Posted on 06/06/2017 8:02:36 PM PDT by MaxistheBest
Atlanta attorney Craig Bertschi writes from Georgia’s Sixth District with a report on the pending special election to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in the House.
I’m a long-time fan of Power Line and a resident of Georgia’s 6th District. The big Handel-Ossoff Debate is tonight at 8:00 pm EDT. In advance of the debate, I thought I’d give you some local color. So, here goes:
I’m a lifelong Republican, casting my first vote for President Reagan in 1984. I went to Emory University here in Atlanta (back when you could still find a conservative or two on campus). Harvey Klehr was my favorite professor and one of my advisors. With the exception of three years in Athens, attending UGA for law school, I’ve lived in GA-6 most of my adult life. I know this District and its voters very well. We aren’t accustomed to the national political spotlight and particularly the non-stop political ads.
Karen Handel wasn’t my first choice, but I will go to the polls and vote for her. Most of the Republicans I know are doing likewise, not with any sense of enthusiasm, but out of duty and certain knowledge that Ossoff is a robotic vote for gun control, abortion, illegal immigration and the rest of the progressive agenda. Handel’s grassroots and canvassing efforts seem weak. With the exception of this ad, her TV spots have been lackluster.
The enthusiasm for Ossoff is unprecedented in this district. In my normally quiet and conservative neighborhood, Ossoff signs have proliferated like lawn weeds. He’s got a good spin team, plenty of money and hasn’t made any unforced errors. He’s avoiding the controversial issues, even going so far as to call out both parties “for spending too much money.” Yeah, right.
It’s tempting to compare this race to the Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter races of several years ago. Nunn and Carter were stronger candidates than Ossoff for a host of reasons, including the obvious name recognition advantages. Those races also generated a lot of buzz, national money and base excitement. Yet in those races both Democrat candidates lost, scoring in the mid 40s, which seems to be the high-water mark for Democrats in statewide races in Georgia over the past 20 years.
I don’t see Ossoff suffering the same fate as Nunn and Carter. I think he wins in a very close race. Trump seems to have moved the partisanship needle, making the moderately left-of-center crowd much more likely to vote.
This is all a terrible shame because Ossoff is a very weak candidate. He spent his formative years at The Paideia School, one of Atlanta’s famously liberal in-town private schools, where he marinated in this. He’s only been out of high school for 12 years. As best I can tell, he has never had a real private sector job. He worked as a staffer for Rep. Hank Johnson. He’s currently the CEO of a film company that appears to be financed by his father’s charitable foundation (see here).
It’s a safe bet that every paycheck Ossoff has drawn in his lifetime has been underwritten by Daddy or Uncle Sam. It would be interesting indeed to see his tax returns. To his credit, Ossoff has managed to move out of his parents’ basement. He’s currently shacked-up with this girlfriend, who is attending Emory Medical School. In short, this kid is vapor.
Georgia Republicans needs a cleaning. I think you might see the Doctor return to power if the GAGOP doesn’t stop running liberals.
Sorry Doctor is supposed to be Dems...
As a resident of the 6th District and Cobb County, I can tell you that all the blue John O. signs will just drive even more Republicans to the polls to defend our turf.
Hopefully the GOP can pull this out like the other special elections.
And you would be completely wrong. I voted for Newt starting in the 1980s in the GA 6th. I’m still in the GA 6th. I’ve lived in two houses about 2.5 miles apart the whole time.
The general outline of the district has not changed. Period, full stop.
I’m hoping that a lot of regular Republican voters didn’t show up for the “primary”, figuring, “well, there are a zillion candidates, I’m ok with the 4-5 Republican front runners, I’ll just show up for the runoff.”
And for those making snide remarks about Handel, I’ll point out she’s cleaned up multiple governmental and quasi-governmental budget messes in a very conservative way, and is very much pro-life. She has a real resume, unlike her post turtle opponent.
Don’t blame Trump. Blame an absentee GOP who arrogantly assumes they own this seat.
Ossoff is running back to back ads about feel good local nonsense that have nothing to do with being in Congress. He is shamelessly positioning himself as a Moderate Republican style candidate against both sides in DC.
And what is the GOP response? NOT A THING.
Tom Price won this dist with 61% of the vote. I don’t see Handel losing even though she runs a crappy campaign.
-PJ
I hope that the portion of “conservative Cobb County” located in GA-6 truly is conservative and does turn out. Cobb County overall went for HRC in the 2016 election, but Cobb County is also a part of the heavily Democratic 5th District.
If you don’t live in this district, it is hard to fully comprehend the amount of money being poured into this race.
Every single day when I get home from work I have to throw away two full sized glossy Ossoff promos. Every single day for months.
Think of it as a billion dollar get out the vote and cheat plan.
The Nancy Pelosi/Hollywood message is working.. by default, anyone who receives that endorsement is automatically not fit to represent the 6th District. They liberals can’t get out of their own way... they keep associating and endorsing their favorite candidates not realizing that if they would just stay silent, their candidates would likely perform better! They can’t help themselves! They are full of themselves and are blinded by their pride.
I just returned from a week-long vacation where the post office held my mail until I returned. When I received my mail, there was a STACK of glossy Ossoff ads that I had to toss in the trash. My three sorting piles were bills, shopping ads, and Ossoff crap.
It is oppressive. I hope it’s turning people off the way it should.
Take another look at the maps in post #13. There is not one piece of real estate that was in District 6 in the 1980’s that is in District 6 today.
OK, I stand corrected. But big chunks of the 1993 re-draw are still in the district today, 24 years later.
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