Posted on 06/01/2005 4:00:53 PM PDT by RWR8189
ATLANTA - Howard Dean, the former presidential candidate now heading the national Democratic Party, says Georgia could "shape up as pretty important" to his party in next year's elections despite its drift into the Republican column.
"We've got an important governor's race I think we can win and important congressional races," Dean said Tuesday in an interview in advance of a swing through Atlanta for a "low-dollar," $50-per-person party fund-raiser.
Money from Thursday's event will go to the national party, but it won't stay there, he said, explaining it will be used to hire staffers to help in party-building efforts in all 50 states.
"The old Democratic Party would come in and take all the money out. That's gone," he said.
Once a safely Democratic state, Georgia elected a Republican governor for the first time since Reconstruction in 2002. The Legislature now is under Republican control and both U.S. senators are Republican.
There is no U.S. Senate contest next year, but Gov. Sonny Perdue is up for re-election and the lieutenant governor's office will be vacant. The incumbent, Democrat Mark Taylor, is seeking his party's nomination to challenge Perdue.
Dean said he sees an opportunity for Democrats to regain the governor's office "because the governor's run up the largest debt in the history of Georgia, people are really worried about education and I think they're really worried about the progress of the state."
Marty Klein, a spokesman for Georgia Republicans, said, "Howard Dean is the perfect poster-child for the modern Democratic Party in Georgia - liberal and angry. We welcome him to Georgia anytime he wants to come and discuss the extreme liberal views he shares with candidates like Mark Taylor and Cathy Cox."
Cox, currently Secretary of State, also is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Perdue.
Dean's next target: Montana!
Har har hardee har har...the mark of a great flim flam man. Keeps foolin' 'em with the same ole scam.
Welcome to Georgia, ya'll.
Bring it on Dr. Demento.
I heard that Dean's Mom is in play.............
What's he smoking? : )
But it doesn't mean a thing, Howie! With enough financial help from the national DNC, 2006 can be the beginning of the end for the GOP, starting in good ol' Georgia! Yeeaahhhrrgg!
(steely)
Whatever he is smoking, it must be some very strong stuff.
Deaniac is a gift that keeps on giving! C'mon, tell us about "God, guns, and gays" again, Doc!
I have to admit, I do know people down here who would eat a plate with Dean if you paid them $50.
Must be some seriously bad shiz.
I won't go down to Atlanta unless I'm getting paid.
I'm waiting for Dean (think McAuliffe on meth) to head down to Texas and see how Tom Delay's base greets him.
I would pay a cover charge for that kind of entertainment.
If he wants a red state, the DNC may have a chance in VA. Northern part is turning blue, but the Dems are losing Nevada and West Virginia.
Yup, I think every Republican candidate in the south should publicly invite Howie Deaniac to visit their district/town/state and campaign.... how great would it be if the Deaniac had Rs all over the south warmly inviting him to show up.... would he dare....
Yeah, I guess that's why Bush won it by the same margin as in 2000. /sarcasm
To be honest, Georgia might be better off with a Dem governor (if he's Conservative enough). I didn't vote for Ballentine for gov of North Carolina because he was more liberal then the current gov Dem Mike Easily, who admittidly is no gem himself (Ballentine had the backers of the teachers unions etc... and was proposing all of these socialistic type programs).
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa537.pdf
Looks like Sonny might be a RINO. Could be wrong.... I'm not from Georgia and this is all I've read on him.... and it does say he's kept spending under check, but...
Sonny Perdue, Republican Legislature: Divided
Took Office: January 2003
Grade: D
In 2003 Sonny Perdue was inaugurated as
the first Republican governor of Georgia
since Reconstruction after beating tax-cutting
Democratic incumbent Roy Barnes
(who scored a B on the 2002 report card) by
running on a pledge to not raise taxes.
However, 48 hours later, Perdue proposed
one of the largest tax increases in Georgia history.
It consisted of increases in taxes on
wine, liquor, and beer; a nearly fivefold
increase in the cigarette tax (from 12 cents
per pack to 58 cents); and reversing a property
tax cut in place since early in Barnes’s term.
It was a bigger tax increase than even the
divided legislature wanted to pass. The legislature
sent to the governor a 2004 budget
that raised cigarette taxes by only 25 cents
and killed the rest of the tax package. In fact,
the legislature made the property tax cut program
permanent. Perdue’s spending record
looks better than his tax record. His first
budget included no pay increases for state
employees, axed 600 state jobs, and left 4,000
bureaucratic jobs vacant. His FY05 budget
cut overall general fund spending by a net
$49 million. Overall general fund spending
during his tenure has grown by just under
population growth plus inflation. It remains
to be seen whether this spending prudence is
a short-term phenomenon for Perdue.
| PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES | |||||||
| Georgia | Cherokee County | ||||||
| GEORGE BUSH (R) | 1,914,254 | 58.03% | 58,238 | 79.14% | |||
| JOHN KERRY (D) | 1,366,149 | 41.41% | 14,824 | 20.14% | |||
| MICHAEL BADNARIK (Lib) | 18,387 | 0.56% | 525 | 0.71% | |||
| 3,298,790 | 100% | 73,587 | 100.00% | ||||
"Money from Thursday's event will go to the national party, but it won't stay there, he said, explaining it will be used to hire staffers to help in party-building efforts in all 50 states."
That money is already in Hillary's bank account.
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