This is a link to an interesting array of facts about the protections afforded bloggers in the “free speech” realm. You might find this of interest, whether you are a blogger or a comment poster or a lawyer who thinks you have the right to either threaten to sue, or actually sue a blogger for any reason you please:

Electronic Frontier Foundation – Section 230 Protections

Did you know this about Sue Everhart?
by longtime Georgia grassroots activist Toria Morgan

Part 1: As Chairman of the State Party

As GaGOP chairman, Sue Everhart held GRASSROOTS TRAINING. In addition to on-going training for the District Chairmen, State Committee Members and County Chairmen, in May of 2010 she held a weekend Republican Round-Up Training Session for both candidates and grassroots. On Friday night there was a dinner with the National GOP Chairman Michael Steele as the keynote speaker. On Saturday the day kicked off with a breakfast featuring Karl Rove as the speaker. All who attended were able to have their photo with Mr. Rove. The attendees were then divided into groups of candidates and their staff and grassroots volunteers. Classes were led by seasoned political advisors and staff from the RNC. Attendees learned how to work with coalitions, use voter vault, work with the media. All for the cost of $100.00 for the weekend!

As a result all constitutional offices in the state of Georgia are now republican and we picked up a congressional seat!

One of the very first things Sue Everhart did when she became Chairman of the GaGOP was to update the GaGOP Training Manual which had not been updated since the late 1990’s. She then made sure every District Chairman and every County Chairman had a copy to use to train their volunteers.

As Chairman of the GaGOP Sue Everhart spent $125,000 upgrading the IT network, including a new web site. In addition she grew the state GOP email list from 2,000 names to in excess of 200,000 names under her tenure (a 1000% increase)

Sue Everhart visited every Congressional District, putting over 100,000 miles on her car.

Sue Everhart raised in excess of 18 million dollars to give to our Georgia candidates. As George W. Bush told her after the 2008 election, the lights may have gone out everywhere else, but the lights stayed on in Georgia.

Sue Everhart is very responsive to the grassroots. If you have a problem in your district she is always willing to offer a helping hand.

Sue Everhart encourages and supports cooperation between the State Republican Party and other Republican groups, including the Young Republicans, The Federation of Republican Women’s Club, the College Republicans, the Teenage Republicans and the County and District delegates of the State Republican Party.

As Chairman Sue Everhart has always reached out to other groups in order to bring them into the republican fold. She works tirelessly with the Asian community as well as the Black Caucus and the Jewish community.

Sue Everhart works closely with the elected officials and they know her to be honest and fair in her dealings with them and with the electorate.

Sue Everhart sits on the RNC Platform Committee, the RNC Ethics Committee, and the RNC Rules Committee.

Chairman Sue Everhart has been invited to speak throughout the country as the keynote speaker at many venues over the past four years including speaking to the National Educators of America at their National Convention. Without exception the question is always “How can we clone the Chairman from Georgia?”

Part 2: Grassroots Activities

Sue Everhart has worked with the YR’s for years, and is credited with starting the YR’s at Walton High school in 1997.

In 1997 Chairman Sue Everhart received the Cobb Republican Women’s Club Mary Aven Award and the Women of the Year Award in the same year. That had not been done before, nor achieved by anyone since.

In 1999 Sue Everhart was the founding Chairman for Women for Congressman Bob Barr. As chairman she hosted bi-monthly luncheons featuring the Congressman and keynote speakers. She was also the volunteer coordinator for Congressman Phil Gingrey’s first run for Congress in 2004. (She did not live in EITHER of their districts but when asked for her help she willingly gave of her time and money.)

The Senate Cobb delegation, comprised at that time of Senator Robert Lamutt, Senator Chuck Clay, Senator Tom Price and Senator Ginger Collins, created Senate Resolution 1181 for all Sue Everhart’s grassroots efforts. (http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2003_04/fulltext/sr1181.htm)

When President of CCRWC Sue hosted two candidate workshops, inspiring Ginger Collins to later run for Randy Sauder’ seat and giving her the guidelines to follow that helped her win!!

In 2000 Sue Everhart won the State GOP A.A. Richardson Award for statewide volunteer efforts and in 2005 she won the state Pioneer Award for her long and continued service to the GOP.

