Conservative’s campaign tinged by Abramoff ties: Polls show Reed behind opponent in Georgia primary
GQ exposes “The Sins of Ralph Reed”
Because of Reed’s entanglement in a national lobbying scandal, a political contest that once seemed well within his grasp has turned into a battle for his personal and professional reputation, and it is not clear whether he will survive the Republican primary Tuesday.
Isn’t this precious? Ralph Reed spends his career portraying himself as a leader of holier-than-thou Evangelical Republicans, and when it comes his turn to run for elective office, guess what? It turns out that this “I’m a better Christian than you are” Social Conservative is just as corruptive and venal as any other Republican with more access to money than decency and integrity.
Sadly for Reed (but not for those of us who have long since grown tired of his act), his ties to the now-digraced Jack Abramoff are coming back to bit him in the butt…politically speaking, of course. He’s been running for the Republican Lt. Governor’s nomination in Georgia, but now it’s beginning to look as if he may not survive tomorrow’s Republican primary…and I, for one, am saddened. I’m saddened that I may be losing the opportunity to ridicule another holier-than-thou Republican hypocrite who feels that his God is willing to countenance all sorts of shenanigans committed in His name.
[W]ith campaign commercials hammering away at Reed’s ties to Jack Abramoff, a once-influential lobbyist who has pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption, analysts say Reed will be fine only if he can motivate his legendary — or, some contend, mythical — base, and only if the Abramoff scandal has little effect on voters’ loyalty.
In recent weeks, Reed’s Republican opponent, a veteran state senator named Casey Cagle, edged ahead in both fundraising and independent polls. Not counting the $500,000 that Reed has given his campaign, he has raised $2.4 million to Cagle’s $2.5 million.
Yet many political observers have cautioned that it would be a mistake to underestimate Reed, a former director of the Christian Coalition, who has kept his head down, refusing interviews and publicizing his appearances only to the faithful.
No, I hardly think any intelligent observer will make the mistake of misunderestimating Ralph Reed. I do find it humorous, though, that Reed seems to be running his campaign with what can only be described as a bunker mentality. A man looking to win an election doesn’t refuse interviews, nor does he limit the publicizing of his campaign appearances only to the “faithful”. These are not the actions of a man who expects to win tomorrow…and, indeed, he’s clearly going to need something of a miracle to pull out a victory. Of course, being a Christian, he specializes in miracles, no??
