The epic Athens selfie scrum for Jeb Bush. Curtis Compton/AJC
For visiting politicians, the question isn’t that tough: Would you rather face A) a phalanx of nosy local reporters; or B) plunge into a selfie-obsessed knot of fans who will give their new keepsake — your image — another half-life on the Internet?
Hint: If you choose B, the selfie scrum will insulate you from A.
Two visits to Georgia in the last three days by top-tier Republican presidential candidates brought that home for us.
Marco Rubio makes the selfie rounds in Atlanta.
Jeb Bush was late to an event at a tailgating spot on the University of Georgia’s campus on Saturday partly because it took him about 25 minutes to wade through a crowd of students and supporters who wanted to snap pictures with him.
When he finally emerged on the stage, he told the students he would keep his speech short “because I like taking selfies.” He then took pictures with the students for nearly an hour before heading to Sanford Stadium for the Georgia-South Carolina game.
And at Marco Rubio’s speech Monday at a Buckhead hotel, the Florida senator’s handlers shooed away reporters who tried to ask questions as many of the 200 or so fans surrounded him for pictures, videos and at least one use of a fire-breathing graphic overlay on Snapchat.
The crowd was highly convenient for a candidate who might not have wanted to address the presence of a Pope Francis in Cuba that day, a pope who helped arrange a rapprochement with the U.S. that he opposed. Or a GOP rival who the day before had said that Islam should be a religious disqualifyer for the presidency.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s exit from the presidential race makes U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, a political free agent, but he’s not ready to take his talents to a new team just yet. Here’s what Collins posted on Facebook last night:
“Governor Scott Walker brought a proven conservative record of leadership to this race & we were proud to support him. While we are sad to learn of his decision, we are confident that the eventual GOP nominee will be equally qualified & will defeat whichever liberal Democrat emerges. We are keeping our powder dry for now & look forward to supporting the Republican nominee.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced he picked up the endorsement of Louie Hunter, a co-chair for Walker’s campaign in Georgia.
State Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta, and activist Julianne Thompson were among Walker’s other Georgia supporters. On Monday morning, Hill was at Marco Rubio’s shindig in Buckhead — suggesting that he knew something we didn’t.
While there’s plenty of analysis out there about Walker’s departure, here’s a selection from Washington Examiner columnist Byron York:
There had always been talk that Walker, as a Midwestern governor, wasn’t well versed, or even very versed at all, in foreign policy. That turned out to be true, and obvious to all when he cited his command of the Wisconsin National Guard as national security experience and argued that Ronald Reagan’s 1981 firing of the air traffic controllers was ‘the most significant foreign policy decision of my lifetime.’
Some supporters saw Walker’s lack of foreign policy chops as a fixable problem. Indeed, he tried to fix it, gathering a group of experts to school him in international affairs. But for Walker, an even bigger problem was domestic policy. He just wasn’t very up on some of the key policy and political issues that a president has to confront.
About a month after his Iowa breakthrough, Walker traveled to Palm Beach, Florida to address a donor-heavy crowd at a gathering sponsored by the conservative Club for Growth. He was asked his thoughts about the Export-Import Bank — not a huge issue, but an important one to many fiscal conservatives — and he didn’t seem to have any. Walker was also asked about the standoff then going on in Congress over funding the Department of Homeland Security. His answer was long, meandering, and entirely unclear. He was asked about President Obama’s executive action on immigration. Same story.
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Senate Republicans are preparing to take the first stab at averting a government shutdown. A peek at the strategy from the Washington Post:
Under the plan, the Senate would first vote on a short-term continuing resolution (CR) that would include language blocking funds from going to Planned Parenthood. Democrats will almost certainly have the votes to filibuster that bill. McConnell would then bring up a CR that would extend current discretionary funding levels for up to two and half months without any significant policy changes.
This process is intended to prove that legislation to end funding for the women’s health organization cannot overcome a Senate filibuster and that continuing to press the case will only lead to Republicans being blamed for a shutdown.
The second vote, on a so-called “clean” CR, would be a tough one for Georgia Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue. Perdue spoke on the Senate floor Monday about his support for a 20-week abortion ban, which the Senate will vote on Tuesday as a carrot to pro-life groups ahead of the Planned Parenthood shutdown two-step.
Perdue also spoke on the spending impasse in familiar terms (debt = bad) that did not touch on the CR votes. A taste:
“The fiscal year ends on September 30th – that’s only a few days from now. We must move forward and debate these 12 appropriations bills that reflect Georgia values and fulfill the promises we made to represent the American people.
“While we have already seen our Democratic colleagues block such debate on these important bills, I hope we can immediately restart this critical process and return to regular order.
“Certainly, a full and robust debate on all of these bills is necessary to ensure that our federal government continues to function without overspending.
“Now, I can tell you there are some things I would like to change in these bills, but that ought to be debated in the open and not blocked by more partisan gridlock.
“I hope that the Majority Leader will continue to bring these bills to the floor and I hope that the objections of my Democratic colleagues will finally end and let’s get to an open and honest debate.”
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We have already pointed you to Steve Fennessy’s Q&A in Atlanta magazine with Mayor Kasim Reed, purely on the basis of the mayor’s statement that he won’t be a candidate for governor in 2018.
But there is more to the interview than that. Reed also indicates very strongly that a deal that would put Georgia State University in charge of Turner Field acreage would be a capstone to his eight years as mayor.
The mayor also has this to say about his hard-push style:
“Because you have a finite amount of time and the people have given you a mandate to execute, there’s a balance. That tension is probably one of the most challenging parts of the job. I came out of the legislature, from a process where collaboration was a big part of being successful. Then I became an executive, as mayor. It’s one of the things that comes up frequently in the press and is misunderstood. People confuse what it takes to achieve significant goals from a timing perspective with a lack of openness and desire to collaborate.”
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The same magazine has a Max Blau piece on Saturday’s good-bye to Cabral Franklin, son of former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin.
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The ruling triumvirate of the Marietta Daily Journal says last week’s news that Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington in November has revived an effort by U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, to bring the Israeli prime minister down this way for a Cobb County prayer breakfast.
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced $23.2 million in grants to local police departments for body cameras on Monday. Recipients in Georgia include the Newton County Sheriff’s Office ($89,199), the St. Marys Police Department ($69,000) and Wilkinson County ($9,523).
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Former state Sen. Ralph David Abernathy III has had a cancerous tumor removed from his liver and is expected to make a full recovery, he said in a Facebook post.
Abernathy, a former state lawmaker and the son of civil rights leader Ralph David Abernathy Sr., said in the post he is expected to lead a normal life after the May surgery at a Texas hospital. From the post:
Abernathy, a Baptist Minister, former Georgia State Senator, husband and father of three beautiful children, stated that he has been carrying this heavy burden privately for the last three years, but was inspired to share his story with the world after witnessing the faith and courage that former President Jimmy Carter displayed, while sharing his diagnosis of Cancer on last month.
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