Last Call! Vote Today

There will be no House race runoff, so if you want Bill Gillespie to be our next U.S. Representative from Georgia's First District, and you haven't voted yet, vote today!

The VDT was confused about the runoff, but they weren't confused about Jack Kingston being in a precarious position. Help oust Jack and elect Bill.

If you have already voted, go on down to the Tybee Island office and help get the vote out.

Or go to your local Obama Campaign for Change office (such as 102 East Adair St., Valdosta) and help call to remind people to vote, join door-to-door canvassing to remind people to vote, or volunteer to give rides to get people to the polls.

These people waited 45 minutes to 2 hours Friday in Lowndes County to vote. People in Atlanta stood in line up to 8 hours. Are we in the 1st District going to let Atlanta outdo us? I didn't think so. Get out the vote!

Veterans' issues in WSVH radio interview

The intro says "long-shot candidate" but the audio interview includes snippets like a veteran wearing a McCain hat recognizing Gillespie, calling him by name, engaging in conversation, and later saying he may vote for him. Lots of material about Bill Gillespie's Iraq experience, disabilities, and knowledge of veterans' health care. Also economy, taxes, and Iraq. Well worth listening to.

Atlanta Debate Video

Look in the GPB election archive, scroll down in the menu to APCD-1st Congressional District Debate, and press play.

A very few snippets are below. You've already seen some other impressions. Now you can watch for yourself.

Bill criticises Jack for not doing anything for the soldiers in his district, and compares Jack to Colonel Sanders: good for the fast food industry; not so good for the chickens.

Jack keeps shifting ground on Iraq and Afghanistan, sounding more like Barack and Bill all the time.

Bill: "This was a war of choice." "We can leave honorably in eighteen months." "Listen: this is a sinkhole." "The Iraqis can start taking care of themselves, and we can start focusing on our own internal problems."

Reporter to Jack: "Wouldn't it be a benefit to connect south Georgia to Atlanta and other cities?"

Jack: "You know there could be a time." "...the critical mass is not there."

Bill: "The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining." But Bush didn't do that. Ties Kingston to DeLay. "We need to make public transportation a part of our public stimulus package."

Reporter to Bill: How do you propose to pay for the things you want to do?

Bill: "It's time we look at investing in skills for the 21st century."

Reporter asks Jack about earmark reform, given his many earmark requests.

Jack: Why yes! It's all the Democrats' fault that we don't have earmark reform. Jack: #1 have to have strong military! Decisions by generals in Baghdad! "vigilant military" etc. Worked for Tybee beach erosion. (Yet Mr. Zero on the Environment wants offshore drilling.)

30 second closing statements

Bill: Not set up for 21st century. Champion of middle class and working people. Change.

Jack: "He wants to kill No Child Left Behind!" Thump thump!

I'm pretty sure he said something else, but the blatancy of "kill" "child" was over the top even for Jack.

Jack must be scared!

Jack Kingston: Before Bachman, Worse than Saxby

Michelle Bachmann's got nothing on Jack Kingston. The whole country knows Kingston as the hypocrite who accused Barack Obama of being unpatriotic for not wearing a flag pin while not wearing one himself. And harping on Obama's middle name Hussein and claiming Obama wouldn't say the pledge of allegiance and trying to peg Michelle Obama as unpatriotic; Dan Abrams tells Kingston not to come back unless he's wearing one himself. Kingston calls this just a little banter back and forth. OK, so he doesn't know the difference between debate on the issues and impugning a candidate's patriotism.

We could all shrug and say that's just Jack being goofy. What can you expect from somebody who wants Congress to commend Rush Limbaugh? But this foolish persona hides deeper problems.

Jack claims to be a champion of the middle class, but actually gets an F from the middleclass.org year after year, most recently with 23%, worse than Saxby Chambliss, who got 52%.

Yet Kingston get a C from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA): worse than Saxby Chambliss, who gets a B.

Jack's been out front on keeping the war going in Iraq. When he compared more years in Iraq to Germany and South Korea Chris Matthews slammed that as lazy and untrue propaganda.

Jack hasn't stopped with promoting the wrong war at the wrong time; a war that's draining our economy. He's also against new bridges, paper ballots, local fruits and vegetables, preserving nature, health care for children, equal pay for equal work for women, unemployment compensation, and an Office of Congressional Ethics.

And that's before even mentioning Abramoff.

Let's replace Jack Kingston with someone who will work to end the war, bring jobs and renewable energy to south Georgia, and improve healthcare, education, and the environment: Bill Gillespie.

Jack's been a paragon of contradiction from the beginning. He signed Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, which included

The Citizen Legislature Act: A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators.

Yet Kingston has been in Congress for 16 years! That alone convinces a lot of people to vote against him.

Jack has gotten exposure through Stephen Colbert's show. On the very first Better Know a District, Jack says he's African-American because he once lived in Ethiopia. Colbert lampooned Kingston for complaining about a five day work week for Congress. Colbert probably thinks he's put one over on Kingston. And another. And another. But Kingston is using Colbert to promote his goofy clueless persona, which hides a darker side. As the DNC noted:

...if he thinks he's African-American, why has he supported so many policies that are harmful to the African-American community?" asked Amaya Smith, a spokesperson for the DNC. "Look at his record. He's anti-affirmative action ... and he's been an adamant supporter of Bush's plan to privatize Social Security, which would harm African-Americans that have benefited from Social Security."

Jack brags about supporting agriculture in his district. yet:

...he voted against providing fresh fruits and vegetables for public schools, using local food whenever possible, as part of the ‘Buy American” statutes (HR 2419). Wouldn’t that promote local farmers and get our children healthy food?

