Keep this one tiny thing in mind: The issue here is NOT that Tricia voted in the Democrat primary and run-off of 1998. The issue here is that she has not been truthful about it. First, she stated it never happened (and blaming it on the Secretary of State’s Elections Division being “wrong”), but then deciding to admit it happened, but coming-up with a convoluted reason as to why it happened. It’s the cover-up that stinks here, not the act itself. Richard Nixon did not get into trouble for authorizing the break-in and wire-tapping of the Watergate office of the DNC…he got into trouble for lying about it.

So…here is an excerpt from Georgia GOP Chair Candidate Tricia Pridemore’s 3/22/2011 email: “I, like Sue Everhart (Sue admitted voting in the 1990 Democratic Primary and Primary Runoff) once voted in a Democratic primary. I did this to make sure that Republicans had a weaker general election opponent to run against in 1998. I was President of KSU College Republicans at the time and wanted to ensure that both our Senatorial and Gubernatorial nominee had the weakest opponent possible.”

Yeah…umm… funny thing about Kennesaw State University (“KSU”) …it is a public university. As such, it is subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. As such, anyone making a proper, documented request to view any records they want (if they happen to exist) can get access to such records. And, as would be the case here, someone did make such a request and visit the campus to research the records.

AND…in this particular case, during the exact time period in 1998 in which Tricia states she was “President of KSU College Republicans,” the official, documented records from KSU’s Student Life Center (the department responsible for managing all student organizations) has two very revealing documents that were obtained.

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.

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Rumors have it that yesterday, 13 Georgia State Senators “joined” Democrats to attempt to allow a “coup” to revert power back to Lt. Governor Casey Cagle.

Nine of these State Senators were called-out by Erick Erickson on the blog known as PeachPundit.com. Erickson listed the following as “Republican turncoats” in his mind: Jim Butterworth, Bill Hamrick, Frank Ginn, Steve Gooch, Butch Miller, Jeff Mullis, Jack Murphy, David Shafer, and Renee Untermann. (again, this is from his PeachPundit.com blog…which, by the time this story hits him and he’ll be seeking to erase it and rename it, I will have already captured his stupidity here in this PDF snapshot of his post).

Erick wasn’t at the Gold Dome yesterday…he got his “story” from looking at a story written by Jim Galloway of the AJC. And, by looking at a voting record publicized by Galloway about the votes taken on a motion to engross SR 526.

Jim Galloway may or may not have been at the Gold Dome today. And, he may or may not have been at the actual Senate Chamber when this vote came down.

But, one thing I know that Galloway got dead wrong is his assertion in this story he wrote at 3:17 PM yesterday that 14 state senators, all but one being Republican (that means 13 Republicans and 1 Democrat) actively engaged in the following, mutually-arrived at decision: They “declined to vote.”

“declined to vote” are Galloway’s words. “Declined to vote” directly implies these 14 state senators were in the senate chamber and they decided they were not going to vote on the measure. That’s what “declined to vote” means. Galloway imputed what their thoughts were as though they were all in the room when the votes for or against the measure Senator Chip Rogers proposed to engross SR 526.

BUT…a funny thing I discovered tonight by having a casual conversation with at least two of this group of infamous 14 state senators who “declined to vote.” They were NOT in the Senate chamber when this vote took place. They were nowhere near the chamber.

Ohhhh…GASPPPP! Where were they? What “mischief” were they up to if they were not sitting in the Senate chamber when this Senate Resolution came up? Oh, hark! Is the State of Georgia going to die if all state senators are not in their seats hitting their “Vote” buttons? Were these state senators busy planting cherry bombs in the Gold Dome toilets?

No. Well, I’m not sure what the other 12 senators were doing (well, maybe Butterworth was planting cherry bombs in the Speaker’s special gold-plated toilet), but the two state senators I personally talked to last night were kinda…sorta…busy in House Committee and House Sub-Committee meetings trying to shepherd their bills through the legislative maze of committee meetings.

These two state senators were doing their job as representing their districts trying to get legislation through before Sine Die.

In short, it’s quite possible that all 14 of these senators were NOT physically present in the Senate Chamber for really GOOD, sound reasons when SR 526 came up for a vote. I kinda suspect that perhaps the other dastardly absent state senators were also, perhaps, in other House Committee and Sub-Committee meetings trying to get their legislation through. You know, ’cause, after all, the rest of the world really doesn’t revolve around “senate coups” and senate resolutions.

Sorry…I didn’t have time last night to call all of the infamous “13”. Had I called Renee Unterman at 12:00 AM, I probably would have gotten an earful of Renee yelling at me “Do you know what ———– time it is???”

