Political Rewind

Thursday on Political Rewind: Georgia Republicans have begun taking steps to a possible takeover of Fulton County elections. A letter signed by two dozen state senators supports a performance review of the county’s election chief.

Fulton Commission Chairman Robb Pitts criticized the effort, telling reporters it is an attempt to sway future consequential elections.

"They are trying to set the stage for a hostile takeover of our election system, because they want a political win to appease believers of the Big Lie," Pitts said, "which has been my biggest fear since Senate Bill 202 passed."

Meanwhile, the rapid spread of the delta variant and new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are forcing lots of changes in how business, schools, governments and individuals look at masking, vaccines and more. So far, Gov. Brian Kemp has not changed his approach to the virus.

Also: The CDC's moratorium on evictions during the pandemic is set to end this Saturday, potentially unleashing a wave of pent-up evictions around metro Atlanta.

Kevin Riley, editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, guest hosts.

Panelists:

Mariela Romero — Journalist and regional community empowerment director, Univision

Tia Mitchell — Washington correspondent, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Riley Bunch — Public policy reporter, GPB News

Stephen Fowler — Politics reporter, GPB News

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., continue as a U.S. House panel investigates the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

Data show that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guidance on wearing masks to fight the spread of the highly contagious delta coronavirus variant should apply to people in all but a small handful of counties in Georgia. How will local and state officials respond to the guidelines?

Meanwhile, there are questions in the AAPI community today about the Cherokee County plea deal that sentences Robert Aaron long to spend the rest of his life in prison for shooting to death four people in a Woodstock massage parlor. Should he have faced a hate crimes charge? What about the death penalty? And what will happen when the case moves to Fulton County, where Long killed four more people? Our panel weighs in.

Panelists:

Donna Lowry — Journalist, Host of GPB’s Lawmakers

Greg Bluestein — Politics Reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Cases of COVID-19 are again rising across the state, propelled by the dangerous Delta variant. In response, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson again issued a mask mandate for his city. Addressing the public yesterday, he warned rates of transmission are rising around Savannah and in neighboring counties.

"Chatham County is now considered high and highly likely to increase during the coming days and weeks," the mayor said.

Johnson was the first to impose a mask order as the pandemic took hold last year. His action now could spark other communities to assess their own measures for stopping a major coronavirus surge

But first, voting rights advocates remain concerned Republican legislators are angling to use Georgia’s new voting law to take over Fulton county’s elections. However, critics of past chaos in the county’s elections say change is needed. Our panel weighed in.

Panelists:

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver — State representative (D-Decatur)

Edward Lindsey — Former Republican state representative

Kurt Young — Professor of political science, Clark-Atlanta University

Tamar Hallerman — Senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday on Political Rewind: We were joined by New York Times and internationally bestselling author Karin Slaughter.

Her newest novel, False Witness, incorporates many timely issues into its narrative. Set in Atlanta during the pandemic, Slaughter tells the story of an up-and-coming attorney in Atlanta balancing single parenting with the responsibilities of a demanding job. Meanwhile, an important court case involving a powerful man accused of sexual assault places this story in the all-too-familiar context of the #MeToo era.

Slaughter spoke to us about weaving real-world issues into her narratives. When writing about violence against women, she has sought to depart from troubling patterns in the depiction of misogyny in fiction.

"I want to tell women's stories and I don't want to do what I had been seeing in a lot of crime novels, which is sort of sexualizing violence and making it titillating," Slaughter said. "I wanted to write about it in a frank way and to talk about what it leaves behind."

Published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe, Slaughter’s novels include Cop Town and Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her.

Friday on Political Rewind: Vaccination rates in Georgia remain stubbornly low, even as the coronavirus is establishing a foothold again across the country. Hospitalizations are up in the state too, with the vast majority of patients being among the unvaccinated. What role are misinformation and partisan politics playing in the continuing spread of the virus? And how is this affecting other national topics, such as immigration? Our panel weighs in.

Plus, all five candidates for mayor of Atlanta took aim at what they say is a destructive campaign to create a new city of Buckhead.

Also: U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia was arrested in a protest in front of the U.S. Senate. The demonstration was an effort to call attention to the Senate’s refusal to pass new federal voter protection laws. But now some voting rights advocates are aiming their frustration at President Joe Biden, who they say hasn’t used his bully pulpit to force action in the Senate.

