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'ftM i^MoRffaW^-tO l3 • • • www.thismodernworld.com,,,twitter.com/tomtomorrow
A GENERATIONAL CHOICE IN POLITICS
Whether he wins or whether he Loses, state
Sen. Jason Carter (D-Decatur) brings some
thing valuable to next year's race for governor:
He will give voters a real choice in which
direction they want the state to take.
Carter's decision to challenge Gov. Nathan
Deal brings one of those moments when you
can feel the beginnings of a changeover from
one generation to another. The tectonic plates
of state politics are shifting.
In terms of age, there's a stark contrast
between the two candidates. Carter will be
39 when the general election campaign com
mences. Deal will be 72, nearly twice the age
of his challenger. When Deal was first elected
to the Georgia Senate in 1980, Carter
was a five-year-old kid who hadn't
even started the first grade.
Carter will be criticized for
his youthfulness, but he noted:
"Richard Russell was 33 when
he first took office, Ellis ArnalL
was 35, Herman Talmadge was
33, Carl Sanders was 37 when he
became governor. Those are giants
in Georgia politics."
Deal is part of a Republican
establishment that has controlled state
government for more than a decade. That
leadership believes the most important thing
they can do is cut taxes and provide financial
incentives for businesses and corporate execu
tives. Those benefits to the business com
munity have been financed by cutting billions
of dollars in funding for public schools and by
limiting the money spent on highways, infra
structure and public safety. We are now a state
where many schools can't afford to keep their
doors open 180 days a year—but where we are
spending tax funds to build a football stadium
for a billionaire NFL owner.
Deal's priorities will be examined in his
own Republican primary. Dalton Mayor David
Pennington and state school Superintendent
John Barge should provide some alternatives
on how the state could address its economic
development and education issues.
Carter, in his two terms as a legislator,
has already confronted Deal over the issues
of K-12 funding and how best to allocate the
money available for HOPE scholarships to
college students. That debate will now carry
over into the general election campaign for
governor, and that's a healthy development for
voters.
"You really have folks out there who don't
feel connected, and who don't see the Georgia
they want to see right now," Carter said last
week. "I know that we can do better and the
question then becomes, can we afford to wait?
And the answer for me is no.
"We want a Georgia that's at its best," he
said. "And Georgia at its best invests
in education, it doesn't cut billions
out of the classrooms. It has an
economy that works for the middle
class and it always has an honest
government."
Carter intends to serve out his
current term in the Senate. "I got
elected to do that job," he said.
"My political consultants and my
finance folks have said, 'You should
raise money for your campaign,' but
this is the job I was elected to do. The
issues that we are going to confront in the
legislature are exactly the issues we are going
to confront when I am running for governor."
Carter brings national attention to the gov
ernor's race because of his famous grandfather,
just as Michelle Nunn sparks interest in the
U.S. Senate race because of her well-known
father, retired Sen. Sam Nunn. There's little
doubt he will get plenty of political advice
from grandparents Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
as he makes his first try at statewide office.
"It's important for people to know this
is not a campaign about Jimmy Carter, it's a
campaign about what is best for Georgia,"
Carter said. "But if you think that can keep
them from offering advice, you don't know
them very well."
Tom Crawford tcrawford@gareport.com
THIS MtBkIH VBILB
TAKES
OBAttA BENT OVER BACKWARDS TO
PRESERVE THE ROLE of PRIVATE
INSURERS.
WE'LL REFORM HEALTH CARE WITH
A BYZANTINE, MARKET-BASED SYS
TEM FIRST CHAMPIONED BY THE
HERITAGE FOUNDATION'.
by TOM TOMORROW
INSURERS REPAID THE FAVOR WITH
WIDESPREAD CONFUSION.
THEY'RE CANCELLING MY CHEAP
POLICY THAT PROVIDES No REAL
COVERAGE—AND FORCING ME
INTO A PLAN X CAN'T AFFORD'.
of COURSE, THIS STATEMENT DIDN'T
HELP MATTERS ANY:
"IF You LIKE YOUR HEALTH CARE
plan, You WILL BE ABLE TO KEEP
YOUR HEALTH CARE PLAN. PERIOD."
NOR DID THE ATTEMPT TO RETRO
ACTIVELY AMEND IT:
I SAID TERMS AND CONDITIONS
MAY APPLY.'
AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL
TO HAVE A WORKING WEBSITE.
WE'VE ALMOST GOT IT FIXED!
MEANWHILE REPUBLICANS ARE BUSY
PRETENDING THINGS WERE JUST
FINE THE WAY THEY WERE.
INSURANCE COMPANIES WERE MAR
VELS of EFFICIENCY!
H undreds of University of Georgia
students and community activists
marched over the Sanford Drive
bridge Friday, Nov. 8 to call attention to rac
ism and homophobia on campus.
Caroline Bailey, a UGA student and presi
dent of the university's Black Affairs Council,
organized the march after someone posted
"Why can't you dumb dirty niggers stop stink
ing up the place? let UGA be RIGHT for good
WHITE Christian students," to the council's
Facebook page.
The message was posted anonymously
using an account under the name of a UGA
student, but according to university police,
someone else created the account in the stu
dent's name. UGA's Equal Opportunity Office is
investigating.
Bailey said she was "very, very disheart
ened," that someone could post such a mes
sage 50 years after UGA began admitting black
students.
"This isn't just about a Facebook post,"
said Adreanna Nattiel, who describes herself
as a black, queer student. "This is about a
culture on campus that says this kind of thing
is OK."
While the Facebook post sparked the
march, activists used the occasion to call
attention to other issues—inequality for gays,
lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people,
and the Board of Regents' policy barring
undocumented immigrants from attending
UGA.
"I graduate in May," said Yami Rodriguez,
president of the Undocumented Students
Alliance. "Sadly, I will be graduating from a
segregated university."
Students said they were especially outraged
because it was homecoming weekend. They
tweeted from the march using the hashtag
#home4who.
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
NOVEMBER 13, 2013 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5
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