It dawned on me yesterday, while showing a house in Kennesaw for a mom sending her kids off to college not far away, that Georgia's political inhibitions towards rail transit continues to cost families like this one thousands per month for years, and unnecessarily. It's that sort of lack of vision - at the city level in Atlanta, the metro region, and of course, the state, that puts an undo burden on everyday Georgia families and it just got me to thinking about Atlanta mayor Andre DIckens' misfire on Beltline rail and the "dream big, aim high" appetite of Senator Jason Esteves, the early contender for the Democratic Party's gubernatorial nomination. More on that in a bit ...

Meanwhile, there's a new Senate candidate on the right, and it isn't Marjorie Taylor Greene (thank God). With so many names in or out, the pundits on Sunday's "The Georgia Gang" had plenty to tongue-wag about so I eavesdropped on the conversation & added a little commentary of my own.

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So a former Beltline VP of planning - Beth McMillan - penned an op/ed in the Sunday AJC laying waste to Mayor Dickens' pivot on the in-city rail project he's now dooming to decades more in "wait, if at all." Kudos to her for bringing the receipts.

It's that sort of decision that - in my mind - sours the Democratic party brand, which - as you'll hear - is very much on my mind today.

I've followed Ethan Embry on Twitter/X (he's on Bluesky now) for years now, and have always been fascinated with how well-versed he is on political and social issues. Today, I finally got to sit down with the Atlanta-based California transplant best known for his acting in cult favorites like 'Empire Records,' 'That Thing You Do,' 'Can't Hardly Wait,' 'Sweet Home Alabama,' and notable most recently as 'Coyote' in the Netflix series 'Grace & Frankie.'

We hung for more than an hour and hardly even got to talk about his acting, outside of a project he's wrapping up on now. Next time, I promise (and he promised we'd do it again).

Today we talked 'toxic masculinity,' how he found his voice on social media, his concerns with India & Pakistan flirting with nuclear war, the failures of the Biden media team, plus what he's doing between gigs to keep his hands and mind occupied.

Were it not for reporting by Ross Williams at the Georgia Recorder, none of us might've even known a 'Third Way'-backed centrist Democrat 'Ideas Summit' even took place in Atlanta earlier this week.

State Senator Jason Esteves - the lone notable Democratic gubernatorial candidate (sorry, Keisha; until you announce 'for sure,' that's how it is ...) along with Senator Elena Parent, Representative Tanya Miller attended. Esteves, in fact, introduced 'Third Way' vice president of policy Jim Kessler, so there's surely some connection to Esteves and 'Third Way.'

To that I say "uh oh."

"Uh oh" because centrist Democrats have been the force stirring the party drink for a long time now, and frankly, they're the reason the party keeps losing, but they think it's 'woke white progressives' causing the party to stub its toe.

No; it's piss-poor messaging and they're not addressing household budget issues that affect middle income America - the issues progressives like Bernie Sanders, AOC, et al, have been addressing even when it was taboo to do so last Biden/Harris re-election cycle.

So on today's show, I call "bullsh*t" to the lot of it, and if/when Senator Esteves does come on to tout his gubernatorial campaign, I'm thinking we'll have a spirited discussion about this. Until then ...

State Senator Josh McLaurin put his name in the hat to succeed outgoing GOP Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, announcing his candidacy at a Savannah port terminal Monday. He and I caught up today so I could ask him why he's the guy for the job, what he may have gleaned from watch Jones in the role all this time and why he made it his mission to inform the state Senate what the Trump presidency was up to while eh and his co-horts were in session.

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A recent $300,000 fine levied against a Stacey Abrams-backed organization is something of a measuring stick, I believe, with the state ethics commission now faced with assessing the wrongs (if any) done by an anti-gay organization accused of improperly benefitting the Kemp campaign in 2018.

We'll be watching.

Last week we learned Georgia voters only seem to have an appetite for 'change' in the US Senate if it comes via Governor Brian Kemp unseating Senator Jon Ossoff. Well, unfortunately for the Georgia GOP, Kemp's decided he, nor "Marty and the girls" are up for it.

Why? Georgia Recorder op/ed writer Jay Bookman has a few ideas, and he joined me to explain how he correctly predicted Kemp's decision in late 2024 and elaborate further on his (I believe correct) assessment that Marjorie Taylor Greene (already kicking the tires on a Senate run) has no chance to win a statewide election.

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Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock held an Atlanta town hall last weekend, and while the setting (a church) and overwhelming majority of the attendees gave him comfort, there were some vocal pro-Palestinian protestors who sought to be heard.

Protests in Atlanta and elsewhere "May Day" Thursday were but another chapter in a growing saga of organic "distress signals" from activists deeply concerned about federal workforce and entitlement cuts and an executive branch showing disregard for the other two, and the rule of law.

Joining me to give some background on the organic, unaffiliated nature of the '50501' movement is Georgia vice-chair Bri Boyd.