Panelists:

Maria Saporta — Founder and contributor, SaportaReport

Stanley Dunlap — State government reporter, Georgia Recorder

Chuck Kuck — Immigration attorney

Patricia Murphy — Political reporter and columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday on Political Rewind: Speaker of the House David Ralston has unveiled a sweeping $75 million proposal to confront escalating crime, especially in metro Atlanta. The plan includes bonuses for local law enforcement officers and an increase in funding for law enforcement agencies — as well as for an expansion of mental health services. Democratic House members said they’ll work with Ralston on his plan even as they recognize it’s part of a GOP effort to use crime-fighting as a wedge issue in the 2022 election cycle.

Meanwhile, the guessing game over the possibility of a big-name Republican emerging to challenge U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues this week. Former Sen. David Perdue’s visit with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Capitol Hill has sparked questions about his potential interest in the race.

Also: The federal government has revealed stark new data about the impact of COVID-19, especially on minority communities. Life expectancy in the United States has fallen over the last year and a half, with the biggest toll registered among Black and Hispanic people.

Panelists:

Fred Smith — Professor of Constitutional Law, Emory University

Rene Alegria — President and CEO, Mundo Hispanico Digital

Dr. Karen Owen — Professor of political science, University of West Georgia

Leroy Chapman — Managing editor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday on Political Rewind: We all know that the pandemic has had a profound impact on our buying habits — from how we shop for groceries to the services we use to stream new movies at home; from the sticker shock that awaits us as we shop for a new (or even used) car to the soaring price of houses.

The travel industry is only now coming back to life. But can you feel safe booking a cruise? Flights are full again, but do you want to fly on an airplane with every seat filled?

We get answers to these questions and much more from one of the country’s most highly respected voices of consumer advocacy: Clark Howard. For four decades, Howard has been a ubiquitous presence, guiding us to make better, smarter financial decisions.

Panelists:

Clark Howard — Financial and consumer advocate, host of The Clark Howard Show Podcast, New York Times best-selling author

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp says he’ll ask the General Assembly to pass laws to fight crime during a special session of the legislature later this year. The session’s primary mission will be to redraw political maps based on new census data. But Kemp has the power to add measures to combat violent crime, especially in Atlanta, to the agenda.

Plus, we look at the outcome of the U.S. Senate field hearing examining Georgia’s new voting law.

Also: Georgia is seeing an uptick of COVID-19 cases, as the highly contagious nature of the delta variant collides with the large percentage of unvaccinated people in the state. In the past week, hospitalizations statewide are up 30% — and all but a handful of the patients are unvaccinated.

Panelists:

Dr. Andra Gillespie — Professor of political science and director of the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference, Emory University

Dr. Audrey Haynes — Professor of political science and director of the Applied Science program, University of Georgia

Adam Van Brimmer — Editorial page editor, Savannah Morning News

Tamar Hallerman — Senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday on Political Rewind: Sen. Amy Klobuchar is in Atlanta today to hold a field hearing on the impact of Georgia’s new election law on voters of color. As chair of the Senate Rules Committee, Klobuchar is convening the first field hearing of her group outside of Washington in decades. It’s unlikely that any Republicans on the committee will attend the hearing, which Klobuchar hopes will shine a spotlight on the need to pass a federal voting rights act.

Meanwhile, Georgia Republicans are doing a bit of counterprogramming today. At the same time of the Klobuchar event, GOP House leaders are holding a committee hearing to look at rising violent crime in Atlanta. And Gov. Brian Kemp has scheduled a conference call with reporters to defend the new election law.

Plus, a federal judge rules that President Barack Obama exceeded his legal authority in creating the DACA program. What does it mean for the future of those protected by DACA — and for future applicants?

Panelists:

Rep. Sam Park — Georgia State Representative (D - Lawrenceville)

Dr. Adrienne Jones — Professor of political science and pre-law director, Morehouse College

Julianne Thompson — Republican strategist

Jim Galloway — Former political columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Friday on Political Rewind: Access to health care is one of the more dominant theme in politics here in recent history. Medicaid expansion, private insurance and the value of Obamacare have been debated through many election cycles.

Now writer Dr. Elinor Cleghorn presents us with a new and deeply troubling look at health care and medical treatment.

In her new book, “Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World,” she tells the harrowing story of how medicine has failed women throughout history. She described sexist assumptions about the frailty of women’s bodies, and the ways women have been systemic ignored in matters of their own body. Misconceptions, ignorance and malpractice have been with us since the days of the ancient Greeks, and, alarmingly, are still evident in how a male-dominated medical establishment operates today.

Panelists:

Dr. Elinor Cleghorn — Author of “Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World”

Patricia Murphy — Political Reporter and Columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution