If the race were held today, the results would be:

Vernon Jones: 21%
Dale Cardwell: 14%
Josh Lanier: 5%
Jim Martin: 3%
Rand Knight: 1%
Undecided : 56%

The other race polled was the GOP nomination for Governor in 2010:

If the election were held today the results would be:

John Oxendine: 17%
Casey Cagle: 17%
Jack Kingston: 10%
Karen Handel: 7%
Lynn Westmoreland: 6%
Jerry Keen: 2%
Undecided: 41%

Columns
2/22/08 - Will the majority last?
2/29/08- Change we can believe in?
3/7/08 - Gone is the GREAT Plan
3/14/08 - Amendment gets day in court
3/21/08 - Sunday sales should get vote
3/28/08 - Not what the founders intended
4/4/08 - Libertarians' viable candidate
4/11/08 - The circus has left town
4/18/08 - no column this week
4/25/08 - Transportation woes
5/2/08 - Quest to unseat Chambliss has begun
5/9/08 - Gas tax pandering has no merit

I had fallen back asleep around 7:30am. The power was back on at my place around 9:45am and cable and internet were back on between noon and 3pm.

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

I am off to see if I can salvage the swing on my back porch. Luckily, it was the only thing damaged.

VV: Let’s say you win. What’s your plan to deal with the situation in Iraq?

BB: My plan for Iraq is to signal immediately to the Iraqi government that they are going to have to start taking responsibility for their own security, their own economy, their own political development. That I, unlike President Bush but like candidate Bush, do not believe the responsibility of the United States government and military is to nation build and it is not to occupy foreign nations. And we will begin immediately a withdrawal. I would not set a timetable, I don’t believe in telling your adversaries when you’re going to do certain things, I think that’s foolhardy and irresponsible. But I do believe that the only way to very clearly let the Iraqi government know that no longer are the American taxpayers going to foot the bill for the management of their country is to start withdrawing. There’s no need, I believe, if our posture is truly defensive, to keep 160,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. I think that can be reduced beginning immediately if I were to be president. That would also signal to the American people that a Barr presidency takes seriously the responsibility of the American taxpayer. Their dollars should be valued much more wisely than they are now. That their tax dollars, to the greatest extent possible, should remain in their pockets so that they can improve the quality of their lives and not worry about the quality of lives of people in some far away land.

[UPDATE] I'm happy to report that she has been arrested.

it was too early to say whether the man acted in self-defense.

The Minnesota legislature has passed HF 3986 and SF 3642, identical bills that say, “During the 2008 Republican National Convention, holders of an on-sale liquor license may remain open and may serve alcohol until 4 a.m. each day.” The Republican National Convention is in Minneapolis and St. Paul this year. The bill only applies to that part of the state, and is repealed effective September 8. The normal bar-closing hour in Minnesota is 2 a.m.

Upon reaching the Oval Office, the new president’s first economic program meant to reverse an economic slowdown was not marginal tax rate cuts, but $80 billion in tax rebates. Though the latter merely shifted money from one set of hands to another, the president promoted the rebates in a Keynesian light meant to “put more money in peoples’ pockets.”

