SecState Brian Kemp Goes After Vote Fraud But Still Can't Guarantee all the Votes Get Counted!

That's so nice,

Looks like SecState Brian Kemp is looking for more gravitas in the 2010 election cycle by putting out the brand spanking new "Stop Voter Fraud" website over at the SecState's cyber shop. It's refreshing that the citizens of Georgia are encouraged to scout around for possible voter fraud and send their suspicious activity reports in for additional analysis by the infamous SecState IG office. The same office that screwed over Laura Gallegos and Jeff Rayno evidently is looking for more opportunities to repeat the process on a new batch of Georgians.

The real question is what is the SecState doing about the Diebold Menace? Where's the brand spanking new website detailing all the changes that should be made so that the citizens of Georgia have confidence that their votes will actually be counted? Where's the freakin' beef?

It's time for Georgian's to make some changes and the best change that could be made at the SecState's office is to elect Libertarian David Chastain this fall.

PPPADD Republicans Defined by Libertarian Brandon Givens

It's always wise to dig a little deeper.

We absolutely love acronyms over hear at Bludgeon & Skewer and this new video from Libertarian Brandon Givens campaign is chock-a-block full of them. Political Party Positive Attitude Delusional Disorder (PPPADD) is a real corker!

Be sure to head over to YouTube and watch all the Brandon Givens videos and then get busy helping out his campaign with your time or talent or treasure!

New Libertarian Party Political Flyer!

Hot off the presses from the National LP HQ is this new flyer. Feel absolutely free to print it, download it, email it and slap it up on your website or FaceBook Page.

Libertarian Brandon Givens Cranks Up the YouTube Campaign

Libertarian Candidate Brandon Givens has just released the first YouTube video of the season in his run for the Georgia State Seat vacated by Ex Senator Lee Hawkins up in Gainesville.

Watch the video and then hustle yourself over to Brandon Givens FaceBook page and sign up with his campaign! Times a wastin'!

5 Out of 32 Statewide Candidates Have Updated their Financials with the State Ethics Commission

Greetings All,

It's time to take a look-see at the State Ethics Commission website to see which of the current gaggle of Statewide Candidates in Georgia have seen fit to post their new and improved fund raising numbers for the last quarter. Short answer, not many.

Here at Bludgeon & Skewer we like looking wistfully at the enormous campaign coffers of some of our republican and democrat opponents and spend a little time speculating about what we could get done with that kind of money. We might even win some freakin' elections! Like the old saying goes, wish in one hand.....

So here's the latest info from the State Ethics Commission website on the latest campaign reports. We only looked at races that have an announced Libertarian Candidate so no info on Lt Gov, AG, PSC etc. Also no info on the US Senate race as the Ethics Commission does not have purview in that contest.

Governor of Georgia

John Monds (L) No update $1,423.13 as of 31 DEC 09

John Oxendine (R) No update 2.2 Million as of 31 DEC 09

Nathan Deal (R) No update 940K as of 31 DEC 09

Karen Handel (R) No update 439K as of 31 DEC 09

Eric Johnson (R) No update 1.3 Million as of 31 DEC 09

James Austin Scott (R) No update 159K as of 31 DEC 09

Ray McBerry (R) UPDATED! 17K on 31 DEC 09 to 27K as of 31 MAR 10 +10K

Jeff Chapman (R) No update 17K as of 31 DEC 09

Roy Barnes (D) No Update 2.2 million as of 31 DEC 09

Thurbert Barker (D) No update 874K as of 31 DEC 09

Dubose Porter (D) No update 303K as of 31 DEC 09

David Poythress (D) No update 264K as of 31 DEC 09

The amount of Money sloshing around in this race 6.8 Million dollars.

Secretary of State

David Chastain (L) No report filed

Gary Horlacher (D) No update 266K as of 31 DEC 09

Gail Bruckner (D) No update 219K as of 31 DEC 09

Angela Moore (D) No update 11K as of 31 DEC 09

Michael Mills (D) No update $304.99 as of 31 DEC 09

Darryl Hicks (D) No reports filed

Doug McGinnitie (R) No update 704K as of 31 DEC 09

Brian Kemp (R) No update 243K as of 31 DEC 09

The amount of money attempting to slosh in this race 1.4 Million dollars.

Commissioner of Labor

Will Costa (L) No report filed

Melvin Everson (R) UPDATED 21K as of 31 DEC 09 down to 10K as of 31 MAR 10 -11K

Micheal Thurmond (D) No update 45K as of 31 DEC 09

The amount of money rattling in the change drawer 55K!

