Cagle made history, deserves to make more
Marietta Daily Journal
Posted 10-16-06

The indications are that this will be a Republican year in Georgia's fall elections, with incumbent Gov. Sonny Perdue apparently headed for an easy victory over Democrat Mark Taylor and with the state's few remaining high-profile Democrats fighting hard to hold on to their positions. So while Republican state Sen. Casey Cagle of Gainesville seems to be a sure bet as well to win election as lieutenant governor, we think that a knowledgeable and likeable candidate like him would do well as a candidate even in a "non-Republican" year.

Cagle, of course, has already made history this year with his stunning upset of Ralph Reed in the GOP primary this summer for lieutenant governor. Most people gave Cagle no hope at the outset of his campaign against the much better-known and better-funded Reed. But Cagle proved persistent and, as the cloud of ethics questions continued to gather over Reed, and as many Georgians apparently were uncomfortable with Reed's naked political ambition, Cagle found himself not only the winner of that primary but with sufficient momentum to leave him in excellent shape for the fall election - and with possible momentum for even higher office in the years ahead.

His Democratic opponent for lieutenant governor is highly regarded former state Rep. Jim Martin of Atlanta, most recently commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources under Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes. Martin is a high-quality opponent with an impressive resume and is a good man as well. In fact, evidence of the character of both of these candidates can be seen in the high-road approach that each has taken in this election. And we doubt that circumstance will change between now and polling day.

Still, we think Cagle is the better candidate for lieutenant governor. He's a scrapper, having battled his way up from a single-parent, working-class background to achieve his present status. And he has the strong support of most of his fellow GOP senators.

Cagle is also the more conservative of the two, in a state that is leaning more and more conservative. He has promised to work for lower taxes and better schools, including lowering the dropout rate and supporting the charter-school movement. He also is proposing incentive grants to encourage local school systems to increase their interaction with parents via phone calls, e-mail and personal meetings. As we all know, parental involvement is the key to improved education results.

"You can't have good jobs if you don't have a good educational system," he told the Marietta Daily Journal editorial board last month.

Coming from a town (Gainesville) whose major industry- poultry production - is heavily reliant on the contributions of a Hispanic workforce, Cagle is cognizant that there is more than one side to the immigration issue. But he strongly supports efforts to increase border security, as well as legislative initiatives to ensure that only citizens legally residing in our state have access to taxpayer-funded benefits.

Cagle also has shown a refreshing willingness to take positions in direct opposition to the head of his party, Gov. Perdue. The most notable is Cagle's embrace of Georgia's "sunshine laws." Unlike Perdue, Cagle adamantly opposes House Bill 218, for example. That bill would slam the door in the faces of Georgia residents by letting the state and local governments cut deals with business and industrial clients behind closed doors. If this Perdue-backed bill passes, Georgians would have no way of knowing what has been promised in the way of tax incentives or other sweeteners, or of finding out that an industrial park, landfill, chicken plant or hog farm is going in right next door until the ink is dry on the deal. It boggles the mind that Gov. Perdue is backing such an anti-public bill, which makes Cagle's opposition to it even more impressive.

In fact, despite Martin's many attributes in this race, and even though he too opposes HB 218, there would be a better chance of derailing this repugnant piece of legislation were the Georgia Senate headed by a Republican lieutenant governor than by a Democratic one.

Casey Cagle already made history once this year with his defeat of Reed, and now stands poised to make more history as well. Cagle is on track to be the first Republican ever elected as lieutenant governor in Georgia. More important, he has the clear potential to be a very good one, and fully deserves your vote Nov. 7.