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OCONEE DEMS HOST SECRETARY OF STATE DEBATE
Oct. 7, 2005 -
Bill Ship.com - InsiderAdvantage Georgia and James Magazine Editor Tim Darnell was one of the panelists for a Thursday evening debate sponsored by the Oconee County Democratic Party, along with the Greene, Morgan and Oglethorpe counties’ organizations. Along with The Athens Banner Herald’s Jim Thompson and Sara Thuerk of The Oconee Enterprise, Darnell questioned three of the four Democratic candidates for secretary of state: Shyam Reddy of Dublin, Carol Jackson of Cleveland; and Scott Holcomb of Atlanta. These are his observations about the race and the candidates themselves.
“While it may seem early to sponsor such a debate as this, the Democratic organizations involved in putting this event together did a nice job of generating interest and attendance. There were between 70-100 people in attendance at the debate, which was held at the Oconee County Courthouse, and the candidates seemed to have committed themselves early in their respective campaigns to attend. And the Democratic organizations that put the event on seem to have the best idea of what it’s going to take to bring their party back into political relevance, as do the candidates themselves – that is, aggressive new ways and techniques of handing and addressing the issues, and numerous public forums in which to do so.
“Reddy, Jackson and Holcomb said all of the right things: they are uniformly against the extremely controversial voter photo ID act passed by the last General Assembly; they are all in favor of creating a paper trial that follows the state’s electronic voting machines; and they all seem to have an excellent grasp of what it takes to fund such an initiative. While they’re all Democrats, they also seem committed to working within a politically changing environment.
“Reddy’s campaign seems to be the most organized, in terms of distributing its message through the media and the Internet. Jackson, who is a former state legislator, is touting her experience and familiarity with the inner workings of the Gold Dome, while Holcomb, who only recently entered the contest, is the most inexperienced, but who nonetheless has a solid military and private sector background.
“All are very articulate and treated each other with the utmost respect. Any of these three would make a solid Democratic secretary of state candidacy, though Reddy, through his corporate law experience and solid educational background, seems to have the most thorough knowledge of what the secretary of state’s office is all about.
“Nonetheless, the fact remains that the Georgia GOP has a lot of momentum going, recent missteps and mistakes notwithstanding. The GOP nominee is going to have a lot more name recognition and financing. The state Democratic Party is going to have to support its secretary of state nominee with much more proactive and aggressive measures than it has done so in the past (remember the Denise Majette U.S. Senate campaign, which was doomed before it ever began?). Otherwise yet another potential new Democratic Party of Georgia leader is going to be fed to the wolves.”
Tim Darnell
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