HE ALSO ADDRESSES THE CHRISTIAN ISSUE
DuBose Porter, Georgia House Minority Leader and Democratic Party Primary candidate for Governor
“What businesses want when they are thinking about relocating to Georgia are better schools, better transportation, and a better quality of life for their families, and they also want security. All of those things have come down under these Republicans.” That’s what Gubernatorial candidate DuBose Porter told Muscogee County Democrats Saturday.
He said Georgia is “number one in percentage of prison population, and about number 50 in education. You pay early or you pay later.” He believes education is the answer to keeping prison populations low. “Republicans see prisons as a growth industry as more privatized prisons are being built.” Commenting on the money the private prison companies give to legislator’s campaigns, he said it is a form of subtle corruption.
Columbus area Democrats Rep. Debbie Buckner, and Georgia House Minority Whip Rep. Carolyn Hughley, who work in the legislature with Rep. Porter, were on hand giving their support
He said Republicans cut spending on public education by $3 billion over the last eight years. “Georgia is the only state furloughing teachers,” he said, adding, ” Public education is at stake in this election.”
He also said they cut the State Patrol budget by a third, and cut funds for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation,
He is not happy with their transportation bill that does not do anything for rail, which is essential to solving the highway gridlock problem, nor with the water plan that favors Atlanta developers who are heavy contributors to campaign war chests. He said Republicans want to let private developers build reservoirs instead of impounding more water in existing lakes.
On the question of religion, he said he usually didn’t talk about that in a campaign, but after he heard a Republican stand up and say, “If you are a Democrat you cannot be a Christian, I decided that’s it. The gloves are coming off. I am a Christian.” He went on to say that it’s not being a Christian not to care about all Georgians, just the people that can pour big bucks into campaign funds. He also said that it’s not being a Christian not to want everyone to have health care. “Just look at the tax hike on hospitals. Instead of improving health care for all, they want to tax the sick.”
During the Q and A following his talk, he was asked if the Democratic candidates are going to make the big mistake of the last gubernatorial election by savaging one another in the primary, giving ammunition to the Republican candidate. He said he did not think that would happen this time, though differences in the candidates will be pointed out. He did take the opportunity to call primary front runner former governor Roy Barnes the “apology” candidate.
What about the charge that his wife Carol’s running for Lt. Governor is a gimmick? He denied that, saying that after people heard her making speeches for him, and participating in forums, they decided she was quite intelligent, could certainly handle herself in a debate, and encouraged her to run for something. “We don’t have a candidate for Lt. Governor, so she decided to run for that.”
“What happens if she gets elected and you don’t?”
“I’ve been asked that before. If that happens she will have my full support. We’ve been married for 26 years.”
Porter is a Dublin, Georgia newspaper publisher, attorney, and Georgia House Minority Leader. The Porters have four sons, all Univeristy of Georgia students. (Disclosure: Carol is my 2nd cousin. Yes, in my view, she is quite bright, a savvy businesswoman, has a warm personality, and I am going to vote for her.)