October 12, 2010

For Fulton County Republicans, it's now or never.

They either take control of the County Commission in November, or the Democrats will rule it for the next generation.

The county GOP needs to oust two entrenched Democrat machine incumbents to gain a majority and wrest political control of the commission: Chairman John Eaves (D) and District 2 At-Large Commissioner Robb Pitts (D).

The County Commission is comprised of seven elected officials. Geographic districts determine five seats while voters in the entire county elect the other two: D-2 and the Chairman.

The Republicans safely control two seats: veteran Tom Lowe of Sandy Springs and now Commissioner-Elect Liz Hausmann of North Fulton. Democrats have a for-life lock on the other three. That leaves only the two countywide seats as the swings. If the GOP wins both, they take command of the commission with a 4-3 majority. If they lose them, or only win one, nothing changes.

Under normal circumstances, Republican challengers Steve Broadbent, running for Chairman and Lori Henry, who is challenging Pitts, wouldn't have a snowball's chance in Hades. But November 2010 is shaping up to be far from normal.

In the county, local unemployment is an effective 13 percent. Public education is so bad even the teachers have to cheat. Crime is out of control. Property tax evaluations are based on fiction. And now the entire Fulton County management team is embroiled in an $183,000 alleged Wal-Mart gift card scandal while the County manager, Zachary Williams, has repeatedly thwarted or stonewalled an independent investigation. He fired his lead internal investigator, demoted another, and then disbanded the oversight committee he originally put in place. Now he say's he's hired a lawyer to look into the whole mess.

But the bigger story is the national trend, a conservative Tsunami of sorts that is sure to sweep through Georgia, while hitting Fulton County dead-on.

It's coming and the Democrats now know they can't stop it. Whether they can weather the storm and hang onto local power is still anyone's guess.

THE NATIONAL CONSERVATIVE TSUNAMI

This is not a "Republican" wave, like 1994. It's an ideological tornado born by frustration over a prolonged national recession and a dismal local economy, fueled by disgust over endless taxpayer funded bailouts doled out to Wall Street fat cats with billion dollar golden parachutes. It's powered by angst over a mindboggling explosion of the mounting national debt. It's cresting from a fear of job-loss or threatened personal financial security.

Republicans don't necessary deserve to be swept back into power. But they have one powerful thing going for them in November.

They're not "them" -- the Democrat incumbents.

When there is unrest and uneasiness, U.S voters fire those in charge. Waves of Democrats are about to get fired at all levels of governmental leadership.

POLLING WORTHLESS RIGHT NOW

"As hard as pollsters try, it is almost impossible to glean a sample of actual likely voters in an off-year election," says national political analyst Dick Morris, a former advisor to then President Bill Clinton. "Particularly this year, it is diffi cult to distinguish between dutiful voters who say they are likely to vote and those who are actually going to make it to the polls. As in any off-year election, turnout matters."

In 2010, voter turnout is the real problem for Democrat incumbents. That, and Independent voters, who most current polls show breaking more that 3:1 against them.

According to the latest Gallup poll, Republicans have taken a mere threepoint lead in the generic party ballot among all registered voters. But among those most likely to vote, the lead burgeons to 18 points -- 56 percent to 38 percent. Here is the key statistic: twice as many Republicans as Democrats report themselves to be "very enthusiastic" about voting in the survey.

As of today, nationally, the GOP is poised to win more than 70 House seats, while recapturing the U.S. Senate with 10 or more take-a-ways. What was thought to be unfathomable a year ago is now a likely election-night scenario.

Legendary House Speaker Tip O'Neil was fond of saying, "All politics is local." But the current voter trend lines are historically unprecedented. So all bets are off. And it puts Broadbent and Henry in position to pull-off major upsets on November 2.

Naturally, the left-wing dominated drive-by media is proffering poppy-cock about a "Democrat comeback." It's pure fiction. An analysis of polling in every close House race in the nation indicates that Republicans now lead or are tied in 55 House seats currently held by Democrats and are within five points in 20 more.

On the Senate level, Republicans now lead in all ten states that are necessary for GOP control of the Senate, the smallest margin coming in Nevada where the Rasmussen Poll has the Republican, Sharron Angle, four points ahead.  In West Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington State, and Illinois, the Republican has surged ahead dramatically in recent days and only in Colorado and California has there been minor slippage.  The ten states which are now represented by Democrats where Republicans have the lead are: North Dakota, Indiana, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Colorado, Washington State, Illinois and Nevada.  

