President Joe Biden will host the Atlanta Braves at a White House ceremony this morning.
The visit is in celebration of the team’s 2021 World Series victory over the Houston Astros. And it coincides with the Braves’ three-game series against the Washington Nationals, which kicks off Monday night at Nationals Park.
Presidents have traditionally welcomed sports teams to Washington to mark national championships, often with Rose Garden ceremonies, but it hasn’t always been without controversy.
Multiple players and teams skipped the events during former President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump disinvited the NBA champion Golden State Warriors from his planned White House ceremony in 2017 after star player Stephen Curry said he wouldn’t attend.
But today’s event for the Braves is expected to be well attended and all smiles. The ceremony is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. in the East Room. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Nikema Williams are all planning to be there.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Braves beat reporter, Justin Toscano, will be in attendance, so go ahead and give him a follow on Twitter now to keep up with the revelry. And you can live stream the event at wh.gov/live.
Last week, the Braves gathered to name a street at the Battery after Tim Lee, the late chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners who is credited with bringing the team to the county.
***
Hyosub Shin/AJC
Hyosub Shin/AJC
FOCUS ON ABORTION. Democrats fanned out across the state this weekend with multiple events and outreach efforts focusing voters’ attention Georgia’s restrictive abortion law, which bans abortion at about six weeks.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed the GOP-led legislation in 2019. The law had been held up by court challenges until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.
State Sen. Jen Jordan, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, joined Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of America, at a “Warnock for Women” event in Roswell on Sunday to discuss the effects of Georgia’s newly implemented law.
And the Democratic Party of Georgia held canvassing events in North Fulton, Columbus and Savannah to mobilize voters around the issue.
***
PAY PAL. Former Vice President Mike Pence will be back in Georgia next month to raise money for four GOP contenders, your Insiders report this morning.
Pence will headline two events, one in Atlanta and one in Thomasville. The first will support state Sen. Burt Jones, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, and state Sen. Tyler Harper, the Republican contender for agriculture commissioner.
Curtis Compton/AJC
Curtis Compton/AJC
The second Pence event will boost U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson of West Point and Chris West, the GOP nominee running against veteran Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop.
Pence’s last high-profile stop in the state was an election-eve rally to stump for Gov. Brian Kemp ahead of the May primary, when Kemp trounced former President Donald Trump’s pick for the post, former Sen. David Perdue.
Kemp also has an unusual bit of history with Pence, which is worth reading about.
***
AD WAR. Gov. Brian Kemp is trying to use Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams’ star status against her in his latest ad.
Abrams became a bona fide celebrity after her loss to Kemp in 2018. Along with inking multiple book deals, Abrams appeared on fashion magazine covers, talk shows, and cameo appearances on everything from Star Trek to Billions.
The ad calls Abrams, “A perfect governor for liberal elites, just not hard working Georgians.”
***
ROCK THE VOTE. Speaking of celebrities, Stacey Abrams made a surprise appearance at Alicia Keys’ concert at Chastain Park on Friday night.
The AJC’s Kelly Yamanouchi tells us that Abrams took the stage during the show and told the crowd: “We have the power to write the next greatest chapter in Georgia’s history. But every one of us has to believe in our right to vote and our right to be heard and our right to do what’s right for Georgia.”
Ramon Rivas / AJC
Ramon Rivas / AJC
Earlier in the set, Keys shared the stage with Brandi Carlile for a performance of their 2020 duet “A Beautiful Noise” on voting and speaking out. The two had visited Spelman College on Friday for a panel discussion as part of a “When All Women Vote” program held by concert promoter Live Nation.
***
MCCARTHY’S COMMITMENT. Republicans in Georgia’s congressional delegation lined up over the weekend to back Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s pitch to voters ahead of the midterms.
McCarthy’s “Commitment to America” outlined a broad plan with four pillars: “an economy that’s strong,” “a nation that’s safe,” “a future that’s built on freedom” and “a government that’s accountable.” U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was among roughly 30 lawmakers who attended the speech in person outside of Pittsburgh on Friday.
Aspiring House Speakers like McCarthy frequently try to articulate a reason for voters to support their party ahead of midterm elections, but none more famously than then-Rep. Newt Gingrich and his “Contract with America” in 1994.