Superintendent of Schools

Kira Willis (L) UPDATED $486.00 as of 31 MAR 10

Beth Farokhi (D) UPDATED 31K as of 31 DEC 09 to 50K as of 31 MAR 10 +19K

Brian Westlake (D) No update 5K as of 31 DEC 09

Sandra Scott (D) No report filed

Kathy Cox (R) No update 38K as of 31 DEC 09

John Barge (R) No update 21K as of 31 DEC 09

Richard Woods (R) UPDATED 2.9K as of 31 DEC 09 to 3.9K as of 31 MAR 10 +1K

Rodger Hines (R) No update 3.5K as of 31 DEC 09

And there's 121K in this race.

There's always a lot of speculation about fund raising numbers as the punditry class has to have something to write about. Most of the time it's focused on divining the future based on a candidates ability to out raise opponents but this time around to only lesson to be learned is that the news ain't so good for any of them. If it was, there would have been strategic leaks, rumors and much innuendo about the success of this candidate or that candidate and lots and lots of "I told you so".

Bottom Line. Ain't none of them made any money.

That's good news for Liberty as their conventional campaigns struggle to feed the media monsters that conventional campaigns depend on to move and shape "public" opinion and win elections for machine democrats and machine republicans. And the pickings are only gonna get leaner as the cycle progresses and our republican and democrat brothers and sisters spend themselves into oblivion to find out who's going to win their primaries.

Great news for Liberty!

The State of the Race on FaceBook Update #1

It's Update Time for the Facebook Project,

Here's the first update for the Facebook project wherein we look at the number of fans our local politicians have on their respective FaceBook sites. There was some controversy from last weeks initial post because all of the candidates were not included and that controversy will extend into this weeks post because many still aren't. C'est La.

Here's the updated info:

State Senate 42 Special Election
democrat Jason Carter 1,598 fans 4APR10 1612 Fans +14
Libertarian David Montané 5 fans 4APR10 8 Fans +3
democrat Tom Stubbs No FaceBook Fan Page 4APR10 still no page

independent Steve Patrick No FaceBook Fan Page

US Senate Race
Libertarian Chuck Donovan 117 friends 4APR10 221 Fans +104 Fans
republican Johnny Isakson 5,838 fans 4APR10 5919 Fans +81 Fans
democrat RJ Hadley 347 fans 4APR10 419 Fans +72 Fans

Georgia Governor's Race
Libertarian John Monds 346 fans 4APR10 349 Fans +3 Fans
democrat Roy Barnes 2,132 fans 4APR19 2178 Fans +46 Fans
republican John Oxendine 3,361 fans 4APR10 3474 Fans +13 Fans
republican Karen Handel 3,450 fans 4APR10 3491 Fans +41 Fans
republican Nathan Deal 3,697 fans 4APR10 3730 Fans +33 Fans
republican Ray McBerry 419 fans 4APR10 423 Fans +4 Fans
republican Austin Scott 2,790 fans 4APR10 3143 Fans +353 Fans
republican Eric Johnson 2,856 fans 4APR10 3028 Fans +172 Fans

Georgia Secretary of State
Libertarian David Chastain 127 fans 4APR10 129 Fans +2 Fans
republican Brian Kemp 1.664 fans 4APR10 1705 Fans +41 Fans
republican Doug McGinnitie 1,772 fans 4APR10 1852 Fans +80 Fans
democrat Darryl Hicks 234 fans 4APR10 234 Fans No Change
democrat Gail Buckner No FaceBook Fan page 4APR10 Still No FaceBook Fan page
democrat Gary Horlacher 58 fans 4APR10 58 Fans No Change
democrat Micheal Mills 583 fans 4APR10 608 Fans +25 Fans


Labor Commissioner
Libertarian Will Costa 174 fans 4APR10 233 Fans +59 Fans
republican Melvin Everson 251 fans 4APR10 253 Fans +2 Fans

Superintendent of Schools
Libertarian Kira Willis 334 fans 4APR10 379 Fans +45 Fans
democrat Beth Farokhi 426 members 4APR10 427 Members +1 member
democrat Brian Westlake 372 fans 4APR10 415 Fans +43 Fans
republican John Barge 303 fans 4APR10 308 Fans +5 Fans
republican Kathy Cox 469 fans 4APR10 577 Fans +108 Fans
republican Richard Woods 451 members 4APR10 451 members No Change
republican Rodger Hines No FaceBook page 4APR10 Still no FaceBook Fan Page

So there you have it, some changes from last week, no declines noted and the winner of the most new fans for a Libertarian Candidate is US Senate candidate Chuck Donovan with a whopping 104 new Fans! Way to go Chuck!

