Even Georgia Knows an Ass When it Sees Him

[strandinthewind]

Though barely :eek:

Conservative Reed concedes in Georgia primary

Controversial McKinney will face runoff

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, conceded defeat Tuesday in Georgia's Republican race for lieutenant governor.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, facing her first election since a scuffle with a Capitol Hill police officer, will face a runoff with her main challenger, Hank Johnson, a former county commissioner with roots in the heart of her core constituency.

In Georgia's Democratic primary for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor won 51 percent of the vote to defeat Secretary of State Cathy Cox, and will move on to face Gov. Sonny Perdue in November.

In Alabama, George Wallace Jr. -- son of the legendary Alabama governor and presidential candidate -- lost his bid for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor to Luther Strange, a first-time candidate.

Reed was making his first bid for elective office after working for years as a behind-the-scenes campaign strategist and leading the Christian Coalition and the state Republican Party.

He vied with state Sen. Casey Cagle for the GOP nomination in a primary race that appeared closer than expected in recent months because of Reed's work with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption earlier this year.

In attack ads and televised debates, Cagle hammered away at Reed's connections to Abramoff, and asked whether Reed could face criminal charges for accepting more than $5.3 million from two Indian tribes. Reed has not been charged with a crime and has said repeatedly that he regrets the work he did with Abramoff. Reed said he was vindicated by a two-year Senate probe.

"If good, decent people offer themselves in this state for public office, we can make this state a better place," Cagle said as he declared victory.

An upbeat Reed told a crowd of a few dozen cheering supporters that, although his candidacy had ended, his conservative message will live on.

"Stay in the fight. Don't retreat. And our values will win in November," he said.

With 69 percent of precincts reporting, Cagle had 148,456 votes, or 56 percent, and Reed had 115,125, or 44 percent.

Reed's campaign prompted some Democrats to cross party lines Tuesday to keep him off the GOP ticket. Lifelong Democrat Randy New, 52, of Atlanta said he cast a ballot in a Republican primary for the first time for one reason -- to defeat Reed. He added that he sent out an e-mail to friends and business associates this week encouraging them to do the same.

In Georgia voters may request a ballot from either party in the primaries.

In the Alabama race, with 83 percent of the precincts reporting statewide, the unofficial count showed Strange had 90,201 votes, or 55 percent, and Wallace with 73,417 votes, or 45 percent.

In Georgia, McKinney sought the nomination for a seventh term in Congress after a scuffle in March with an officer who stopped her when he didn't recognize her as she entered a House office building. A federal grand jury in Washington declined to indict the congresswoman, but she was pressured to apologize on the floor of the House.

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, McKinney, the state's first black woman elected to Congress, held only a 1,540-vote lead over Johnson, who also is black.

They are vying to run against Republican nominee Catherine Davis in the heavily Democratic district.


Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/19/georgia.primary.ap/index.html
________________________________________

So, Reed is history and thank goodness that Nazi is gone.

Cox was a blithering idiot and McKinney is an ass, but does good work for lots of people.

[irishgrl]

interesting thread title, and interesting article as well :nod:

[DavidMn]

I dont get the whole McKinney thing. She seems lke a complete Biatch, but to sharge her for something like that?:shrug: It's not ecactly like she killed the guy. The only thing is if she somehow used her influence to make the cops back off.

[SuzeQuze]

Did you guys hear that Katherine Harris used some of her campaign finances to renovate her home? :eek: She's a piece of work.

[DavidMn]

Did you guys hear that Katherine Harris used some of her campaign finances to renovate her home? :eek: She's a piece of work.Yup. A real winner there. SHe needs to go away forever.:mad:

[strandinthewind]

Wednesday, Jul. 19, 2006
Ralph Reed's Comeuppance
Analysis: The former leader of the Christian right suffers a humiliating defeat in his Georgia primary race, thanks to his ties to a disgraced lobbyist
By GREG FULTON/ATLANTA
As a political operative Ralph Reed had a golden touch. Four years ago in Georgia, as chair of the Republican Party, he orchestrated the first GOP sweep of state government in 100 years, helping to knock out an incumbent U.S. senator in the process. In his heyday, as head of the national Christian Coalition, he solidified conservative family values into a formidable voting bloc that helped Republicans take over Congress in 1994, and along the way consulted with half a dozen presidential candidates.

