Blue Guy in Red Land

The newspapers have been all atwitter about the absence of Cathy Cox from the Taylor for Governor campaign.  Cathy has been very conveniently busy or travelling whenever an opportunity has arisen to appear with Mark and put on a good show for the cameras.

But today, the AJC reported that Cathy’s campaign chairman, a Democratic turncoat who became Republican to preserve his seat in the legislature, has endorsed Sonny Perdue for re-election.  Dan Ponder was supposed to be emblematic of how Cathy would govern in a different way, and she would reach across the aisle for the best ideas from both sides of the political spectrum.  Apparently, there were a lot of GOPers eager to support the first female governor of Georgia, even if she was a Democrat. 

The problem is that Cathy’s campaign collapsed.  Much of it was her fault, I think, and she didn’t handle Mark Taylor’s well-timed attacks too well.  I’ve already documented on this blog my disappointment and anger over Cathy’s reaction to the gay marriage amendment "crisis" earlier this year.  I think she totally blew it and flushed her chances of election at that time.  Mark Taylor did play dirty with her, there’s no doubt.  And the "Taylor Trolls" out there who were his most vociferous supporters (or the ones who just hated Cathy the most because she was a woman running for Governor) did more than their fair share of Cathy-bashing.

After Cathy’s loss, I thought her concession speech was fantastic.  It was the old Cathy Cox that I had once known and loved.  However, I cannot blame her for being angry over Taylor’s campaign tactics.  She should not have been surprised though…he’s notorious for playing rough when he has to.  He always waits for his opponent to mess up first, but then he goes after them with a vengeance.  After that wikipedia scandal when her campaign director Morton Brilliant amended Mark Taylor’s bio to include information about his son’s drunk driving and vehicular homicide charges in South Carolina…she should have known it was coming.

Cathy and her people have every right to feel bitter and angry about the primary.  I look at it as a missed opportunity. I think Cathy could have peeled off GOP voters from Sonny easier than Mark will.  Her campaign, though, did not do what it needed to do in order to nail down the Democratic primary.  It was a case of opportunities wasted. 

I think Cathy’s revenge will be to stand idly by while Mark Taylor flounders and ultimately loses to Sonny in November.  First, people aren’t pissed off at Sonny like they were at Roy Barnes 6 years ago.  Sure, Sonny’s a mixture of greed, insider dealing, and broken promises packaged in a folksy grampa persona…but he doesn’t have people really pissed at him.  That’s hard to fight in an incumbent governor.  The sweetheart tax deal that Sonny had the legislature pass to save him $100,000 in taxes would have been a great start to the fall campaign, except for the fact that Mark Taylor’s daddy pays him $100,000/yr and the free use of a Buckhead mansion for a couple of hours of work a month.  Which is worse?  I would argue Sonny’s tax situation, because it was an abuse of his power and position as governor, but Mark’s situation is no less sleazy and self-serving.

I’m not sure what Cathy’s game plan is.  Maybe she’s setting her sights on 2010 to try again for Governor, or maybe someone can convince her to run for US Senate against Senator Bush, errr, Chambliss.  I’m not sure inaction to let Mark fail will hurt her in the long run.  She can’t be seen as actively against Taylor, but she can just sit at home and do nothing to help him.  Honestly, that’s what a lot of Democrats in Georgia seem to be doing.  We want to beat Sonny, but we’re not sure Mark’s the guy to do that.  Cathy could have done it, maybe, but she screwed the pooch on her campaign, and there are LGBT voters who will never forgive her for the way she handled the marriage amendment being overturned.  I’m not quite as harsh.  I withheld my vote in the primary, and that was my punishment for Cathy.  I hope she learned a lesson from it, and I’m willing to support her again in the future.  I also will cast my vote for Mark Taylor, but the race doesn’t get me as passionate or excited as, say, the Jim Martin campaign for Lt. Governor against that theocrat neanderthal Casey Cagel.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

This morning as I was driving to work, I came across a car with an interesting combination of stickers on its bumper.  First I noticed the fish symbol colored in with a rainbow.  That tells me this person is loudly proclaiming herself a lesiban Christian.  (I could tell it was a woman driving  when I passed.)   The next sticker was more shocking:  a W 2004 sticker.

