Vote in the May 20 primaries

May 20 is an odd date for a US or state election so pollsters are anticipating "low turnout".  So every vote will carry more weight.

I was going to write up a litany of candidates in the Republican primary that are getting my vote tomorrow (no listing means my thinking is still in progress) but I would be repeating what some of my neighbors are saying.  So I'll include links to their thoughts and you'll get the gist.

State School Superintendent - Nancy Jester

I supported Nancy from Day One in her campaign for school board and have never regretted it.  The only way to get any improvement in systems in crisis is to put officials in place who call a spade a spade and aren't cowed by the inevitable slings and arrows from the sectors clawing their way up to the status quo.  I'm relieved that Stan is running unopposed for District 1 of DeKalb Co. Schools

Dunwoody Talk on Nancy

State Representative - Tom Taylor

I had no idea who Brad Goodchild was until I started getting stark campaign letters with vague positive language and no specifics.  Which immediately buried the needle on my personal BS detector.  Then I saw Erika Harris' letter in rebuttal to a campaign letter I had not yet seen.  I've met Erika briefly when she was discussing GLASS at one event or another.  I completely agreed with her points as I've heard Tom speak directly to what was at stake with his local school district bill and how difficult it would be to get it into law.  But surely, she was exaggerating, right?  Who could be that silly to call Tom's bill "DOA"?

Then I received my copy in the mail today.  The articles were not an exaggeration.

I roll my eyes at a lot of campaign materials, even those for our own City Council.  (Sorry, guys.)  I was utterly offended by this one.  You don't accuse someone of "just showing up" and then fail to show up in any public venue to promote yourself and your ideas.  You don't campaign for a seat in one of the biggest shark tanks in the state and then refuse a community-level candidate forum over alleged lack of fairness.  (You want to see "unfair"?  Sit on that floor for an hour and watch the rhetoric, then watch the local media spin at 11 PM.  Now that is unfair.)  You REALLY don't criticize a long-haul effort for reform in educational structure without knowing what was happening any step of the way.  Even an elementary school chess club knows that to secure an advantage and win a battle you have to move your pieces backwards and sideways in your strategy.

Anywho, Erika's words speak to my thoughts in the link above.  Goodchild doesn't have a pot to piddle in compared with Taylor

State Senator - Fran Millar

Believe me, I do not sit around agreeing with Fran on every little detail.  No question the man is a politician and good at that role.  But has he performed in any way in the State Senate than warrants broad spectrum attacks from Dick Anderson?  Not that I can see.  Fran hasn't deviated from the Constitution (state or federal) so that someone has to come in and "return" to it.

Commentary from Bob L including observations of this race.

Now I'm hitting the hay so I can get to vote ASAP in the morning.  Make the time to vote - it's always worth it.