In 2000 Chairman Sue Everhart was selected by CNN to be the Republican Volunteer of the Year in 2000 that most represented grassroots in America and was interviewed by CNN from the convention floor:
www.http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0007/31/se.21.html

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Let’s Clear The Air On This One Issue

I’ve received some emails in the past few weeks from some people who claim that Tricia Pridemore is against having a secret (or “private ballot”) held at the State Convention in Macon in the election for state party chair.

Since I know differently about this one issue, I will stand in defense of Tricia and her recorded statement during a debate in March held at the Collins Hill High School in Gwinnett County.

During this one hour debate, moderator Jim Galloway asked a question of all three candidates regarding the proposal for a secret ballot to be the method by which the vote is taken. And, in their recorded answers, Sue Everhart went first, Tricia went 2nd, and Shawn Hanley went 3rd, and all 3 candidates stated they desired a secret ballot for various, sound reasons.

This is a link to the audio segment of this particular segment of that debate: http://www.politicalvine.com/2011gop/GaGOPSecretBallot.wav

And, I’m pretty sure Governor Nathan Deal, who, when he was a Congressman, strenuously opposed the efforts by the Democrats to take away the right of union members to vote via secret ballot, would also wish to have the same rights afforded Republicans in this state to maintain their right to privacy to a secret ballot when they cast votes for state party chair, 1st vice-chair, and whatever other party position races will be contested in Macon.

So, unless Tricia or Shawn or Sue turnaround and flip-flop on this issue, from this point forward, we, as delegates and/or alternates, should abide by the wishes of all three candidates for chairman to hold a secret ballot where everyone gets to choose a candidate in their own mind.

Is this settled now? I hope so.

So, Again, We Ask, What Does “Grassroots” Mean?

In our opinion (an opinion hewed by personally spending nearly 15 years in grassroots politics), the fact that one votes in a Republican primary does not mean that person is a “grassroots activist.” Consistently showing-up at the election polls on primary day, and choosing to vote Republican, does not mean one is a “grassroots activist” either.

A “grassroots activist” means you are involved in volunteering your time to work at building a county, district, or state party organization by working in activities designed to promote the organization to the public in order to attract other like-minded political people.

The difference between “grassroots” people and “professional campaign workers” is one simply drawn line: The professionals are paid for their time, and the grassroots are not. The grassroots are in the game to volunteer their time, the professionals are there only for the money.

And, while there is nothing wrong with working for money on a campaign, we consider it inherently dishonest and disingenuous to claim you are a “grassroots” person when, in fact, all you’ve ever done is gotten paid to work in the management of the grassroots volunteers. It means that if you were paid to do a job, you were not inspired by the cause…you were inspired by only the money. Get the difference?

It matters whether you do get this difference…it matters a lot to those who don’t get paid for their time while some professionally-paid operative is claiming they work “tirelessly” to elect Republicans when they work only for the money…and their boss who expects them to damn well work “tirelessly.”

It is insulting to those who spend HOURS over YEARS volunteering for the party to have to run against someone claiming to be a grassroots person at a similar level as they are when the evidence shows they are clearly not.

When It Comes To Justin Tomczak, The Documentation Is Clear

We’re not quite sure who Bill Evelyn is as he just appears to have come out of the woodwork. But, Evelyn is, apparently, the sole member of the group called the State of Georgia Tea Party (“SOGTP”)…a Tea Party that is fraught with credibility as this AJC article properly documents. (We are especially intrigued by Evelyn’s then-support of the ever-whacky candidate named Ray McBerry.)

On the SOGTP website, there is a page devoted to Evelyn’s idol worship of Justin Tomczak. This is the live page…and in case Mr. Evelyn yanks it down or revises it after we disclose the fraud in his claim about Tomczak, here is a PDF snapshot of the page we will now focus on exposing for the lie it states.

After you read about Bill Evelyn’s clear adulation of Tomczak (“adulation” that makes it seem like Evelyn may have a bear crush on Tomczak) in the first few paragraphs, you come to the 5th paragraph where Evelyn extolls the following:

“A few short months out of politics were enough and in early 2009 Justin began devoting his free time to the congressional campaign of now U.S. Congressman Tom Graves where he organized the grassroots effort and assisted with overall campaign strategy and execution. Graves was victorious in 4 elections in the span of 4 months and has gone on to sponsor legislation to defund Obama-Care.”

