Political Notes

Remembering Jordan: In his heartfelt eulogy for longtime aide and strategist Hamilton Jordan, Jimmy Carter recalled how he first met Jordan prior to the 1966 governor’s race. Carter, who was then an obscure state senator from Sumter County, wanted the…

It’s history in the making, so they tell us. American voters this fall will elect either the country’s first black president or the oldest candidate ever to take the oath of office. History? Don’t bother me with that. The most…

The Ox is in: State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine was the first politico to officially file the papers and start raising money for the 2010 governor’s race. That could be one of the most crowded races on the ballot, as…

There always has been a zany, schizoid – dare we say, nutty? – quality about the Georgia General Assembly. Our duly elected lawmakers have a habit of making speeches and casting votes that seem to contradict what they were doing…

Gingrey’s in?: Cobb County Congressman Phil Gingrey is now rumored to be planning a run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, assuming Johnny Isakson does indeed decide to leave the Senate to run for governor. If true, that could set…

Many politicians get elected to the Georgia General Assembly and do little besides occupy a chair on the House floor. A few, however, actually bring some original thought to the political process. One such lawmaker was Kil Townsend, a New…

Value Government: Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has named four state senators to a task force on “Value Government” that will develop recommendations for delivering better government services to Georgians at a lower cost. Cagle appointed Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) to…

My colleague Bill Shipp, who rode herd over this piece of journalistic real estate for some years, used to lament that they just didn’t make congressmen from Georgia like they used to. Whether you agreed with their politics or not,…

No more in Darfur: In the latest legislative foray into foreign policy, a bipartisan group of state senators introduced a bill that would prohibit the state’s pension funds from holding investments in companies that are selling military weapons to the…

This is all too typical, alas, of your legislature in action. On a cold Friday morning in February, the House of Representatives devoted most of its time debating and then passing HR 1034, a meaningless resolution that urges the NCAA…