Georgia Gubernatorial Race Pits Ethics Against Bad Ideas

ATLANTA - The dust has settled and Georgia's gubernatorial race will pit Republican Nathan Deal against Democrat Roy Barnes. Deal is a former US congressman and Barnes is a lawyer who served as Georgia's governor in the 1990s. The race is likely to become a battle of charges of unethical conduct versus Obama-like stimulus spending.

Deal had a strong conservative voting record in his years in Congress, but ran afoul of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding work that a company he owns does for the state of Georgia. The OCE concluded that Deal may have violated House ethics rules and asked that the House ethics committee investigate. Deal resigned to run for governor before the investigation could be completed. Now the state Ethics Commission is investigating allegations that Deal improperly used campaign funds to pay legal fees associated with the federal probe. Deal maintains that he did nothing wrong and fully disclosed his business dealings each year.

On the other hand, Roy Barnes has no ethical challenges against him, but he is proposing many ideas that are similar to President Obama's unpopular and failing economic initiatives. For instance, on his website, Barnes said that one of his first actions would be to retrofit government buildings and schools with energy and water efficient technology. Barnes believes that this would put Georgians back to work, but he doesn't explain where the cash-strapped Georgia government will get the money to pay for these extensive renovations. As with President Obama's federal stimulus, Barnes' spending programs would likely increase the state's debt without reducing unemployment appreciably.

One thing that both candidates agree on is the need for tax reform. Barnes would like to enact reform to stem the rising tide of property taxes in the wake of the large numbers of foreclosures over the past few years. Deal's economic plan focuses on tax relief to businesses to foster economic growth.

President Obama will also play a role in this year's campaign for governor. At present, Georgia is a party to the multi-state lawsuit challenging the individual mandate of Obamacare. If Barnes is elected, he is likely to order the attorney-general to withdraw from the lawsuit. An example of Obama's toxicity in Georgia politics was seen recently in the way that Democratic candidates scattered when Obama came to Atlanta for a fundraiser.

The campaign promises to be a heated one. Tensions are already high and voter anger is at extreme levels. Both candidates are flawed and vulnerable to partisan attacks. Georgians can expect to see plenty of mud slung between them in the next few months.

You can find more information on both candidates by visiting their websites and viewing the candidate profile pages below.

Nathan Deal

http://nathandeal.org

http://www.examiner.com/carroll-county-elections
-2010-in-atlanta/candidate-profile-nathan-deal-for-governor

Roy Barnes

http://www.roy2010.com

http://www.examiner.com/carroll-county-elections
-2010-in-atlanta/candidate-profile-roy-barnes-for-governor

Sources:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/35154.html

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/nation/ethics-
commission-investigating-deal-complaint-95978069.html