Maribel and I had a good lunch today at one of out favorite restaurants. It was even more enjoyable because sitting directly across from us was Dr. Charles Lutin, a candidate for Georgia's 14th Congressional District. Before I get into the lengthy discussion we had, let me establish some background as to how that luncheon came about.
I've got political lawn signs in my front yard. That's the first time I've ever done that. Those signs are on my lawn because of complete frustration with the political situation. My signs and my vote probably won't mean a damn, but at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I did what I could to express my sentiments. I wish that those signs were there for positive reasons (well, one is but I'll get to that later), but the fact is that I don't at all support two of the three candidates.
Let's start with Brian Kemp, Georgia's incumbent governor. I don't like Kemp (and most southern governors) because of his stance on the Covid issues of masks and vaccinations. The only action I credit him with is his pushing back at Trump when Donald asked him to manufacture 11,000 votes. His sign is on my lawn simply because Trump doesn't like him...called him a "disaster", and endorsed David Purdue, who gushingly announced how proud he is to have received Trump's endorsement.
As to why Kelvin King has made the line-up, take a look at the list of candidates for the U.S. Senate. There are eight of them, six are Republican. No way am I voting for either of the Democrat's, and of the Republicans they all seemed to come out of the same mold, spouting the same right wing rhetoric. Of the six, Kelvin King seemed to be the least offensive and for that reason, in addition to Trump endorsing Hershel Walker, King's sign is on my lawn.
So I've got two signs on my lawn that are there essentially not to support the candidates, but to oppose Donald Trump. Sounds petty...right? Sounds like a petulant little kid, right? I see it much differently. I see it as taking a stand against a man who lost the House and Senate; who has divided Americans to an extant that I haven't seen since Vietnam, and so factionalized the Republican Party as to render it inert. Marjorie Green herself said that the Republican Party is in a civil war, the opposing sides being those who are for or against Trump. And he so botched the Covid pandemic that thousands of Americans needlessly died. Why have people ignored or forgotten that prior to November 2020 while campaigning Trump said, "Covid! Covid! Covid!...that's all they say! After November you'll never hear about it again!" He completely dismissed the danger of Covid and continued to do so for the remainder of his term. Why does he get a free pass on that?
The third sign on my lawn reads - Dr. Charles Lutin...Congress. I first became aware of Charles when I was looking for a candidate that I could support who was running against Marjorie Taylor Green. There's no need for me to go into Marjorie's antics...everyone knows of her.
I found good information about Charles on Ballotpidea and on his webpage, enough to make me think that this was the moderate conservative I'd been looking for. His was a yard sign that I really wanted so I phoned the number on his webpage and spoke with him for some time which led to an exchange of emails and ultimately lunch today.
During lunch I questioned Charles in depth over a wide range of subjects. Maribel and I were impressed with both his depth of knowledge and the opinions on various issues that he had gotten from speaking with everyone from city officials to citizens in restaurants and on the streets. His focus has been on the 14th Congressional District, and he was able to name town after town and the issues each faced, mostly dealing with infrastructure. My questions to him dealt generally with the more global issues; everything from immigration, critical race theory, gun ownership, abortion and a host of other issues. His every answer to my questions were laced with reason and common sense. None of his answers were extreme, which led me to ask what differentiated him from a moderate Democrat? His answer came quickly and forcibly..."fiscal policy". Like every conservative, he wants to limit spending to necessities rather than the Democrats 'give-away' programs.
Most experts are predicting that MTG will win on the 24th. She has the funding and the notoriety that the other candidates are lacking. Dr. Lutin is not so sure. Based on his discussions with people throughout the district he feels that she can be beaten. We hope that he's right, and that he will be the person to do it.
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