Two tidbits
Just a quick bit of info I've learned recently ...
• Rumor has it that current 12th District Representative John Barrow (D-Athens) may face a primary challenge in the upcoming election. Wouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering how far right Barrow has gone in an effort to appease the more conservative voters of his new district. Also wouldn't be too surprising seeing how Barrow is an Athens native and having to move down to the new district. Speculation is currently centered on someone from the Savannah area.
• For those who want to assist with the newly formed Partners for A Prosperous Community, the new poverty task force here in Athens-Clarke County, Tim Johnson from the Clarke Interagency Council passed on the following advice:
A Steering Committee has been appointed and charged with developing and implementing a process to engage the entire community (with particular attention to assuring that all stakeholder constituencies are represented) in developing and implementing strategies to reduce poverty in Athens. I anticipate that there will be multiple approaches to accomplish this, ranging from one-time input (town meetings, surveys, focus groups, interviews) to ongoing involvement (task forces, work groups, strategy teams, committees). Anyone and everyone who wants to be involved will be (with special efforts to assure that key stakeholders are well represented).
• Rumor has it that current 12th District Representative John Barrow (D-Athens) may face a primary challenge in the upcoming election. Wouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering how far right Barrow has gone in an effort to appease the more conservative voters of his new district. Also wouldn't be too surprising seeing how Barrow is an Athens native and having to move down to the new district. Speculation is currently centered on someone from the Savannah area.
• For those who want to assist with the newly formed Partners for A Prosperous Community, the new poverty task force here in Athens-Clarke County, Tim Johnson from the Clarke Interagency Council passed on the following advice:
A Steering Committee has been appointed and charged with developing and implementing a process to engage the entire community (with particular attention to assuring that all stakeholder constituencies are represented) in developing and implementing strategies to reduce poverty in Athens. I anticipate that there will be multiple approaches to accomplish this, ranging from one-time input (town meetings, surveys, focus groups, interviews) to ongoing involvement (task forces, work groups, strategy teams, committees). Anyone and everyone who wants to be involved will be (with special efforts to assure that key stakeholders are well represented).
posted by Jmac at 9:14 AM
2 Comments:
"Also wouldn't be too surprising seeing how Barrow is an Athens native and having to move down to the new district."
For what it's worth, I don't see any problems for Barrow with respect to the "carpetbagger" charges you kind of alluded to there. Fact is, both he and his putative opponent, Burns, represented the same portion of the current district during their terms.
His move to the right might be more problematic, but it begs the question, if JB goes down in the primary, can a more progressive candidate win the general against Burns? I'm not sure on the answer, and I think, as with a lot in politics, it comes down to how hard the two candidates work, and how much money they have to get their message out.
I've often believed that Barrow really is a pretty conservative Democrat. I think he's overselling himself a bit, but I think he actually does back something like the flag-burning amendment more on principle than politics.
I didn't mean to imply that Barrow was a transplant who couldn't connect, but simply saying that the combination of him being (technically) out-of-district coupled with the playing up of his conservative credentials could open the door to some progressive backlash.
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