The Blog of Columbus, Georgia

for 7 AUG 06: SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The Georgia primary runoff is Tuesday - but what's this I'm reading online about another vote in Columbus on August 20? I thought the only places in this country which had Sunday elections were Baptist churches, thinking about firing the pastor.

Believe it or not, an August 20 election date is on the campaign web site of Columbus Mayor Bob Poydasheff. We were stunned to discover Sunday that three months before the mayoral vote, his home page still has details on the LAST election four years ago. Now this is a candidate who doesn't want his campaign to peak too early.

(I've heard that rock song "Trapped in 1985" - but I never considered politicians to be trapped in 2002.)

We checked the Bob Poydasheff web site since it's mentioned on his reelection billboards. Comparing the billboard and web site pictures, it looks like our mayor hasn't aged a bit in four years. Maybe he knew better than Linda Schrenko to spend government money on plastic surgery.

The Bob Poydasheff web site provides a fascinating flashback to issues he considered "hot topics" four years ago:

+ "Our goal is to see to it that Public Safety does NOT come up short...." Perhaps that goal has finally been met - even if it means the Sheriff's Department is short on Captains.

+ "We have lost too many trees...." From what I've been reading in the newspaper, the thieves currently are operating on Schomberg Road -- disguised as construction workers.

+ "I will cooperate.... to see that we have the best quality of education in Columbus." Maybe he should have read some books at the high schools not making adequate yearly progress.

The Bob Poydasheff web site also has his "campaign kick-off speech" from 2002. I don't recall when he gave it that year. Maybe he's already given this year's speech on some radio talk show....

That 2002 Bob Poydasheff campaign speech included quotes from radio preacher Chuck Swindoll, the Biblical book of Romans, Martin Luther King Junior, former mayor J.R. Allen, and even a little Adlai Stevenson. So even then he was trying to promote "One Columbus" - by citing more Democrats than Republicans.

LOOK OUT BELOW FOR MORE....

The next Power Frisbee "Free Frisbee Sunday" will be at Grainger Park in LaGrange, and Rigdon Park in Columbus! Learn all about this new game (and hear our NEW test commercial) at the official Power Frisbee of Georgia web site; then offer your comments at the P.F.G. blog.

In contrast to this, Jim Wetherington's campaign web site is up to date. That's understandable, since the site wasn't set up until April - but I was sort of hoping for a live web-cam of his office, like Roy Barnes did years ago.

Jim Wetherington's number-one theme happens to be the same as Bob Poydasheff's was four years ago. In 2002, Poydasheff promised "positive, effective leadership." Now Wetherington promises "genuine, proven" leadership. Perhaps the "servant leadership" W.C. Bradley once promoted was taken to China with Char-Broil.

So where is the 2006 Jim Wetherington different on hot topics from the 2002 Bob Poydasheff? The Wetherington web site offers some hints:

+ "The morale of public safety members is low. That will change when I take office...." Of course ir will -- and how many months will it take THIS time for the curve to go back down?

+ "I will fight for our citizen's rights to have an adequate amount of water for our use." His page of issues says nothing about trees, so maybe that topic's going down the river.

+ "The Mayor, City Council and School board.... I believe there has been a failure of communication between these bodies in the past." You'd think all these groups would watch CCG-TV once in a while.

There's one other big difference between the two home pages. Bob Poydasheff's web site from 2002 only showed his picture. Jim Wetherington's site has a picture of "his family" - a total of 16 people. Does this mean Wetherington is better at getting out the vote? Or does the presence of his children show "Voter ID" needs to be tougher?

But first things first in this election year - Instant Message to Greg Hecht and Jim Martin: What's the deal? NO commercials in the primary runoff for Lieutenant Governor, after all those ads during the primary? Are Democrats focusing THAT much money on defeating Cynthia McKinney?

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Other commitments will move up our daily post time throughout this week, to around 9:00 p.m. ET.)

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Sunday, August 06, 2006