In Sonny Country, Gold Dome Battling Draws Yawns

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

Perry, Ga.

(8/13/07) Here in Sonny Country, they aren’t paying much attention to the continuing budget fight between the governor and the Legislature in Atlanta. But they are paying a fair amount of attention to Washington and they don’t like what they see.

They love their governor – he is, after all, a neighbor. They still like George Bush, no matter what you may hear. They think setting a timetable to pull out of Iraq is wrong. And many of them are having trouble deciding who they’ll support for President. The names they toss out are Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani.

Twenty years ago, many of the residents of Sonny Country would have called themselves “Sam Nunn Democrats” and they still love Nunn down here, at least those who are old enough to know who he is. They’re skeptical whether their Houston County neighbor will actually mount a third-party presidential bid, but if he did, he would have their votes.

That’s a slice of what I heard talking to folks Saturday at Sonny’s 4th annual Fish Fry at the Georgia Agricenter. It was held in the air-conditioned comfort of the Miller-Murphy-Howard Building just off the smoking-hot asphalt of Larry Walker Boulevard. And, yes, those folks whose names adorn the building and the avenue all were Democrats, as was Nunn.

But Democratic domination of Georgia politics is, for now, a fading memory. Perdue’s 2002 victory not only gave Republicans the executive mansion but set the stage for a GOP takeover of the state House and Senate, along with the lieutenant governor’s office and the Secretary of State’s post.

But now that they are comfortably in power, Republicans under the Gold Dome have been fussing and fighting this year in a battle that’s been reminiscent of the best rounds fought in the statehouse between some of the old Democrats; the names Lester Maddox and Jimmy Carter quickly come to mind.

So I asked some folks down in Sonny Country if they were distressed by how the Republicans are fighting in Atlanta.

Most of the ones I talked to weren’t giving it a lot of thought. (There was nothing scientific about my survey and I do not offer this as anything other than what it is – a synthesis of the opinions of a small slice of the 1,000 or so people at Saturday’s Fish Fry, which, by its very nature, drew Perdue admirers.)

Bill and Gail Goodwin of Houston County, both 67, were among the earliest arrivals for an event that brought out a stellar crowd of Republican elected officials, including U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Secretary of state Karen Handel, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, state GOP Chairman Sue Everhart, and a number of state legislators.

“We like Sonny,” Bill Goodwin, a retired military man, was saying. Goodwin has “a general idea of what’s going on” with Perdue and the Legislature, and his take is that Perdue was fighting this year to make good on his campaign promise to provide a senior tax cut.

“We got the feeling he gave it his best shot,” he said. “We just get the impression Sonny’s looking out for our best interests.”

As for their other political concerns, “Washington is the one we have our eye on. We’re very unhappy with Congress,” Gail Goodwin said.

“We’re big Bush supporters,” Bill Goodwin added. “We think Bush is doing the right thing In Iraq.”

“Let him do his job,” Gail Goodwin added. “I think the Democrats are making us look bad overseas and in our own country.”

Gail Goodwin said she likes Fred Thompson for the White House. Bill Goodwin’s having a tough time deciding between Thompson or Giuliani but said he also likes McCain.

I asked second-term county commissioner Martin Moseley of Peach County if he thought the Republicans looked to be in disarray in Atlanta after this year’s legislative session and some of the aftershocks that have occurred this summer.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. I feel like the House was just concerned about some of the constitutional issues of who sets the budget. But I feel like Sonny still has the full support of the Republican Party and all his constituents,” he said.

This from a man who lost money for a local project in a “re-appropriation” of money under the Gold Dome. The county had been looking for money to help Middle Georgia Tech build a campus for student commuters in Peach County.

“We’re still pursuing that. We just might have to go a little different direction,” he said.

But even if the county lost its bid for some state funding, Moseley said he believes Perdue “is going a good job with our money and we’re proud of what he’s doing in Atlanta.”

On Iraq, he’s not so happy with the way the war is going but says it’s hard to change a culture that’s been in existence for thousands of years. A pullout now is unthinkable, he said.

His presidential choices right now: Thompson or Giuliani.

Richard Warren, 73, of Sylvester, likes what Perdue has done with the state’s finances. “Remember when he came in there and how much in the hole they were? He wiped that debt out – into a plus.”

Bobbye Saunders, also 73 of Sylvester, said: “He got Mark Taylor out. He (Taylor) might be your buddy, I don’t know. But he sure ain’t mine.”

Warren said he’s disgusted with Congress, and that includes Republicans who don’t follow the party line. “Last year I donated heavily to the Republican Party but I am not donating this year. They are just not doing what they need to be doing … They need to be getting some good candidates … (to replace those who don’t vote with their party.)”

Bill Acton of Macon gives Perdue an “eight out of 10” on a scale of how he’s doing after five years, but said he’s distressed by the fighting in Atlanta and in Washington.

“I think the example they set for young people is rather poor,” he said.

Who’s to blame? “I think they’re all part of the problem.”

So what should they do? “There’s always going to be disagreements and arguments and that kind of stuff, and trying to negotiate something is the way politics works. And I have a problem even with the national scene. We ask countries to negotiate in a diplomatic and responsible way, yet out Congress today – they’re walking out of the House chambers, they’re saying things about each other…”

Acton and Dixie Stewart of Macon both said they would support Nunn if he chose to run; they’ve supported him before. But Stewart says he probably won’t run. Acton said, “You never know.”

Monroe County Commission Chairman Harold Carlisle didn’t pull any punches when I asked him his take on the battles this year under the Gold Dome.

“My opinion - the Legislature has put state agency heads between a rock and a hard place, because most of your department heads are at-will employees; they’re appointed by the governor. If they want to be reappointed, they’ve got to do what the governor says. And I just think it’s a bad practice to make the people choose between, who are we going to follow? Are we going to do what the Legislature says or do what the governor says.

“I think the legislative heads ought to get behind closed doors with the governor and then work this thing out; quit airing their dirty laundry out in the open, because if they don’t we’re going to wind up just like Washington. The Republicans are going to blow it, just like they did in Washington.”

Who does he think is right?

“I personally think the governor’s right. I think the Legislature has already started the 2010 governor’s race. I think you know where I’m going with that. I think it’s rather obvious to anybody that follows politics.”

So how is Sonny doing?

“I think he’s doing great. Just look at the growth in the state, the budget situation. The way state departments are run compared to how they used to be run.”

As for presidential politics: “I think my man hasn’t announced yet.” He’s not talking about Newt. “I don’t think Newt’s going to get involved. I may be totally wrong. But I like the way Fred Thompson’s talking.”

Sam Nunn? “Twenty years ago he had the name recognition. I don’t think he has it with young folks nowadays.”