(Zell) Miller backs Reed's bid for lieutenant governor

[Judi Lynn]

Miller backs Reed's bid for lieutenant governor

By ALAN JUDD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/18/05



JENNI GIRTMAN / Staff
(ENLARGE)
Ralph Reed (left) and former U.S. Sen. Zell Miller prepare to
greet the crowd Friday at a rally for Reed at Cobb Galleria
Centre.

Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed used a raucous rally Friday to define his campaign to become the first Republican lieutenant governor in Georgia history.

And he basked in the endorsement — 13 months before next year's GOP primary election — of a former Democratic lieutenant governor, governor and U.S. senator: Zell Miller.

"I am for Ralph Reed as strongly as I have ever been for anyone," Miller declared.

Reed staked out positions consistent with his background in the evangelical Christian movement: He's against abortion, for the right to bear arms. He's against higher government spending, for teaching morals in public schools.
(snip/...)

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0605/18reed.html
(Free registration is required)

[saracat]

1. We MUST ask Zell to renounce his party affiliation. We CANNOTallow this!!

[hyphenate]

2. Pretty sad state of affairs

I really think that the "D" next to Zell's name should be expulsed. There must be SOMETHING the Democrats can do to get him the hell out of our party.

[Maestro]

3. One of the worst Democrats eva!

Hey Zell,


Got it? Good!

[AndyTiedye]

4. Senility Can Be a Terrible Thing

[struggle4progress]

26. Yes. He's a sick old man. eom

[rateyes]

5. We need the DNC..

to KICK him OUT. He's been giving campaign donations to Republicans running for Georgia State Senate, etc. Jerk.

[TwentyFive]

6. Sick!!!! Reed is too far right for even 80% of republicans!

Democratic party leaders need to make sure that Ralph Reed loses badly. It will make Zell Miller look like the kook that he is. He needs to retire and stop embarrassing himself.

[AX10]

9. Who's running on the Democratic ticket?

[depakid]

12. In Georgia- Reed may do just fine

He's actually in tune with a sizable plurality of the population- probably close to 45%.

There's about as many whacked out fundies per capita in Georgia as anywhere in the country.

[Al-CIAda]

18. Expose Reed as the extorting, GAMBLING LOBBYIST for Indian Casinos

Coushatta Indians for one, but there are others. Reed is NECK DEEP in ILLEGAL payola and EXTORTION.

[depakid]

29. That's the way to approach it

The man's corrupt- and he's opportunist who would readily take advantage (and make fools of) Georgians.

[indypaul]

38. Don't forget,

his employment by Enron as a favor to W by
"Kenny Boy." I am indeed sorry we don't
live in a time when one can be challenged to
a duel, in this instance.

[digno dave]

49. Reed is tailor made to succeed in Georgia

[TexasLawyer]

44. Reed is also a corporate ho bag.

His so-called "consulting company" is a means to cash in on his big-religion/RNC connections. He's also involved in the DeLay, Abramoff/ Indian casino scandal.

But I'm sure the press will not want to trouble us with that unpleasant news.

[TexasLawyer]

45. "ignore the pundits and the polls and the press" sez Reed

I like this, buried at the tail end of the article. I'm sure that Reed will benefit if people actually take his advice to: "ignore the pundits and the polls and the press"


No one directly mentioned controversy surrounding Reed's work with Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which is part of a U.S. Senate investigation. But Reed told his supporters to "ignore the pundits and the polls and the press."

Hannity encouraged Reed to "fight hard. They are coming after you in a big way."

[dchill]

7. An attractive candidate...

Corrupted by illegal lobbyist $$$
Endorsed by Zell
And he's a closeted gay Right-wing Republican Evangelical!

What's not to LOVE ???

[Judi Lynn]

8. Reed Makes First Run for Office in Ga.

Reed Makes First Run for Office in Ga.
By DICK PETTYS, Associated Press Writer

Saturday, June 18, 2005

(06-18) 11:46 PDT ATLANTA (AP) --

For two decades, Ralph Reed made his mark as a squeaky-clean political operator and a driving force behind the Christian right. Now he's trying to get himself into elected office amid allegations he raked in money from the same gambling interests he once called "a cancer on the American body politic."

The former organizer for the Christian Coalition and adviser to presidential campaigns is seeking to become Georgia's first Republican lieutenant governor since Reconstruction, a largely powerless post that could serve as a stepping stone to higher office.

The election is still more than a year away, with incumbent Democrat Mark Taylor vacating the seat to run for governor, but already Reed is raising money and assembling a team.