Justin “began devoting his free time”…? Really? Well, that doesn’t seem quite right since Mr. Tomczak started receiving salary payments directly from the Graves’ campaign in January 2010…a payment of $14,000, which was likely for the previous 6 months of his “free time” spent on Graves’ campaign.

In fact, if you look at that link above that goes to a page of all payments made to Tomczak, he received a total of $24,000 in paid consulting fees from the Graves’ campaign. Hardly a “grassroots” volunteer here for Graves. (But, that’s what having a “man crush” on Tomczak that Evelyn likely has will do to his view of the truth.)

As far as other claims made by Evelyn and Tomczak himself, frankly, over the years, ever since 2002 when he first started in Georgia Republican politics by working for Saxby Chambliss, Justin Tomczak has ONLY worked in paid positions:

State-Level Disclosures from 2003-2005

State-Level Disclosures 2006-2007

Contrast Tomczak’s professional paid experience with either Doug Grammar’s or Bert Guy’s history of grassroots activism (many, many years by both of them volunteering for the party and for Republican campaigns), and there is no comparison of the sweat and heart put into building the party in Georgia. No comparison at all.

We don’t quite understand why so many true grassroots volunteers have so easily fallen for the plastic nature of Justin Tomczak. Our bullshit radar has been going off for months every time we see, read, or hear anything about Justin Tomczak.

Here’s the danger in electing a professional operative to a grassroots position: They are NOT there for the good of the party. They are there to build-up their own weak self-esteem and use the position for either their own self-interests or for their own friends and colleagues…or for both categories of reasons.

Justin Tomczak has not worked for the cause of Republicans as a lot of the true grassroots people have in this state. Our evidence of all payments made to him proves our case. Those of you who support him, pray tell where is your evidence that he truly cares about the party as much as either Bert Guy or Doug Grammar…two people who have full time jobs and find time to volunteer for the past 10+ years?

Hint: There is no evidence of Tomczak’s committment to the cause other than the paychecks he has received. While the typical grassroots activists have worked late in the night putting up signs, Tomczak was paid to put-up signs.

Is that really on the same level of “grassroots activism” as you volunteers worked in? Ponder that before you commit to putting your name on a list to support Tomczak…or cast your vote for him. Ponder that long…and…hard before you equate his paid-work with your non-paid volunteer work.

RE: Quid pro quo for your vote for Tricia Pridemore?

Dear Delegates & Alternates,

According to my sources, some former Sue Everhart supporters have now, under “intense pressure”, switched their vote to supporting Tricia Pridemore. “Intense pressure” is what they are rumored to have described the phone calls they received from the Governor that caused them to switch their votes.

Now, I do not fault these folks for changing their minds. Either fortunately or unfortunately, there is NOTHING in government that I desire to obtain where I would be susceptible to any kind of pressure the point of switching a vote. But, I’m not in these folks’ shoes, and neither are you, and I’m not going to sit in judgement of them or hold them to blame.

The blame for these switches is the government official trying like hell to get someone who is SO unqualified for the office for which she is running that it makes one think there’s some other reason why that is…wayy…behind the scenes that explains these actions other than “she’s my girl.”

Recently, though, I’ve heard of a new “encouragement mechanism” the Pridemore Team will be employing to get people to switch their support from either Sue or Shawn to support Tricia.

In Phase 1, they are going through the list of applicants for the various state boards, state commissions, and state authorities, and see which ones are on the list of either being a delegate or an alternate to the convention.

And, then, they will each be called to see where they stand on who they support. If they do not support Tricia, they will be “encouraged” to support her, or else their application for a state appointment will be “lost” in the shuffle.

For Phase 2, they will call all delegates and alternates who are “undecided” and offer them a state appointment if they commit to supporting Tricia.

Now, I would only caution those of you who might think an appointment to a state board might be a really cool thing to have by asking you this: How, exactly, could you be assured of the Governor following through on his side of the bargain to make that appointment? I mean, think about it…you commit to supporting Tricia for the May 14 convention vote. The time for your board appointment would not occur until after that convention vote takes place.

