freight Train...

If you want to know why people call politics the “second oldest profession” and view politicians with similar regard to used car salesmen, they need only look at the new mantra of bills that was passed since last year legislative session by the ruling Georgia GOP. Charter School amendment that seek to override local school boards in whether of not a charter school should or should not be created regardless what board members or citizens living in a area may think, an Illegal Immigration Bill that hurts, not helps Georgia Agriculture which resulted in millions of dollars lost in crops, stricter restrictions on the Hope Scholarship which a student must make a 3.7 GPA just to qualify. (That hurts rural students) etc, etc, etc. Now legislation such as the Tax Reform Bill & drug Testing for anyone receiving assistance are what I call good legislation. House Bill 677 that would require drug tests for parents who apply for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits on the surface seems wrong, but there are many who get assistance who don't have families who use that for other means such as drugs, illegal purchases & even on a woman for the night. (I'm just telling it like it is) Too often greed has been a more important factor than need in determining who benefits from food stamps. The original intent for this was to provide for people who were destitute who had no other means for feeding themselves. But beside those. this session was just a preview of the Georgia GOP Freight Train that's already going at Maximum speed & lord knows if they get a super majority in both chambers, that train will be in overdrive with no one to stop it in its tracks, including the governor. Any & everything will be passed & constitutional amendments will be plenty. Everything from public schools to agriculture will be greatly affected & voters better wake up before its too late!

Are Republicans Underestimating John Barrow's ability to win in new 12th?

A look at the newly proposed 12th District finds Conservative Democrat John Barrow in the same position former Congressman Jim Marshall was in when the republicans redrew the old 3rd district (now 8th) in a mid-decade redistricting effort to oust him in favor of ex-congressman Mac Collins back in 2006.

Back then it was said that Marshall political career was over when the republicans redrew the district to favor Mac Collins who was seeking a return to congress after his failed attempt at the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Democrat Zell Miller in 2004.

But it wasn't as Marshall went on to win in the newly redrawn district 51% to Collins 49%, in which Collins to this day hasn't conceded, which shows how much class Collins has.

It took a anti-government, anti-Obama, anti-Pelosi, Tea Party 2010 wave election to finally defeat Jim Marshall. Republicans back then underestimated Jim Marshall ability to adapt & win over his new constituents in the southern & Norther Half of the 8th District.

The same thing is occurring here with John Barrow. His 12th district has been drastically altered in a effort to defeat him in 2012. Barrow, the only remaining White Southern Democrat in the deep south is now one of the most endangered democrats in the county as a result. The new district is now a republican leaning district, rather the democratic leaning district Barrow once occupied.

Republicans are making a mistake & underestimating Barrow's ability to appeal to independent conservatives & swing voters alike. Counties such as Laurens, Coffee, Telfair, Wheeler are counties that Barrow should do well in, as well as Jeff Davis, while republican strongholds Appling & Columbia Counties are areas that he will have to crank it up a bit.

Barrow is a able campaigner & a strong fundraiser, in addition he has crossover appeal among some republicans just as Jim Marshall had when he was serving as 8th District representative.

I expect Barrow to do well in the new 12th district. Barrow will have to relocate to another city in the 12th with all of Chatham County now in Rep. Jack Kingston's 1st District. The logical location would be Augusta, but if I were Barrow, I'd move to Metter, Dublin, or Statesboro for strategic purposes.

Counties, Communities, Cities Get Cut, Chopped & Chewed Up in Georgia GOP's Redistricting Efforts

In the proposed redistricting Maps put out by Georgia's GOP ruling majority, Counties, Cities & Communities get chopped, cut, chewed, & divided in the GOP efforts to maximize their already majority status & weakened democrats even more. Democrats did the same thing back in 2001 when they held control of the state & the GOP howled in protest over those hideous maps

That was then.......

And now the same party who protested the maps then are now doing the exact same thing, just take a look at the House Map:

Everything from Cracking, Packing, Gerrymandering, Retrogression has been done to the house districts, especially down in Rural Georgia. Counties such as Lowndes are divided up into 4 House Districts, Ware into 3 House Districts, Thomas, 3 House Districts, Houston, 5 House Districts, Laurens, 3 House Districts, etc, etc. Now supporters of the map are saying that this was necessary to achieve the required 53,000 needed for each district.

Maybe!

In some cases its true, but in others its not. Of the two maps, the house maps will be under severe scrutiny when it goes to court for passage. I say its a 60/40 chance it gets approval from the courts.

In the proposed Senate Map, take a close look at SD 14.....WELL ITS GONE! George Hooks (D-Americus) home of Sumter County has broken up leaving him in a district with Freddie Sims (D-Dawson. Gone are the City of Andersonville (located) in Sumter Co now located in......John Crosby State Senate District! The Andersonville National Historic Site is located in Macon County. The two should be represented by the same individual. Dooly Co & Sumter Co share the same interest & are being separated in the GOP's attempt to oust Senator Hooks because.......he is the only remaining white conservative democrat left in the state senate, or it may have something to do with that little episode back in April when there was a attempt by Hooks to have powers restored to Lt. Governor Casey Cagle which was stripped by the GOP Caucus.