As far as the idiot named Erick Erickson, who termed these MIA-from-the-Senate-Chamber-during- the-vote-as “Republican turncoats”, ummmm…well, I’m not sure I actually need to say anything more. He’s a moron. Plain and simple.

Oh…by the way…SR 526 was later killed in Senate Rules. Now, everyone can return to their peaceful lives where morons like Erickson cannot invade the peace and spread stupid, idiotic, moronic falsehoods. At least, you know, until the Tricia Pridemore team invents yet another new lie about Sue Everhart and spreads that rot around. (Say, Tricia? What’s going to be the new lie of the weekend? Y’all are working pretty hard on that I hear. Don’t cramp your brain too much.)

Introduction

It has been one year and one day since Former State Senator Nancy Schaefer and her husband Bruce were found shot to death in their Habersham County home. Now, Garland Favorito has written a report that follows-up the investigation by the GBI into the claimed “murder-suicide” causation of the Schaefers’ deaths.

NOTE: Normally, Garland Favorito covers issues of voting machines and elections in Georgia through his 501-c-3 organization called VoterGA. However, in this case, Garland knew Senator Schaefer personally. And, as he did last year, he has put together a report laying-out the GBI investigation (or, perhaps, lack thereof) into the deaths of the Shaefers.

Release Date: March 26, 2011

SCHAEFERS KILLED WITH MYSTERIOUS GUN, GBI DESTROYS EVIDENCE, CLOSES “SUICIDE” CASE

THE GBI INVESTIGATION

Read the rest of this entry »

In the PV article titled Political Astroturf: The Truth About Tricia Pridemore & Justin Tomczak, we brought-up Tricia’s repeated, documented inconsistencies in her “life story” of “grassroots activism” for Republicans.

She responded to that with an e-mail claiming to “set the record straight.” In that e-mail, she claimed the following:

“Unfortunately, this past weekend my opponents and their supporters in the race for the Georgia Republican Party Chairman took turns attacking me, my family, and my supporters.”

None of this is true, unless the questioning of Tricia’s past, documented record, constitutes an “attack.” Especially when she continues to fabricate/twist/lie about her votes in the Democratic primary elections of 1998.

Nobody has “attacked” her family or her supporters. We have a case of the Little Girl Who Cries Wolf here.

In the debate at Collins Hill High School on March 19, 2011, you can witness exactly what she said regarding her voting record by viewing it here below (or going to the site and seeing it at http://www.conservativenetworkbroadcasting.com/2010/10/ga-gop-chairman-debate-part-3/):

Look for the questions directed to her at Minute Mark 11:36 in this video…she claims she voted in the 2008 Presidential Preference Primary (even though her voting record doesn’t show that at all) and after Shawn Hanley asks her about her Democrat votes, Tricia responds with “I was president of the Kennesaw College Republicans and I’ll be real frank: College Republicans get into mischief.”

In her e-mail sent out March 22, 2011, Tricia changed her story AGAIN to now claim: “I, like Sue Everhart (Sue admitted voting in the 1990 Democratic Primary and Primary Runoff) once voted in a Democratic primary. I did this to make sure that Republicans had a weaker general election opponent to run against in 1998. I was President of KSU College Republicans at the time and wanted to ensure that both our Senatorial and Gubernatorial nominee had the weakest opponent possible.”

PV calls BULLSHIT on Tricia Pridemore’s (now) 3rd claim as to how her votes showed-up on the Dem ballot in 1998. No Republican in 1998 was crossing over the party line to vote for any “weaker candidate.” There was too much at stake in the Governor’s race and Lt. Governor’s race for any Republican to have crossed over.

Tricia just “copied” Sue’s answer and embellished it for herself. Little girls who tell big lies get caught.

We received two opposing e-mailed views on the shooting of deer over bait. Without exposing two private individuals with two different viewpoints on this topic, we will refer to them simple as Deer Hunter #1 and Deer Hunter #2 in their authorship of their opinions:

Dear PV,

From the hunter’s perspective, I would argue that it depends on his or her purpose in hunting. If it is for sport, then why would you hunt over bait? If, on the other hand, it is about filling your freezer, why wouldn’t you?

I know plenty of people who hunt wild hog, deer, squirrel, rabbit and turkey for the purpose of reducing their grocery bill… but then I live in a rural area. We may have a little different perspective.

I’ve also had to deal with this issue from a law enforcement perspective as I was a Probate Judge and had jurisdiction over fish and game cases. Hunting over bait can be a very murky issue to adjudicate.