When it came to trade, this administration quickly slapped a 30 percent tariff on certain kinds of foreign steel, and followed up with tariffs on soft-wood lumber and shrimp. So bad was the administration’s reputation when it came to trade that Brink Lindsey of the libertarian Cato Institute felt compelled to point out that “U.S. credibility on trade, internationally, is hovering near zero.”
[...]
Not content there, the president signed Sarbanes-Oxley into law, describing it as “the toughest piece of anti-fraud legislation since FDR.” Among other things, Sarbanes-Oxley foisted strict, time-consuming accounting rules on public firms irrespective of size, and it required public-company CEOs to sign off on the veracity of accounting statements with heavy personal liability if they were later proven incorrect. Talking about the impact of the new rules, Xerox’s Anny Mulcahy noted at the time that there is a “drive for averageness” in corporate suites today. And with the markets sensing the likelihood that CEOs would be forced to act more like accountants than entrepreneurs, the S&P 500 fell 175 points in the three weeks surrounding Sarbanes-Oxley’s passage.
[...]
With the wind at his back after signing farm and prescription-drug bills, the president oversaw what Cato Institute scholar David Boaz describes as “the biggest expansion of entitlements since the LBJ years.” Though the president parroted his predecessor (Bill Clinton) in promising to “cut wasteful spending and be wise with the people’s money,” his desire to show “compassion” meant he never vetoed a spending bill of any kind during his first seven years in office.
[...]
Still, if any of us had been secluded for the past seven years, a description of the Bush years without attribution would likely have had most any Republican assuming a Democrat had been in control. Is there an explanation for this? The first one would be that all politicians disappoint. By definition. Beyond that, given the statist direction taken by the Republican party in this decade, it’s fair to ask if it any longer represents laissez-faire growth. Many would point to the even harsher anti-growth views held by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but it seems a lot of their stances at present are pure politics.

The Club for Growth Political Action Committee has long been attacked for intervening in Republican primaries and targeting the party's most economically liberal incumbents.
[...]
And Newt Gingrich, the man who ushered in a conservative Republican majority in 1994, once denounced the Club. "Their strategy is explicitly wrong," he said. "The key is to elect more Republicans and have a bigger majority and be more inclusive."

Now comes Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the man charged with rebuilding the GOP majority in the House. In a New York Times Magazine article, he denounced the Club for Growth's involvement in a special election in Ohio's fifth congressional district.

"The problem I have with the Club is I think they're stupid," Mr. Cole said. "They spend more money beating Republicans than Democrats."
[...]
Winning for the sake of winning is an excellent short-term tactic, but a lousy long-term strategy. Just look at the consequences of the 2006 congressional elections, when the GOP lost control of both houses of Congress.

A Republican majority is only as useful as the policies that majority produces. When those policies look a lot like Democratic ones, the base rightly questions why it should keep Republicans in power. As the party gears up for elections in the fall, it ought to look closely at the losses suffered under a political strategy devoid of principle. Otherwise, it can look forward to a bad case of déjà vu.

We’re getting that from reliable sources, who point out that Johnson already has “done” the lieutenant governor’s job before. Remember that as Senate President Pro Tem from 2003 through 2007, he was de facto lieutenant governor. (Republicans had gained a majority in the chamber but Democrat Mark Taylor had been re-elected lieutenant governor. Republicans stripped Taylor of most of his power and vested it in Johnson.)

Johnson’s interest in the lieutenant governor’s job only applies if Cagle decides to seek the top post. He would not challenge Cagle for the lieutenant governor’s job.

Johnson was neither confirming nor denying our report. He told us:

"2010 is over the horizon. We have a critical election in just 5 months. I am focused on electing John McCain, re-electing Saxby Chambliss, and making sure that an effective conservative majority maintains control of the state Senate and House. Then – and only then – will I consider my future options.”

I don't see four State Senators running all at once for Lt. Governor. Shafer's name has been mentioned out for Insurance Commissioner (Oxendine is running for Governor). Seabaugh could run for Westmoreland's seat in Congress if he runs for Governor.

Of course, it's far too early to tell what will happen.

Governor Sonny Perdue earns good or excellent ratings from 49% of Georgia voters. That’s down from 55% a month ago. Just 17% give him a poor rating. Up four since March. Nearly a third, 32%, give him a more neutral assessment and say the Governor is doing a fair job.

Here are the potential matchups:
Chambliss - 54%
Martin - 33%

Chambliss - 58%
Jones - 30%

Chambliss - 51%
Cardwell - 37%

There was no mention of Josh Lanier or Rand Knight in the poll, who are also seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate.

Here is my column for this week. I am expecting hate mail off this one. I wrote about the pandering of Clinton and McCain on a potential gas tax holiday as well as Clinton's plan for a windfall profits tax on gas companies.

You can find links to previous columns here.