Georgia SD 28 Run-Off: Duke Blackburn vs Mike Crane
by PV
According to his Website, Duke Blackburn worked for 20 years in “Georgia government” and retired in 2009. On his Website, he states that he “knows how government works.”
In 2006, he threw his support behind Mark Taylor (D) for Governor by not only contributing $250.00 to Taylor’s campaign, but also adorning his front lawn with Mark Taylor for Governor signs.
Now, while there will be those of you who declare “Oh, that was 5 years ago! He wants to be a Republican now. Let’s hug him and welcome him in!”….ehhhh, not so fast.
Blackburn appears to have retired from government in 2009, and has no evidence of ever demonstrating any knowledge of, or interest in, Republican politics. He has no record of anything remotely resembling a right-wing conservative mind.
As for the endorsement by Casey Cagle, Cagle clearly sees someone who he can easily influence and manipulate. He sees Blackburn as merely a lump of undefined political clay, ready to be molded into whatever kind of Republican Casey needs.
Now, as it turns out, Cagle and Blackburn do both share a similar past: They have both contributed to Democrat Mark Taylor. We referenced the $250 contribution Blackburn gave Taylor in 2006 for his Governor’s campaign.
In 2006, in the Lt. Governor’s primary between Casey Cagle and Ralph Reed, the Reed campaign unearthed Casey’s contribution of $1000.00 to Lt. Governor Mark Taylor in the 1999-2000 time frame. (The AJC’s Jim Galloway wrote a column about it which does not appear to be on the Web any longer…)
As far as the qualifications for Mike Crane go (Blackburn’s opponent), Crane has a documented history of many years of Republican activity, not the least of which most recently was his winning the Republican run-off in August 2010 for Congressional District 13, and then challenging Democrat David Scott in the General (Crane lost…very tough district for a Republican to win).
So, Mike Crane has proven Republican chops. That, apparently, is something Cagle doesn’t want to have to face in a senator in his chamber.
Final Comment on Blackburn: Nothing personal to him, but, when a ghost (i.e., someone who has no Republican form prior to qualifying) shows-up to qualify for office as a Republican, you gotta wonder if he’s doing it because he’s a person who believes in the principles of the Republican Party, or is he doing it because he just thinks that’s the best way to win?
Also, in our view, the last thing this state needs is another ex-government bureaucrat. Because, the only thing bureaucrats know how to do really well is create and manage the red-tape processes the rest of us just grit our teeth and grimace about every time we interact with a state agency.
Mitch Seabaugh served SS District 28 for a long time as a very solid conservative Republican. To replace him with someone whose principles no one really knows anything about is just asking for a lot of trouble.
