April 10, 2008 - No warm and fuzzy feelings among Georgia Republicans

April 10, 2008

Somehow I have a feeling that yesterday's appearance at the state capitol, where Gov. Sonny Perdue was flanked by House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle – who have lately become mortal enemies – wasn't an occasion marked by warm feelings of brotherhood and camaraderie.

Say what you will about the late Tom Murphy, but I don't recall him to ever tell his counterpart in the state Senate - be he Zell Miller, Pierre Howard or anyone else - to "be a man," or call for Georgia voters to kick said counterpart out of office. Both of these comments were made by Richardson, toward Cagle, on the last day of the session.

This is the most anti-Atlanta group in the General Assembly in memory, ironic since so many of the House and Senate Republican leaders are from Atlanta or its suburbs (of course, who doesn't live in Atlanta these days, as this megalopolis expands daily?)

And all of this bickering is likely to be good news for Democrats, who, despite an apparent lack of message and a great deal of organizational disarray, could be in a prime position for electoral gains this fall.

That is, if they can find anyone to run under their mantle.