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heathrowgahttp://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/10/06/1006govrace.html
Georgia's race for governor turned nasty this week when Gov. Sonny Perdue's re-election campaign sent out a mailer accusing his Democratic rival of putting "the interests of the radical homosexual lobby ahead of our Boy Scouts."
The foldout, full-color mail piece also mentions the endorsement Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor received from "some of the most radical, liberal figures in politics like Cynthia McKinney," a controversial congresswoman.
The mailer additionally states that Taylor took $5,000 from an organization that promotes late-term abortions. It includes two "Vote by Mail" forms that the recipient can use to request absentee ballots.
The attack landed in mailboxes just days after the Republican governor went on television with his wife and the family dog, saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could go the whole campaign without those negative ads like they had in the Democratic primary?"
Taylor campaign spokesman Rick Dent said the mailer is part of a "smear campaign" he expects to continue in the five weeks remaining before the
Nov. 7 general election.
"He is on television with his family and the family dog saying he doesn't want a negative campaign, implying that Mark does," Dent said. "And at the time he is making that commercial, he knows for a fact that he is launching a negative attack in the mail. And it is just outrageous. And it is another example of the difference between what Sonny says and what Sonny does."
Derrick Dickey, a spokesman for Perdue's campaign, declined to say how many of the mailers went out and where they were sent, saying he didn't want to disclose campaign strategy. The mailer says it was paid for by his campaign.
"Mark Taylor and his cronies have been attacking Sonny since the moment the Democrat primary ended, and now they are complaining about simply being confronted with their own record," Dickey wrote in an e-mail. "They aren't very believable playing the victim role."
Taylor's campaign struck first recently with a television campaign ad that says school funding in Georgia has been cut by $1 billion. The overall Department of Education budget has increased from
$6 billion to $7 billion since Perdue took office, largely because of a huge increase in funding this year. But while the total budget has increased, the money for classroom instruction has been cut by about $1 billion during Perdue's tenure. In May, Perdue signed a budget for next year that includes $217 million to pay for 4 percent pay raises for teachers and $10 million to give $100 gift cards to teachers to buy school supplies. More than $400 million more was included for school construction and new school buses.
The cover of Perdue's mailer contains a photo of a Boy Scout sitting next to a crumpled U.S. flag that is lying on the floor. The piece declares, "Our traditions and values are under attack from politicians ... like Mark Taylor."
The mailer goes on to accuse Taylor of killing legislation aimed at keeping public facilities open to the Boy Scouts. The flier references a 2001 column in The Augusta Chronicle that says Taylor "refused to consider a floor vote" on the legislation when he was lieutenant governor in 2001.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution could not independently verify that claim with state Senate records. Dent denied Taylor ever sought to kill the measure.
The so-called "Defense of Scouting Act" also sought to protect any organization that sets moral criteria for membership. Gay and lesbian and civil liberties groups opposed the bill. When the bill was under consideration in 2001, Taylor declared he supported the Boy Scouts and was trying to find a way to protect them from a possible backlash by groups opposed to their ban on gay Scoutmasters. But the legislation as written could have permitted access to public facilities by "Neo-Nazi groups, hate groups, any group that would claim they're involved in youth activities that involve patriotism," Taylor warned.
As for McKinney, the firebrand congresswoman publicly backed Taylor for governor, but Taylor did not return the favor and endorse her prior to her loss to Hank Johnson in the Aug. 8 runoff for her spot on the November ballot. Earlier this year, Taylor's campaign posted on its Web site a list of elected officials and community leaders endorsing his run for governor. The top three names on the list were those of former Atlanta Mayor Andy Young and U.S. Reps. David Scott and McKinney.
Dent said the campaign removed the list several months ago when the Web site was redesigned. Republican officials, however, said Taylor removed the supporter list after the primary so he wouldn't be tied to McKinney in his race against Perdue.
Perdue's mailer also says Taylor accepted $5,000 from an organization that "promotes late-term partial-birth abortions and opposes parental notification laws." The mailer doesn't name the organization, but Dickey identified the group as Vote Choice, a political action committee connected to Planned Parenthood of Georgia. Vote Choice gave Taylor a $5,000 campaign contribution in July, state records show.
Planned Parenthood of Georgia does not promote late-term abortions, said Kay Scott, the organization's president and CEO.
"Planned Parenthood has a long-standing policy of encouraging parental involvement for teens in areas of family planning as well as abortion," Scott added. "Restrictive legislation only puts teens at more risks."
