Posted on 03/08/2006 8:27:19 PM PST by NapkinUser
ST. SIMONS ISLAND — Because the Saturday meeting between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle was being broadcast on local radio, the leader of the local GOP begged the audience to play nice.
"Please don't ask candidates if they beat their mothers," urged Kevin Gough, chairman of the Glynn County Republican Party.
He needn't have worried about the audience. Most of the mud was slung from center stage.
The two men seeking to become Georgia' first Republican lieutenant governor needled each other on the issues of trust and experience. They fleshed out their positions on immigration and eminent domain.
Reed drew first blood, during a discussion on the right of government to seize private property for public use — especially blighted property. He criticized House revisions to Gov. Sonny Perdue's eminent domain bill, which he said would allow "blight" to be defined as "an increase in juvenile delinquency."
"If that's the basis on which we're going to condemn private property, I'm not in favor it it," Reed said.
But he also criticized Cagle, a state senator from Gainesville, for missing a vote last year on an eminent domain bill.
"I don't think you can lead on something if you're not going to be there to support it," Reed said.
Cagle responded by reminding the audience of Reed's long-time association with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and the pair's work to defeat gambling initiatives in the South on behalf of Abramoff's clients — American Indian tribes with competing casinos.
Reed said he regretted his work with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to bilking his tribal clients and bribery of public officials.
Reed is the former chairman of the state GOP and emphasized his three decades of dedication to party building. But Cagle, a six-term senator, hinted that he considered Reed's accomplishments overblown.
Experience was another contentious topic.
Cagle, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, implied that Reed had little knowledge of state government and would require on-the-job training. "You don't elect sheriff that's never been in law enforcement," he said.
Reed called that attitude "old-style politics," and said that on many issues — from immigration to water rights — his Washington contacts would be an advantage.
"Which would be better — to have someone who has not had national experience, or someone like me ... who has the ability to leverage my national relationships for Georgia?" Reed asked.
The two candidates found common ground on immigration. Both oppose amnesty.
The lightly attended debate was held at the Sea Palms golf resort. Among the nonaligned spectators was Glynn County Comission Chairman Don Hogan.
He'd met Reed once before, but had never laid eyes on Cagle.
Hogan said he doesn't know details of Reed's association with Abramoff, but it comes up in conversations with voters. "I think it's going to be hard to overcome,'' he said.
But Gough, the GOP chairman, said Reed has the organizational edge in Glynn County and an intense following that can't be ignored. "Ralph Reed supporters — you're not going to reason with them, you're not going to distract them. Nothing that's said or done is going to change their support."
Who asked you?
Nah, that's not the correct question. The correct question is, "Do you still beat your mother?"
Well, if you're shilling, be shilling for the right candidate. Go Casey ! ;-)
Do you receive any compensation in any way from Cagle? I don't receive anything from Reed.
"Soda sales fall... Dentists and Dieticians hardest hit"
oops... wrong thread
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