Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Questions On Trump Again Prominent In Oconee County Candidate Forum For Two Open Georgia House Seats

***Created Spark In 117th Race***

Donald Trump played a role in the candidate forum for the Nov. 7 special elections for House Districts 117 and 119 held tonight (Tuesday) at the Oconee County campus of the University of North Georgia, as he did in a forum last week.

In response to a question about Trump’s behavior as President, the three Republican candidates in the race for House District 119 strongly endorsed Trump, though Steven Strickland did say he had problems with 5 percent of what Trump does.

When Houston Gaines, running as the sole Republican in House District 117, was asked, if the 2016 election were tomorrow, would he vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton, he did not answer.

That produced a tense exchange with audience member Russell Edwards, an Athens attorney who is past chair of the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee.

Gaines criticized Edwards for Edwards’ role in removing Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson, a mentor of Gaines, from the Athens-Clarke County Democratic Committee because of her support of Gaines.

Neither Deborah Gonzalez, running as a Democrat in the 117th, nor Jonathan Wallace, running as a Democrat in the 119th, attended the forum, which had been organized by the Oconee County and Athens-Clarke County Republican Parties in collaboration with the student government at the Oconee County campus.

Moderator Blake Giles told the audience of just less then 40 that the two Democratic candidates had cited scheduling conflicts in declining to attend.

Format and Issues

The meeting in a room on the UNG Oconee County campus started at 6 p.m., but the candidates were given 30 minutes to mingle and talk with the audience before being called to the front of the room by Student Government President William Wheeler.

After introductory comments by Oconee County GOP Chair Tammy Gilland and her counterpart from Athens-Clarke County, Gordon Rhoden, Giles began asking questions submitted in advance by those present.

Giles is the retired editor of The Oconee Enterprise.

Giles gave Strickland, Tom Lord and Marcus Wiedower, the candidates for the 119th House seat formerly held by Chuck Williams, each three minutes for a self introduction.

This was followed by 11 questions, including whether the state should have an income tax, whether the state should increase pay for law enforcement officers, how high speed Internet services should improved, and how to keep students graduating from area universities in the area.

The candidates differed only in modest ways in their answers.

Trump Reactions 119th

“We have a number of questions up here about President Trump,” Giles said, before indicating he was combining them in asking “what is your comment about the behavior of our current president?”

“I think 95 percent of what Donald Trump does in his behaviors are spot on,” Strickland said. “But there is 5 percent of the time I believe that he maybe crosses the line on certain things, maybe his execution of his message isn’t necessarily optimal for that particular point in time.”

“I think he’s working very hard to find ways for us to get back on track, to get things moving in the right directions,” Wiedower said. “I think some people need to grow some tougher skin. I respect the president and the job he’s doing and hope it continues.”

“I think he’s doing a good job,” Lord said. “I do wish the media would lay off a little bit. And some of his tweets or twits or whatever they call those–I don’t understand that–I do wish he’d lay off that a little bit. But I am in full support of our President.”

Shift To 117

Giles asked 11 questions of Gaines, in rapid fashion. Included were questions on religious freedom, on pay for police, and on how his youthfulness factored into the campaign.

The question Giles asked of Gaines about Trump was not the same one he asked of the candidates in the 119th race.

Giles said the questioner wrote that “they saw film footage of you at the last Oconee Forum and I think your words were misrepresented to the community. So could you please clarify, if the election was tomorrow, would you vote for Trump or Hillary and why?”

Following some light banter with Giles, Gaines said:

“I think I made myself clear, and my opponent made it clear that she said she would proudly support Hillary Clinton again.

“And so the reality is, who you vote for for president has no indication of how you would be as state representative.

“You all know me. You know I’d be a conservative Republican representing this district. So I’ll continue to work on education issues, transportation issues and issues that are important to the local community.”

Edwards Challenge

The transcription above is the exact and complete answer that Gaines gave.

“You still didn’t answer it,” Edwards called out from the back of the room. “You still didn’t answer the question.”

Both Gilland and Rhoden told Edwards no one was allowed to ask questions from the audience, but Edwards persisted.

“And actually, I’ll go ahead and respond to Russell again,” Gaines said. “I responded to Russell at the last debate, where they asked actually for audience members, if you’re related to a campaign, not ask a question. And Russell Edwards led the charge to...”

“Still not answering the question,” Edwards interrupted.

“...to oust the Mayor of Athens...”

“Just answer the question,” Edwards demanded.

“From the Democratic Committee. And so, why people are sick and tired of politics is because...”

“Because you won’t answer,” Edwards said.

“No, because of what you did to the Mayor in Athens.”

“Just answer,” Edwards said.