And, whether Tricia wins or not, are you going to commit based on a promise over the phone? I would at least ask for a letter or email to confirm that the agreement is in place. You know, because if you agreed to the deal, and the Governor reneged on his side of the deal, then you could take that letter to a contracts lawyer and get, perhaps, a settlement or something like that.

All I’m saying is that whatever sweet dumpling of state government fame is promised you for your support of Tricia Pridemore, just cover your base with something more concrete than someone’s voice on the telephone promising you something in exchange for your vote.

RE: I humbly seek your advice

Dear Mr. Morgan,

I am writing to you today for some advice. I know from a lot of my sources down at the capitol that you are one of the most admired lobbyists down there, and when the other lobbyists see you walking down the halls, they just stand aside and make way for you. You know, some of my closest contacts down there have privately admitted to me that they regularly seek out your counsel, which is why I believe you are the best person to contact for help on this particular issue.

A lobbyist acquaintance of mine has confided in me of a rather serious problem he believes he may soon be facing. I cannot get into a lot of details, but this is what the gist of it is: Early this last session, he took it upon himself to make personal visits to all of the Republican legislators, stumping on behalf of Tricia Pridemore for State GOP Party Chair. I’m sure you’re somewhat familiar with this race.

Anyway, it seems this lobbyist acquaintance of mine got a bit overzealous with several of the legislators he talked to. Some of them balked at supporting Tricia, and a few of these legislators emphatically told this lobbyist that they would be supporting Sue Everhart. The lobbyist told them “If you don’t support Tricia Pridemore, we will set-up a PAC and raise a million dollars to run someone against you in the next cycle.”

Well, now that the session is over, this lobbyist friend of mine has gotten word that several of these legislators who were threatened by him have had an conversation with the US Attorney’s office of the Northern District of Georgia. He’s kind of concerned that his threats to these legislators may have actually violated the federal RICO statute dealing with influencing and corruption of a public official.

He is worried sick about what might happen if he has crossed the line on this State GOP race by making threats to get his preferred candidate elected. And, he’s fretting about whether or not he should go ahead and find a criminal defense attorney now, before an FBI agent knocks on his door, or before an “invitation” comes to go appear before a federal grand jury.

Mr. Morgan, what would you advise me to tell him to do? Should he just wait and see what happens, or should he start interviewing criminal defense attorneys?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide me here. My lobbyist acquaintance would be most grateful for any sage advice you can offer him.

J. Randolph Evans
Column No. 1044
Published 11/24/2010

Two women led their respective political parties in Georgia into the 2010 election cycle. They were the chairs of the Georgia Republican Party and the Democratic Party of Georgia. It was the first time this has happened in Georgia history. Next year, both political parties will hold conventions and elect party officials heading into the Presidential elections in 2012. Here is what convention delegates will have to consider.

Recently, a Georgia Republican party activist asked, “What is there left to do?” The answer is, “not much.” For the first time in Georgia history, Republicans carried every statewide race from Governor to Public Service Commissioner, all without a single runoff – even after an especially bitter and divisive primary and primary runoff. For a olitical party prone to self-destruction and division, the numbers are truly impressive.

Georgians cast more votes in 2010 for a Republican in a non-Presidential election than at any other time in Georgia history. Senator Johnny Isakson received 1,489,904 votes. In Georgia’s Eighth Congressional, the impossible happened when former State Representative Austin Scott soundly beat the seemingly invincible blue dog Democrat Congressman Jim Marshall. Scott carried 17 of the 21 counties in his district.

Georgia Senate Republicans held every one of their 34 Republican seats and picked up a Democratic seat – increasing their margin of control to 35-21, leaving them just 3 seats short of the two-thirds majority necessary for constitutional amendments. Georgians cast 570,332 more votes for Republican state senate candidates than Democrat ones.

In the Georgia House of Representatives, Republicans increased their numbers to a whopping 113 out of the 180 seats (including post-election party switchers), just 7 seats short of the two-thirds majority necessary for constitutional amendments. Georgians cast 436,851 more votes for Republican state house candidates than Democrat ones.

