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WHITE GEORGIA DEMOCRAT
When I saw what was in the envelope that I opened at the
kitchen table, I exclaimed and dropped it as if it had a spi
der in it It was a fund-raising letter from Congressman John
Barrow. Like a lot of other Athenians who used to support him,
I have been disillusioned with John's evolution into what is at
best a "blue-dog* Democrat
You remember John Barrow, of course—the son of liberats-
back-when-there-weren't-many: Judge James Barrow and his
wife Phyllis Jenkins Barrow, both from old Athens families.
They helped pave the way to the progressive Athens we have
come to know and love—if we think about it anymore. John ~
grew up here, graduated from the public schools, the university
and Harvard law and was elected to the Athens-Clarke County
Commission, where he was a lead liberal. John eventually ran
for Congress, and Athens gave him the votes he needed to eke
out a victory over a South Georgia Republican. The Republicans
got control of the Georgia legislature and had themselves a
reapportionment, even though it wasn't census time. When
they put away the crayons, Athens wasn't in John's district
anymore. John's district had gone south. John did, too. He
moved to Savannah and beat the same Republican again on his
own turf. Then he beat another Republican, barely. So, in the
most recent reapportionment, the Republicans drew Savannah
out of John's district Now he has moved to Augusta and is
beginning to campaign in yet another district gerrymandered
especially for him by
Republicans strongly
opposed to the intrusion
of government into our
lives.
Meanwhile, with the
same sort of thing going
on all over the South,
John Barrow is the only white Democratic congressman left in
Dixie. Or, as he puts it in his letter, "Today, I begin this cam
paign year as the only [his emphasis] Democrat in Congress—
from South Carolina to Louisiana—who represents a district
without an African-American majority."
Of course, John has had to make some adjustments in order
to keep his head above the cotton. He has had to shuck and
jive and vote like a Republican on some big issues: Obamacare
and injecting the federal courts into the fight over whether
to keep Terri Schiavo "alive." He has been a hawk on Iraq and
the Patriot Act, and he voted to extend the Bush tax cuts and
against repealing tax cuts for energy companies. On the other
hand, he voted for reauthorizing and extending the children's
health insurance program; he voted for raising the minimum
wage, for ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, for repealing restrictions
on stem cell research, for allowing the government to negoti
ate directly with drug companies for Medicare drug prices,
against defunding National Public Radio, against the draconian
Ryan budget
The Washington Post scores John at 70 percent voting with
his party. If he were Doc Eldridge with that kind of Democratic
percentage, we'd love him. We just can't forgive John for
every vote he casts that represents the majority in his district
instead of us. But we don't vote for him; they do, and he's out
there on his well worn tightrope, hanging on by his toes as he
sets out to keep himself in Congress in yet another Republican-
leaning district. The alternative is somebody like Paul Broun,
Jr., who votes with the Republicans 83 percent of the time, or
Jack Kingston, near John's old district, who votes Republican
93 percent of the time (7 percent Democratic, compared to
John's 70 percent).
In other words, when they knock John out of Congress, his
replacement will vote against NPR, the minimum wage, chil
dren's health insurance and everything else we support.
As John put it in the Savannah Morning News: "Ultimately,
my loyalty to the interests of the people of the 12th District of
Georgia comes before any party or coalition."
Maybe that's not good enough for us Democratic purists,
but maybe John Barrow does deserve a few bucks from his old
hometown, not because he's perfect but because he is so far
ahead of what comes next John has been forced by the con
stant pressure of the right-wing Republicans to do what he has
to do to remain in Congress. Just considering the alternatives,
maybe we should try to help protect this endangered species.
If he were Boc Eldridge
with that Hud of
Democratic percentage,
we’d low Mm.
Pets McComnums editor@flagpole.com
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16 th Annual Southworks
Fine Arts Festival
Saturday April 21,10-5 Sunday April 22,10-5
Booths featuring 80 artists
34 School St., Watkinsville
Free Parking & Admission • Juried Exhibit • Food Vendors
Kldsworks Saturday & Sunday 1-5
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■ VOLUME 26
ISSUE NUMBER 13
APRIL 4,2012 - FLAGPOLE.COM 3