Georgia's race for governor turned nasty this week when Gov. Sonny Perdue's re-election campaign sent out a mailer accusing his Democratic rival of putting "the interests of the radical homosexual lobby ahead of our Boy Scouts."
The foldout, full-color mail piece also mentions the endorsement Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor received from "some of the most radical, liberal figures in politics like Cynthia McKinney," a controversial congresswoman.
The mailer additionally states that Taylor took $5,000 from an organization that promotes late-term abortions. It includes two "Vote by Mail" forms that the recipient can use to request absentee ballots.
The attack landed in mailboxes just days after the Republican governor went on television with his wife and the family dog, saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could go the whole campaign without those negative ads like they had in the Democratic primary?"
Taylor campaign spokesman Rick Dent said the mailer is part of a "smear campaign" he expects to continue in the five weeks remaining before the
Nov. 7 general election.
"He is on television with his family and the family dog saying he doesn't want a negative campaign, implying that Mark does," Dent said. "And at the time he is making that commercial, he knows for a fact that he is launching a negative attack in the mail. And it is just outrageous. And it is another example of the difference between what Sonny says and what Sonny does."
Derrick Dickey, a spokesman for Perdue's campaign, declined to say how many of the mailers went out and where they were sent, saying he didn't want to disclose campaign strategy. The mailer says it was paid for by his campaign.
"Mark Taylor and his cronies have been attacking Sonny since the moment the Democrat primary ended, and now they are complaining about simply being confronted with their own record," Dickey wrote in an e-mail. "They aren't very believable playing the victim role."
Taylor's campaign struck first recently with a television campaign ad that says school funding in Georgia has been cut by $1 billion. The overall Department of Education budget has increased from
$6 billion to $7 billion since Perdue took office, largely because of a huge increase in funding this year. But while the total budget has increased, the money for classroom instruction has been cut by about $1 billion during Perdue's tenure. In May, Perdue signed a budget for next year that includes $217 million to pay for 4 percent pay raises for teachers and $10 million to give $100 gift cards to teachers to buy school supplies. More than $400 million more was included for school construction and new school buses.
The cover of Perdue's mailer contains a photo of a Boy Scout sitting next to a crumpled U.S. flag that is lying on the floor. The piece declares, "Our traditions and values are under attack from politicians ... like Mark Taylor."
The mailer goes on to accuse Taylor of killing legislation aimed at keeping public facilities open to the Boy Scouts. The flier references a 2001 column in The Augusta Chronicle that says Taylor "refused to consider a floor vote" on the legislation when he was lieutenant governor in 2001.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution could not independently verify that claim with state Senate records. Dent denied Taylor ever sought to kill the measure.
The so-called "Defense of Scouting Act" also sought to protect any organization that sets moral criteria for membership. Gay and lesbian and civil liberties groups opposed the bill. When the bill was under consideration in 2001, Taylor declared he supported the Boy Scouts and was trying to find a way to protect them from a possible backlash by groups opposed to their ban on gay Scoutmasters. But the legislation as written could have permitted access to public facilities by "Neo-Nazi groups, hate groups, any group that would claim they're involved in youth activities that involve patriotism," Taylor warned.
As for McKinney, the firebrand congresswoman publicly backed Taylor for governor, but Taylor did not return the favor and endorse her prior to her loss to Hank Johnson in the Aug. 8 runoff for her spot on the November ballot. Earlier this year, Taylor's campaign posted on its Web site a list of elected officials and community leaders endorsing his run for governor. The top three names on the list were those of former Atlanta Mayor Andy Young and U.S. Reps. David Scott and McKinney.
Dent said the campaign removed the list several months ago when the Web site was redesigned. Republican officials, however, said Taylor removed the supporter list after the primary so he wouldn't be tied to McKinney in his race against Perdue.
Perdue's mailer also says Taylor accepted $5,000 from an organization that "promotes late-term partial-birth abortions and opposes parental notification laws." The mailer doesn't name the organization, but Dickey identified the group as Vote Choice, a political action committee connected to Planned Parenthood of Georgia. Vote Choice gave Taylor a $5,000 campaign contribution in July, state records show.
Planned Parenthood of Georgia does not promote late-term abortions, said Kay Scott, the organization's president and CEO.
"Planned Parenthood has a long-standing policy of encouraging parental involvement for teens in areas of family planning as well as abortion," Scott added. "Restrictive legislation only puts teens at more risks."
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Date: 2006-10-07 07:14 pm (UTC)I really enjoyed going to GS summer camp each year - those trips are some of the fondest memories of my childhood.