Sat 4 Jun 2005
So anyone who follows Ga politics knows Ralph Reed (former head of the Christian Coalition) is running for Lt. Gov under the GOP banner. The Democratic incumbent is going to make a bid for the Democratic nomination for Governor so the general election is wide open. With Georgia’s conversion to red statedom all but complete if Reed wins the primary I think he will will the general too.
That thought scares me. It puts him in line for the Governorship and possibly the Presidency.
The LP was talking about running Allen Buckley for that slot as a spoiler to toss the race to the Dems. When I was an LP member I was never a big fan of the spoiler tactic. First it was acknowledgment of the lesser of two evils reality. Second I always thought it was a cop-out for not being able to get someone elected.
Well I learn from my State Senator that there is someone else in the running for the GOP nomination for Lt. Governor: Casey Cagle
Ralphy has a pretty big war chest from Washington politicos and from his contacts he made with the Christian Coalition. Casey has his work cut out for him.
He also has gotten my first donation for the ‘06 election cycle.
June 13th, 2005 at 7:03 am
I donated to Cagle a while ago as well, but so far his website is fairly content free. There’s nothing there outlining his viewpoints other than vague statements and the ominous “Casey will transform the office of Lt. Governor into a bold, conservative voice for our families”. The way I see it, my donation was a vote- a vote saying “I’m supporting you because you’re running against Ralph Reed”. If he can get enough support running as the anti-Reed, hopefully he won’t feel the need to run far to the right and out-Reed Reed once he does come up with some views.
June 13th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Cagle will need to run to the right to win the primary - but his message needs to be “I’m the candidate that can appeal to the middle in the General Election” while promoting Reed as the radical that will lose to the Democrat.
The issue is gonna be money. Can Cagle raise enough? June 30 is the next financial disclosure filing date. Fence sitters will start to decide at that time.
March 24th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
Casey Cagle takes the lead on private property rights
SENATE PASSES STRONG EMINENT DOMAIN MEASURE
Atlanta, GA — Senator and Lt. Governor Candidate Casey Cagle took to the Senate floor today to continue leading the fight for passage of “The Landowner’s Bill of Rights and Private Property Protection Act.” Cagle also succeeded in winning support from the Senate to pass additional provisions he introduced strengthening the bill.
This legislation — a top priority of the Republican Senate majority — represents one of the strongest statutes restricting the use of eminent domain and protecting the rights of private property owners in the entire nation. The Senate also authorized a Constitutional Amendment which would further limit the use of eminent domain if approved by the voters.
Among other things, the new law would:
Ban the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes.
Prevent local governments from seizing private property without an open vote by the top governing authority.
Limit government seizure of blighted property to only those cases where an immediate threat to public safety is posed.
Give citizens much greater opportunity to be made aware of and voice their opinions on exercise of eminent domain.
Improve the ability of owners to get a fair price for their property.
“The U.S. Supreme Court may have fired the first shot in this battle with its disastrous decision in the Kelo case, but today’s vote by our Republican Senate majority ensures it won’t be the last. This legislation puts Georgia at the forefront of the entire country in protecting the rights of property owners. Strong private property rights are the core bedrock of our economic system, and we cannot do too much to protect them,” said Cagle.
Cagle also pledged to continue fighting to protect property rights, saying “As long as government has the power to exercise eminent domain, we need to continue working to ensure that power remains limited and property owners have a fair voice in the process. This is yet another step in what has been a long battle. We must remain vigilant in the future, and ratifying the Constitutional Amendment we also passed today is absolutely essential to that goal.”