As for the farmers liking this idea… do you have any idea how much damage wild hogs and too many deer do to crops? Arguing that rural representatives actually representing their constituents across the State is a violation of house rules is a bit of a stretch.

– Deer Hunter #1
————————————————————–

Dear PV,

I hunt to fill the freezer as well and don’t hunt over bait for one reason aside from it is barbaric. When bait is in an area, deer do not have to move to feed. Under normal circumstances deer browse for many hours during the day and night. While you might shoot 1 or 2 deer easily over bait the deer will adapt and understand that coming to bait is dangerous. This is when deer become nocturnal. They only move at night and they don’t have to move for long periods of time because there is a giant food source at 1 spot.

To offset this many baiters use timed devices to broadcast bait only during daylight hours. These timed devices make a noise when dispersing bait. In some areas deer will respond to the sound a timed baiting device makes and will move to the sound. Some unethical hunters will hunt over the timer and distribution device and shoot deer when they respond to the noise after they have been trained to respond to the sound and food. Finally the timers can be set up to only disperse bait in a time each day when the hunter is present.

Example: Monday through Friday the bait is dispersed only at 7:45 am. The deer respond each day for a belly filling buffet. Saturday morning rolls around and BOOM. The great white hunter scores when Bambi responds to the week of month of conditioning.

– Deer Hunter #2

The Georgia State Senate is set to take-up HB 277 when it reconvenes next week.

The following has been submitted to PV for publication. PV just accepts the research as provided, and if the “Pro-HB 277” side objects to anything the Rebuttal side says for reasons that can be backed-up by something other than “Hey, no fair!”, you can submit it to us where our crack team of Bait Researchers will take your comments under consideration.

Pro-HB 277 Claim: HB 277 only changes the restriction of 200 yds for hunting over feed.

Rebuttal: This is not true. HB 277 changes current law, which clarifies the distance from feed/bait that hunter must be to avoid violating the law. Presently, a hunter shall not hunt within 200 yard and line of sight of any feed/bait. HB 277 allows no separation of distance between the hunter (sic) and the feed/bait.

Additionally, HB 277 eliminates the prohibition on hunting feral hogs over bait; thereby allowing feed/bait to placed year round statewide for feral hogs. While many agree that feral hogs are a nuisance and problem, which needs to be addressed, effective control of feral hogs cannot be achieved through recreational hunting, including hunting over bait.

In fact, in the words of Texas USDA wildlife biologist Michael Bodenchuk, “simple control by hunting or trapping is not enough…we are not going to barbeque our way out of this problem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTIxox-46Aw&feature=related).” Further, this allows any person to claim to be hunting feral hogs when in fact they are hunting turkeys and bear over bait. Finally, with so much feed/bait being placed for feral hogs or deer and hunting over feed being ineffective at controlling feral hogs, the hogs now have unfettered access to food resources thereby by facilitating their ability to breed and raise more feral hogs.

Pro-HB 277 Claim: Gives the DNR Commissioner the authority to stop supplemental feeding in counties and adjoining counties that have a communicable disease occurrence in deer.

Rebuttal: Yes, this is a positive of this bill. However, Georgia does not have an active disease surveillance program for deer. Any detection is passive and, at best, once a disease is detected it is very likely that it will have become well established. Thus, control and eradication will be unpopular, especially with the affected hunting public, very expensive and exhaustive. A review of what happened with Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin and Tuberculosis in Michigan testifies to this fact.

In one year, Wisconsin spent more than $16 million managing and controlling Chronic Wasting Disease. Additionally, baiting and feeding are acknowledged as the mechanism that allowed bovine tuberculosis (TB) to become established in Michigan’s deer herd in the early 1990’s when baiting was rapidly becoming popular. TB spilled over from deer to cattle. Subsequently, TB has been documented in more than 40 cattle herds and Michigan as lost its TB-free status. This has cost Michigan’s cattle industry over $100 million and the State of Michigan has expended more than $86 million in state revenue trying to control and eradicate TB. It seems to make the most sense to avoid unnecessary and expensive risks to what is already a quality wildlife resource. Legalizing hunting over bait serves to make disease management efforts more difficult and expensive. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth $186 million in ineffective cure.
Read the rest of this entry »

Rule? What House Rule? We Don’t Care About No Stinkin’ Rules!…

Rumors have it that 4 members of the Georgia House recently violated House Rule 171.1 regarding the prohibition of using their elected position for personal financial gain.

PV Sez: WHAT? You guys got rules? No way! And, you really expect people to follow them? Oh, c’mon! Let the frat boys play where the deer and the antelope are sucked-in to bait boxes where “hunters” (sic) can shoot them like the classless Mike Vick wannabes they are.

PV Examines the Evidence in A More Serious Light: HB 277 is a bill designed to allow the “hunting” (sic) of deer over bait. What does “over bait” mean?

It means putting-out delicious food that a deer wouldn’t normally come across in vast quantities in the wild to attract them to a “bait box” whereupon the “hunter” (sic) would be able to blow the deer away while the deer is preoccupied with eating whatever is in the bait box.

“House Rule 171.1 – No member or employee of the House shall unlawfully use his or her office or official position for personal financial gain.”

The following members have personal financial interest in wildlife feed/bait as either retail sales, growing agricultural crops used in manufacture of such feeds/bait, or production of by-products for use in manufacture of such feeds/baits:

James “Jay” Roberts, Terry England, Jon G. Burns, Ellis Black

What Are Their Interests?

James “Jay” Roberts

* Director, Irwin County Farm Bureau
* Director & Stockholder of NHF, Inc. a Farming Operation
* Partner, Roberts & Sons Farm a Farming Operation
* Ownership interest in 982 acres of agricultural lands

Terry England

* Board Member, Barrow County Farm Bureau
* CEO, Owner; Homeport Farm Mart – a farm/ag supply retailer
* Retail sales of deer feed/bait products (www.thehomeportfarmmart.com/newanimal_feeds.htm)
* Specifically carried Flint River Mills – FRM products (Alec Poitevint, II is an officer of FRM and also owns Southeastern Minerals which produces mineral feed/bait blocks for deer)

Jon G. Burns

* President, B&S Feed & Farm Supply, Inc.
* Purina Mills Dealer, retail sales of deer feed/bait (www.bsfeed.com/animalfeed.htm)
* Ownership interest in 550 acres of agricultural lands

Ellis Black

* Board Member, Lowndes County Farm Bureau
* Direct ownership interest in BCT Gin – cottonseed is used in the manufacture of deer feeds/baits
* Ownership interest in 500+ acres of agricultural lands

What was their involvement in HB 277?

Jay Roberts & Ellis Black co-sponsored HB 277

All the above voted in favor of this bill, despite that they are likely to receive direct financial benefit from its passage. In the best interest of transparent and open governance these Representatives should have abstained from the vote on HB 277 pursuant to Rule 171.1

Jon G. Burns serves as Chairman of the Game, Fish & Parks Committee, which handled HB 277. Jon G. Burns receives his income from the retail sales of deer feed/bait. He clearly should have recused himself from deliberations and oversight of HB 277 and most definitely should have abstained from voting pursuant to Rule 171.1. Instead he facilitated HB 277 move through subcommittee (stacked committee with 3 proponents of HB 277 and only 2 opponents of HB 277) and passage by the whole Committee with a “Do Pass” recommendation.

The connection between Jay Roberts, Terry England and Ellis Black, Farm Bureau & HB 277 should concern everyone. What other House members have the privilege and benefit of serving on County Farm Bureau Boards while casting votes on Bills that serve to benefit Farm Bureau?

On Mar 22, 2011 at 3:27 PM, Tricia Pridemore sent out an e-mail to “explain” the multiple instances of her lying about her “years” of “grassroots activism.”

Her e-mail hasn’t “explained” anything. All it does is point to the possibility of her being more and more of a political sociopath.

While she did provide a glimmer of her once being the President of the Kennesaw College Republicans…the particular snippet of truth she offered was a newspaper clipping of a letter to the editor of the KSU Sentinel she wrote back in…1999. 1999, as in NOT “1998,” the year she claimed to be KSU College Republican President at the Collins Hill High School Debate last Saturday evening.

We know it was the year “1999” because of the reference in her letter near the bottom to Elizabeth Dole’s candidacy for President. According to this online bio website (as well as others to corroborate it) of Elizabeth Dole, Dole announced for President in March of 1999:

“In March 1999, she announced her unofficial bid for the 2000 presidential election, but withdrew from the race in October of that year because she did not have enough money.

Read more: Elizabeth Dole Biography – life, childhood, children, story, history, school, information, born, college, husband, house, marriage, time http://www.notablebiographies.com/De-Du/Dole-Elizabeth.html#ixzz1HRVLIby7“

So, while there’s proof that she did serve as a KSU College Republican chapter President…the jury’s out as to whether she was actually chapter President in the Election Year of 1998.

Furthermore, her letter still failed to address this simple fact: For the years 2000 through Fall of 2008, she has NO record of doing ANY “grassroots” activity in Georgia GOP politics OR any conservative grassroots activities. None. ZERO. NADA.

What is the definition of a “grassroots activist?”

