Tuesday, August 8, 2023
This week, we look at Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s speech yesterday in Savannah and Coastal Georgia reactions to the latest criminal indictment against former president — and current Republican frontrunner — Donald Trump, plus Gov. Brian Kemp on the state’s budget and “rogue prosecutors.”
‘Hold on tight’
It’s tough being a man in the middle.
At least that’s how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sought to portray himself in a speech yesterday to the Savannah Rotary Club, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
By invoking that both-sides history to some 150 attendees at Savannah Technical College’s Eckburg Auditorium, the 68-year-old Raffensperger was advancing the old saw that if you’re being attacked from both sides, you must be doing something right.
That may be correct as far as it goes, but it’s also the case that since the 2020 presidential election, Raffensperger has been disparaged most fiercely by members of his own political party for his actions to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential vote in Georgia.
Far from being a man in the middle, Raffensperger is fighting a rear-guard action to defend a voting system that he believes will deliver a free and fair vote next year, against the swelling rank and file of his own party who insist the opposite and are campaigning across the region for a return to hand-counted paper ballots.
“We want you to feel confident in the process,” he said yesterday, noting that voter totals next year are expected to exceed the nearly 5 million Georgians who cast ballots in the presidential race in 2020. “So, hold on tight. Get prepared.”
Asked after his speech if he would comply with any request to testify against Trump in Washington or in Fulton County, the man on the other end of the then-president’s request “to find, uh, 11,780 votes” left no doubts:
“I follow the law, and I follow the Constitution. And I believe anyone that holds elected office must and is required because we take an oath to the Constitution of not just the state of Georgia, but to the United States of America. Every elected officeholder does, as well as the office of the president of the United States of America.”
All the rage
Donald Trump has enjoyed rousing electoral success in Coastal Georgia, defeating Hillary Clinton by a whopping 15% of the vote in 2016 and Biden by an equally decisive 12% in 2020.
But in the wake of Trump’s third criminal indictment this year — and with a fourth expected early next week, if not sooner, in Fulton County — local Republican officeholders seemed unsure how to play the shifting political landscape, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
First District Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter treaded lightly, tweeting, “This administration’s blatant targeting of a political opponent should be eye opening to every American.” No mention of the former president by name. “Eye opening”? To say the least. Thursday’s indictment brought to 78 the number of felony charges now pending against the former president in Washington, New York, and Florida.
What seemed like a carefully calibrated response to the last week’s indictment by the Carter of 2023 was at odds with the Carter of 2020-2021, when he joined other Republican lawmakers in 2020 in seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. It was also a far cry from the responses of some other members of Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Locally, while no reactions to Trump’s latest legal woes from GOP lawmakers Sen. Ben Watson (R-Savannah) or Reps. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah), Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), Mike Hodges (R-Brunswick) and Jon Burns (R-Effingham) could be found online or on local media outlets, the chair of the 1st District Republican Committee, Kandiss Taylor of Baxley, was calling other Republicans to the political ramparts.
“President Trump won’t break. He won’t take a deal. No matter how many FAKE indictments they write. He will win for a THIRD time. The people are LOUD and STRONG. We will secure our elections,” Taylor wrote on Facebook.
The responses of local Republican officeholders and conservative media were even more at odds. There, last week’s indictment was all the rage. Literally.
“When are they [congressional Republicans] going to grow a spine?” complained local conservative talk show host Bill Edwards. His co-host of the podcast “Get Real America,” Brittany Brown, chair of the Chatham County Republican Party, described the indictment as “garbage.”
“I don’t care if you’re a Trump person, not a Trump person, it’s wrong,” Brown said. “When you’ve been investigated for, what, eight years now, and this is the best you can come up with?”
ICYMI
“Study to see how deep labor pool is for new metaplant” (Coastal Courier, August 3, 2023) “Twenty-two companies currently advertise job openings on the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Joint Development Authority website, which includes the disclaimer, ‘this does not represent all current job opportunities available.’”
“Kemp scoffs at DA lawsuit: ‘We’re on the right side of that issue’” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 7, 2023) “We’re going after rogue prosecutors that don’t want to follow the law and prosecute the law,” he said. “Y’all probably saw where there is a few of them suing us. But you know what? I’m not worried about that. We’re on the right side of that issue, and we’ll continue to be.”
“Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp dangles the possibility of increased state spending after years of surpluses” (Associated Press, August 2, 2023) “In a yearly memo that kicks off the state budget process, Richard Dunn, director of the Office of Planning and Budget, told state agencies they can ask for 3% increases both when the current 2024 budget is amended and when lawmakers write the 2025 budget next year. He also invited agencies to propose one-time ways to spend the state’s unallocated surplus, which could top $10 billion once the books are closed on the budget year ended June 30.”
“‘Local elections are at risk’: Warnock reintroduces legislation to stop election interference” (GPB, July 27, 2023) “The legislation comes after the Brennan Center released a study last month detailing that this year, at least 20 states have introduced about 78 bills centered on election interference. In 2022, Georgia was among the seven states that signed their bill into law, giving ‘more power to partisan actors to threaten or interfere with election workers or processes.’”
“Fully emblematic” (Donald Trump, Truth Social, August 6, 2023) “The ‘shocking and totally unexpected’ loss by the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to the our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden. Many of our players were openly hostile to America – No other country behaved in such a manner, or even close. WOKE EQUALS FAILURE. Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to Hell!!! MAGA”
2024 elections: ‘Hold on tight,’ Raffensperger says
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defended the state’s voting system in a speech in Savannah
Cracks show in Trump’s support in Coastal Georgia
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter seems to have tempered his public support for Donald Trump after latest indictments.
How urban residents can adapt to rising heat
As man-made climate change intesifies urban heat islands, city dwellers need to adapt.
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.
Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
You must be logged in to post a comment.