No matter how strong the national tide, political domination of this magnitude at the state level does not happen in a vacuum. With so many strong candidates, and so many hotly contested primaries, it is actually quite surprising that there were not more stumbles along the way. It is easy to forget just how challenging the Republican environment was following the GOP primary and primary runoff. But, as the Georgia GOP proved in 2010, discipline and organization tend to win out, even amids the most difficult of circumstances.

Here is where the numbers are really impressive. Chair Sue Everhart’s Georgia Republican Party coordinated 700,000 volunteer phone calls, distributed 100,000 yard signs and 300,000 door hangers, sent 103 mail pieces, made 34 television buys, trained 250 activist leaders, and visited 25 cities as part of the Real Jobs for Georgia Bus Tour. To make all of that happen, Sue Everhart and her finance team raised millions of dollars.

Add it all up and the result is one unbelievable election cycle. Chair Sue Everhart has not formally announced whether she will seek another term as Georgia GOP Chair. (Under the Georgia GOP term limits rule, she is eligible for one more term.) And, governors typically get to pick their Chair. But, based on Chair Everhart’s results, Republicans would have to assume that it is hers for the asking.

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The Cobb County Commission Officially Reverts To A Negative Mean

I remember taking a stock analysis course once where we were introduced to the “Mean Reversion Theorem” for how stock pricing works. The theory’s premise holds that eventually, all stock prices revert back to their natural “mean” (“mean” being a synonym for the “average”) position of existence. And, on occasion, when some extraordinary event occured, the price might jump-up or down, and then, perhaps, find a new, “higher mean” or a “lower mean.”

If you were to look at any political body (e.g., a county commission or a city council or a state’s legislature, etc.) in comparison to any other political body at that same level of government, there would be a sort of mean that could likely be established in terms of the effectiveness of each government to be used to compare itself to other government bodies at that same level.

Cobb County used to be one of the most consistently well-run government bodies that its inhabitants could count on to always be operating far above the mean of all other county commissions, either in the metro-Atlanta area, the state, or even, perhaps, the country.

Not anymore. After Tuesday’s commission meeting, anyone who has been any kind of observer of this county’s government is a witness to a commission falling far below the mean.

The Run-Up To The 4/12/2011 Meeting

Shortly after the March 15 Cobb County SPLOST vote passed, Commission Chairman Tim Lee revealed a massive $31,000,000 hole in the county’s operating budget. A $31,000,000 hole that he kept far out of range of view during the debate on the SPLOST because he knew the truth would kill the chances of the SPLOST’s passage.

The passage of the March 15 SPLOST referendum cannot help fill-in this $31,000,000 hole. The SPLOST money will be used to actually create a bigger hole in the future when/if the money is used to build new facilities, but I digress (for the moment).

So…what did the previously-always-a-hawk District 1 Commissioner Helen Goreham first offer as a solution to fill the $31 million gap? Raise millage rates.

Now, I expected this from Tim Lee who is clearly more in love with ensuring that the Cobb government size, cost and inefficiency remains untouched, and the taxpayers continue to get screwed, but…I was taken quite aback when I read Goreham’s comments. This, to me, was the first sign of the county’s reversion to a negative position in its valuation.

In the AJC article published on April 8, I read about Tim Lee’s proposal to aim to cut 3.5% of the county’s budget, and close two pools, two senior citizen centers, and close all but 4 libraries. Wow. Clever lad (not!) that Tim Lee is.

District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott’s response to Lee’s proposal was: “…I have a hard time understanding why District 2 will have no libraries, senior centers or pools whereas each of the citizens of the other districts will have at least [one of each]…I don’t think it’s right for the citizens of District 2 as they pay the same taxes as everyone else.”

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MEMORANDUM TO: State Senator Cecil Staton

RE: Nice, sleazy hit on Casey…

Dear Senator Staton,

Wanted to let you know that the moment I received this e-mail from a Republican operative on Friday, April 1 at 11:30 AM, and the operative had your name on it as someone I should go to to “check” a story for accuracy, I knew the story was false on its face:

“Cagle promised the dems 2 key things if they went along with this counter coup:

Didn’t hear this from me, but check in with cecil. He can confirm this.”

