Court of Appeals Race is FINALLY Over!

Rumors have it that there will be no court challenge from the Mead campaign over the results of the Court of Appeals run-off tonight in which Debra Bernes defeated Howard Mead by a margin of approximately 30,000 votes out of a total of 243,000 votes.

PV Offers A Few Interesting Highlights: Contrary to what some believe, this was not a race won by Republican voters. It was a race won by an overwhelming majority of voters from both sides of the aisle who thought Bernes was more qualified for the position. That's not just fluff; that's fact.

Here's the proof: In the November 2 election, Bush received just 73,570 votes out of DeKalb County while Cynthia McKinney received 155,018 out of DeKalb. How many did Bernes win in DeKalb on November 2? 117,241. Which means that since Bush only received 73,050, and Bernes received 44,191 votes more than Bush, those extra votes are Democrat voters.

In the November 23 election, Bernes received 12,000 votes to Mead's 8,400 votes in DeKalb. And, DeKalb is but just one benchmark county where Democrats came out for Bernes. In fact, we can safely say that a lot of Democrats and Republican voters supported Bernes.

Now, we know there will be volumes of "Gooooolly!" written/talked about this phenomenon by pinhead journalists all over this state, but the fact of the "why" of the result is quite simple: A) Bernes was more qualified for the position. B) Bernes engaged in a more proactive campaign to discuss her qualifications with the voters. C) Bernes' grassroots efforts dominated Mead's television ad buys in much the same way that Roy Barnes' spending $21 million on his media buys in 2002 got overrun by Sonny Perdue's $3 million grassroots campaign. D) Bernes consistently maintained her neutrality on any issues or questions put to her by anyone.

Yeah, we know Item D was what the meddling fools at the Christian Coalition ("CC") didn't like and couldn't get a grip on to save their life. Why? Because they could care less about good government. The CC's only goal is to put their Crusaders into public office and make this country a theocracy based on their interpretation of the Bible in much the same way as the Taliban interprets the Quoran. Neither forms of religious extremism are good for a nation founded on principles of liberty.

A significant component of Bernes' grassroots campaign was planting four-hundred (400) of the 4'x'4 signs that displayed Debra Bernes' name in a red and blue motif all over the state. One might ask how is it that such a small grassroots organization could 1) plant so many signs and 2) keep track of so many signs enough to put all of those "Thank You, Georgia. Remember to Vote" in not just one run-off, but two run-off elections?

Gary Bernes, husband of Debra, likes gadgets. One of the gadgets he invested in was a $450 Palm Pilot with GPS software in it. Every time he planted one of her signs in some part of the state, he turned on the GPS and shot the location to the satellites and it was anchored into the system. He dubbed the signs according to the county he was in like "Gwinnett 1, Gwinnett 2, etc.".

The GPS system kept the signs accounted for by location. Once the signs were all planted, whenever the run-off came and Gary had to go out to all of the signs again, he plugged in a speaker to the output of the GPS unit and it pointed him step-by-step of where to go to find a sign. Even in the pitch-black darkness of Parts-Unknown, Georgia, the GPS would beep at him telling him "Go 2/10 of a mile and turn left..." and he would be able to follow directions like that, whether they be main highways or dirt roads. And, this will be what he uses to take down all of those signs now as well...(ooh! what fun!)

This is the coolest use we've seen of technology in a grassroots campaign yet. Sheer brilliance, Gary!

One other very good result about Bernes winning: She won't be joining the other judges on the Court as they take Uga-Bubba breaks during a session to shout "Go [Ugly] Dawgs!" at random moments.

Why? Because she wanted to earn a diploma, not have to drive slow enough to have Vince Dooley throw one in the backseat. So she obtained both her undergraduate degree and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida. Wow! A few more non-UGA grads placed into higher positions in government, and we just might be able to clean this state up from the mess the good 'ole Bubbas have been creating for the past century with their moronic laws and interpretations thereof.