Delusions of grandeur temporarily derailed (again)
Tonight the Oconee County Democratic Committee met without me as Chair. I resigned after an email from Congressional chair and former campaign chair for my race for House Patsy Harris of Morgan County seemed particularly incensed at my endorsement of Oglethorpe County attorney Gary Garrard in the Republican Primary for the 10th district Congressional race (after she received a complaint from someone from Morgan County after this endorsement was picked up by the right wing blog Peach Pundit).
In this blog I have never let party labels stop me from usually picking the losers as it is generally the kiss of death when an activist Democrat chooses a Republican candidate. Many Republicans I have picked in Board of Commission and Board of Education races here in Oconee County have become lifelong friends. I do not let a letter behind someone's name determine whether or not I think this person is a quality individual worthy of support.
As anyone who has talked to me for more than five minutes can attest to, I remain steadfastly Democratic in my outlook and believes. To exert the slightest amount of influence on the local races here in Oconee County, you pretty much have to vote in the GOP primary to have any voice in the local races. With the exception of Presidential primaries I have pretty much voted in every Republican primary since moving out to Oconee County in the early 1990s.
The Republican party will remain in control of Oconee County and Georgia for at least another election cycle. I do think Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter will win in 2014, especially after the sequester/government shutdown fiasco and all the sleaze around Nathan Deal cripples him more than the primary challenge of John Barge and David Pennington (not sure which one of those I am going to vote for, but I am damn sure not going to vote for Deal or any of the Tea Party Congressman who do not return their $5,000.00 in pay).
The Oconee County Democratic Party will survive my resignation. I feel horrible for leaving vice chair Pat Adams in charge when she really does not want to be at all. Perhaps they elected someone new tonight as an interim chair. I hope 10th District Democratic candidate Ken Dious and other candidates do show up to meetings either at the Jittery Joe's conference room (where they met this evening) or the Government Annex or Ashford on Main or anywhere else.
I hope nothing but the best for all politically involved individuals in Oconee County or elsewhere. I have done just about everything I could ever hope to do, including running for office twice. I have even had the opportunity to address almost every elected Republican official in the state of Georgia this side of Nathan Deal thanks to my now former counterpart Jay Hanley at a rally early in the 2011 mayoral race. I kind of chickened out when I quickly determined there was not a Watkinsville resident in the crowd at Harris Shoals Park except Jay and his Dad (who I truly admire) and his then new wife.
Each party badly needs an influx of young blood and support. At age 50, I was on the young end of the demographic of the party here in Oconee County. I will continue to support people running for office of any stripe or persuasion I deem acceptable. I will write about restaurants and sports and music and art too.
The shift is coming to Georgia. The obsolescence of the Republican party was only expedited by Paul Broun and Ted Cruz and their $24 billion boondoggle. Broun will not win the GOP Senate primary, although he might sneak in another run off. While I do not always subscribe to a lot of their tactics and methods, I will devote any political activism time I may still have to the Crush Paul Broun Committee and also remain outspoken with my civil criticism of Broun, Jack Kingston, Lyn Westmoreland or anyone else, including Democrat John Barrow (who supported that secret House of Representatives rule change that helped Eric Cantor keep the shutdown going).
It is the oldest excuse in the book, but I do have a lot of family concerns that override everything else too. My son attends school in Atlanta and I have a lot of work to do with him on the home front on the weekends. I hope you all keep reading this blog and support it in any way shape or form you can. You can never be too informed to make decisions about local, state and national leadership.
I will still keep you informed about the goings on in Oconee County politics, especially on the Democratic side (when I find out).
In this blog I have never let party labels stop me from usually picking the losers as it is generally the kiss of death when an activist Democrat chooses a Republican candidate. Many Republicans I have picked in Board of Commission and Board of Education races here in Oconee County have become lifelong friends. I do not let a letter behind someone's name determine whether or not I think this person is a quality individual worthy of support.
As anyone who has talked to me for more than five minutes can attest to, I remain steadfastly Democratic in my outlook and believes. To exert the slightest amount of influence on the local races here in Oconee County, you pretty much have to vote in the GOP primary to have any voice in the local races. With the exception of Presidential primaries I have pretty much voted in every Republican primary since moving out to Oconee County in the early 1990s.
The Republican party will remain in control of Oconee County and Georgia for at least another election cycle. I do think Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter will win in 2014, especially after the sequester/government shutdown fiasco and all the sleaze around Nathan Deal cripples him more than the primary challenge of John Barge and David Pennington (not sure which one of those I am going to vote for, but I am damn sure not going to vote for Deal or any of the Tea Party Congressman who do not return their $5,000.00 in pay).
The Oconee County Democratic Party will survive my resignation. I feel horrible for leaving vice chair Pat Adams in charge when she really does not want to be at all. Perhaps they elected someone new tonight as an interim chair. I hope 10th District Democratic candidate Ken Dious and other candidates do show up to meetings either at the Jittery Joe's conference room (where they met this evening) or the Government Annex or Ashford on Main or anywhere else.
I hope nothing but the best for all politically involved individuals in Oconee County or elsewhere. I have done just about everything I could ever hope to do, including running for office twice. I have even had the opportunity to address almost every elected Republican official in the state of Georgia this side of Nathan Deal thanks to my now former counterpart Jay Hanley at a rally early in the 2011 mayoral race. I kind of chickened out when I quickly determined there was not a Watkinsville resident in the crowd at Harris Shoals Park except Jay and his Dad (who I truly admire) and his then new wife.
Each party badly needs an influx of young blood and support. At age 50, I was on the young end of the demographic of the party here in Oconee County. I will continue to support people running for office of any stripe or persuasion I deem acceptable. I will write about restaurants and sports and music and art too.
The shift is coming to Georgia. The obsolescence of the Republican party was only expedited by Paul Broun and Ted Cruz and their $24 billion boondoggle. Broun will not win the GOP Senate primary, although he might sneak in another run off. While I do not always subscribe to a lot of their tactics and methods, I will devote any political activism time I may still have to the Crush Paul Broun Committee and also remain outspoken with my civil criticism of Broun, Jack Kingston, Lyn Westmoreland or anyone else, including Democrat John Barrow (who supported that secret House of Representatives rule change that helped Eric Cantor keep the shutdown going).
It is the oldest excuse in the book, but I do have a lot of family concerns that override everything else too. My son attends school in Atlanta and I have a lot of work to do with him on the home front on the weekends. I hope you all keep reading this blog and support it in any way shape or form you can. You can never be too informed to make decisions about local, state and national leadership.
I will still keep you informed about the goings on in Oconee County politics, especially on the Democratic side (when I find out).
Comments