But as a candidate for public office himself, in this year's race for Georgia Lieutenant Governor, Reed's squeaky clean, boy-next-door image came back to haunt him. After starting out a year ago with a huge lead in both the polls and fundraising over his relatively unknown opponent, Reed's connection to the Jack Abramoff congressional lobbying scandal unmasked the candidate who built his career on the issue of values as one who apparently had his own questionable values. And so it was that Tuesday Reed lost both his party and his religious conservative base in a humbling Republican primary defeat, losing by nearly 20 points to Casey Cagle, a state senator from Hall County.

"In a word it was Abramoff," says Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz. "This finishes Reed as a candidate for public office. He might be able to go back to working behind the scenes or in connection with some lobbying organization."

Even though his image, fundraising and lead in the polls slowly unraveled over the past several months, pundits still thought the 45-year-old Georgia native had a chance to make it a close race. But when the disappointing results from suburban Cobb County, a crucial conservative Republican stronghold for Reed, came in less than three hours after the polls closed, Reed conceded, already facing a 56 - 44% deficit with less than half the precincts counted.

In the end, voters punished Reed for the same kind of duplicitious political behavior he used to build campaigns against. As revelations from the Abramoff case slowly leaked out, it appeared that as a lobbyist and consultant, Reed had urged his base to fight tribal casino gambling and state lotteries with the help of $5 million from competing gaming interests in four southern states. "I would have voted for Reed but it really bothered me that he took that money for casinos. I gave Cagle a chance," said Mike Craig, 46, a voter in Cobb County.

Reed's evasive, constantly shifting explanations didn't help his cause. Reed first denied he used gambling funds for his lobbying efforts, then stated he didn't know the source of the funds, then said had he known he would not have accepted them, which ran counter to e-mails between him and Abramoff released by the U.S. Senate's Indian Affairs Committee. Then a week before the election, a tribe in Texas filed a federal lawsuit alleging fraud against the pair. In TV ads Reed continued to blame the "liberal media," but for long stretches in the campaign he held no events and did no press interviews. Even a campaign appearance by Rudy Giuliani didn't help.

The Reed faithful — at least what was left of it — thought he had been hung out to dry by his former friends. "I believe there's a real tight network with the senators," said Stan Coates, 52, of Marietta in Cobb County, referring to the nearly two dozen GOP lawmakers who had publicly urged Reed to step down during the campaign. Referrring to Abramoff, he added: "To be guilty by association, people listen to those lies and hang onto them," said Coates.

As for Reed's future, he's still the owner of the consulting and lobbying firm Century Strategies, though landing work for a political candidate could be tricky this season if Abramoff talks or Reed is called before Congress. But a campaign staffer said that possibility hasn't stopped Reed from trying to line up work. "He's working it. He's working it harder now." said a campaign staffer.

When he conceded defeat, Reed addressed about 100 faithful for only five minutes, and quickly left the hotel ballroom, noting that election day was also his 19th wedding anniversary and striking a chord for party unity. "Job number one is to work for Governor [Sonny] Perdue's re-election…" Undaunted by his defeat, Reed still had the audacity to trumpet the same signature issue that had been his undoing. "It was a positive campaign about the issues; about fiscal responsibility, about improving our schools through charter and choice, and about strengthening our values… Stay in the fight, don't retreat and our values will win in November." Even if his values, of course, had already lost in July.



Copyright © 2006 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1216274,00.html?cnn=yes

[SuzeQuze]

The way they fleeced those tribes is abominable.