Negative Ads, Lies Key For GOP against Jason Carter

Candidate for Gov. Jason Carter

Negative campaigning is hardly new, and already the Republican Governors Association in association with Nathan Deal are already running a misleading ad against challenger Jason Carter as Deal'a approval rating has dipped way below 50% and polling shows Carter either neck & neck or with a slight lead over the incumbent. Mudslinging is crucial to the Republican plan for this year's midterm elections, because the party's hold on the governor's mansion power will hinge on shifting attention from the state's educational system, cuts to the Hope Scholarship, Jobs and Medicaid and other state issues that cut against him. And let's not forget about the Ethics problem that continue to haunt Deal since he left congress 4 years ago.

When people are looking at issues that are affecting Georgia and that are not breaking the way favorably for Deal & Co, what you want to do is focus on your opponent and that's what the latest RGA ad does against Carter, accusing him of supporting to expand Obamacare, where in fact he supports expanding medicaid. They took his support of expanding medicaid and twist it in a attempt to say he support expanding Obamacare. It's a tough tactic, one they hope will drive up Carter's negatives among Georgia voters especially among white swing voters.

Their strategy from now up to November is to define Carter immediately and unrelentingly. The strategy rests on the widely held belief that negative political ads make more of an impression on voters than positive one. Voters are in some ways more ready to accept the negative about politicians than the positive and they often say they would like to see a more reasoned debate in campaigns and more talk about the ideas, but in fact they often respond to negative ads because they tend to find them more credible.

So the question now for the Carter campaign is how to respond to a attack ad that takes his support of medicaid as a interpretation that he supports Obamacare, which are entirely two different things.

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:!

How Rural Georgians View Their Republican-Led State Government

How can it be that in rural areas of Georgia, where many communities are dying and lots of individuals are struggling to make ends meet, there is a strong preference for limited government and thus considerable

Cochran, Ga 

support for right wing politicians and the Republican Party? In rural areas as in cities, many poor individuals vote for Democrats.

In my stop through Henderson, Ga yesterday at a local small business, Hank Murrow, a 60 yr old retired truck driver and self described conservative democrat during our short conversation explained: "Rural places often get extra government help and pay lower taxes per person, compared to suburban and rural areas". Well he's right, some folks suggest that rural Georgians just do not understand their own economic interests. Rural Georgians are distracted by cultural appeals. Guns, abortion, and religion are pegged as hot-button diversions that allow right wing politicians to gain office with appeals against government.

But let me present a different answer..... Many Georgians living in places outside of the cities and nearby suburbs think of themselves first and foremost as “rural people,” as members of communities  that get short shrift from government and politicians. For Georgians with what I call rural consciousness, government is not understood policy by policy. It is viewed more in its entirety, as an outside force that largely ignores rural places and is unlikely ever to understand the true needs of rural people or give them their fair share of public resources.

As I listened to ongoing conversations over the past two weekends in Lee, Bleckley, Houston Counties, I found that many rural residents perceive their communities as the victims of government decisions that routinely ignore or misunderstand rural needs and use rural resources to disproportionately help more privileged urbanites. Georgia has several large metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Columbus, Albany just to name a few. To people like Leo Nalls, a 72 yr old retiree from Leesburg and a republican put it, "In the areas of Georgia away from those metropolitan centers, many people around here perceive that Atlanta draws in all of the state’s resources and spends most of those resources on itself or not only on urban centers, but upscale suburban areas of the state like Johns Creek, Dunwoody, Canton, Cumming, for example".

Urban and suburban decision-makers, as non-metropolitan Georgians see them, have little understanding of rural lifestyles and values. Inadequate appreciation of the continuous hard work and  neighborliness that go on in most rural communities, where people have long struggled with difficult economic circumstances. Rural Georgians in these counties say republican lawmakers from the Metro Atlanta area and Northern Georgia hold all of the decisions.

The link between the Republican Party here in Georgia and rural areas is not simply about economic interests. Much of the explanation lies in the social perspectives rural folks use to interpret  politics. For many people in rural communities, as government policies championed by Democrats are the work of urbanites understood as culturally distinct from and dismissive of  rural people like themselves.