At that point, Giles went to the next question.

Early Voting

Following the questions in both parts of the meeting, Giles gave the candidates a chance to make a summary statement.

Gaines used his time to argue for the importance of the election, noting that the 117th has been held by a Republican since it was created in redistricting in 2011.

Regina Quick, the only person to hold the seat, stepped down in August after being appointed Superior Court Judge.

Gaines said he differed significantly from Gonzalez on a number of issues, including on Medicaid expansion and on the minimum wage.

A key issue in the two campaigns will be turnout.

Voting in Oconee County has been light in the first two days of early voting.

On Monday, 79 voters cast a ballot, and 67 cast a ballot today.

The county had 27,428 registered voters on Oct. 1.

Video

The entire session lasted only a little more than 70 minutes, including a pause between the two parts of the questioning.

The video below contains the introductory comments, the responses to the questions and even the gap as the candidates for the 119th sat down and Gaines came to the table at the front of the room.

About 10 people left during that time, and Edwards joined the audience.

The introductory comments of the candidates for the 119th begin at 6:09 in the video.

The introductory comments of Gaines begins at 54:35.

The question on Trump in the session on the 119th begins at 41:10.

The question on Trump posed to Gaines is at 1:01:50.

OCO: Candidate Forum 10 17 2017 from Lee Becker on Vimeo.

10 comments:

Freeland said...

My understanding is that the two Democratic candidates were invited late... that may explain why they had conflicts.

Bill Mayberry said...

The exchange took maybe 30 seconds out of a lively hour and a half of well-moderated, rapid-fire Q&A.
And of course occupies the first paragraph and about half of the rest of the description.
Disappointing, as "Oconee Observations" comes out of the closet.
Yet another disruptive use of that tactic of a Party bereft of ideas, suggestions, compromise, or even willingness to reach a consensus.

Lee Becker said...

Bill,
Thank you for the feedback.

My account is not chronological, and it is not complete, as I indicated. I selected out things for emphasis, and I understand that others might well have selected out something else. I provided the video so everyone who did not attend the meeting has that opportunity.

When Giles introduced the question on Trump, he indicated that he had received “a number of questions” about Trump. He didn’t say that for any other topic he introduced. He boiled those questions down to the one he asked.

When Giles directed his question about Trump to Gaines, he indicated that the question had been directed to Gaines specifically. The question was quite sympathetic to Gaines. The person wanted to give him a chance to explain his answer from the forum Sarah Bell, Russ Page and I ran.
Edwards was not in the audience until after the 119 candidates had spoken, so it is unlikely he wrote any of the questions Giles was referring to. It is unlikely he would have submitted the sympathetic question to Gaines that Giles read.

So the topic of Trump was raised by what was a largely Republican crowd interested in how these four Republican candidates answered.

The first session on the 119th candidates began when Giles came to the podium at 5:03 in the video. It ended at 52:03, or 47 minutes later. The question on Trump and the answers took 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

The second session on the 117th began with Giles calling people back to their chairs at 54:25 and ended at 1:09:02, or 14 minutes and 37 seconds later. The question on Trump and the exchange that followed took 1 minute 40 seconds of that time.

Lee

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Lee, for all your reporting.

Anonymous said...

The contrast between the candidates is stark. Deborah Gonzales is left of Bernie Sanders wanting single payer Medicare for all with huge tax increased to pay for it, job killing massive increase in minimum wage, legalizing marijuana and unfettered immigration including giving drivers licenses to undocumented residents. Oconee County better wake up and vote of she will be representing them. This race will be won or lost in Oconee, Barrow and Jackson Counties and unless the Republicans keep their eye on the ball and quit worrying about meaningless questions posed by the Democrates this race can be lost by the Republicans. The Democrats would love to see a low turnout in Oconee, Jackson, and Barrow. Don't give them that satisfaction. Houston Gaines will be a great representative if given the opportunity.

Lee Becker said...

All,

I hesitated before publishing the Anonymous comment above. I wish everyone would follow the example of Freeland Abbott and Bill Mayberry and use names.

I cannot verify the assertions made in these comments, so the name of the person helps the reader evaluate what is said.

Thanks.

Lee

Kimberly Davis said...

Deborah, not Debra.

Anonymous said...

http://athensforeveryone.com/state-legislators/deborah-gonzalez/

Here is the link to Deborah Gonzalez questionnaire on the Athens for Everyone website as a source of the above comment. There are her words, not mine.

Lee Becker said...

Kimberly,
Thanks and my apology. I fixed this.
Lee

Lee Becker said...

Anonymous,
That is very helpful. Thanks.
But why not use your name as well?
Lee