I’m certain most of you newbies think you know what being a “grassroots activist” means. Based on the number of newbies who have joined the campaigns of Tricia Pridemore and Justin Tomczak because they say they are the “grassroots candidate,” it is clear that you folks don’t have a clue as to what the term really means.

Tomczak is in my mind right now for two reasons: 1) a specific conversation I had with him on March 6th, while we were both waiting to go through the nominating committee of the Cobb GOP, and 2) because he is one of two people who have put their name out there as “witnesses” to Pridemore’s supposed “College Republican days” in the late 1990s at Kennesaw State.

Since my only knowledge of Justin Tomczak was his work (for pay) on Saxby’s 2002 campaign, and his subsequent paid work with the state GOP, his paid work on the reelection campaign of Sonny Perdue, and his most recent paid work as a campaign staffer for Congressman Tom Graves, I asked Justin what had he done as “grassroots” since he appeared to only have paid positions in all the roles I ever saw his name appear in.

Justin’s response was “Well, what do you call grassroots?” I told him what I thought it was in terms of volunteer work with the party at different levels. Key word being “volunteer.” His response was “Oh, well, I think I did that in 1998. I worked for the party back then.” And, then that was the end of that conversation.

So, before we continue here, let me offer you what my basic definition of what true grassroots activism means, and then the analysis will proceed from that point.

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. Anyone who is a true “grassroots activist” would consider it their personal duty to the party and to themselves to vote in every party primary that shows-up on the ballot.

SO, if you are a “grassroots Republican activist,” then your name had better be consistently appearing on the voter record as actually showing-up to vote on every Republican primary that comes up. Because, otherwise, you’re clearly not a “grassroots activist.” All you are is a Republican primary voter. And that ain’t “grassroots.”

The True Nature of Tricia Pridemore’s “Grassroots” Experience.

Apparently, the brain trust of the Pridemore campaign isn’t too familiar with this new-fangled technology we gots here in Georgia called a “voter file.” A voter file is the documented record of everyone who is registered to vote actually showing-up to vote in any particular election. By “showing-up”, that means either in person or via absentee.

Each county maintains such voter files on their own system at the Board of Elections for every voter in that county.

It is at the Cobb County Board of Elections that the voting record for Tricia Pridemore was obtained at a cost of $1.00. (Note to Senator Jeff Mullis: This money goes to the Board of Elections and it does not go to the State of Georgia. So don’t go doubling the prices for obtaining voting records because it’s not state revenue, got it?)

This is a copy of her voting record, converted to a PDF file.

Pridemore voted Democrat in the 1998 Primary and the 1998 Primary Run-off in an election year in which it was an open race for Governor, as well as an open race for Lt. Governor on both sides of the aisle. There was no strategy needed for any kind of “crossover vote” to screw-up the other side in 1998.

Additionally, Pridemore failed to vote in the 2006 Republican Primary, the 2008 Presidential Preference Primary, and the 2008 Georgia Republican Primary.

In last Saturday night’s chairman’s debate at Collins Hill High School, Pridemore was asked the following question by Sue Everhart: “Tricia, on your Website for chair, you state that you served ‘as a deployed volunteer for the McCain Presidential campaign in Ohio.’ But, according to your voting record, you didn’t vote in the 2006 Republican primary, you did not vote in the 2008 Presidential Preference Primary, nor did you even vote in the 2008 Georgia Republican primary. Tricia, the definition of ‘grassroots’ means that you are involved in the party to the point of voting in the important Republican elections. How can you claim you’ve been involved in grassroots for so many years when you clearly were not involved enough to bother to vote in these primaries in 2006 and 2008?”

And, what was Tricia’s answer? Hey, don’t take my word for it…take AJC’s Political Insider’s columnist (and, debate moderator) Jim Galloway’s word for it from his story about it: “Pridemore said she did vote in the 2008 presidential primary, while she and her husband volunteered for McCain in Ohio.”

Hmm. Interesting. Golly, seems that the Cobb County Elections really must be slackers over there because they just don’t seem to have that record of Pridemore voting in that election. But, wait, there’s even more…

Shawn Hanley followed-up with a rebuttal question, which Galloway, at the beginning of the debate, had laid-out ground rules that allowed such a question to occur: “We didn’t even get to 1998 voting records, where you voted in the Democratic primary. And you voted in the Democratic primary runoff. How is that?”

And…what was Tricia’s response? Well, again, from Galloway’s column: “That was the same time that I was president of the Kennesaw State University College Republicans, and I’ll be real frank: College Republicans get into some mischief. I don’t exactly remember that vote. I have contacted Cobb County [elections board].”