Another interesting exchange I had over the weekend was with a woman in Bleckley County who didn't want her name to be mentioned, but she teaches school in the Bleckley County School System who said she voted for Nathan Deal in 2010, but now is looking at Democratic Candidate Jason Carter. She said, None of the politicians ever come to see us until it's time for them to seek re-election. She then goes on to say "I'm happy that Gov. Deal is putting over $500 million dollars toward education, it's a good start, but money alone isn't going to solve the current crisis many schools south of Macon are facing and that alone won't be enough to satisfy teachers who have grown disgruntled by the continued cuts to education by the Republicans over the last decade". "And with the new changes to teachers healthcare plan, Deal, she says have dug himself into a hole". I then asked her if she thought it was because of the ACA, or "Obamacare" that those changes were taking place? She replied: "NO, that's just a easy way for Gov. Deal and the Republicans to deflect attention away from their mistake and put it on the ACA, which is unpopular at the moment".

Medicaid and Rural Georgia: A Political Issue in 2014? You Better Believe It!

It's a program geared toward Rural White, Black, Elderly, and Young Residents who are heavily dependent on the program

With the latest population trends, Medicaid is becoming increasingly important to rural areas, in Georgia. Medicaid is the program that pays for medical services for those too poor to afford their own coverage, and it's funded by a combination of federal and state dollars.

In rural communities, Medicaid has become the only insurer for many people, particularly children, whose parents work at low-wage jobs with no health care coverage. It provides health care services and access to health care for a large number of rural Georgians who probably wouldn't have access to those services otherwise, whose health would suffer because of that. So, from a human perspective, it provides necessary services and access that these populations need.

So my question is why is Governor Nathan Deal and State Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens so opposed to expanding medicaid here in the Peach State.  Sadly these men rather put politics and their party ahead of Georgians those who desperately need some type of coverage.

Medicaid also is an economic engine in rural areas like Wheeler, Echols, Baker, Jenkins Counties, etc and literally keeping some hospitals and clinics open.

Those hospitals and clinics, the backbone of the rural healthcare infrastructure, who are depended so much on Medicaid and Medicare payments that they probably couldn't keep their doors open otherwise. We've already hospitals close in Charlton, Stewart, Habersham and Calhoun County.

Many look at Medicaid as the classic "welfare" program, which it is, but in my view, that isn't the case. It really does provide a necessary benefit and necessary services to working people, what we sometimes refer to as the working poor. 

Those who are dependent on medicaid are: Children, Low-income disabled, Low-income elderly, Low-Income families and Pregnant women.

Medicaid is a critical piece of the rural health care system and the refusal of the governor to expand medicaid and the Insurance Commissioner opposition to the expansion of medicaid will be a campaign issue come 2014.

With Deal facing two GOP challengers and if he's able to escape the primary will face State Senator Jason Carter, a centrist democrat and the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter. 

The one down ballot race that's sure to receive plenty of attention will be Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, but so far no democrat have announced nor shown any interest in taking on the anti-health incumbent. 

GA-2014: A Jason Carter-Carl Camon Tandem Looks Very Appealing From My Neck of the Woods

By now many of you know that State Senator Jason Carter will run for governor next year. As a result of that, previously announced candidate for governor, ex State Sen & DeKalb Commissioner Connie Stokes decided to drop down and run for Lt. Governor. Nothing wrong with that

Camon during his 2010 run for Governor

But as I was thinking, the one person would pair perfectly with Jason Carter in the 2014 General Election....Carl Camon, the former Mayor of Ray City (Berrien County) and 2010 gubernatorial candidate for governor. Camon hails from South Georgia, a area which democrats have not committed to compete in over a decade.

Camon served five terms as mayor of Ray City, helped start Georgia's first municipal Pre-K Program, served 10 years in the U.S. Air force and was listed as Georgia's 40 under 40 rising stars in Georgia a few years ago by Georgia Trend Magazine.

During his 2010 run for governor, Camon stated when it comes to education, he believed that many of Georgia's problems were linked to education. He supported returning authority to teachers and increase their pay to the National Average and he also would encourage teachers to retire after 25 years to reduce cost in addition he would phase out alternative schools and work to reduce the number of students who repeat grades. With education being one of State Senator Carter's top platforms in 2014, this would seem like a perfect match for the 2014 General Election.

Camon is a Rural, Conservative African American Democrat who opposed abortion, supports the second amendment, Pre-K, Hope and QBE. Nothing against Connie Stokes, but in a general election, a duo of Moderate Jason Carter and Conservative Carl Camon, two young, smart Georgia politicos would be formidable and both would be a friend of Rural Georgia.

I don't know whether or not Camon would run for office again and currently he's doing some great things down in South Georgia, but the thought of Carter-Camon '14 is something to think about.

Nathan Deal - Trick or Treat - air

Look & Listen very closely to Deal.

We all know that Deal is a Birther, something he denies. Here's one of the mailings that Deal says is a negative attack on him. Well if you put 2 & 2 together, you'll see that the dots are connected. Look at the mailing & the youtube video in which he questions Obama's place of Birth.

There's More? Ex-Rep. Nathan Deal Paid $245,000 to Aide’s Wife

By Jennifer Yachnin of Roll Call Staff

Ex-Rep. Nathan Deal’s Congressional office paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Georgia company owned by his top staffer’s wife to fly to and from his Congressional district, but the staffer did not report the income on his financial disclosure forms because he claims the couple made no profit.

House rules prohibit Members from purchasing services from a staff member but appear to be silent on purchasing from a staff member’s spouse.According to House spending records, which detail the finances of each lawmaker’s office, Deal’s office paid Gainesville, Ga.-based Chattahoochee Logistics LLC at least $245,000 from 2002 to 2008.

Former House aide Chris Riley, who now serves as Deal’s campaign manager in the Georgia gubernatorial race, founded that company in 2003 and served as Deal’s pilot on Chattahoochee Logistics flights, as first reported last month by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The company is now in his wife’s control.In an interview Monday, Riley told Roll Call that he has not received any payment from Chattahoochee Logistics and received no additional compensation for serving as Deal’s pilot on those flights.“

I’ve never received income from Chattahoochee Logistics,” Riley said.A campaign spokesman referred questions about Chattahoochee Logistics to attorney Randy Evans at McKenna, Long & Aldridge.Evans confirmed that the LLC “had a single member” at the time it received payments from Deal’s office — Riley’s spouse, Bambi Riley — who would have received any income the company generated.Members and senior aides who must file annual financial disclosures are required to disclose the source of any non-Congressional income greater than $200, as well as the source of any income exceeding $1,000 earned by their spouse in the previous calendar year.Chris Riley’s publicly available financial disclosure forms, filed each year from 2004 to 2009, do not show Bambi Riley earning income from Chattahoochee Logistics.

Deal resigned in March to run for governor of Georgia; his campaign said Chattahoochee Logistics was “profit-neutral” when it received Congressional funds. Evans said: “It was virtually break-even.”In 2008, Chattahoochee Logistics also reimbursed the House for more than $80,000 in “overpayments” based on revised travel rules as determined by an internal audit, as the Atlanta newspaper reported.

The first two disclosure forms Chris Riley filed indicated that he was president of Chattahoochee Logistics, but the company dropped off his later forms.Riley said he subsequently removed himself as a member of the LLC, although he continues to manage the company in an uncompensated position. Records maintained by the Georgia secretary of state list the company’s principal office at Riley’s home address in Gainesville.

Riley added that he received advice from the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.“The staff director of the Standards Committee said, ‘Do I get paid to drive a car?’” Riley recalled. “‘So why should you get paid to fly an airplane?’”Individuals familiar with the arrangement said Chattahoochee Logistics was paid based on the mileage reimbursement rates applied to an aircraft privately owned by a Member or staff for travel.“The goal is to pay what’s owed, and not a penny more and not a penny less,” Evans said.

The specific costs related to flight — such as hangar fees, fuel or maintenance — are unknown because the reimbursement rate covers only mileage.Evans could not say what Chattahoochee Logistics would have charged other customers because the company did not provide air travel services to anyone other than Deal. Evans said Bambi Riley uses Chattahoochee Logistics in connection with her real estate career, stating it is not a “single-use company.”According to the House Ethics Manual, lawmakers are prohibited from spending their official office budget, known as a Members’ Representational Allowance, on services provided by a Member’s spouse or staff.

Among the examples provided in the manual, the House ethics committee states that a lawmaker is prohibited from renting space in a building when that building is owned by a member of his or her staff.There is no explicit admonition against purchasing services from the spouse or family of a staff member.

Riley has run afoul of ethics rules before, returning more than $91,000 to Deal’s campaign in 2008 after a Roll Call survey found he had exceeded outside income limits for top Congressional staff from 2004 to 2007.Riley repaid that sum in June 2008, but the campaign subsequently returned the money to him in February 2009.

He then donated an identical amount to Gainesville-based Good News Clinics, which provides free medical services to low-income or homeless individuals.“This was the process that we were asked to follow by the Standards Committee,” Riley said. He said the ethics committee allowed him to choose between writing a check to the U.S. Treasury or a 501(c)(3) charity.