Robert Brown's Old Senate District 26 which was a majority minority district already is now a super blue district with the inclusion of Hancock & Washington Counties to increase republican advantage of SD 25 (Johnny Grant) & SD 23 Jesse Stone, who's district is now a tossup with the removal of Washington & the inclusion of McDuffie & Warren County.

Tommie Williams SD 19 gets expanded all the way into Telfair & Treutlen County. Williams could a likely candidate to take on John Barrow for GA-12 in 2012.

But overall the Senate Map doesn't look bad & may get a pass from the courts & DOJ.

State Democrats will watch helplessly as the new maps get its likely approval from the legislature. Their only hope is for the court & the DOJ rule that these maps doesn't pass the smell test!

Wanted: Business Saavy People in the Georgia Legislature, especially in the Democratic Party!

With all of the attention focused on Washington these days, let's not forget about what's happening here in Georgia.

Under GOP rule, Georgia has a unemployment rate of 10% which exceeds the national average & for now shows no signs of going down. Now you can blame it on the National Economy & like many blame it on the policies of the Obama Administration.

While Georgia has gained jobs in the form of Kia over in West Point, Ga & the NCR Corp. relocating in Columbus from Ohio, Georgia still has lost 167,000 manufacturing jobs over the last 10 years despite steep Tax breaks for Corporations & big businesses

And the painful consequences of lost jobs, reduced wages and a problematic future for millions of Georgians are hurting people in ways unimaginable just three, four years ago.

I’ve been heard to say publicly that free markets routinely rise and recede, and that politicians don’t really create jobs, businesses do. But economically IGNORANT politicians and bad public policies can make a economic recession much worse and kill jobs. This is exactly why we’re in a hole here in Georgia and digging it

It can’t stay this way, or every single one of us in this great state is in deep trouble; failure to fix our state economy is simply not an option.

We’ll have to get people out of the way who know little to nothing about our free market economy and private enterprise. More lawyers ( nothing against y'all), and people with no private sector experience in charge, simply can’t fix our economy.

Men and women with business savvy can and must.

And we’ll never get enough of them into public service because most just want to grow their businesses, taking justifiable pride in their accomplishments and contributions to Georgia's as well as America’s economic successes.

I also believe that they can resuscitate higher-end manufacturing in this state, which will keep jobs here and create new ones. Creating a more competitive business environment will be required, but the benefits are apolitical and flow to everyone.

If we had more business savvy business minds in the legislature, they could implement policies and regulations to “promote” business formation and growth, instead of policies that are lopsided & caters to a few, Georgia could be one of the leading states in job creation.

High unemployment is bad enough, running off jobs is a killer. Georgia can do better!

Why good business leaders are essential to the recovery is because they’re trained to create jobs, make profits to grow companies, and perhaps most important “think out of the box” to effectively compete in their respective marketplaces.

If you’ve done this with success, applying that experience in creating solutions is an invaluable contribution in fixing this terrible recession we’re in. Business Savvy Public Servants are what's needed in the legislature RIGHT NOW! The current crop of legislators (mostly republicans) in Atlanta have no clue what's going on beside doling out Tax Cuts which has done very little in stimulating Georgia's Economy. Bigger & Bolder ideas as well as "SMART Tax Cuts that will benefit EVERYONE are needed to get this state out of its rut or more jobs will be leaving the state sooner rather than later.

The Georgia Democratic Party needs to attract talented business savvy, business friendly conservatives in its ranks who can think outside of the box. Who can offer new ways to create jobs. The same 'ol policies going back to the LBJ era aren't going to work anymore. Be different than the current Georgia GOP who are following the lead of its National Counterparts, the National Republican party in enacting policies that only help the very comfortable, well-to-do constituents that line their pockets with campaign donations. Like the liberal democratic policies of the 60s & 70s, the Conservative republican politics of the 80s are not going to work either. Something new is needed, not recycled policies of the past.

Majority-Minority Voting Districts and Their Role in Politics

Do two rights ever make a wrong? When it comes to two important aspects of voting rights, the answer may be yes.

The first is the use of majority-minority districts. These are political districts in which members of a racial minority make up an effective voting majority. This gives them the ability to participate and elect representatives of their own choosing, and has been the solution of choice in situations where there is, or could be, racial vote dilution.

But majority-minority districts give rise to a dynamic that undercuts the very goal they are designed to achieve. While they improve the ability of minority voters to elect a candidate of their choice in a particular district, they also cost their preferred political party other valuable seats in the legislature.

This, however, is less the fault of the majority-minority districts than of the second aspect of voting rights: the strict application of the one person, one vote standard.

Majority-minority districts have at least one very curious effect: they help Republicans. This is curious because minority voters, especially blacks, vote for Democrats in overwhelming numbers.

The theory goes like this. When creating a majority-minority political district, the additional minority voters must come from somewhere. That somewhere is adjoining districts, which are drained of their minority voters. Those voters, though, are not merely minority voters-they are also reliably Democratic voters. And this makes it more likely that the Republican candidates will prevail in those adjoining districts.

