Special Interests vs. The People - case #Nov-2006, court of public opinion - Part 3.
by Mike Crane

"The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."

- Thomas Jefferson

To understand the extent of Special Interest influence on the Georgia Flag FAIR Vote Act and other major issues that affect you and your family (See: Special Interests vs. The People - case #Nov-2006, court of public opinion - Part 1) requires a bit of background (See: Special Interests vs. The People - case #Nov-2006, court of public opinion - Part 2).

In the 2002 elections the corrupt and unholy influence of special interests on the State Flag issue was a major factor. Then Governor Roy Barnes had built a campaign fund of around $20,000,000.00 - largely from the contributions of the special interests.

All of the pundits, polls and talking heads did not give the Republican candidate Sonny Perdue a chance. But Sonny Perdue was making campaign commitments to Let The People Vote. He promised to return the State government back to the People. After all there is just something American about representing the People rather than special interests.

As we all know, Sonny Perdue defeated Roy Barnes in the election upset of the year. Even the Atlanta Journal was claiming a Roy Barnes landslide the day before the People spoke.

The special interests were stunned!

But they were not defeated, they just had a new and unexpected administration to deal with. Based upon public record campaign reports on file with the Georgia Secretary of State they did not waste any time mourning the Democratic loss of the governor's mansion and State Senate.

In fact the "prosperity" of Sonny Perdue's campaign account sure blossomed right after his election. It stands to reason that special interests who wanted to have "some" influence would step forward and show their "support" for Sonny Perdue's election after the election was over.

Wonder how many stepped forward with this belated show of support, say with checks of a few thousand dollars. Well the public record campaign reports (http://www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/disclosureindex.asp) give some insight:

Lets see now - during the whole campaign Sonny Perdue raised $3,192,514.75 but in the just under 60 days after the election he raised $1,604,175.82 of which $1,573,139.78 was in contributions of more than $101.00.

Here is a list of checks over $4,000.00: