We now know which way the Republicans in Georgia will go to fight to keep the state from helping elect America’s first African American president. They are waving the Confederate flag. Governor Howard Dean, Chair of the Democratic Party, gave them that opportunity by bringing the Obama drive to register new voters to Georgia.
Dem. National Chair Howard Dean at Macon, GA Meeting
The Macon Telegraph reported that the Republicans put out a release saying Dean and Senator Barack Obama are “out of touch” with the South, calling attention to Dean’s past remarks he made in 2003 about the Confederate flag as being a “racist symbol” and saying “Southern whites with decals on their trucks should vote Democratic “because their kids don’t have health insurance either.” Dean replied that Republicans “will always go negative. We think it is time to bring people together.
Saturday he made appearances in Savannah, Macon and Atlanta. I was at the one in Macon where the State Committee of the Georgia Democratic Party gathered to elect four new Democratic National Committee members. When he walked in the door of the hall during the meeting, the audience came to its feet, giving him a thunderous reception. They were delighted that the Democratic Party is paying attention to Georgia this time and not just conceding the state to the Republicans.
GA Democratic Party State Committee Meeting in Macon, GA
Governor Dean drew applause many times as he castigated the Republicans for practicing the “politics of hate.” “They may think it’s good for America, but Democrats don’t.”
Dem. Party Chair Howard Dean
He thinks Georgia could play a key role in putting Senator Obama over the top in the election and he is calling for the registration of 600,000 new voters. Obama supporters all over the state are engaged in the registration drive. He believes Georgians have had enough of the policies of the Bush administration and are as ready for change as the rest of the country.
It’s hard to think that Georgia will desert the Republicans after the last three presidential elections, but with young people and minorities registering in big numbers, it is possible that change will come to Georgia and it will return to the Democratic fold.
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