To some, the big question facing Reed is whether there is a conflict between the antigambling beliefs he espoused as executive director of the Christian Coalition and the money he collected later as a political consultant.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/18/national/a114616D10.DTL

[Skarbrowe]

10. They know they've got the machines rigged in Georgia from 2002.

If someone like Reed thinks he has a chance in a general election, you know THEY know the machines and tabulators will make it a cake walk. Why even bother campaigning.

[Joacheme Misrahe]

46. Exactly

I hope something can be done about the machines and SOON. They are running total theocratic nut jobs now because they know they count the votes.

[marbuc]

11. Teach morals in school?

Yeah Ralph? Should they also teach how to mask corruption with christian fundamentalism?

[gademocrat7]

13. Zell is an embarrassment and detriment to all Democrats

but he is especially offensive to Democrats in Georgia. I had hoped he would go to the North Georgia Mountains and quietly fade away. He has lost his mind. To support a LYING hypocrite like ralph reed is disgusting.

[Robbien]

14. Is there anyone who would vote based on Zell Miller's recommendation?

Both Democrats and Republicans feel Zell is a joke. The only people who may follow Zell would be those crazies outside Schiavo's hospice and those crazies were voting for Reed in the first place.

[CityDem]

15. More attention as a Dem

Zell Miller gets significantly more attention as a democratic attack dog attacking democrats. He wouldn't be able to book a 15 second segment on the weather channel if he were a repub. As a dem, he commands national attention from the conservative media and by dumping on the dems, he looks like a maverick. And as John McCain knows, everyone loves a maverick.

[VegasWolf]

16. People of Georgia, you elected this guy!? nt

[napi21]

20. Well, I wasn't here when he was elected Gov. But I had just moved

to Ga. when he was running for the Senate. (Moved here in late July and voted in Nov.) I always vote in every election, and I voted for Zell because he was on the Dem ticket.

Also, the locals tell me he wasn't anything like this when he was Gov. Something happened to him when he went to Washington!

[Joacheme Misrahe]

47. "Something happened to him when he went to Washington"

It's called being on the Rove payroll.

[toopers]

53. On top of all that . . .

he was not elected to the first senate seat. He was appointed by a democratic governor to fill the position of republican senator who died during his term. All the democrats were laughing at all the republicans who were pissed off at Gov Roy Barnes for the appointment.

[gademocrat7]

23. Zell was not a bad governor.

Our State house was mainly Democratic. Then he went to Washington and became poisoned by the rethugs.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. That was long before he was senile

[napi21]

17. Well, I live in Ga and If I would have ever considered voting for Ralph,

Zell's endorsement just killed it!

BTW, I wou;n NEVER vote for anyone like Reed!

I'm actually wondering if this isn't going to have a negative effect on Reed. After all, the idiot RW nut cases here in Ga still think Zell is a Dem!

[young_at_heart]

22. I live next door..........if Reed wins I might move

North Carolina is too close to Georgia if such a disgusting person is elected. His effective dirty tricks for so long have gone unnoticed by many (he wants it that way). People ought to learn about his connection to the Bush family (and Enron).

[VegasWolf]

19. Wow, if Ralph Reed wins, Georgia will be the 1st Theocratic State

in the nation.

[VegasWolf]

21. Georgians will now have to drive to Fla to get their porn. nt

[lawladyprof]

54. Or get it from their Republican buddies--eom

N/T

[dissent1977]

24. There is one question I have never heard Zell Miller asked

It seems like such an obvious question, but the corporate media has steered clear of it.

Is there ANYTHING that Zell Miller disagrees with the Republican Party on?

I have always wanted to hear him asked that question, and it never comes up. Does anyone else know of an issue in which he has been critical of the Republicans?

[napi21]

25. I don't think he's ever been asked that, but I'm not going to ask!

I won't contribute to his arrogance by even recognizing that someone even hears his comments.

[gizmo1979]

27. Reed is the leader of the Taliban.

American style.I once thought Georgia was a progressive state,man was I wrong on that one!

[patdem]

28. I think Zell has some MAJOR SKELETONS in his closet..and is doing

everything he can to keep them in the closet..his insanity is about keeping his crimes quiet and letting him go 'quietly into that good night'...that is my personal opinion!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

30. Good thing he has long ties to Delay's corruption

[CatWoman]

32. even REAL Republicans don't want Reed

Reed an albatross for GOP
Party stands to suffer in 2006 if candidate doesn't withdraw

By BOB IRVIN
Published on: 06/15/05

This is an open request to Ralph Reed:

Please withdraw your candidacy for Georgia lieutenant governor, in order to avoid a grievous, majority-wrecking split in the Republican Party. If you should win the nomination, many thousands of Republican voters will desert us for the Democrats in 2006, defeating not only you but also many other good Republican candidates, maybe even Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Consider 1998, when Mitch Skandalakis — who was your client — lost the lieutenant governor's race so badly that he pulled under Guy Millner and David Ralston, as well as a dozen legislative candidates who otherwise would have won.

