We do not normally begin your morning report with a mere photo, but House Democrats gathered at the state Capitol on Thursday to celebrate the swearing in of Rep. Taylor Bennett, D-Brookhaven.
The special election this month was a rare pick-up for the minority party.
But that is not what makes the above photo notable. Bennett now represents House District 80, a Republican-leaning area mostly in DeKalb County along I-85. One Republican has already said she’s contemplating a challenge in 2016. Surely there will be more.
Mike Jacobs swears in Taylor Bennett
The photo above is documentation that Bennett knows what’s coming, and is acting accordingly – in important, bipartisan fashion. Note the bearded young fellow in the robe, who swore Bennett in on Thursday. That’s Mike Jacobs, who is now a state court judge on the DeKalb bench. That’s who Bennett replaces in the House. Jacobs is a Republican.
(We should note that Bennett and Jacobs do share a bit of history: Both defeated Republican J. Max Davis for a House seat – Jacobs, in 2004, as a Democrat, and Bennett in this month’s runoff.)
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As talk about his presidential prospects intensifies, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Atlanta next week for a speech at a Buckhead synagogue. We’re hearing there may be a smaller get-together with some of Biden’s close supporters, as well.
Atlanta Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson, who ran President Barack Obama’s campaign in the South in 2012, said that if the vice president chooses to enter the fray, he’ll have some Georgia support, but he’lll be the underdog:
“We all love Uncle Joe. But the [Hillary] Clinton campaign has built up a good organization here in the state financially. I would say they have built up a really good donor base and a grassroots organization in the state. So she has a head start on any Democratic challenger right now. …”
Another thing to consider: Many, though not all, African-American leaders in Georgia deserted Hillary Clinton in 2008 for Barack Obama. John Lewis, for instance. There are amends to make.
Johnson said Clinton’s long-running email saga is not as much a cause for concern, disagreeing with the slew of Democrats who are wringing their hands in the New York Times:
“You’d much rather be getting these questions in August 2015 than August. 2016. It’s going to go away. The truth is going to come out and she’ll be fine.”
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What does a 90-year-old do while waiting for his melanoma treatment to kick in? If you’re Jimmy Carter, this is how The Economist says you’re biding your time:
He is said to be working on a painting of Rachel Clark, a beloved black neighbour alongside whom he picked cotton during his childhood.
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Jimmy Carter’s closest friends fretted last Sunday when he pulled double-duty and taught an extra Bible study session because an overflow crowd came to see him teach. His church is taking steps to ensure Sunday crowds don’t overwhelm him again.
Maranatha Baptist Church posted its plans to limit the crowds flocking to hear the 90-year-old teach Sunday school as he’s treated for cancer.
The church leaders will no longer allow more than 400 people into the cozy building “from a practical and safety standpoint.” And it now forbids visitors from camping out overnight in hopes of securing a good seat; from now on, Carter fans will only be allowed on church property at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday.
Those who arrive late can watch the Georgia native’s 10 a.m. lesson on live video stream at the nearby Plains High School.
You can find everything else you need to know about attending the president’s Sunday school class – he plans his next visit this Sunday – by clicking right here.
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Erick Erickson, the WSB Radio prophet, is predicting that 2016 will be a season of nihilism for the Grand Old Party:
The repeated betrayals of Republican leaders have led to the rise of Donald Trump. The petulance of the party’s congressional leaders who have spent more energy fighting conservative attempts to hold them to their word than fighting Barack Obama now have to fight to wrest control from Trump. Trump, at least presently, is immune from establishment attacks because the party leaders have lost all their credibility. A party that will not stand up to stop tax payer funds going to an organization that pulls whole children out of freezers to sell as scrap is not a party with the moral clarity to tell Donald Trump he is fired.
But there is more to this than meets the eye. More and more polling shows the biggest group of voters who hate the Republican Party are the Republicans’ own conservative voters. In growing numbers they have driven down the popularity ratings of Congress. Instead of trying to recover popularity with their base, the Republicans have convinced the Chamber of Commerce to spend millions of dollars defeating conservative Republican “troublemakers” in the 2016 primary cycle. Why join the base when the GOP thinks it can beat its base?
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Former congressman Jack Kingston’s first big job as the Georgia GOP’s new go-to fundraiser will come at a cocktail reception next Tuesday in Midtown.
The fete at the Peachtree Club features U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and a starting price of $5,000 for a bronze sponsorship. Gold sponsorship, which will get you VIP tickets to events and a seat on a steering committee, costs $20,000. It should be an interesting event, given that both Kingston and Westmoreland are said to be eyeing a 2018 run for governor.
And pollster Frank Luntz is returning to town on Oct. 5 for a Buckhead gathering of GOP elite.
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