Monday, May 17, 2004
Not all Democrats get a bashing at Georgia GOP convention
By DICK PETTYS, AP Political Writer
Georgia Republicans opened their annual convention Friday with an unusual tribute to a Democrat.
U.S. Sen. Zell Miller.. drew a standing ovation from delegates before the convention was even an hour old when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie paid him tribute.
Gillespie told reporters he has "a great deal of respect" for Miller and declared the party "would not be competitive for that Senate seat had Senator Miller decided to seek re-election."
The race for Miller's seat will top the Georgia ballot this fall and a three-way battle for the Republican nomination was in full view as delegates checked in.
A small group called NPAC - Network of Politically Active Christians - distributed bumper stickers and T-shirts calling the presumed front-runner, U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson, a "certified moderate."
"If Johnny would say that he's a moderate, I wouldn't be standing out here. But he's portraying himself as a conservative," said Tim Echols, a religious broadcaster from Athens who supports Isakson's rival, U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, in the Senate race.
Collins leveled the same charge when he qualified for the election, and continued in a similar vein Friday while greeting delegates at the convention.
With a war on terrorism underway and "an assault on our moral values from the courts, people just don't feel like it's time to send a moderate to Washington to be a part of the most powerful legislative body in the world," he said.
Gillespie...brought the audience to its feet with applause when he slammed Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy for likening the U.S. treatment of prisoners in Iraq to that of the former regime.
Most American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan "serve honorably every single day," he said. "They are brave. They deserve our respect and appreciation, not slander from the floor of the Senate."
Dick Pettys has covered Georgia government and politics since 1970.
Georgia Republicans opened their annual convention Friday with an unusual tribute to a Democrat.
U.S. Sen. Zell Miller.. drew a standing ovation from delegates before the convention was even an hour old when Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie paid him tribute.
Gillespie told reporters he has "a great deal of respect" for Miller and declared the party "would not be competitive for that Senate seat had Senator Miller decided to seek re-election."
The race for Miller's seat will top the Georgia ballot this fall and a three-way battle for the Republican nomination was in full view as delegates checked in.
A small group called NPAC - Network of Politically Active Christians - distributed bumper stickers and T-shirts calling the presumed front-runner, U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson, a "certified moderate."
"If Johnny would say that he's a moderate, I wouldn't be standing out here. But he's portraying himself as a conservative," said Tim Echols, a religious broadcaster from Athens who supports Isakson's rival, U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, in the Senate race.
Collins leveled the same charge when he qualified for the election, and continued in a similar vein Friday while greeting delegates at the convention.
With a war on terrorism underway and "an assault on our moral values from the courts, people just don't feel like it's time to send a moderate to Washington to be a part of the most powerful legislative body in the world," he said.
Gillespie...brought the audience to its feet with applause when he slammed Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy for likening the U.S. treatment of prisoners in Iraq to that of the former regime.
Most American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan "serve honorably every single day," he said. "They are brave. They deserve our respect and appreciation, not slander from the floor of the Senate."
Dick Pettys has covered Georgia government and politics since 1970.