Yeahhh, here’s the thing, Cecil: I know from a long history of knowing who you are that you are one of the sleaziest state senators this state has. I think it dates back to the time you ran against Phil Gingrey for Congress and all the made-up, sleazy garbage your campaign tried to sling at Gingrey.

Then, of course, there’s the inherent connection you have with (yet) another sleazy Republican by the name of Erick Erickson. Erickson and you are butt-boys from way back when he was your personal attorney, as well as a campaign consultant on some of your races.

Based on Jim Galloway’s AJC piece issued this afternoon, it is all coming together nicely that you “wagged” this entire story, beginning with the e-mail first sent to me, then when I refused to go with it, the story was submitted to Blake Aued on OnlineAthens.com, whereupon he published a post at 8:43 PM on April 1…9 hours after the “story” first came to my in-box.

You are busted, Senator Staton. Your entire hit piece against Casey is now exposed for the world to see. “Beth” does not exist. The bullshit Erick Erickson blogged about where he accused other Republican state senators of being “traitors” is now fully exposed to be part of an elaborate scheme to hit Casey and screw your personal enemies in the Republican state senate caucus.

Seriously, what gave it away was the claim by “Beth” that Cagle made deals with Dems to get Dem-leaning seats drawn for them via redistricting. Anyone with a freaking clue KNOWS that one person CANNOT draw any kind of legislative map and have it pass the entire Senate, the House, or the Governor’s desk with an approval if it is deliberately drawn in such a way.

“Beth’s” other comments about the “traitors” being “promised powerful positions of leadership on committees” also was a dead giveaway as some of the major ones you cited already HAVE “powerful positions” on committees. You’re an idiot.

While you are the main one who was easily exposed here, I suspect Senator Tommie Williams (and, perhaps even the Majority Leader) also had a hand in creating elements of this story. That “tip” given by Williams to Pat Tippett last week is a dead giveaway that Tommie was intricately involved in this story’s fabrication.

You’re a damn fool. Do the right thing. Resign from the state senate. You’re a disgrace.

Dear Georgia GOP State Convention Delegates & Alternates,

Congratulations on your success so far, and welcome to the world of Georgia Republican Party politics. If you’ve read this edition this far, I presume you would be interested in knowing a few facts about one of the candidates for State Party Chair: Tricia Pridemore.

Tricia has spent the last 3 months tearing-down the current chair Sue Everhart, and Sue’s record. Since a lot of what Tricia has claimed about Sue is untrue and inaccurate, and since Tricia has claimed it to untold numbers of people, I am taking it upon myself to address those falsehoods about Sue, who is a person I’ve known for 10 years to be a very hard worker, a very good person, and a great asset to the Republican cause in Georgia.

What is truly amazing about the support for Tricia Pridemore is that NO ONE who supports her appears to be have actually known her for anything longer than…what? Two years? Three years, max? Most of her supporters do not know her at all, and are just onboard, I guess, due to the fact that they they hate having to think for themselves. And, instead, cede their thinking process to go along with someone they also barely know, the new Governor of the State of Georgia, Nathan Deal.

Yeah, it’s great we have a Republican Governor. But, I didn’t elect someone whom I want to run my entire life or do my own thinking…as, apparently, a lot of Tricia’s supporters have expressed when they express “Well, the Governor should be allowed to have whoever he wants in there.” Yeah, well, sorry, Kiddos…there’s this “thing” called State Party Rules, written and adopted long before Tricia, Sue or even Governor Deal came on the scene that spells-out that the state party chairman is elected from the grassroots, not appointed by the Governor.

The support for Sue Everhart is deep. Her supporters are Republicans who have known her and seen her work for over 15+ solid years for Republican causes. Not talk about what she “might” accomplish…but actually have a proven track record of accomplishment.

Let’s talk about Tricia’s so-called “accomplishments,” but I’ll work backwards, starting from her “co-chairmanship” of the Cobb County Deal for Governor campaign. One would think that if Tricia was such an awesome “grassroots organizer and campaigner”, she would have some real results to show for her work. And, nothing would demonstrate that more than, say, real results from an election in which she and her co-chair had sole and complete control over Cobb County’s Republican voter turnout.