EAVES AND PITTS A LITTLE WORRIED?

Both Eaves and Pitts are naturally worried about their re-election effort, taking nothing for granted. Eaves -- in particular -- has been spending a lot of time beating the bushes in North Fulton. He just had a major fundraiser at Country Club of the South and he has been at a number or events in Sandy Springs. Four years ago, he never paid a northbound toll on Ga. 400.

Broadbent, too is campaigning hard, and he says he "can win." Broadbent's been knocking on doors in Camp Creek on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and he's been spotted at virtually every event where he has a shot at picking up votes in the county. Just this week he organized a press conference on the steps of the Fulton County downtown offi ces to call for an independent Federal investigation of the alleged gift card scandal referenced above.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money has been stolen and John Eaves has done nothing," Broadbent claimed. "Does that sound like a leader to you?" he asked.

He says Eaves exemplified what's broken in government today. "John Eaves political agenda has stood in the way of doing what's right for the Fulton County taxpayer" since his inception, Broadbent, the former naval commander and one-time Bush Administration Treasury offi cial said.

Eaves did not return calls.

LORI HENRY BLASTS FULTON'S "COUNTY OF CORRUPTION"

For her part, Henry has been speaking out about the "corruption-like culture" of the Fulton County Commission majority since she began campaigning in May to unseat Pitts, a member of what she hails as the "Gang of Five" that controls the commission.

Looking like a political seer, her allegations are coming home to roost.

"There are so many examples of these career politicians preying on the people of Fulton County that one hardly knows where to begin the list," said Henry, a fiscal conservative and former Roswell City Councilwoman, who lost a close race for mayor there last year. "There are several in just the past few weeks."

Henry says you can start with the Commission's recent decision to spend $5 million -- plus $300,000 a year in ongoing maintenance -- on an aviation museum at Charlie Brown Field, way out near Six Flags.

"At a time when Fulton County residents are losing their jobs and their homes at a record pace, the County Commission majority votes to spend a fortune on a museum that almost nobody will ever see at a remote airstrip that almost no one ever visits," Henry said.

That's a classic example of the Commission majority's stranglehold on taxpayer funds, Henry pointed out. "Robb Pitts and his pals say, 'If you support my [pet] project I'll support yours' -- and that's how the taxpayers get stuck with white elephants like an aviation museum in the middle of nowhere," she claimed.

Henry's message may be resonating with Independent voters.

In a debate last night in College Park, Pitts lost his cool and angrily chided Henry for what he called "fabrications" about his record, at one point standing up and waving his finger in Henry's face. Henry stands a petite 5'2" to Pitts strapping 6'1". It was a shocking moment, and a reminder that Pitts is feeling the heat from criticism of campaign finance ethics charges he still faces from 2002.

Henry also took Pitts to task on his role in the recent Ga. 400 toll fiasco. "Just last week Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue announced that the state was breaking its promise to take down the GA 400 toll after the road bond is paid off in 2011," Henry said. 

"How could the state renege on its vow to end what amounts to a dollara- day road tax on people who live and work in North Fulton?" Henry asked.

According to Perdue, none other than Pitts devised the scheme.

In a bit of political hyperbole bait and switch, Pitts said yes, before he said no.

"Yes, we promised to end the toll -- but we didn't say how long we'd end it for," Pitts pointed out.

Interpretation: Let's end the toll, like we promised, and then start it right back up again. It's the money, stupid.

"It's brilliant -- or, at least it is for Pitts, who lives in Atlanta," Henry said. "He spends as much time in North Fulton as he does in North Dakota."

"And, of course, there's the big daddy of them all," Henry says. "With tax revenue dropping like a stone, the Commission has been spending money like rock stars rather than cutting costs to meet declining revenue. The result is that the majority, with Pitts' support, has gutted the taxpayers' emergency fund by $100 million in order to fund their pet projects.

"I have never seen such irresponsible leadership," Henry said. "If it's not a crime, it should be."

Pitts did not return calls.

The coming Tsunami may just be potent enough to wash away Fulton's dead wood. If it does, Broadbent and Henry stand to benefit -- and get elected.