The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5:28 p.m. Saturday, May 19, 2012
Columbus -- When Republican voters go to the polls for the July 31 primary, they'll get the opportunity to say if Georgia should allow casino gambling with profits benefiting education.
The state GOP's executive committee this weekend at its annual convention voted to put that question on the July 31 ballot, along with other nonbinding referendums on ethics reform, gun licenses for military personnel, party registration for elections, and abortion.
No explanation was given by the committee of top party leaders for their decision, and officials were quiet on how it came to be. Even if Republican voters back casino gambling in the July 31 primary, it would not make slot machines and card games a reality.
The ballot measures are not binding but would give elected officials a sense of the electorate's mood. But those officials, including Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, have said they are not fans of the idea.
Ralston "has serious reservations about the expansion of gambling in this state," Marshall Guest, the speaker's spokesman, said Saturday.
Meanwhile, it is now the official position of the Georgia Republican Party that lobbyists should be barred from giving unlimited gifts to lawmakers.
The party on Saturday approved a resolution urging the General Assembly to adopt a "reasonable" limit on the value of meals, tickets and other gifts from lobbyists.
It was the second major ethics-related item to emerge from the two-day gathering of more than 3,000 delegates and alternates. On Friday, the party's executive committee decided to ask Republican voters in the July 31 primary whether the state should enact a $100 limit on lobbyist gifts.
"We can send a strong message that the Georgia Republican Party is for tough ethics reform and that we are a party of principle and ethical government, and I would encourage you to vote yes on this resolution," Tea Party Patriots organizer Debbie Dooley, a delegate to the convention, said before the vote Saturday.
The resolution on ethics went rather smoothly, although there was an aborted attempt to call for a $1 cap on lobbyist spending. After much discussion, the amendment failed, and the original resolution was adopted.
The resolution, which is largely symbolic, capped a weekend in which ethics was a major topic of conversation. Also Saturday, a group of conservative activists slammed Ralston for suggesting Friday that "liberal" groups were colluding on ethics with some in the GOP to weaken the party. The statement from the Capitol Coalition of Conservative Leaders, made up of 31 groups, including tea party chapters, said ethics reform is not a "right vs. left" issue.
"His comments were arrogant and pompous and show an attitude that is anything but a humble public servant," the statement said.
While there appeared to be broad support for ethics on the convention floor, other issues were greeted with much more hostility. The convention featured lengthy floor fights over resolutions dealing with the National Defense Authorization Act, with the United Nations Article 21 program (an attempt to adopt international planning and zoning standards) and over partisan vs. nonpartisan elections.
Much of the day, in fact, was marked by party infighting.
The fireworks began in the speechifying stage when former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich came out on stage sporting a Mitt Romney sticker. Gingrich, who has endorsed the former Massachusetts governor since dropping his own bid for the White House, was greeted by energetic boos from Ron Paul supporters when Gingrich touted Romney. As the cascade of disapproval grew, Romney's backers fought back with cheers.
And on and on it went. Anytime a speaker mentioned Romney, Paul supporters booed. When Gingrich said Paul had a good idea to audit the Federal Reserve, the Texas congressman's backers erupted in applause.
Paul's supporters, outnumbered about 70 percent to 30 percent, won at least one victory Saturday when the convention's credentials committee voted to bar the Clarke County delegation from the floor. Videos and testimony from witnesses convinced the committee that Paul's supporters were not treated properly at the county convention in May.
Clarke County's delegates were prevented from voting for party officers, for delegates to the Republican National Committee or for rules and resolutions.
Paul's supporters also suffered a smaller setback, however, when Spalding County refused to allow an alternate to fill an empty delegate slot because all of the alternates were Paul supporters.
The final fight of the convention was over the election of 32 delegates and 32 alternates to the Republican National Convention this August in Tampa with Paul supporters challenging the proposed slate of candidates. (Georgia will send 76 delegates.) Those candidates will vote to elect the party's nominee, which is likely to be Romney.
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