But not before we look into the field set for Saturday's Democratic Party of Georgia chair race. The candidate that stands out - at least the list of endorsements - is Charlie Bailey. The one that worries me the most? Former Augusta mayor Hardie Davis, with his ethics violation and issues of infidelity. Not what the party needs heading its state organization.

Then there's the prospect of Marjorie 'Taser' Greene running for the GOP nomination to unseat Jon Ossoff in the U.S. Senate. Georgia Recorder op/ed writer Jay Bookman believes (and I concur) her brand won't travel well, statewide, and outside of the northwest Georgia Congressional district she moved into to run.

With Rev. Senator Raphael Warnock preparing to host his own town hall Sunday in Fulton County, and with the fresh memory of dissatisfaction at Senator Jon Ossoff's hall last week, coupled with Georgia polling that shows how unpopular Democrats are right now, it bears asking: are voters aware that they voted for this mess and left Democrats with too-few tools to do anything about it?

Laughably, even Republicans polled want Democrats to (somehow) do more to push back when their choice for President goes too far. Wait, what?

With me to discuss is Atlanta-based political strategist Andrew Heaton.

First, a follow-up to yesterday's show as both Cobb Democrats won their special elections to serve on that county's commission, putting Democrats (again) in control of that county's governance (despite all the efforts at the state GOP level to undo the will of the majority).

Also, after having a grousing parent removed from a school board hearing a little more than a week ago for bending the knee to the Trump administration and eliminating their D.E.I. initiatives, Decatur City Schools undid that, much to the delight of that same parent and many others.

That's not a good stretch of headlines for MAGA in Georgia, and neither is this:

New Atlanta Journal Constitution/UGA polling shows President Donald Trump is underwater in Georgia on just about every issue with just about every demographic other than "white men" and "diehard Republican," but before Democrats go thinking things are swinging in their direction, those same findings show they're in worse shape.

The good news? They're in no position to do anything and there's (unfortunately) still time for that reality to wash over voters who seem to lack that awareness (still).

Current Georgia governor Brian Kemp leads Senator Jon Ossoff in a 2026 head-to-head, in that same poll, though around the margin of error, and even that's not the best news for Republicans in a state they've dominated. Why? He's the only potential Republican even appearing to be competitive vs. Ossoff and another 18 months anywhere similar to the last 100 days will wear on the party brand and anyone attached to it.

About Democrats' suffering in polling ... AJC op/ed scribe and political reporter Patricia Murphy noted the precarious situation. Again, voters wanting Democrats to "do something!" seem to forget they left Democrats powerless to do much.

First came the gerrymander, as Georgia's state GOP legislators redrew a majority liberal county's commission map to better favor Republicans. Then came the court battle to unseat the commissioner elected to serve, but drawn out of her district by said gerrymander.

Today, with both the map and the vacancy now adjudicated (poorly, I might add), many Cobb County voters head to the polls today to fill the vacancy with either former state representative Erick Allen or Alicia Davis, whose leading donor is the state senator who sponsored the gerrymander creating the vacancy i the first place. Other voters in Cobb will either re-elect incumbent Democrat Monique Sheffield or GOP challenger Matthew Hardwick.

However, because the gerrymander and court thievery weren't eough, conservatives launched an 11th-hour disinformation campaign with a tactic that smacks of old mid-20th century "good ol' boy" tactics. You know the one: "Republicans vote today; Democrats tomorrow."

With me to speak on it today is Cobb County Democratic party chair Essence Johnson and candidate Erick Allen.

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Meanwhile state party leaders will convene to elect a new state party chair, and the six candidates vying for the job held another forum last night in Toccoa. Hear their introductions and feel free to review that forum or the first or second forum of these same candidates held earlier this month.

The "last minute" of last night's '60 Minutes' was worth the wait, as CBS News' Scott Pelley laid waste to his network's parent company's adding 'extra supervision' to the news magazine's content.

I mean, it's not all that different from what I had to deal with as editor of my high school newspaper - except that it's already established that school students don't enjoy "freedom of the press" in their schools. Oh, and '60 Minutes' has been on the air nearly six decades, racking up an unmatched number of awards in journalism.

While American broadcast and print media continues to cave to Donald Trump, international journalists are marveling at the destruction of the fifth estate.

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Meanwhile, in the aftermath of Senator Jon Ossoff's Marietta town hall last Friday, I caught up with many of the CDC's fired and/or 'RIF'ed workforce - the "Fired but Fighting" collection of people still deeply concerned about the state of their work and its use in disease prevention. To summarize, they came to get Team Ossoff to do better in matching the work done by Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock and his staff, but are encouraged Ossoff and his staff are now better aware they need to step up.

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New York Times' conservative columnist Bret Stephens appeared on last week's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' panel, opining that Democrats shouldn't be drawn in by the tens of thousands of people turning out to hear Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Imagine that - a conservative trying to keep the party he almost never sees eye-to-eye with from finding its populist base and succeeding. Naturally, he's wrong, and I'm here ot remind everyone why making the same istakes the party made in 2016 will fail the party and the nation on the whole.