New York Times
By ERIC LIPTON
March 29, 2010WASHINGTON — Nathan Deal, a former Republican congressman who is running for Georgia governor, resigned from the House last week in a move that seemed certain to end an ethics investigation that could have proved politically embarrassing. But on Monday, the Office of Congressional Ethics released its report anyway, concluding that Mr. Deal appeared to have improperly used his office to pressure Georgia officials to continue a vehicle inspection program that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for his family’s auto salvage business.
The 138-page report details how Mr. Deal and his chief of staff intervened in 2008 and 2009 on behalf of the company, Recovery Services Inc., also known as Gainesville Salvage and Disposal. The report also said Mr. Deal had improperly failed to disclose that he was a corporate officer at the company, meaning that the $75,000 he earned from the business in 2008 violated a House limit on members’ outside income…
Nathan Deal steps up attacks on Karen Handel for supporting gays
examiner.com
by Ewa Kochanska
August 5, 2010
The Republican battle for the Georgia gubernatorial nomination heats up today, just five days before the August 10 primary runoff, with former Congressman Nathan Deal attacking his opponent former Secretary of State Karen Handel in a TV ad for supporting various gay-rights groups.
Narrator: The last straw. For some, it’s Karen Handel’s support for taxpayer-funded gay partner benefits. For others, the last straw is Karen Handel’s vote to give our tax dollars to Youth Pride, a group that promotes homosexuality among teenagers as young as 13. But for all, the lies Karen Handel tells about Nathan Deal — a veteran, former prosecutor and judge, to hide what she’s done — are the last straw.It is worth noting that the Youth Pride group does not "promote" homosexuality. Youth Pride is an Atlanta organization offering various programs for gay, lesbian or transgender individuals, including HIV education and prevention workshops, mental health and suicide prevention and counseling services, among many others…
I saw one other Nathan Deal ad, purporting to show the warm positive side of him. He has his arms around his two small grandchildren. The little boy asks why he wants to be governor, and his reply is something like: because the people in Washington are ruining everything and I want to help the people of Georgia (wasn’t he just a “people in Washington?”)
Then the other kid asked Granddaddy something else, and he replies, “Because I love the people of Georgia almost as much as I love you.” And he pulls them both into his arms for a big hug. The masses will eat it up; I found it cloying and absurd — especially when paired with his other ad that hurts a significant percentage of the “people of Georgia.”
Go to http://www.11alive.com and read through the comments to the story about the Youth Pride smear. About 90% negative about Deal — not a representative sample, I’m sure. But it may hurt him more than it helps. He probably already had the bigot vote anyway.
Well, we got more excitement from Cynthia McKinney and about the same level of achievement in the U.S. Congress. How about Cynthia McKinney becoming a Republican and throwing her hat in?