Most of the Georgia delegation released statements praising McCarthy’s after he made his Pittsburgh pitch.
“Today, Congressional Republicans are unveiling our plan to address the issues and return to a nation that is free, safe, and full of opportunity, with a government that is accountable to the people,” U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, said in a news release.
Rep. Rick Allen, of Augusta, was among those who focused on the chance for Republicans to push their own agenda if they retake the majority.
“The vision that Leader McCarthy presented today represents a new direction for our country — after two years of Democrats’ one-party rule in Washington, the American people have seen the promise of our nation eroded by open borders, wasteful spending, rising prices, and an unaccountable government,” he wrote.
***
WALKER BUSINESS. GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker stopped by the Republican National Committee’s Asian Pacific American Community Center in Gwinnett County on Friday to help celebrate its one-year anniversary, the AJC’s Shannon McCaffrey reports. The center is one of three the RNC has set up in Georgia as part of an outreach to minority communities.
Walker was joined by Soo Hong, a Republican candidate for state House seat 103, who said many Asian Americans are small business owners and are new to politics.
She said Democrats have done well in the community because they have done more outreach. But she said that GOP efforts could shift that.
”Even just culturally we are more of a conservative culture,” Hong said. “Our values align more with Republicans.”
Where Asian Americans find a political home will matter. The Asian American population in Georgia have doubled in the last two decades.
***
PERMANENTLY PURPLE? Charles Bulloch, the celebrated University of Georgia political science professor, has a must-read commentary from the Washington Post Sunday, explaining why he believes Georgia is neither red nor blue, nor changing anytime soon.
From the piece:
Not that long ago, Democrats thought Stacey Abrams was leading Georgia firmly into the blue column. Now, they're worried. And they should be, not just because she is trailing in her second attempt at becoming the state's governor, but also because statewide elections in Georgia increasingly hinge on just the slightest moves in the electorate. That will probably be true for years to come in this neither-red-nor-blue state …
For Abrams, the challenge will be to achieve a 29-29 election — a variation on what used to be the 30-30 formula in Georgia, which held that if a Democratic candidate could attract 30 percent of the White vote and if Blacks cast 30 percent of all votes, the Democrat would win. Now, as the state's electorate becomes more diverse, 29-29 suffices — that's about what Biden, Warnock and Ossoff achieved.
Those results, though, came with Trump very much in the mix. Kemp could be excused for praying that, with so many other state contests to wade into before Nov. 8, the former president doesn't have Georgia on his mind.
***
WAITING FOR IAN. Gov. Brian Kemp has activated the state’s emergency operations center in anticipation of Tropical Storm Ian later this week.
The National Weather Service has predicted that Ian could turn into a category 4 hurricane. Although the storm is expected to make landfall in Florida first, models show it traveling north through Georgia by Thursday and Friday.
***
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- Nothing else on President Joe Biden’s schedule today is more important to us than his celebration of the World Champion Atlanta Braves.
- The U.S. House and Senate are out of session to observe the Rosh Hashana Jewish holiday.
***
AJC
AJC
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
- Herschel Walker’s Unite Georgia bus tour will be on the road all week, including two stops Monday. Look for Walker at the Dallas Square in Paulding County this morning, where he’ll be joined by Utah’s U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens and Georgia Congressman Drew Ferguson. Walker will make an evening stop at Mojitos in Peachtree Corners later in the day.
- U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock will speak today to the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and then head to a series of campaign events, including for “Seniors for Warnock” and “Artists for Warnock.” He’ll be back on the trail Tuesday.
***
Steve Schaefer / AJC
Steve Schaefer / AJC
FUNDRAISER. Stacey Abrams will lend some of her fundraising prowess to William Boddie, the Democratic nominee for labor commissioner, later this week.
Abrams will host a fundraiser for Boddie on Wednesday at Sandtown Pub in Atlanta. The minimum requested donation to attend in person is $101.
Boddie was one of three statewide Democrats Abrams endorsed in the Democratic primaries in an effort to put her stamp on the ticket that would be running with her in November.
***
SAD NEWS. Perry Bell, the mayor of White in Bartow County, was killed on Saturday in a motocross wreck, the AP reported. Bell was elected earlier this year in a special election.
Our deepest condolences to the mayor’s family and the city of White.
***
AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
