Bill Byrne To Run For Governor?

May 24 2005 - Bill Byrne was seen at the Cobb County GOP Breakfast last Saturday looking and sounding like a man who was about to enter a race. He appeared with his wife and State Representative Bobby Franklin. Byrne addressed the current displeasure of conservative Republicans with both the State and National parties. He expressed his view of how in his opinion the grassroots activists have been ignored at both levels.

Byrne ran unsuccessfully against Sonny Perdue in the 2002 Republican gubernortorial primary and he may be itching for a rematch. Stay tuned!

Al Meyer

Florida Governor Jeb Bush Delivers Keynote Speech at GA GOP Convention

State GOP Chair Alec Pointevent

Senator Chambliss at GOP Breakfast

Senator Isakson at the GOP Breakfast

Savannah Riverfront from the Convention Center

Congressman Tom Price with Cobb Delegate

Ralph Reed Addressing Supporters in Savannah.


May 13, 2005 - I followed a caravan of SUVs festooned with "W" bumber stickers out of the metro Atlanta area early Friday morning May 6th to participate as a state delegate in the GOP Convention being held in Savannah, GA .

I arrived at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center about 11:30 AM after a 4 hour drive at more than legal speed. The first activity on my list was the Forum on Immigration Reform sponsored by the Christian Coalition. The forum was chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, U.S. Representatives Charlie Norwood and Nathan Deal, and State Senator Chip Rogers. The legislative members described the policy approach of immigration reform as being a four part strategy, each with independent legislation to address the areas of Border Control, Identification Integrity, Visa Reform, and Immigrant Labor Reform. They all stressed that Immigration Reform was a local as well as a national issue and asked conservative activists to pressure local government officials at the city, county, and state levels (i.e. mayors, sherriffs, city council members) to take steps to help implement national policy. I could go on for days about this subject, but I will save it for another post.

The forum concluded about 2 o'clock as the full convention convened on the floor of the auditorium. The attendence on the floor was extremely light (517 delegates and 105 alternates).
The convention was called to order by Alec Poitevint, the State GOP Chairman with the invocation by Sgt. Todd Rhodes of the Savannah Police Department and the and the posting of the Colors by the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.
Mary Flanders led the convention in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Randy Evans of Roswell was appointed Interim Convention Chairman and Interim Convention Parliamentarian.
State Senator Eric Johnson gave a welcoming address.
Sue Everhart was presented a special recognition for her work with the Convention.
New Senate Majority Leader Tommy Wilkins was announced by Bill Stephens who is vacating the post to run for Secretary of State against Cathy Cox.
The following auxillary groups reported to the floor:
GA Federation of Republican Women - Val Betz
Black Republican Council - Rufus Montgomery
GA Indian - American (not to be confused with American Indian :)) Republican Council - Narender Reddy
Hispanic Outreach - Sora McFarlane
GA Young Republicans - Marc Oburg
GA Association of College Republicans - Justin Palmer
GA Teenage Republicans - Jade Morey

After the reports the following politicians addressed the floor:

U.S. Senate - Senator Johnny Isakson
Public Service Commissioner - Stan Wise
State Insurance Commissioner - John Oxidine
State Superintendent of Schools - Kathy Cox.

Several candidates for the various GOP primaries also addressed the crowd with Randy Evans introducing each. The big Battle Royale in this catagory will the Lt. Governor's race between Ralph Reed and State Senator CaseyCagle of the 49th District.
The Convention recessed around 4:00 PM.
Later that evening the Governor addressed a crowd of supporters at the Westin Ballroom during the Governor's Dinner.
At 9:00 PM I attended the Right to Life prayer service. First Lady Mary Perdue addressed the audience which included Ralph Reed and several representatives from various Pro-Life groups.
The evening concluded with a Majority Party Celebration.
I drove back to my hotel room around 11:30PM