And, what kind of “real results” might that be? The results of the 2010 Primary and 2010 Run-Off for Governor in Cobb County. If Deal actually won Cobb County, then Tricia would have something to crow about. But, according to the Georgia SOS’s office, these are the results of Deal vs. Handel in the July Primary and the August 10 Run-Off:

July 20, 2010 Primary – Cobb County Results
Karen Handel: 24,799
Nathan Deal: 12,050
===========================
Vote Difference = 12,749 to Handel

August 10, 2010 Run-Off – Cobb County Results
Karen Handel: 29,995
Nathan Deal: 24,928
===========================
Vote Difference = 5,067 to Handel

Though Deal did win the Run-Off on a statewide basis, it clearly was not due to Cobb County’s voting results because Handel stomped Deal in Cobb County in both the Primary and the Run-Off. So…what exactly did Tricia Pridemore do that was so wonderful in Cobb for Deal? Seems like a whole lot of talk, but not a whole lot of defineable results to me.

As far as the General Election goes, Deal’s success in Cobb vs. Roy Barnes was not due to anything Pridemore did as that was when the State GOP spent a lot of money on signs that the county party put out all over the county, and a whole lot of ads and direct mail was sent out by the state GOP. The State GOP chaired by Sue Everhart.

Let’s go back even further now to 2008, when Tricia talks about how she went to Ohio to help McCain in the General Election. Do you guys know which way Ohio went in the General Election of 2008? Solid BLUE for Obama, as you can see on this map.

And, what happened in Georgia during the 2008 General Election? Well, Sue Everhart was Chairman, and by golly, the entire state went RED for McCain. And, this was before the time of the “Tea Parties”, “9-12 Groups,” etc.

So, here’s a question that should be asked of Tricia Pridemore: “Tricia, in 2008, under Sue’s leadership of the Georgia Republican Party, Georgia went solidly red for McCain. You spent your time campaigning for McCain in Ohio, which went Blue for Obama. What is it that you learned from your experience in the Blue State of Ohio that you think is going to help ensure that Georgia remains a Red State in 2012?”

A few other things you, as a delegate/alternate to the GA GOP convention, should be made aware of: In Tricia’s G.R.O.W. Plan, she talks about (and I quote as the Plan is currently written…no telling how it will be revised after this email gets published) the following: “…equipping our future party leaders — our Teenage/College/Young Republicans. These activists, our Republican “farm team,” have not been given an appropriate seat at the table.”

OH? Really? No “appropriate seat at the table,” eh? Or so Tricia claims. But, what Tricia does not know is that it is an integral part of the Georgia GOP’s STATE PARTY RULES that these folks ARE given seats “at the table” RIGHT NOW. And, it has been that way for a number of years.

But, you probably need proof of that. Go here to this link, and page-thru it until you come upon 3 of 40, which I will quote here of organizations who ARE given “seats at the table:”

“2) Representatives of the Allied Organizations
a) The President of the Georgia Federation of Republican Women
b) The Chairman of the RNC Georgia Senior Republican Network
c) The Chairman of the Georgia Federation of Young Republican Clubs
d) The Chairman of the Georgia College Republicans
e) The President of the Georgia Black Republican Council
f) The State Chairman of the Georgia Teenage Republicans
g) The Chairman of Georgia Republican Veterans
h) The Chairman of the Hispanic Grassroots Taskforce”

Gee…one would think that if Tricia was such a “veteran grassroots activist,” she would KNOW that these groups she spells-out in her “Plan” that she wants to give a “seat at the table” would already have a seat at the table. And, they have a seat due to the lonnnnnnnnnnng history of the Georgia Republican Party developing, arguing, amending, and voting approval of these rules such as to give them said “seat at the table.”

But, as I’ve argued before, Tricia is, at minimum, a huge embellisher about her “experience” in grassroots GOP politics in this state…and, as the following detail of Tricia’s constantly changing of why she voted Democrat in the 1998 Primary and 1998 Democrat Run-Off, I just think she’s a big liar because…we still do not have any kind of reliable reason as to why she voted “D” in 1998.

