Declared Palin: "Why do so many of us have an opinion on this race? Because it's epic. It's historic. The eyes of America are on you, Georgia."
That, they are. Georgia has been on the receiving end of far more political attention from the national media and nationally known political figures in the past week or so than it has in years. You'll recall that the Peach State was all but ignored during the 2008 presidential campaign because it was considered "not in play," i.e., so heavily Republican as to not be competitive. So the candidates came rarely to campaign.
But now fast forward to this summer's gubernatorial runoff campaign, pitting former Georgia Secretary of state Handel against former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Gainesville. The weeks since the July 20 primary have been so hard fought and so bloody as to make some observers think the intramural brawl could pass for a Civil War battle.
THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR has been closely covered by numerous national media in the past few weeks, including a long story in Monday's Wall Street Journal.
Handel landed the most prized endorsement - that of former Alaska Gov. Palin. But here in Cobb it appears it is Deal who has momentum on his side, at least among party activists.
A veritable "Who's Who" of Cobb GOP politicos has lined up in the Deal camp. The latest high-profile recruits are Cobb State Court Solicitor General Barry Morgan and former Cobb Commission Chairman Bill Byrne. The latter, announced by Deal at Saturday's Cobb GOP Breakfast, would come as an extra feather in his cap because Byrne earlier had headed the Handel effort in Cobb. Most of Byrne's old supporters have gone their various ways these days, so it's unlikely his endorsement translates to many extra votes for Deal, but the bigger significance is that Byrne's decision to change allegiances is the exclamation point in Deal's growing momentum here.
Byrne could not be reached for comment by Around Town on Monday, but his longtime political ally Bob Terrell reports that Byrne started to become disenchanted with Handel after she went negative against Deal. Her series of negative attacks will likely make it harder to reunite the party after the primary, he said. Byrne tried contacting Handel to make his feelings known, but got no answer, Terrell said.
The bottom line, according to Terrell, is that "Bill is definitely cool on Karen."
MANY OF THOSE at the Palin-Handel rally noted how much it reminded them of a rock concert, what with anthemic rock songs like Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" blasting from the loudspeakers.
Insider Advantage reported that although Handel's campaign had handed out 3,000 tickets to the event, the hall was only about two-thirds that size. And interestingly, it noted that women in the crowd outnumbered men by about two-to-one.
The bigger question is how many of those on hand attended primarily to see and hear Palin? After all, when it comes to star power, she's the Lady Gaga of the political landscape these days - or perhaps vice versa.
Handel might find herself singing the same blues that gubernatorial candidate Marvin Griffin did back in the late 1950s. He hosted a series of huge free barbecues across the state, but still came up short on Election Day, prompting him to lament, "A lot of people who ate my barbecue didn't vote for me."
As for the bigger-name endorsements, Handel has the backing not just of Palin but also of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, while Deal can claim those of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who campaigned for Deal on Sunday.
MORE POLITICS: Well, sort of, anyway. U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) will be guest speaker at Wednesday's meeting of the Marietta Rotary Club at the Hilton/Marietta Conference Center. Most civic clubs preclude speakers from making political speeches, so Isakson, who faces a re-election challenge from former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond this fall, will be giving the club a "legislative update."
SCHOOL DAZE: Cobb school Superintendent Fred Sanderson, who's said by insiders to be "fed up" with the job, may hang it up by year end, well ahead of his previously announced plans to step down when his current contract expires in June.
Meanwhile, board insiders also say that Sanderson is "so toxic" that there's almost no chance that his protege, deputy Super Dr. Steve Constantino, will be considered to replace him.
"Promoting Constantino would do nothing to promote the healing this system needs," said one. ...
The board will elect a new chairman for 2011 in January the most likely choice is said to be outspoken Alison Bartlett, even if Sanderson cheerleader Holli Cash retains her board seat in this fall's elections.
HEARD ON THE STREET: The Cobb Chamber is said to be about to name a replacement for retired president Bill Cooper. Interim prez Don Beavers is stepping down around Thanksgiving.
AT REPORTED July 27 that Brent Brown, chairman of the Marietta Museum of History, was complaining of the lack of financial and other support shown the museum by the city government. After all, the city owns the museum and its collection, but last month severely slashed its funding by $50,000 for FY2011.
"Make no mistake the cut is huge and will hurt, if not cripple the city's museum," Brown said, adding he could not understand why Councilman Van Pearlberg, who sits on the museum board, had failed to defend the museum from the harsh criticism of other council members or from the budget cuts.
Pearlberg replied over the weekend to AT that he has to represent the entire city, not just the museum.
"When reviewing the applications and the criteria required for the granting of funds, other organizations provided significantly more detail than the History Museum.
"The other applicants provided detailed reports including actual figures from the calendar year 2009, as requested in the grant guidelines. Many of these reports included monthly breakdowns providing details on type of visitors (adults, seniors or children); paying vs. non-paying and attendance for specific events. The History Museum chose to submit attendance numbers for the fiscal year, requiring them to project the approximate attendance numbers for the last three months of the year with no detail.
"The tourism grants from the city are meant to supplement the income the organizations generate on their own through the events and programs they produce to promote tourism. While many of the organizations highlighted in detail their significant efforts to successfully generate their own income by producing special events and renting their facilities, the History Museum did not provide the same level of detail.
"Marietta donates a city owned facility on Sessions Street for the History Museum to store portions of their collection. This benefit is in addition to the significant grant funding they also receive from the city, which other organizations do not receive.
"The Gone with the Wind Museum had similar attendance figures as the History Museum (7,300 a year versus 10,000) and received $54, 595 in grant funding in FY2010. The city awarded the History Museum $179,751, 49 percent of the $368,000 available for tourism grants.
"Although I am on the History Museum's board of directors, when reviewing grant applications, I am doing so in my capacity as a city council member representing Marietta and what is in the best interests of the entire community."
SKY HIGH: Lee Freeman of The Center for Family Resources celebrated her birthday by going skydiving in Rockmart with her boyfriend, Adam Smith. Among the others on the jump were Holly Comer of the YWCA, Mark Smith, Travis Ellis, Ashley Ramsey and Kristy Hutton.
Among those watching from below were Babe and Bill Byrne, Susan and Mike Roberts, Felecia and Rocky Sveda, Paige and Andre Pushkin, Robert Freeman, Michele Thomas, Norman and Beverly Smith.
AND A BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY to James Ray, who turned 80 July 28. Ray has been with Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home for six decades.
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And let me tell you: the wealthy elite in Cobb have NO taste.
Example: Last year the Marietta Museum of Art did a show on PGA Tour photography. PGA TOUR PHOTOGRAPHY. Do you really believe that they did that terrible show because they thought it was artistic? Well, maybe. But the point is that this show was calculated to attract rich white people in Cobb who like playing golf and who can donate to the museum. This alienates all the people in Cobb who don't live in country clubs, many of whom like art just as much as anywhere else. The result: No one takes the museums seriously.
So, Mr. "No Visitors" - whoever you are - take your "numbers" and shove it. By keeping the arts in our community perpetually bankrupt, you leave the arts to the people who have the worst artistic taste imaginable - the rich. When the arts stop having to beg for bread in this town we'll have some freedom of expression and we won't be irrelevant to the rest of world culture; but we have to wait for people like you to stop spending millions of dollars on new police tazers first.
A. No
Based on the numbers you report, neither of these museums is significant at as a generator of tourism visitor spending in Marietta. There may be value in preserving these institutiona and keeping their collections intact for posterity, but they provide little/no justification for receiving public tourism funding.