Days of wine and roses (AJC - Insider Politics)

AJC ^ | 7/30/02 | By TOM BAXTER and JIM GALLOWAY

[CFW]

We're two days away from August, and getting down to cases. Gov. Roy Barnes spent some time last week reviewing every TV political ad he could get his hands on. State Republican leaders (not to mention candidates) have wet their fingers and put them to the wind. Says Bill Byrne, whose treasury contains the least amount of money in the gubernatorial race: "There's going to be a run-off."

Staff for the campaign of Sonny Perdue confirmed that they'd canceled some TV ad buys last week, but said it was a matter of concentrating advertising power in the final weeks of the campaign. Perdue hasn't given up on winning outright, but his top interlocutor, Dan McLagan, concedes that the race may not end Aug. 20.

Curiously, the only party in the race that won't admit the possibility of a run-off was the campaign of Linda Schrenko. That's a change from just a few weeks ago, when Schrenko's campaign had trimmed spending to nearly nothing; Schrenkites were depending on name recognition alone to get into a run-off. But now, it seems like everything's coming up roses for the state school superintendent. She's reserved TV time beginning next Monday, we hear.

Byrne, the anti-Dangerfield

At a meeting of Republicans in the 6th Congressional District on Saturday, gubernatorial candidates Sonny Perdue and Bill Byrne warned against a party split and promised to stand by the winner of the Aug. 20 primary. But Byrne said it with more passion. "Winning is more important than losing with respect," he said. "I'm tired of respect."

Like blue moons and Indian-head pennies

It's rare when Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor has gathered up something that Gov. Roy Barnes can't get. But on Monday, Taylor was formally handed the endorsement of that influential teachers group, the Georgia Association of Educators.

Cleared for the ballot

Administrative law judges have upheld the candidacies of two candidates for the state House. Mark Wortham, one of four Republicans in the race for House District 31, an east Cobb County seat, beat back a challenge to his residency. So did Ralph Bowden, the only Democrat running for House District 53 in the Doraville-Chamblee area. Secretary of State Cathy Cox has concurred with both rulings. She also concurred with last week's ruling upholding the candidacy of Ralph Hudgens for state Senate District 47 in northeast Georgia.

Smoking may be harmful to some political careers

Bob Barr, a Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District, will be the subject of an unusual political experiment later next month. There's a Libertarian in the race, but she's not formally involved in the Aug. 20 primary that pits Barr against colleague John Linder.

Even so, Carol Ann Rand will sponsor a series of TV ads urging votes against Barr for his opposition to the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. It's part of a larger Libertarian effort to inject itself in some of the closer races across the nation. The ads will feature medical patients who testify that pot is an effective way to combat pain and nausea. "Our real hope is that we'll be able to dissuade people from voting for Barr, not that we're trying to support Linder," said Ron Crickenberger, her campaign manager. "But if they vote for Linder, well and good." The motivating power of the marijuana issue is uncertain, and even Crickenberger terms the ads an "experiment."

And speaking of Barr and TV

Look for Barr's first broadcast ads to hit Atlanta airwaves Tuesday.

Imagine the beer commercial to come

On St. Paddy's Day in 1978, President Jimmy Carter stood atop the bar in Pinkie Masters' to thank the Savannah tavern's clientele for their succor during his career. "Pinkie's took me in," Carter said. "I had no support back then. Each election, they helped me carry Chatham County." Carter re-created that moment Saturday night, again speechifying on the bar. When he'd finished, the bartender offered the alcohol-eschewing ex-prez a glass of juice or soda. But that wouldn't fit the moment, Carter said. He took a can of Bud Lite.

-- The Associated Press

Third-party campaigning

A group of political junkies (but non-partisan, so they say) along Atlanta's northern Perimeter have put together an anti-Cynthia McKinney Web site encouraging Republicans to jump into the McKinney's Aug. 20 primary against Denise Majette.

Creators of www.goodbyecynthia.com stress that their creation has no connection to the Majette campaign. But the Web site does solicit contributions that will be used "to ensure the defeat on Cynthia McKinney by communicating to the voters of her district the fact that another qualified candidate should go to Washington, D.C. in January, 2003." Among those in the creative circle: Mark Davis, a data processor in Gwinnett County with ties to several Republican candidates, and William "Bubba" Head, the first name in a Sandy Springs law firm.

The site includes a copy of McKinney's letter to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, offering to make use of the $10 million the prince had offered to help rebuild New York City after the World Trade Center attacks. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had spurned the check.

[backhoe]

-www.goodbyecynthia.com--