HUH? “College Republicans get into some mischief”? Really? Is this the kind of mischief you see while watching the movie Animal House where the members of Delta Tau Chi fraternity lead a horse to the dean’s office and it dies?

Or maybe those wascally KSU college Republicans were so, like, really computer nerds and they hacked into the voter files of the Cobb County Board of Elections and just, you know, as a lark, switched Tricia Pridemore’s primary election party choice so that it showed that she voted…Ha-Ha-Ha!….tee-hee-hee!…actually in the Democrat elections when she originally voted in the Republican election. Yeah, yeah! That’s the ticket! That’s what happened!

But, wait…yes…there’s even more to this story. 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. But the Secretary of State’s office said that was next to impossible. When contacted by phone, a spokesperson for Milner who was involved in all the former candidate’s campaigns could not recall Pridemore’s involvement.”

So, in the Beaconcast article, Pridemore says the records must be wrong. In the Collins High School debate, Pridemore says her records appear as being Democrat votes due to “College Republicans” engaging in “mischief.”

You want to know what _I_ think? She was a closet Democrat and did vote in both Democrat primary elections in 1998 because either she was making a choice in the Barnes/Massey race or the Oliver/Taylor race, because those were the only two Dem races that required run-offs in 1998, and there was no need for any kind of crossover vote to “spoil” the other side’s votes. No county chairmen or district chairmen from that era recommended the political party line crossing as a “strategy.”

All this other stuff is a lot of fluffy crappola from her and her “supporters.” Tricia Pridemore is not a “longtime Republican”. Nor is she a “longtime grassroots activist.” She has never gotten elected as a county, district, or state party position (”house district chair” positions do not actually count as being on the same level as a party chair, vice-chair, etc. in terms of party working responsibilities.)

AND…the “9-12 Group” stuff? You want to know how you become a leader in 9-12? You go to their Website and you SIGN-UP! Wow. Tough qualifications there. Tough “nominating” process, eh? And…what are some of the “principles” of 9-12? Something to do with being an “honest” person, I seem to recall…?

I’m not dissing 9-12 here. I’m dissing the concept that Pridemore and her followers have of her “experience” as a “leader” in that organization to be something of some value that is equivalent to running a political party. It’s not. It’s not even close. Not in a million years is it equivalent.

The Republican Party of Georgia requires a grassroots leader at its helm, not a piece of Astroturf. You can water Astroturf all you want, but it will forever remain a piece of plastic and never grow roots, or grow-up.

Tricia Pridemore is about as qualified to run the Georgia State Republican Party as Barrack Obama is qualified to be president of the United States. Pridemore’s lack of knowledge and experience will screw-up this state’s Republican Party for many years to come if she gets elected. This is not a job that allows for on-the-job-training.

The True Nature of Justin Tomczak’s “Grassroots” Experience

At the beginning, I mentioned Tomczak’s name because he is one of two people who have put their name out there as “witnesses” to Pridemore’s supposed “College Republican days” in the late 1990s at Kennesaw State. And, that he told me that he recalls doing some work with the state GOP in 1998.

Well, at that very same Cobb County Board of Elections, another voting record was obtained…for, again, $1.00. Here is Justin Tomczak’s Voting Record in PDF format.

It clearly shows Tomczak’s voting record for the period of concern here (the period of the 1995-1998 time period which Tricia Pridemore claims to be the time she attended KSU and became involved in the College Republicans) consist of the following:

1996 General Election – Voted Absentee (“A” means “Absentee”)
2000 General Election – Voted

Tomczak did not vote in the 1998 Republican Primary, or even that year’s general election. He didn’t vote in the 2000 Presidential Preference Primary, nor did he vote in the 2000 Georgia Republican Primary.

I don’t believe Tomczak “knew” Pridemore to be a “College Republican” in that time period. How would he know? He wasn’t one himself.

Sorry, Kiddies, but Justin Tomczak is just as much Astroturf as Tricia Pridemore is. He’s not “grassroots.” He’s spent his time in GOP politics as a paid staffer. That’s not “grassroots.”

Introduction

Welcome to the inaugural edition of “WTF is Going On In The Georgia State GOP Chairman’s Race???”

Truthfully, we thought our opening issue would have a completely different flavor to it. Something…way more sedate than this issue. But, thanks to a few true, bonafide idiots in the Henry County Republican world, we cannot pass-up this opportunity to ensure that everyone in our Georgia GOP world who IS “anyone” gets notice of what we know when we know it.

Buckle-up. It’s going to be a rollicking ride! 🙂

Background SO Boring, You’ll Hate Us For It….