More Jack backwardness:

Jack voted against HR 3999, the National Highway Bridge Reconstruction and Inspection Act. He voted no to state and local grants to make backup paper ballots available for this years election (HR 2642). Check out how easy the voting machines can be wrong and manipulated.

...

Jack voted against equal pay for equal work for women (HR 1338) and against the establishment of the Office of Congressional Ethics (HR 1031). I think they need a whole building on ethics, not just an office. He voted against an emergency bill to extend unemployment compensation (HR 5749).

Jack not only voted against SCHIP (health care for children), he published against it in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Jack voted against the Anti-Predatory Lending Act (HR 3915), but he was and is for financial deregulation; in 2006 he said:

Despite the critics, it is clear that our economy is rocking and rolling like never before!

On the military front,

Jack voted against an amendment to HR 2642 that provides education funding for eligible members of the Armed Forces. He voted against mandatory rest time for our troops in between deployments (HR 3159).

Kingston, sitting in a Congressional committee, accused Robert Greenwald of being a war profiteer because Greewald made a documentary about war profiteers; nevermind Greenwald didn't take a dime. Watch this one: Kingston's goofy persona almost hides what he's saying, which is basically he's for war profiteering and anybody who isn't is against profits, anti-capitalist, and probably anti-American.

Jack is the king of pork for Georgia, and it's amazing how many military contractors donate to his campaign and coincidentally get earmarks!

Oh, yeah: Jack is also for building roads in nature reserves.

Finally, Kingston's curious closeness with Jack Abramoff has never been investigated; more on that in another post.

Bill Gillespie will work for the people of Georgia's First District. When people hear about Bill, they want to vote for him. Listen to the applause when he speaks.

Term limit Jack Kingston and elect Bill Gillespie!

Bill Gillespie Wakes Up the Candidates' Forum in Valdosta

Bill got applause for saying what needed to be said:


Video by Gretchen Quarterman

A few of my favorite bits from Bill Gillespie's speech at the south Georgia Political Forum in Valdosta, Oct 14:

"going from analog to digital ... new leadership, new opportunities; I want to be one of those new leaders that put people first",

"Iraq war... wrong war, wrong time; it's a money pit, money that we could be better spending right here on our own economy",

"it's sad to see our number one export, our children... we need to fix that",

"I knew when America was right, because we were respected around the world and we were respectful, and I want to able to be a Congressman that reinstates that around the world with our allies",

"we're not set up for the 21st century; why don't we make something again?"

"Lowndes County, you know about service industry jobs, because you have the lowest wages ... compared to the sixteen counties that come to Lowndes County for services",

"there are things we need to do with ... 21st century in terms of education; 40% high school dropout rate; we've got to do better",

"No Child Left Behind left many people behind",

"if the Blazers had a failing season, we would get rid of the coach. It's time for a new coach, I'd appreciate to be that next coach."

The audience loved it.

Rocking and Rolling? Kingston on the Economy in 2006

Here's Jack Kingston on his blog (found by Capitol Impact), in 7 April 2006:

Despite the critics, it is clear that our economy is rocking and rolling like never before! In fact, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent, which is lower than the averages of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

It is clear that the economy is continuing to thrive and surge thanks to common-sense Republican policies of lower taxes, less government, and less regulation and red-tape for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

How does Jack's prediction look now?

This week the Republican Treasury Secretary made the nine largest banks in the U.S. an offer they can't refuse to sell shares to the federal government, in other words, to be partly nationalized. At 3PM the bank CEOs arrived, and:

But by 6:30, all nine chief executives had signed — setting in motion the largest government intervention in the American banking system since the Depression and retreating from the rescue plan Mr. Paulson had fought so hard to get through Congress only two weeks earlier.

Oh yes: Jack linked to an article about Nancy Pelosi warning of falling rocks:

Pelosi claims the Bush tax cuts that have led to economic growth are only benefitting a certain segment of the U.S. population.

"With tax cuts for the wealthiest few causing red ink as far as the eye can see, incomes falling, and our jobs moving overseas, the economic record of President Bush is dismal for middle-class families," Pelosi said. "The Bush economy is going in the wrong direction: gas prices are sky-high and health costs are an overwhelming burden for too many Americans."

How are those Republican policies working out now?

Stars Aligned for Bill in the Florida Time-Union

Great writeup in the Florida Times-Union:

Gillespie said he returned home from an Iraq war he considered a mistake to find a state he thought was unprepared for the economic challenges of the 21st century. He believes an unpopular president and a troubled economy could help him beat Kingston in a district favorable to Republicans.

"Every single star has aligned," Gillespie said.

Bill's the candidate for renewable energy and jobs:

Gillespie has pounded the dual issues of economic development and energy, saying Southeast Georgia could prosper from an increased focus on alternative energy and blaming Kingston for not moving aggressively enough.

"Jack is in the pocket of Chevron," he said.

The Democrat also rejects drilling for oil or natural gas off the coast of Georgia.

"There are certain places I do think we could drill more," Gillespie said. "Georgia's not one of them."

Georgia vacationers, do you want oil rigs off Jekyll and Tybee and Cumberland Islands, or do you want south Georgia turned into a renewable energy exporter that creates its own jobs?

You've all seen Jack Kingston on Colbert. You haven't seen Bill Gillespie there. Donate now for more name recognition for Bill.

DeKalb and Fulton County safe district voters: Congratulations on turning out in droves to vote early for Obama! Now how about donating or volunteering for Bill Gillespie in GA-01? You get more bang for your buck down here where TV ads are cheap.

Out of staters, maybe you think Obama's not a patriot because he doesn't always wear a flag pin or maybe you're for big oil or more wars. If so, Jack Kingston's your candidate. If not, here's your chance to replace him with Bill Gillespie, a better Democrat. If you're sitting in a safe state like New York wondering what you can do, how about invest in your country's future by helping Bill?