CONGRESSMAN DEAL LIKES TO GIVE HIMSELF A LEG-UP IN THE WORKPLACE WHILE KEEPING THE GLASS CEILING INTACT

Presser from the Barnes Campaign

When it comes to the workplace, Congressman Deal knows all about how to make an office environment comfortable. For instance, in his Congressional office, Deal voted at least six times to increase his salary to the tune of $21,000 and he used office time and resources for personal gain. So it comes as a shock that Congressman Deal wouldn't want to afford women the same workplace standards and perks.

One of Deal's first acts in Congress was to vote against the Family Medical Leave Act which enables employees to take unpaid leave for major family events such as the birth or adoption of a child or the care of a seriously ill loved one.

Then in 2009, Congressman Deal voted against the landmark equal pay legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which ensures that victims of pay discrimination can challenge unequal pay. This was not the first time Deal voted against equal pay for men and women in the workplace - he voted against it at least three other times.

Click here to read more about Congressman Deal's votes against women in the workplace.

"Congressman Deal loves a cushy gig; in fact, if he hadn't been run out of Washington D.C. by the Congressional Ethics Committee, he probably would have stayed up there a little longer and voted to increase his salary a few more times," spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams said.

"Unfortunately for Georgia's working women, Congressman Deal doesn't want them to have a cushy gig like his, much less equal protection and rights under the law. Georgia's professional women have worked too hard and come too far to let someone like Congressman Deal be the CEO of this state."

Unlike his opponent, Roy Barnes has worked to provide a level playing field and create opportunities for women in Georgia. As governor, he provided incentives for businesses who created on-site child care centers and he created the Mentor Protege Program to help minority and women-owned small businesses. Under his leadership, Georgia moved from 48th to 19th in the ranking of states with women in leadership roles.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women comprise roughly half of the workforce, yet men take home 20 percent more than women do based on median weekly earnings.

Deal tried to weakened Rape Shield Law according to Barnes Campaign

Last week Roy 2010 released a new ad exposing Congressman Nathan Deal's attempt to gut Georgia's rape shield law and strip women of their basic protections. Unfortunately, the rape shield isn't the only time Deal tried to impede the justice system for Georgia's women - on four separate occasions, he voted to oppose domestic violence bills.In 1981, then-State Senator Roy Barnes authored legislation that allowed police to make an arrest, without warrant, of individuals suspected of committing violent acts against their spouses. Nathan Deal fought against the bill. His excuse? He said it violated the "sanctity of the family."

Several years later, Deal solidified his anti-women resume by casting the lone "nay" vote on a bill that strengthened domestic violence laws. While every other member of the state legislature voted to strengthen domestic violence laws, Nathan Deal made a point of voting against the best interest of Georgia's women.

Downloads:
Click here to read more about Deal's voting record.
News articles about Deal's record on domestic violence can be found here.
Deal's voting record on Barnes' 1988 Domestic Violence Bill can be found here and here."

The Governor of Georgia is tasked with the important responsibility of ensuring that our citizens are safe," said spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams. "Time after time, Congressman Deal voted in the interest of the criminal - not the female victim. Thankfully, other members of the legislature - like Roy Barnes - fought Deal's attempts to hurt women. But if he's elected governor - the safety of women could be jeopardized."

"After fighting against the Domestic Violence Act and trying to gut the rape shield law, Congressman Deal owes Georgia's women and the countless victims of physical and sexual assault across this state an apology. You can tell a lot about the character of a man...you can also tell when that man shouldn't be your governor," Williams said.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, in 2009 there were 62,156 reported cases of family violence and over a quarter of those involved spouses.

South Georgia Voters will be key in Governor's Race

Great Story from the AP via Tifton Gazette:

The sun was barely up on a recent weekday morning when Nathan Deal arrived at the Blueberry Inn in this sleepy south Georgia town and began shaking hands with the Republican faithful who had gathered over coffee to meet their nominee for governor.

Later that same day, Democrat Roy Barnes was about 70 miles west in Tifton wooing teachers with his plans to get the state's schools back on track.

In this hotly contested election year, the road to the governor's mansion could lead through south Georgia. Both Barnes and Deal say the region is critical to their election strategies.

Anyone needing further proof needs only to look at how much time the candidates are spending there. Barnes and Deal have each been south of the so-called "gnat line" — which splits middle and south Georgia from the rest of the state — once or twice a week since they won their respective parties' nominations.

The heavy focus on the vast bottom half of the state comes down to a simple matter of electoral math. Deal hails from north Georgia and will almost certainly perform well in the conservative part of the state he has represented for 18 years in Congress.

Barnes, the former one-term governor from Cobb County, is widely expected to draw support in voter-rich metro Atlanta, the state's Democratic stronghold.

That means the rest of the state is — at least theoretically — up for grabs.

For Barnes, it means trying to win back the regions that deserted him in his re-election bid. Fueled by anger over Barnes' push to shrink the Confederate battle emblem on the state's flag, south Georgia voters turned out in numbers in 2002 and voted against Barnes, helping elect Republican Sonny Perdue. "South Georgia will decide this race," said Roger Boatright, chairman of the Bacon County Board of Commissioners. "You have two flawed candidates. I think it really could go either way.

Libertarian John Monds is a wild card who hails from Cairo in the southwest corner of the state and could pull some local support.

Today, the region — rural and still reliant on agriculture — has been hit hard by economic woes. Many voters there told The Associated Press it was pocketbook issues, rather than partisanship, that would determine their vote. But it was opposition to Democratic leadership in Washington, in particular President Barack Obama, that got voters riled up. Sometimes, the race for the state's top spot seemed almost an afterthought.

"People just hate Obama so badly," 54-year-old Peggy Lee, of Alma, said after Deal's appearance. "It's hard for some folks here to get past that and see anything else." Paul Bennett, a 55-year-old banker from Alma, said he liked that Deal was a businessman who "knows how to meet a payroll." "But quite honestly I think more people are paying attention to what's happening at the national level right now," Bennett said.

That could be bad news for Barnes. Voters are associating the state's economic problems with Democrats at the helm in Washington, not Republicans who have led the state for the past eight years. And in a year of anti-incumbent fervor, some say Deal's long tenure in the nation's capital could actually play well.

Darwin Carter, a failed GOP candidate for agriculture commissioner, introduced Deal at the Blueberry Inn by stressing that the former congressman's deep knowledge of Washington would help defeat "Obamacare." To beat the enemy, Carter suggested, you have to know the enemy's game.

"Right now it's extremely important to have someone who understands Washington in the governor's office," Carter said. Leroy Carver, chairman of the Bacon County Republican Party, summed up a sentiment held by a number of Deal backers: "We don't need four more years of Roy Barnes, no way."

"He's been down here a lot," Carver acknowledged. "But he can play the country boy act up all he wants, he's not one of us."

Others, past a few cotton fields up the road in Douglas, have different thoughts that suggest the region may be conservative — but not monolithic. The closure a year ago of a poultry processing plant was a devastating blow to Douglas, residents said. It is set to reopen, but some say Republicans in Atlanta have done little to help. "I think Roy Barnes might do a better job on the economy," John Martin, owner of the Hometown Barber Shop, said between cuts. "I lean Republican but to me the most important thing is jobs, and the economy."

Doug Douglas, a police officer from Ocilla, said he never thought he would consider voting for Barnes after he changed the flag. "But I might," Douglas said. "It's not like I've forgiven him for that, but I've moved on. There are other things that are more important now in my book."

During a town hall with teachers in Tifton at Tift County High School, one question from the audience suggested 2002 was not so long ago.
"I didn't vote for Sonny Perdue. I voted against you," Spud Bowen told Barnes.
"Alright, well that's OK," Barnes said with a chuckle, who proceeded to answer Bowen's question about student testing. Afterward, Bowen, who runs a business selling class rings and other school supplies said he was impressed. "He definitely gave me a lot to think about," Bowen said. "I was supposed to be heading from here to a Nathan Deal fundraiser."

Asked if he still planned to attend the Deal event, Bowen paused and then said, "I don't think I am."

More Nathan Deal Ethics Troubles?

Associated Press: According to a report by WAGA-TV, Deal’s then-chief of staff Chris Riley sent e-mails to county officials on his House of Representatives e-mail account, inquiring about the effort. House ethics rules prohibit using government resources for private gain.

The station also said Deal appeared in person before county officials to start the process.

The road request was followed by a rezoning request by Deal’s auto salvage business to turn the 137 acres of property at the end of the road into a landfill. The property ended up being rezoned.

Professor Harvey Newman, chairman of Georgia State University Department Public Management and Policy, said such behavior crosses an ethical boundary and erodes public trust in public officials.

“It’s the use of a public office and the abuse of that public office in time, equipment and personnel that is inappropriate for public officials,” Newman told the TV station.

Earlier this year, the Office of Congressional Ethics said Deal’s lobbying of state officials in 2008 and 2009 to preserve a lucrative state arrangement for his auto salvage business may have violated House ethics rules by using official resources for his private gain. Deal met three times with state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham

Repub Committee member resigns over Deal's candidacy & says "alot more will be coming out"!

Down in Lee County, Jeff Sexton of SWGAPolitics.com broke a story last night on his website about a State GOP committee member resigning over the candidacy of Congressman Nathan Deal for governor of Georgia.

After reading this last night, a couple of paragraphs jumped out at me:

Nathan Deal is a desperate man and we all know that desperate people do desperate things. We do not need a desperate man and the people he surrounds himself with holding and working in the highest office in this state! That is crystal clear!
The real and correct focus of the media and voters should be on all of the deceptive, intentional and calculated actions of Nathan Deal and culpable Members of his Campaign Staff as well as business partners that are culpable in his campaign misconduct for the highest office in this state.


You can trust there is a heck of a lot more that will be coming out that further displays that Nathan Deal is not acceptable and incapable of being the Governor of this great state and that is why I was proactive in my actions to informing people of what was to become of Nathan Deal’s true reputation as an elected legislator and public/private officer in any organization. My actions have been supported by the facts that have recently been covered by the media and numerous people on-line.
I am personally aware that only half of the misconduct has become public and the rest is yet to come (in a timely manner)! Not that what we already know about Nathan Deal’s personal, business and as a candidates conduct is sufficient enough reason for voters to insure that he is held accountable and not electable to any office.

Read closely what Carter says: YOU CAN TRUST THERE IS A HECK OF A LOT MORE THAT WILL BE COMING OUT THAT FURTHER DISPLAYS THAT NATHAN DEAL IS NOT ACCEPTABLE & INCAPABLE OF BEING THE GOVERNOR OF THIS GREAT STATE & THAT IS WHI I WAS PROACTIVE IN MY ACTIONS TO INFORM PEOPLE OF WHAT WAS TO BECOME OF NATHAN DEAL'S TRUE REPUTATION AS AN ELECTED LEGISLATOR & PUBLIC/PRIVATE OFFICER IN ANY ORGANIZATION.

What more could there be that voters don't know about Nathan Deal???


Click on link at top of page to see more at SWGAPoltiics.com

Will the NRA back Roy Barnes again for governor?

An endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA) is seen as one of the biggest endorsements a candidate can get. In some cases it is, while in other cases is not (Rob Teilhet in 2010 Dem. Primary)

So here we are in a governor's race than many have rated as a Toss-Up two Pro-Gun candidates for governor vying to replace Sonny Perdue next year.

Roy Barnes was endorsed by the powerful gun group in '98 & '02.

Said Tanya Metaksa back in 1998: Roy Barnes is an NRA life member and he has the highest rating from the NRA a candidate may receive. "An experienced legislator, he truly shares NRA's bedrock principles of safety, responsibility and freedom."


Barnes' family had sold guns at the Barnes Store in Mableton for decades, and he learned to hunt at a young age. As a legislator, he has opposed waiting periods for gun buyers, but supported the instant background check that is currently part of state law.

His opponent Nathan Deal has also been supported by the NRA as well for his votes against anti-gun legislation as a former congressman from the 9th District.

We will have to wait & see if the NRA gets involved in this race before its all over.

Thoughts on Barnes, Deal Race so far.

Let me call it like I see it: Right now Barnes looks like a Strong, Decisive, Confident leader, while Nathan Deal looks Weak, ineffective & in some ways naive.

Deal is the weakest candidate that the GOP have fielded here in Georgia since the 1980s with no ability to inspire the public’s imagination.

With the state facing a record unemployment rate, rising deficits, a stalled economy, and a education & water crisis that bit by bit is eating away at Georgia's pride, this may very well be the year of all years that democrats may see a light at the end of the tunnel. Deal has fallen at or below 45% while Barnes is stalled between 39-43%. But the more I look at this race, the polls may not be an indicator on what might happen on November 2. The Rural Vote will determine whether or not Barnes will become governor again.

Someone told me this yesterday that some republican-leaning voters who maybe supporting Barnes aren't going to do it openly like displaying a Yard Sign in his/her yard or mentioning it among their friends. There might be some truth to that notion!

What Barnes & other "competitive" statewide democrats need to do is to enlarge the state electorate, democrats have relied on the Urban, Liberal votes hoping it would be enough to carry them over the finish line. I saw this as a problem when Mark Taylor was running for governor in 2006. Trips to rural Georgia were minimal at best while using the National Democratic strategy of ignoring the rural vote altogether.

The ability for Thurmond, Barnes, Porter to stir Georgians at a deeper level than politics ordinarily does is the biggest advantage they have. If you look at Isakson's Ads, its full of GOP talking points & you see the same thing from Deal & Cagle.

None of these candidates can inspire the electorate Barnes can tap into a repressed memory of what politics can be like when it lifts our aspirations instead of dashing them when at a time its badly needed.

In addition you got to look at both men's character (Barnes, Deal)

To address the character point its absolutely vital because they give people the best possible guidance as to what you're going to do, in the end the real test of being a governor, is how you respond to the difficult crises that are put in front of you. That is when character and your reaction come to the fore. Can you build a good team, can you listen to people, do you think before making decisions, do you basically understand the instincts of those you're trying to govern? That's all about character, and in the end I think that's more important than any one particular policy. Like many out there, I can't get a good feel about Deal. He never had a tough challenger in his entire political career except when first ran for congress in 1992 (as a democrat).

Now faced with a tough race, many of his skeletons that were kept in the closet are all coming out now & it seems like every other day or week something new is coming out about Deal that'll continue his drop in the polls & eventually voters will makeup their minds & come to a conclusion that they do not have confidence in Deal's ability to govern this state out of the economic & educational mess it has been left in by the Perdue Administration & weak leadership from the General Assembly.

If you can't keep your own house in order, how in the hell can you keep the state's house in order with close to 10 million people living in it?

Rasmussen Poll: Deal 45% - Barnes 39%

A new Rasmussen Poll out shows Deal leading Barnes by 6% according to their new poll.

Nathan Deal (R) 45%

Roy Barnes (D) 39%

John Monds (L) 5%

Some other candidate 6%

Not sure 5%



The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Georgia Voters finds Deal with 45% support, while Barnes earns 39% of the vote when leaners are included. Libertarian candidate John Monds trails with five percent (5%). Six percent (6%) prefer another candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

This marks a fallback for Deal whose support has been steadily rising from 43% in March to 51% last month. But Barnes is also at the low end of his support, having earned 39% to 43% of the vote in those same surveys back to March. This is the first survey to include Monds.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Georgia was conducted on September 21, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Deal has the support of 81% of Georgia Republicans, while 76% of the state’s Democrats back Barnes, who hopes to reclaim the governorship he led from 1999 to 2003. Voters not affiliated with either party prefer the GOP candidate by 10 points. Monds earns single-digit support from all three groups.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Deal supporters say they’ve already made up their minds how they will vote in November. Sixty-two percent (62%) of those who favor Barnes also say they are certain of how they will vote, as are 76% of those who support Monds.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Georgia voters consider themselves a part of the Tea Party movement or know someone who is. Sixty-one percent (61%) do not. This is comparable to findings nationwide.

Deal earns 77% of the vote from those who are part of the Tea Party movement or know someone who is.

Nearly half (49%) of voters in the state believe the Tea Party movement is good for the country, while 30% think it’s a bad thing.

Forty-nine percent (49%) of Georgia voters have a favorable opinion of Deal, with 13% who view him Very Favorably. He is viewed unfavorably by 40%, including 20% with a Very Unfavorable view.

For Barnes, favorables are 44% and unfavorables 50%, including 17% Very Favorable and 29% Very Unfavorable.

Monds is regarded favorably by 28% and unfavorably by 26%. This includes six percent (6%) Very Favorable and nine percent (9%) Very Unfavorable. But 46% don’t know enough about the Libertarian hopeful to voice any kind of opinion of him.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of Georgia voters approve of the job being done by Republican Governor Sonny Perdue, who defeated Barnes in 2002. Forty-four percent (44%) disapprove. This is a slight improvement from a month ago. Perdue is term-limited and cannot seek reelection.

IA/WSB Poll shows the two tied at 42%, while Mason/Dixon shows Deal 45% Barnes 41%.

One thing for sure, Deal has taken a big hit in the polls, while Barnes has been between the 39-43% range.

Sally Yates: The Person Who Could Put the Nail in Nathan Deal's political Coffin

There's one person who is forgotten in all of the Deal Ethical & financial Saga:

Sally Yates, who is U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia could hold the key to determining if Nathan Deal will get the hammer brought down on him regarding the no-bid contract between his auto salvage business and the state.

Here's the low-down:

Nathan Deal, the republican candidate for governor, personally intervened with Georgia leaders to preserve an obscure state program that earns his company nearly $300,000 a year. Deal on three occasions in the past year and a half met with state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham to question proposed changes Graham wanted to make in the way Georgia inspects rebuilt salvaged vehicles. Deal coordinated his efforts through the office of a political ally, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle who make up one half of the "Gainesville Mafia" along with Deal.

Deal and Ken Cronan own and operate Recovery Services Inc., also known as Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, which for nearly 20 years has enjoyed a lucrative agreement with the state that earned the company $1.5 million from 2004 through 2008 according to state records. The company provides a location and equipment for state inspectors to examine salvaged vehicles. Deal left congress just before the heat was about to get on him.

Keep an eye on Yates in the whole Nathan Deal SAGA. What if she come down on Deal with some sort of a indictment, how would that affect the governor's race, as well as down ballot candidates as well. Does she have the spine to do such a thing?

Nathan Deal: "I don't Know about it"........REALLY?

In a article by Aaron Gould Shenin of the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday Nathan Deal says he didn't know about his son-in-law had previously filed for bankruptcy when when he invested $2 million of his own money into a business venture with his daughter and the man she married.

REALLY???

Here's Deal trying to explan:


We believe that they understand these are tough economic times,” Deal said. “A recession of this magnitude, that takes down the largest banks, the largest insurance companies, the largest car companies in the country, has taken down hundreds of thousands of small businesses, not only in our state but all across the nation. Unfortunately, my daughter and son-in-law were in a retail business that happened to. So I don’t know. I don’t know what the impact is

It time to call Deal's judgment, honesty into question as well as his trustworthiness as he vye for the governorship which is slipping away day after day.

Tom Crawford's Georgia Report: Reasons for Deal’s campaign to worry

Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact says the Deal campaign has plenty to worry about between now & November 2.

Read it here:

If there was no other reason for Nathan Deal to worry about his campaign for governor at this particular point in time, there would be this: a poll conducted by Mason-Dixon shows he is ahead of Roy Barnes by four points.

It should be remembered that Mason-Dixon did the polling in the primary elections for the Georgia Newspaper Partnership, that awkward coalition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers that is attempting to make up for disappearing editorial staffs by pooling their political coverage. Mason-Dixon, to put it politely, was probably the least accurate of the firms who were out in the field polling the primary voters (you can read a brief analysis of it here).

The fact that the AJC and its partners are still using Anne Cox Chambers’ assets to pay money to Mason-Dixon for polling services will remain one of the big mysteries of Georgia politics, but there you are. The latest Mason-Dixon poll shows Deal is leading Roy Barnes by 45-41 percent. Given the polling firm’s performance in the primaries, that could well mean Barnes is actually leading Deal by 45-41 percent.

There are plenty of other reasons for Deal’s supporters to be worried, of course. One of them is the FDIC’s decision at the end of the week to shut down three more Georgia banks for making a series of bad loans to developers and other business types. That naturally calls attention to the loans that Deal and his wife, Sandra, took out for a sporting goods business run by their daughter and son-in-law that failed.

Deal and his wife still owe more than $2 million on one of the loans they signed (their daughter and her husband have long since gone bankrupt), and it looks like he’s on the verge of becoming financially insolvent and filing for bankruptcy himself (although Deal insists he will live up to all his obligations).

Now that the AJC has broken the dam with the initial story from Alan Judd about Deal’s destitution, other stories are sure to follow – such as the latest one from the AJC’s Steve Visser about how Deal’s son-in-law went bankrupt in 2001, just a few years before Deal loaned him $2 million for that failed sporting goods store. I understand that opposition researchers – including people not affiliated with the Barnes campaign – are digging into Deal’s background as well.

I’m confident there is more to come on the media front that will give Deal and his folks plenty of reasons to worry between now and Nov. 2.


Crawford is right on the money with this assessment. With little over a month until the elections, you can expect more on this to come out. Let's not forget the possibility of an indictment coming down on Deal between now & the elections? Things are just heating up!

New Ad from Roy Barnes

This is a good ad from Barnes. It keeps the foot on the pedal regarding Deal's ethical & financial problems