Because, if you are a steady Republican voter, you remember when you cross a party line to vote Democrat. You just do. You remember if it was last year or 12 years ago.

Uncontested Facts About Tricia Pridemore

1) On February 12th, 2011, BeaconCastMedia.com published a very in-depth story about the state GOP chairman’s race. Here’s a link to the PDF version of this article. In this story (on Page 5 of 11 Pages), when the subject of Pridemore’s Democrat voting record came up (and, it came up because she had been telling people for the longest time that she worked for Guy Millner as part of her “bona fides” in grassroots), this was the answer: “When questioned, Pridemore said she voted in the GOP primary and run-off, and surmised that the voting rolls were in error.”

2) On March 19th, 2011, at the Collins Hill High School Debate, Tricia answered a question by Shawn Hanley about why she voted in the 1998 Democrat Primaries, Tricia answered (which, if you want to hear it live, go to this link and find the 11:36 Minute Mark to listen): “I was president of the Kennesaw College Republicans and I’ll be real frank: College Republicans get into mischief.”

3) The following two documents, by their very existence, challenge and dispute anything she can claim about being “KSU CR President” during the time of the 1998 Primaries….which, then, as now, occurred in July and August of 1998:

Document #1: A Memo from February 13, 1998 that is a letter sent to the KSU College Republicans informing them that they missed one of two mandatory meetings they must attend in order to maintain their status as an active, authorized KSU student activity organization.

Document #2: A Memo from September 22, 1998 sent to the “KSU College Republicans” informing them that they have been placed in the “inactive status.” Why? Because…they…were…not… active.

And, when were the 1998 Primary and 1998 Run-Offs held? The Primary was held on July 21, 1998…and the Run-Off was held on August 11, 1998.

Hmmm. Interesting. Interesting because during the precise time period that Tricia states she was “President” of the club, KSU’s records show that the CRs at that time were inactive. Inactive, as in the CR’s not reserving rooms to have meetings and planning sessions and, all that other “stuff” that goes on that would signal that a club was “active” on campus.

Folks, it’s like this: If Tricia is willing to compulsively lie about the littlest things, what else might she be willing to lie about? As can be seen as to who currently occupies the White House, people do not like, nor do they like to follow liars as leaders. It just doesn’t make the system work very well.

Dear PV,

Lets get real with the Republican faithful. Last Saturday I attended the State Committee meeting in Fayetteville. I have been on the State Committee for 19 years but my Republican efforts go much back longer than that.

I was privileged to work on the Nixon vs. Kennedy election in 1960. The workings of that election are well known and we did not have a chance because then, as now, the RNC was a worthless bunch and with Reince Preibus as Chair of the RNC we do not have a chance of beating Obama because he has gotten approval to have the Republican primary extended to not before April 1, 2012. Any state’s Republican Party that decides to go against this will lose half their delegates at the national convention.

Sue Everhart led the challenge to this and when she went into the RNC meeting, she had the votes to beat it, confirmed by Linda Herren last Saturday. Four of the votes defected to Preibus so we have to live with it or lose half of our delegates. Obama is going to beat the shit out of us because our Preibus on a grade of 1 to 10 is about a minus 6.

In the 52 years that I have been electing Republicans, Sue Everhart is the only chairman that has ever returned my phone call and I go back to Fred Cooper’s chairmanship and I would bet you that there are not 20 people on the state committee that remember Fred.

Tricia Pridemore has never served in any position that I can remember as a Georgia Republican and I asked everybody at the meeting last Saturday if they knew her and knew of her work. No one did. It really upsets me that Nathan Deal wants to force her on our Party. No-Nuts Nathan did not show up at the State Committee meeting on Saturday either.

I have lost Sue’s address so forward this to her today and let her know that all of the Crisp County delegates to the State Convention will vote for her.

– Ritch McCutchen
Crisp County, 2nd District, Home of the great Gator Mathis

Pretty good stuff to read:

“So what exactly is the definition of “rich”? Is it someone who draws a multi-million dollar income? Is it someone who can afford to send their children to private schools? Are you wealthy because you own an expensive automobile or a large house? Are you wealthy because you own a boat or a motor home? Are you wealthy because you own a business?”

Read the whole post here: Patriot Action Network