As I drove past this lesbian of color, I became more flabbergasted.  What could possibily lead a person of homosexual orientation to support Bush’s re-election in 2004?  Let alone a lesbian of COLOR!  If anyone knows oppression, it would be a lesbian of color.  I know about 29% of the gay vote went to Bush in 2004, but I figured most of that was snotty white guys who figured that greed was good and they’d have enough money to "buy" acceptance in a GOP world.  That’s usually how Log Cabin Republicans are at their core, despite the flowery rhetoric of "this is the only thing I don’t agree with the GOP on" and "I’m more than my sexuality."

But a lesbian of color still having her W 2004 sticker on her car just boggles my mind.  Here is a man who based his reelection on scaring the living crap out of conservative and rural voters with visions of forced homosexual marriages in every corner of the country, regardless of your sexuality!  Bush purposely demonized LGBT people for his political purposes, which makes him no better than the segregationists of the South who did the same thing to blacks during the 1950s and 1960s especially.  Luckily, the politicians who still vilifiy blacks (albeit more subtlely) in order to get elected are nearly all on the GOP side now. 

How could an openly lesbian woman of faith support that man?  How does she sleep at night knowing what she has contributed to?  I simply do not get it.  Bush’s policies harm homosexuals and people of color.  He’s driven down wages, and given tax breaks to the most wealthy among us.  He’s undone good programs like Hope VI in order to pay for his military ventures.  Yet, this lesbian of color (STILL kills me!) proudly puts her W2004 sticker on her car!

It makes me wonder if there’s some kind of genetic defect that make people adopt a political party and set of beliefs that causes great harm not only to themselves but to everyone who is like them.  Do they hate themselves that much?  Or it is a mutuation that renders them incapable of rational thought?

Young Democrats of America Update

Greetings fellow Georgia Young Democrats!

Brooke and I wanted to update you on the annoucement of the next national meeting of the Young Democrats of America. The last general meeting was in June in Las Vegas with a theme of "What Happens in Vegas Changes America".

YDA Announces Conference in Jackson, MississippiYDA is proud to announce the location of our next conference will be in Jackson, Mississippi. The Young Democrats of Mississippi will be wonderful hosts and we are excited to spend some time in the south after the elections.
Register for the conference today!The conference registration fee of $25 per person includes lunch on Saturday and all training materials. The Registration fee does not include the hotel room fees. Reserve your room today for the special rate of $129.00, see below for hotel information.

Dates:November 17-19, 2006
Hotel Information:Marriott Jackson200 East Amite StreetJackson, MS 39201
Hotel Rate:$129.95
Hotel Reservation Information:Phone reservations ONLY 1-800-256-9194 or 601-969-5100Please tell operator you are with the "YDA Group"
Last Day to Reserve Room with Guaranteed Rate:October 27, 2006

For those who find the above hotel cost a bit pricey (which is probably everyone!), another alternative is the Edison Walthall Hotel (http://www.edisonwalthallhotel.com/) about a 1/2 mile or 5 city blocks from the Marriott. I found prices ont he hotel website for $99/night and on Expedia for $90/night. With 4 people per room, that’s much more affordable.

Since Jackson is about 5.5 hours from Atlanta on I-20, we will be caravaning for those who are interested. If you would like to attend, you will have a good time, as the Mississippi Young Democrats are known for their hospitality, and they have been waiting a long time to host a national meeting. It would be great to pack the place with Southerners! Please email Jason at jacecil6@bellsouth.net if you plan to attend with a cc to Brooke at floralu19@aol.com. We can try to hook people up with roommates and rides if needed. As always, please ask us any questions you might have.

Democratically Yours,
Jason Cecil & Brooke Hesse