Stop back by next week and see how the informal FaceBook Fan Page Counter (FFPC) is doing for your candidate, and while you're here be sure to visit our sponsors over on the Adsense bar. If you see and ad for a politician you really don't like, go ahead and click it! It's the fun and easy way to influence politics in Georgia right here and right now!

Libertarian Brandon Givens Hits the News!

Update Time,

Libertarian Brandon Givens is making local news with his announcement to run for State Senate District 49 seat vacated by Ex Senator Lee Hawkins. Gainesville Times reporter Melissa Weinman interviewed Brandon on March 29 and provides the following quote:

Givens said he is the only Libertarian that plans to run for the Senate seat in the special election.

“What I want to bring to the forefront of the debate is reasonableness,” said Givens, who is a teacher. “I believe the state Capitol needs more teachers there that can provide proper guidance.”

Brandon has also recieved coverage on That's Just Peachy, a Georgia News aggregation site, the Georgia LP website and The Independent Political Report. Getting coverage is great but getting volunteers is better, Brandon has a huge amount of work do to between now and the 11th of May and really needs your help at this initial start up phase.

So if you're in the 49th State Senate District and you're not satisfied with the way things have been, this is your opportunity to work for change. Volunteer with Brandon Given's campaign and help make Georgia a better place.

Only 22 Days Left until The Libertarian Party of Georgia Convention!

Time to polish up the Tin Hats,

The state convention is bearing down on Georgia Libertarians like a Freedom Tsunami as the 24th of April draws ever closer. This raucous annual event will see Libertarians from all over Georgia gathering in one place for one day to get our slate of statewide candidates selected and elected, pick the Chair, Vice Chair, assorted district reps, Ex Con members and other leadership and support positions within the party.

We'll be dealing with administrative ash and trash in the morning session and listening to leading Libertarian lights like US Senate Candidate Chuck Donovan and Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate John Monds during the afternoon session. We'll also be hearing from State Senate Candidates David Montané and Brandon Givens who will be knee deep in their respective contests by then as well as Libertarian Taylor Bryant of State Senate District 22 fame. It's going to be a very busy convention and if you're thinking about joining us, stop thinking and get to doing.

The Liberty Train is pulling out of the station on April 24th, jump on board and take it for test ride this fall!

Libertarian David Chastain is running a Catch Phrase Contest

Contest Time Kids,

Libertarian Candidate for Secretary of State David Chastain is looking for a suitable Catch Phrase to anchor his fundraising efforts on. In the spirit of cooperation, Bludgeon and Skewer are pleased to present the following for his consideration.

#1. David Chastain, not a liar like the old SecState.

#2. David Chastain keeps his promises unlike the old SecState.

#3. David Chastain will fix the Diebold Menance, not just talk about it like the old SecState.

#4. David Chastain will count ALL the votes, not blackball voters like the old SecState.

#5. David Chastian will serve his ENTIRE term, not quit like the old SecState.

OK, OK, those aren't the catchiest catch phrases ever devised and some of the staff here at the secret underground Libertarian Command Center (LCC) think they're lacking something. Not visceral enough. Here's version two.

#1. David Chastain won't lie like a rug like Karen Handel.

#2. David Chastain is not a handpicked lap dog like Brian Kemp.

#3. David Chastain's last name doesn't rhyme with manatee like Doug Mcginnitie's does.

#4. David Chastain wants Ballot Access Reform, those other guys can't even spell it.

#5. David Chastain can't be bought. Go ahead and try, we dare you, we double dog dare you!

We'll continue to work on this until we come up with something more or less acceptable to the candidate and the public at large. If any of the readership want's to take a crack at it, leave a comment or two. You can see the bar is not all that high.

Libertarian Chuck Donovan Interviews with Tim Bryant on 1340 WGAU in Athens

The hardest working man in the US Senate race in Georgia, Libertarian Chuck Donovan, is keeping up the pace with a radio interview done today with 1340 WGAU's very own Tim Bryant. Tim and Chuck covered the bases on Libertarian themes like individual sovereignty, sound fiscal policy (Not Keynesian)  and why Chuck chose to run as a Libertarian.

You can hear the whole thing here and it runs about 10 minutes. If you're in a listening mood, you can also hear a much more in depth podcast with Chuck and award winning Libertarian blogger Jason Pye at JasonPye.com. Now once you've got an earful and are feeling motivated, contact Chuck's campaign and volunteer your time or your treasure or both for the cause of Liberty.