The Other McCain

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Republican Ray McKinney Reminds Georgia Voters They Have a Choice

Posted on | October 7, 2010 | 4 Comments

A press release from the Tea Party-backed candidate who is challenging John Barrow in southeast Georgia’s 12th District:

Vidalia, GA — A billboard campaign for Republican Congressional Candidate Ray McKinney warns voters not to stay home on election day – or else Incumbent Democrat John Barrow and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi get to keep their jobs.
“Vote Ray McKinney on Nov. 2 or they keep their jobs,” the billboards read.
Under the words are McKinney’s campaign logo next to pictures of Barrow and Pelosi.
The first billboard went up in Sandersville over the weekend. More are expected soon throughout the 12th Congressional District.
“This message serves two purposes,” McKinney said. “First, it reminds Georgians that, if they do not vote, decisions will get made without their input. Second, I want voters to remember that so many Americans and so many Georgians are out of work, Nancy Pelosi and John Barrow haven’t done anything to remedy that and they might just get to keep their jobs anyway.”

You ought to give $20 to Ray McKinney because he has got John Barrow running scared in GA-12. Barrow has refused to say whether he would vote to keep Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and just yesterday the incumbent backed out of a scheduled debate with McKinney:

Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow is skipping Sunday’s televised debate with Republican Ray McKinney.
The Atlanta event, sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club, is due to be aired live on Georgia Public Television. . . .
“He’s a smart politician — I’ll give him credit for that,” McKinney said. “He knows he has high name identification. He doesn’t want to take the risk of having to answer questions.
“He should have to answer to his constituents. Instead, he’s just doing things like mailings, which he can control.”
[Regina] Thomas, a former state senator, who [challenged Barrow in the Democratic primary and] also is not endorsing Barrow, said she’s not surprised.
“It’s typical Barrow.” she said. “It’s what he’s been doing for … years. He’s taking voters for granted and doesn’t want to answer for his voting record. It’s an insult to the district.”

While refusing to debate on TV, Barrow did show up this week at a candidate forum in Milledgeville, where Ray laid out his common-sense conservative message:

“You can’t legislate a job,” says McKinney, “but you can legislate a company out of business.”

You can read my previous coverage of Georgia’s 12th District race for The American Spectator:

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey interviewed Ray in April:

I also interviewed Ray in April:

This is a good candidate who’s running a strong campaign in a very competitive district. Republicans won the 12th district in 2002. Barrow was re-elected by just 900 votes  in the 2006 mid-term election. In a district where 44% of the population is black, the bitter Democratic primary campaign against Regina Turner — a former state senator who was backed by MoveOn.org and progressive bloggers — showed just how weak Barrow’s support is within the black community.

GA-12 is clearly a winnable district for the GOP this year, but Ray’s campaign is being ignored by the NRCC because they’re concentrating all their effort on neighboring GA-8. So if you want Ray to beat John Barrow, the grassroots are going to have to get behind him. You can follow Ray on Facebook, and just $20 from you will make a difference, folks. What do you say?

RAY McKINNEY for U.S. CONGRESS

Category: Congress, Election, Georgia, Ray McKinney

Comments

4 Responses to “Republican Ray McKinney Reminds Georgia Voters They Have a Choice”

  1. LS
    October 7th, 2010 @ 2:43 pm

    Given the chance, I would love to vote against Barrow. The only downside is if he loses he’ll probably move back here to Athens.