6 FEB 08: B.O. PLENTY
It wasn't even 9:00 a.m. on Super Tuesday, and already someone was upset. "I just came from voting at Arnold Middle School, off Woodruff Farm," said the frustrated caller. He said he's voted there for more than a decade - yet after all this time, he doesn't know the school's name is Fort?!
But anyway: the caller claimed a line of voters at that school was kept waiting 30 minutes Tuesday morning. The reason - a woman with a hyphenated name, whose name on the identification card didn't match the election rolls. For one dash, many votes may have been dashed.
It's not clear as I write this if that delay really mattered, in Georgia's Democratic primary. Barack Obama won the contest across Georgia, and dominated the vote in Muscogee County by more than two-to-one. So Vivian Creighton Bishop can put on that apron today, head back to the kitchen and grill her husband a nice steak dinner.
Barack Obama won the Georgia primary despite a few complaints from Atlanta voters, that people called them with a bogus way to vote by phone. This is simply old-fashioned dirty politics - since the newfangled way would offer a bogus way to vote online.
Barack Obama was so dominant in Georgia that the Associated Press declared him the winner by 8:00 p.m. ET. So when I stopped by a Democratic "unity party" around 9:00, fewer than ten people were there. The "political wounds" with the Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters were healed quickly - probably by that universal health care plan.
When I found out the Democratic unity party was taking place a short walk from my home, the Blog Decision Desk determined a trip there was a must. And to think only 24 hours earlier, the Blog Decision Desk was used to eat a McDonald's double cheeseburger....
The Democratic party for unity took place in the basement bar of Bludau's restaurant on Broadway. So much for this being the party of the average working-class bum....
The highest-ranking person in the room when I arrived was Muscogee County Democratic Committee Secretary Susan Stephenson. She admitted she was surprised at my use of the word "rank" to describe Democratic organization.
Susan Stephenson preferred Bill Richardson when the primary race began, but wound up voting for Barack Obama. She told me the Democratic alternative would attract "all the anti-Clinton nuts." And you thought the Democrats didn't have any Karl Roves?!
Another woman at the Bludau's bar said the Presidential election may come down to supporting "the lesser of two evils of both parties." If this means Hillary Rodham Clinton is considered evil, I'm wondering how much healing really occurred.
The local Barack Obama victory party took place at the Coffee Beanery downtown. One of the newscasts showed a chessboard at a table - and from the crowd celebrating there, it seemed fitting. This was a classic battle of black versus white....
The local Republican watch party was held at Loco's on 13th Street. This was surprising to me - to have Republicans so far south of the political "demilitarized zone" which is Manchester Expressway.
(In fact, Susan Stephenson quipped the G.O.P. might have had some "off-duty M.P.'s" at Loco's to guard them....)
Mike Huckabee won the Republican primaries in Georgia and Alabama. But Muscogee County Republican Chair Josh McKoon told the late-night news Muscogee County's military veterans voted strongly for John McCain. In fact, Huckabee was third in Columbus -- so those trips to churches playing "Onward Christian Soldiers" apparently wasn't good enough.
Speaking of which: did you see the sign posted outside Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Center on Airport Thruway? The congregation's leaders put up the message, "We don't endorse the Hillary Clinton campaign." That's the way to stop an Internal Revenue Service investigation - at least until President Bush leaves office.
The bishop at Kingdom Metropolitan Worship Center was annoyed that Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters went through the parking lot during Sunday's service, and left campaign literature on cars. But he really should be thankful - because I've been to theme parks where workers slap bumper stickers on the trunks.
There probably will be leftover Super Tuesday stories to come over the next few days - but here are some bits and pieces from the big primary:
+ The Columbus Public Library was the voting place for two different precincts: Clubview and Mack. This apparently confused a few voters - who thought the alternative to the Mack Recreation Center would be a McDonald's restaurant.
+ Carver High School was a polling place - and perhaps because of the strong turnout, the Jordan-Carver basketball game was moved to Columbus State University. We don't want any write-in votes for DeRon Furr.
+ Webster County voters approved a consolidated government. County offices will be merged with the city offices of Preston and Weston - potentially ruining one of the best-sounding local rivalries in the area.
+ For all the donations Republican Ron Paul received in Lee County, he received fewer than 600 votes there. The critics who called his campaign a "cult" may have been proven right.
+ Wasn't it ironic that while ABC and CBS presented Super Tuesday results, NBC chose to show "The Biggest Loser?"
E-MAIL UPDATE: As Presidential politics dominated Super Tuesday, a reader had a question which simply couldn't wait....
Richard, Please help! If anyone can get to the facts, it's you. My phone started ringing last night and is still ringing this morning about the Lee County School Board meeting of yesterday evening. Callers are telling me that our School Board is $60 million dollars in debt and will be $80 million dollars in debt when they build the new Smiths Station High School. (The present high school campus is to be turned into an elementary school) Unfortunately I didn't even know about the meeting until my phone starting ringing so I hope you can research this information and set the record straight. Maybe the callers are correct - but I like to get the "facts" before I repeat anything. I know this will be a busy day (Super Tuesday) but maybe you can fit this into your schedule. Thanks soooo much.
Columbus Blog Fan Club Member
P.S. Please don't get any crazy ideas about charging a yearly fee to read your blog (like Richard Hyatt is doing). Your information is too valuable for " those who couldn't afford it " to miss!
We went straight to the source late Tuesday, for an answer to this question. "I'm not aware of that," said Kimberly Dwyer, who is listed on the Lee County Schools' web site as "Interim Chief Financial Officer." If the school board would kindly remove that "interim" from her title, she might have a more immediate answer.
Kimberly Dwyer wasn't at the Monday night meeting on a new high school for Smiths Station, either. She promised to "check the financials" and call me back with an answer. That could mean the financial reports which the Lee County School web site promises you can inspect at the Opelika office. At the office?! Even President Bush released his budget plan online this year...
(By the way, the Lee County School web site could use some updating. My first call Tuesday was to the listed public information officer - but I was told Cindy Irvin has "gone back to the classroom." Couldn't a high school student in Beulah be offered some extra credit, to revise this?)
Now about that P.S. - I didn't realize the new "Richard Hyatt's Columbus" is going to be a subscription web site. He must have attended one of those seminars about getting rich from the Internet. But if he's not going to show pictures of attractive single women with his articles, I doubt it's going to work.
Yet another blog reader suggested to me recently that this blog actually SHOULD charge people to read it. The man who suggested it threw out a figure of five dollars a month - which happens to be what I charged worldwide for LaughLine several years ago. This reader must not be checking the government inflation reports.
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION dares to ask it: should The Blog of Columbus become a subscription service, with readers charged a monthly fee? You can vote yes or no - but also "maybe," to see some kind of special content. I'm not sure what sort of special content I could offer. For one thing, I don't play poker that often right now....
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