Once upon a time, there was an organization called the Republican Women of Henry County (“RWHC”). One of their members ( a woman named Sahar Heckmati) one day decided that she didn’t wish to continue with the RWHC.

So, she left. She left to start her own organization called Conservative Republican Women. The members of RWHC were horrified that someone dared to leave their coop. A verbal war* of words ensued between Sahar and RWHC. Hatred and resentment fell upon the land of RWHC.

Through a long, arduous period of hair-pulling*, face-slapping*, and shin-kicking* of each other in the political world, eventually the attention of Chairman Sue Everhart was flagged-down by RWHC who begged and pleaded with Everhart to help them figure out what to do with Sahar. Sahar, who didn’t care to be associated with RWHC, and didn’t really care about how they felt about her starting a different club with her own marble* collection.

Now, mind you, there was nothing in the State GOP Rules that required Everhart to referee the two warring* groups. But, she went down there and tried to first understand the problem, and then made suggestions to RWHC on how they could revise their rules and do some other things and maybe the fights with Sahar would cease.

But, no, even after Sue went down and spent time with RWHC to help them as best she could, that wasn’t enough for the spoiled brats of the RWHC. You see, the brats wanted Chairman Sue to completely ignore Sahar and her new club because they thought it was unfair what Sahar did, and they wanted their Mommy Sue to take their side in this dispute.

Well, Mommy Sue didn’t do that. Because Sue Everhart is 1) an ADULT, and 2) a State GOP Chairman who knows that her job is to bring-in as many people as who want to be Republican activists as possible. So, how could she choose to ignore Sahar and Sahar’s group if her role as state GOP chair is to speak to people who want to know about the Republican Party and how to get more involved? (Oh…if there’s any candidate named Shawn Hanley OR Tricia Pridemore who thinks Sue should have ignored Sahar and supported RWHC’s position, please stand-up and be counted so we will know your stand on this type of situation.)

SO, when Sahar called Sue and asked her to come speak in front of her club, AND Sue accepted the invitation to go speak to Sahar’s group, RWHC threw a temper tantrum*, stomped their feet*, cried like little babies* about how mean* Sue Everhart was in not punishing their mean big sister* Sahar.

AND, leaders of RWHC (in particular, Sam Fleet and Vicki Temple) swore that Sue Everhart would pay for her failing to see the argument their way by making a pact to support anyone but Sue. Fleet became an ardent supporter of Shawn Hanley and Temple threw her support to Tricia Pridemore.

Now that you have a glimmer of the background story here…let’s turn to the most recent events in Henry County…

* All of these terms are metaphors. None of these things actually happened in the “real world.” This is an important point for you to take with you as you read further.

Well, as they say, you cannot fix “Stupid”

So, last Thursday (two days ago), there was a state GOP chairman’s forum/meeting down at the RWHC. All three candidates for state chair were there.

AND…someone had a tape recorder at the ready for when Sue Everhart spoke, and her speech was recorded.

And, someone sent the tape to 11 Alive News who jumped into action, and interviewed Sue and Sahar on their reaction to the taped words from Sue’s speech.

And, what was the shocking thing Sue said in her speech? Well, Sue made mention of the spat between RWHC and Sahar in this specific terms: “Sahar doesn’t fight like we fight. She has a different culture. We’ll send emails back and forth, but Sahar cuts your throat. She’s going to get to the bottom of it.”

As you will read in this story transcript on the 11-Alive Website, you’ll find out that that Sahar was born in Afghanistan, but long ago became a U.S. citizen. These 4 anti-Sue people decided they could take Sue’s words completely out of context and apply them in a totally different way to make Sue look like she made some sort of bigoted comment about Sahar’s heritage being a “cutthroat heritage.”

As Sue said in the 11Alive interview: “I don’t see anything wrong with what I said,” and explained that in the context of her remarks it should be clear she was defending Heckmati, not offending her or the culture of her birth home. “It was just a cliché to make a point that Sahar is very passionate when she takes a stand during the party’s intramural squabbles.”

And, you can see that Sahar backs-up what Sue said with: “Absolutely not, absolutely not,” she told 11Alive News Friday night. “I just think it’s a huge misunderstanding…. I’m not offended at all, whatsoever. It’s just Sue’s opponents, political opponents, trying to make a big deal out of nothing. It is really all just a ridiculous thing….People in the Henry County Republican Party have called me an Islamic terrorist,” which, Heckmati said, as a Christian who supports the fight against terrorism, is what has offended her.

PV’s Conclusion: Sighhh…Truly, nothing demonstrates how utterly ignorant and unprepared for grassroots activism people like this are than this blow-up-over NOTHING!