Would this actually happen in practice? It's well-documented that it already has. Now, after the 1990 census, scores of majority-minority districts were created in order to comply with the mandates of the Voting Rights Act. For example, thirteen additional majority-black Congressional districts were created. They, in turn, produced thirteen additional black representatives. Majority-minority districting did, indeed, lead to the election of the candidates of the minorities' choosing.

Unfortunately, a large number of studies of the 1992 and 1994 Congressional elections revealed that this additional representation came at a cost. As a result of majority-minority districting, Democrats lost at least ten seats to Republicans. When minority voters were drained out of adjoining districts, Republican majorities were the result.

Both parties apparently notice that majority-minority districts tend to help Republicans overall, and hurt Democrats overall. In the early 1990s, the Republican National Committee pushed for the creation of more black and Hispanic districts as part of a strategy to win additional seats in the House. And in states like here in Georgia, Democrats sought to reduce the number of safe minority districts in order to improve the party's chances overall. In doing so, both parties were acting contrary to their general positions on race-conscious lawmaking.

Minority voting rights advocates, then, was faced with a choice between pushing districting plans that increase the number of minority representatives and those that increase the number of Democratic representatives. This is a real dilemma, since, of the two major parties, Democrats are generally more sympathetic to minority interests (hence the overwhelming support).

And this raises several important questions. First, we've seen that, as a result of majority-minority districting, minority voters ,who overwhelming vote Democratic, end up with fewer Democratic Congressmen & women.

But remember, the key to fulfilling the mandates of the Voting Rights Act involves ensuring effective minority participation. Democrats would be helped but would they be helped unfairly?

I think the answer is a clear no! Given that most minority groups overwhelmingly support Democrats, it makes some sense that if minorities' ability to participate truly does improve, Democrats would benefit. At least it makes more sense than what's currently happening.

What does all of this mean for this and future elections? Well, given the margins enjoyed by Republicans in Congress and many state legislatures, it reminds us that some of those Republican victories may be a result of majority-minority districting, not any genuine change in the country's political views.

To see what I'm talking about, just keep an eye on the 2nd Congressional District, as well as the 8th Congressional District where Republicans would probably look one of their own, Austin Scott by making the 2nd more democratic friendly by packing more African-American Voters into Bishop's District, while making Scott's 8th more white & republican. This is called Gerrymandering & this has hurt democrats more than it has hurt republicans, on the congressional & local level as well.

Georgia Public Schools & School Vouchers

We all know the republicans love School Vouchers to death, which will divert public money to the private sector, therefore putting Georgia Public Schools on a sure path towards a sure, but slow death.

Let's face it, the School Voucher issue is about politics. Nothing else!

12 years ago, Grover Norquist, one of the most influential Republican strategists said in a 1998 interview with Insight , the magazine of the conservative Washington Times, has long recognized the partisan value of vouchers, sometimes euphemistically referred to as "choice." "School choice reaches right into the heart of the Democratic coalition and takes people out of it.

The teacher unions back up their support for the Democratic Party with money and grassroots organization. After all, public schools exist in every municipality and county in the state. Unlike manufacturing, teaching cannot be outsourced to Mexico, China, or Bangladesh.

School vouchers are a way to diminish that power. "School choice allows children and money to leave the system, and that means there will be fewer public teacher jobs, lower union membership, and lower dues. It's long been obvious that vouchers are an attack on teacher unions. The main motivation of some of the choice supporters was to weaken public education unions. Another thing, eliminating public education may seem un-American. but a growing number of movement conservatives have signed a so-called proclamation from the Alliance for the Separation of School and State that favors ending government involvement in education.

While universal vouchers remain the goal, for tactical reasons conservatives have wrapped vouchers in the mantle of concern for poor African Americans and Latinos. Indeed,some voucher supporters are fond of calling school choice the new civil rights movement. This plays well not only with voters of color but also with liberal suburban whites who, while they may be leery of allowing significant numbers of minorities into their schools, nonetheless support the concept of equal rights for all.

Even if Republicans fail to woo African Americans and Latinos to the Republican Party, they may dampen African American and Latino voter turnout--a neutralization strategy, as it were. The Republican emphasis on vouchers runs the risk of alienating moderate Republicans who support public education. Such support is strong not only in rural areas where public schools are a vital part of the community and private schools are few, but also in suburban communities with strong, well-funded public schools.

But that won't stop conservatives , who view vouchers as a key ingredient in their effort to "downsize" government services. "The problem is that the federal government hands out billions of dollars, and people will lie, cheat, steal, or bribe to get it.

If you have a big cake, and you put it under the sink and then you wonder why the cockroaches are in your kitchen, I don't think any sprays or blocking the holes in the walls are going to get rid of the cockroaches. You've got to throw the cake in the trash so that the cockroaches don't have something to come for."

The people of Georgia do not view public schoolteachers and students as cockroaches. The overwhelming majority strongly support public schools. They don't want them dismantled; they just want them to work better.

But you can expect that with a increased majority in both Chambers & with Nathan Deal in control of the mansion, the thought of school vouchers maybe one step close to reality.