If you are defeated in the primary, that too will create bitter divisions in our base, badly weakening us for years. You are simply too divisive for our new majority. The ongoing scandal over casino money in Alabama is only the latest, but not likely the last, scandal to surface. You run the risk of destroying our majority coalition before it has had time to mature.

I make this request because Reed is four things that Georgians do not elect:

• A professional contract lobbyist, someone who is available for hire to influence political outcomes. This has been Reed's very lucrative business since he left the Christian Coalition, and even Pat Robertson has recently been quoted as saying that it raises doubts in his mind about Reed. Reed took millions of dollars from gambling interests in Louisiana and Mississippi to stop competitive casinos in Texas and Alabama. He took money from Enron to lobby the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to deregulate electricity.

These three instances happen to have been in the newspaper, but they are three among who knows how many causes he has been glad to hire himself out to promote. His M.O. is to tell evangelical Christians that his cause of the moment, for which he has been hired, is their religious duty, and therefore they need to write regulators, turn up at meetings, or whatever. As an evangelical myself, I resent Christianity being used simply to help Reed's business.

• Bob Irvin, a former Republican state representative and House minority leader, is an Atlanta management consultant.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0605/15edreed.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. RUN, REED, RUN!!!

[nine30]

34. Reed is President in making

I have that (uneasy) feeling. Lt Gov --> Gov ---> Presidential Candidate.

He has the ability to speak and connect(with the conservatives), and if he ran he would *sweep* the south and much of the midwest pretty much along the lines of GW. He would run on the same issues as * -- Anti abortion, pro Guns, low taxes, "morals", etc.

Watch out for Reed in 2012 or 2016.

[Brundle_Fly]

37. REED is not the kind of guy...

you can have a beer with, he is far too intertwined as a washington insider, he can never ever win.

[zbdent]

35. It's amazing what people will do

for a buck . . .

[progressivebydesign]

36. Paging Dr. Dean. Can we kick that SOB out OUR party? n/t

[AlCzervik]

39. Dear God enough!!!!!! someone needs to kick his ass out of the party

[Cooley Hurd]

40. Wanna take down Reed? Send in Triumph the Insult Comic Dog!

http://www.nonfamous.com/wp/2004/10/22/triumph-after-the-debates/

Triumph after the debates

Triumph the insult comic dog, that is, from the Conan O’Brien Show. The video is long, but hilariously funny. But also depressing… the mouthpieces on both sides are simultaneously vacuous and overinflated. Triumph was a little harder on the Repubs, though. Seeing Rove, he says, “Bush’s Brain! I would have expected a much smaller man!” On encountering Ralph Reed, he says, “If you’re going to be against gay rights, you should really take that pole out of your ass.”
:D

[MadisonProgressive]

41. This says it all about Zell's mental condition...

"I am for Ralph Reed as strongly as I have ever been for anyone," Miller declared.

[agincourt]

42. Miller entered the Democratic party for one reason,

So that he could shit on us later. His Bush rectum licking was preplaned all along. He joined the party as a sleeper turd, we would be wise if he were the last sleeper turd.

[truthisfreedom]

43. sheesh... i'm amazed anyone from any party would associate with zell.

he's such bad news!

[Raiden]

48. Zell should be excommunicated from the party

what a sellout!

[Rainscents]

50. I thought Zell was dead? Didn't had heart attact not too long ago?

Maybe he'll have another one soon... God will send him message.

[Rainscents]

51. What is the background on Reed? Is he real bad?

I don't know much about him.

[Vickers]

52. Whew! That must mean that Reed will secretly back the Democratic agenda

:eyes::sarcasm::eyes::sarcasm::eyes::sarcasm::eyes::sarcasm::eyes::sarcasm:

[pookieblue]

55. If Reed wins, I'm leaving Georgia. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

56. What a major surprise!!!

:wow:

I'd already heard about Reed's bid for Lt. Gov, and it made me feel positively ill. He's been on my radar screen since long before I became politically aware and this creep, with his "Christian Coalition," just always made my skin crawl. I could never understand why such an ill-informed Neanderthal was ever given a national forum.:grr:

As for Zell Miller's endorsement, birds of a feather, and all. He needs major meds. But it does truly break my heart to see this happening in the great state that was once led by my hero, Jimmy Carter.;(

[tibbir]

57. Zell Miller is an embarassment to himself,

but he's a cancer on the Democratic party.