So you’re busy and don’t have a lot of time to decide on who to vote for in the runoff to decide which Republican gets to run against Democrat Roy Barnes for governor of Georgia. Well, here’s a short, concise, incisive, succinct, humorless comparison of the two.
Karen Handel and Nathan Deal comparisons:
Education: Handel doesn’t have a college degree. Deal does. (Mercer University and Walter F. George School of Law)
Military: Deal is an Army veteran. Handel was not in the military.
Worked in the White House: Deal hasn’t. Handel worked in the Bush-Quayle White House. She ended up as Deputy Chief of Staff to Marilyn Quayle.
Improving public education in Georgia. Handel is for it. She emphasizes classroom technology and basing teacher pay on performance. Deal’s for it, too, pointing out that his parents and his wife were public school educators. He’s for more public education choice.
Acceptance of federal Race to the Top education dollars: Handel says yes. Deal says no.
Families: Both have spouses. Handel has no children. Deal has children and grandchildren.
Abortion: Handel is against, except for rape, incest, or if the mother’s life is in danger. Deal is against, except if the mother’s life is in danger. They’ve been talking about this a lot. Some say it’s because this is the only issue on which they disagree very much. Some are also saying they need to be talking less about it and more about water, transportation, education, and jobs.
Water and Transportation: Who knows? Just kidding. Both are for water and transportation.
Jobs: Deal says tax and regulatory relief will create more jobs. Handel says long-term solutions in education, tax and regulatory policy, transportation, water and health care are the way to create more jobs.
National endorsements: Handel has Sara’s. Deal has Newt’s. (Sara’s coming back on the day before the runoff to again give her blessing to Handel, which means she’ll probably win the runoff. Haven’t heard about Newt’s plans yet.)
Gender: Handel is a woman, Deal is not. (More women are registered to vote than men, which is why Handel will probably win the runoff.)
Ethics: Handel is not being investigated for ethics violations. Former Congressman Deal faced an ethics violation investigation when he left Congress to run for governor.
Taxes: Handel hates them. Deal hates them. Surprise, surprise!
Legislative experience: Deal has some.
Georgia Secretary of State experience: Handel has some.
Does experience matter? Those for the status quo care. Those who think the status quo stinks also care. I guess it matters one way or the other.
I may have left out a few things, but you can get much more information about both by going to their websites. Just click Nathan Deal and Karen Handel.
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