You’ve seen the Seinfeld episode where they try to write a show about NOTHING? THIS event with their accusations on what Sue’s comments meant to them is much ado about NOTHING!

If you are such a child that you do not understand what someone in the political world means by “cutting your throat”, then the state GOP is much TOO big of a sandbox for you to play in. Really. Go buy one of those inflatable baby pools, fill it up with sand, and practice in that sized sand box. Maybe you’ll discover you feel safer there, and stay and play all dayyyyyyy…leave politics to the grownups, kiddies.

From Sue Everhart’s Press Release dated March 18, 2011

In May, Georgia Republicans will gather in Macon to select our leadership for the next two years. Last weekend, the Delegates and Alternates that will determine the Georgia Republican Party’s future were selected during the County Conventions. Our state has been extremely successful in recent years, but much work still needs to be completed. Leadership matters and below are seven reasons that “Sue’s the One” to Chair our Republican Party for the next two years.

1. Equipping the Grassroots-Training and preparing our local partners will continue to be an essential component of our future success. Leading up to the 2011 County Conventions, the Georgia Republican Party held 12 training sessions in conjunction with the District Parties. Following the State Convention, our Party will implement the most aggressive off-year training schedule in the history of the GAGOP. Items on the agenda will include: candidate recruitment/development, effectively communicating our message, fundraising, planning and organizing county meetings, building and organizing precincts, operating under Robert’s Rules of Order, expanding social media capabilities, and utilizing the internet and voter files.

2. Preparing for Redistricting-In a few short months, reapportionment will emerge as the critical issue for Georgia Republicans. I am the only person is this race with the institutional knowledge and experience to safely navigate the challenges and issues that will arise during this process.

3. Educating the Public-We must have Republican leaders that are an integral part of their community and its future. Our message must be communicated and we will engage with the grassroots throughout the year and not wait until it is election season. We will articulate our principles and vision through aggressive outreach programs. By continuing our partnership with our auxiliary groups, the Georgia Republican Party will reach multiple audiences in our efforts to educate the general population.

4. Applying Social Media and Information Technology-Every election cycle, strategic plans are developed and implemented. The traditional means of waging campaigns has transitioned, and social media has become a critical component of our political strategy and plan. In 2008, Barack Obama successfully implemented a technology-based campaign. In 2012, we will employ Smartphone applications, bulk texting, and other resources as we continue to develop the most effective plan for Victory.

5. Strengthening the Voter Files-Prior to the November 2010 elections, the in-house voter lists were rebuilt. These lists have voter’s full voting history that have been scored with an in-house formula and also contains millions of micro-targeting tags. These lists were used by both the GAGOP and the Deal campaign for the majority of the mailers in 2010. We will continue to add valuable data to these lists and keep them current through monthly updates from the Secretary of State’s Office, as these lists will be a vital resource in 2012.

6. Expanding our Fundraising-In three and a half short years, the GAGOP has raised over $18 million. We have consistently raised more money with fewer resources than states across the country. We will continue to prospect, promote grassroots and major donor programs, and strengthen our relationships with our current donors to ensure that our campaigns will be fully funded in 2012. With these efforts, there is a proven track-record that will sustain our organization and allow the GAGOP to have the funds necessary for Victory in 2012.

7. Establishing a Lasting Majority-During recent election cycles, Georgia has established a Republican majority at the state and federal levels. Now is the time to strengthen the foundations of the next generation by building a GOP majority on the local level. In 2012, we will expend the same energy and resources at the local level as we did in previous cycles that captured the state and federal levels. Having a majority on the local level is critical to creating a lasting era of Republican leadership in Georgia.

The Georgia Republican Party has come a long way during my three and a half years as Chairman. While Republicans in other states were sustaining difficult defeats in 2008, Georgia proved to be a fortress for Republican candidates and ideals. During the historic gains of 2010, Georgia led the nation as we took all of the Constitutional Offices and strengthened our Congressional majority. In 2012, we must continue to stand united to defeat Barack Obama and work to grow our Republican majorities at the local, state, and federal levels. I believe that proven leadership will make the difference in these efforts. The Georgia Republican Party is a grassroots organization, and I would be honored to serve again as your Chairman.

Sue Everhart is the Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. Prior to being elected as Chairman, she was the First Vice-Chairman of the GAGAOP as well as the Party’s 6thDistrict Chairman. Sue was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians in 2008 and 2011, and she was chosen as one of ten women in the United States to be honored as a “Woman of Achievement” by the RNC in 2009.

Paid for by Sue Everhart for Party Chairman
4542 Woodlawn Lake Drive
Marietta, Ga 30068