Oconee County, GA Politics

This is kind of like a very Athens-centric fantasy politics. Trying to guess who is going to take the plunge and run for (another) office is often an exercise in extreme futility, but it is fun none the less to look into the murky world of politics and take a stab in the dark at who is going to run for what position. A lot of what prompted such speculation on my part was the ninety minutes of euphoria spurred on by the joke run amok of Athens area attorney and State Representative Doug McKillip running against Johnny Isaakson this past Sunday.  I would vote for his very intelligent wife Mary Byers McKillip as a write-in candidate against Isaakson if no one else announces soon.  As much as it hurts me to say this, right now I would wager on a near unanimous (with the probable exceptions of hometown favorite son Michael Thurmond and possibly Roy Barnes) GOP sweep in Georgia for 2010, although much could erupt to change that. No Democrats have stepped up or even hinted at run...

Oconee County Republican leader Jay Hanley, who may indeed be the youngest party county party chair in the state of Georgia, declined to resign his dream gig as Chair of the local GOP to run for the non-partisan Post 3 slot Joe Walter is giving up on the City Council to become Mayor. "I  will not be a candidate (for the Watkinsville City Council at this time)," wrote Hanley in an email earlier this evening. "While I don't rule out a future run for public office in the City of Watkinsville or Oconee County, my political focus right now will be the Chairmanship of the Oconee County Republican Party." While I have not attended either of the recent meetings, I must give massive props to Jay for having the political acumen to schedule a series of strong speakers with free food and advertising in the local media to keep attention focused on the majority party in Oconee at the Watkinsville Town Hall exactly opposite of the Oconee County Democratic Committee meetings....

Secretary of State candidate and north Athens resident Brian Kemp came out with an amazingly long list of endorsements in his 2012 race for the nomination and at this point looks like a shoe-in to be Karen Handel's Republican replacement. Among many of the local endorsers were Watkinsville Mayor Jim Luken and city council member Brian Brodrick. Brian was the lone city council member amongst a long list of other elected officials which makes me wonder if he had something to do with its gathering, and if he did (or if he didn't and to whomever did) job well done. I am sure he will let me know in a comment mere minutes after I post this. For being some damn young, Brian has a long history as a partisan political activist of the utmost ethical and well scrutinized behavior and knows PR inside out and backward. He is even friends with multiple Democrats and has been known to sweat with them too.I think he is fixing to father child number three as I sometimes see his wife Susan Well...

I have lived in Georgia more than a quarter century with my father's family going seven generations deep on a hilltop in Druid Hills, but I grew up in the great state of Iowa in a rather interesting political climate. My mother Norma S. Matthews was part of the apparatus adjusting the Iowa Caucuses to the front of the line in 1972. We hosted a caucus at our house on 44th st.eet "Snake Drive" where people huddled in corners to declare their allegiance to everyone from Hubert Humphrey to Edmund Muskie to Scoop Jackson and George McGovern. My mom was the co-chair of the McGovern campaign and we had quite a parade of people through our living room and guest rooms that year, including Bill and Hillary, Gary Hart, and many others less famous. McGovern came in third that evening but won in the expectations game, doing better than was thought possible, and the Senator from South Dakota won the elusive momentum factor into New Hampshire and Wisconsin on to the nomination. Every ...