We will be at the Leesburg Christmas Parade in about an hour with our families, where Tom and his son are marching in the parade with the area Cub Scouts.

LP-SWGA has a general meeting today, and [...]]]> Tom and I will both be out and about in public today, though not officially on SWGAPolitics.com work.

We will be at the Leesburg Christmas Parade in about an hour with our families, where Tom and his son are marching in the parade with the area Cub Scouts.

LP-SWGA has a general meeting today, and Tom and I are the Vice Chair and Chair, respectively.

My wife and I will also be at the outdoor movie in Leesburg tonight which caps off the Lee County Spirit of Christmas festival. It starts at 6p tonight, and it promises to be an enjoyable experience for the whole family!

We hope to see you out there!

First, let’s dispense of the “usual suspects”. Obviously, there are at present 7 Republicans running (in no particular order): Nathan Deal, Eric Johnson, [...]]]> Looking at the list of people who have filed so far to run for Governor of this State in 2010, there are quite a few more than you may be aware of.

First, let’s dispense of the “usual suspects”. Obviously, there are at present 7 Republicans running (in no particular order): Nathan Deal, Eric Johnson, Karen Handel, Austin Scott, John Oxendine, Ray McBerry, and Jeff Chapman. On the Democratic side, things are not quite as hectic, with 4 usual suspects: Roy Barnes, David Poythress, DuBose Porter, and Thurbert Baker. The Libertarians have a single candidate currently running, John Monds.

Honestly, expect one of those people to be your next Governor. Exactly which one is up for debate, and will be probably for the next 14 months or so. (Though in roughly 10 months, that list of 12 gets pared down to 3.)

However, there are some other candidates who have officially filed that you may not be aware of, and I wanted to at least mention their existence:

Daniel Alvin, who filed as a Democrat and lives in Savannah

Al Bartell, apparently running as an Independent, lives in Atlanta and his voicemail says he is a “Master Consultant”.

Carl Camon, the current Mayor of Ray City, running as a Democrat

Robert Ingram, running as a Democrat, lives in Hephzibah

Matthew Jamison, of Atlanta, no party listed. Even more interesting is that the phone numbers on his filing are either wrong numbers or have been disconnected. Is filing for Governor really that cheap, or did this guy just have some money he had no idea what to do with?

Berry LaSalle Perkins, also of Atlanta, also no party listed.

Here’s the thing: With Georgia’s ballot access laws as draconian as they are, you will never see these guys running with no party on a ballot. Not unless they can somehow convince 5% of the registered voters statewide to sign a petition to get them on it – and that would require a MASSIVE ground game, one that you would think would at least have a website or SOME kind of news article about it.

Even guys who are purportedly running for the Democratic Party nomination, such as Alvin and Ingram, need to set up some kind of website and get some kind of game going if they expect to be taken seriously. Heck, even Carl Camon has a website, and most barely expect him to get the full Ray City vote in the Primary!

But hey, all of these people have decided to run, and I wanted to at least mention them one time, just in case you were under the impression that you didn’t have any options at the polls!

I personally walked 10 miles with Scott back [...]]]> As I begin to type this, Austin Scott is on the steps of the State Capitol in Atlanta, completing a journey he began on June 27 in Chickamauga that wrapped around the entire state, going into many communities that had probably never personally seen a Governor candidate.

I personally walked 10 miles with Scott back in July out of Bainbridge and into Climax, and it was a good chance to get to talk to the man as both a man and a politician. Many of his actual ideas and policies I completely disagree with – but that is to be expected with a GOP candidate. But I trust the man. And in someone I know I’m going to disagree with, that is the number one thing I look for – that I can trust them and that they’ll listen to me. Scott does both.

Something else I want to pass on here is a twitter conversation this morning involving Scott, a Handel staffer (Austin Ivy), and myself (‘veritasthorn’ there).

@ScottForGA: The final day of the Walk has arrived

@AustinIvy: @ScottForGA Does anybody besides you care? Part of leadership is time management, you wasted a lot of time.

@veritasthorn: @austinivy @scottforga went to the ppl. The other GAGOV candidates wait for the ppl to come to them. Yet u question HIS leadership?

So while the other GAGOV candidates waste time going to BBQ after BBQ after BBQ and event after event after event waiting for people to come to them, Scott shows some initiative and goes out to find the people, and a staffer for one of these do-nothing wait-for-people-to-come-to-me candidates has the cajones to question HIS leadership? Interesting indeed…

Finally, Aaron Gould Sheinin, the AJC’s Gold Dome reporter, went out Thursday and walked 4 miles with Scott inside the Perimeter of Atlanta, and he had a great article in yesterday’s AJC – far more poetic than I could ever possibly hope to be.

Congratulations, Rep Scott, job well done. I look forward to seeing your actual position statements and watching your campaign continue to develop.

Now go home for a well-earned rest!

This is the email I am sending to all organizations that I am inviting to our Tea Party. You are encouraged to copy and send to as many [...]]]> We will make posters Saturday April 11th. I apologize for the error.
If you have not already done so please let me know if you can come.

This is the email I am sending to all organizations that I am inviting to our Tea Party. You are encouraged to copy and send to as many people as you can. Of course you can create your own email, just make sure the time, location and subject are included. You’re welcome to include my contact info if you would like, or to use your own. We’re in this together!

I am organizing a TEA Party on April 15, 2009 , 5:00-7:00 P.M., at the Courthouse located at 225 Pine Avenue, Albany, GA .

Our purpose is to inform our government that we are overtaxed and under-represented. Equally important is our goal to educate Southwest Georgians on our Founding Fathers and the Constitution.

I would be honored to have your organization participate.

I am a volunteer for the non-profit organization FreedomWorks.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

I’ve had a few questions about this being an “anti-Obama” rally. NO, this will not be an anti-Obama rally. We are protesting overtaxation and under-representation, and encouraging a return to the Constitution and the principles our Founding Fathers used to create it and the Declaration of Independence. Both of our policital parties are guilty of straying from these principles.

If you have suggestions/questions contact me.

Donna