Ronald Daniels

Very few people today remember Governor Eugene Talmadge, but less than a century ago the Talmage political machine was as powerful as any other in the country. Eugene was known for being a friend of the rural dirt farmer, or so he made it out to be. Running from Telfair County, Gene was elected to be Agricultural Commissioner and later Governor – back when Governor was a two-year term. He also made passes at Walter George and Richard B. Russell in their Senate campaigns, attacking FDR’s New Deal program. Without getting into the three-governors controversy, Eugene was elected Governor a grant total of four times – utilizing the old county unit system to dilute the influence of metro areas.

Eugene was known for giving actual stump speeches across the state, usually followed by a fish fry. “The Wild Man from Sugar Creek” was known for his trademark red suspenders, wire-frame glasses, and his temper. There are numerous stories of Talmadge storming into the Atlanta-Journal’s office and berating the reporters who had mocked him, and sometimes even the candidates who ran against him.

People today don’t necessarily understand the importance of a character like Eugene Talmadge, my generation especially. But ask any person over the age of sixty and expect to get a story. There are a few good books on Eugene, and his son Herman, out there and if you are interested certainly pursue them. This blog post isn’t intended to be a historical analysis of the Talmadges, but such a primer is needed to understand Eugene’s connection to the current state of affairs of Georgia politics.

Ethics – they are a problem. Outside a select few candidates, on both sides, it seems that the way to get anywhere in politics in this state is to be unethical. Let’s look at a few of our candidate’s for Governor.

One of the more well known stories of Governor Eugene Talmadge involves him gambling Georgia hogs in the Chicago market while he was Ag. Commissioner. The plan turned out to be a bust. All the money was lost. Detractors accused Talmadge of stealing the money – to which he replied:  ”Sure I stole the money, but I stole it for you”

Recently former Governor Roy Barnes made a commercial in a church apologizing for his first term, his words were: “As Governor my heart was in the right place, but I didn’t listen or slow down to explain why I had to make some difficult decisions.” In effect Governor Barnes is making the same type of statement Eugene did – apologizing and admitting mistakes but justifying the questionable actions by claiming it was for the public good. Also of note, Barnes touted when he first jumped in the Governor’s race that his middle name Eugene was attributable to Governor Talmadge.

The Republicans are not immune.

Nathan Deal, former Congressman for GA-09, was considered a game changer when he jumped in the race for Governor. He had name recognition, experience in office, the ability to raise funds, and every tool he needed to clear a path to the Governor’s Mansion. Now while he is still a top-tier candidate, he has yet to plow through the competition. Perhaps it was a certain paper calling him “radio-active” over some of his verbal gaffs, maybe it was CREW hammering him over being a corrupt Congressman, or maybe it was because he resigned – unresigned – and reresigned from Congress to fight healthcare and an ethics report. Whatever the case may be, these actions are not in question today.

Yesterday, Congressman Tom Price withdrew his endorsement of Deal and jumped on the Handel bandwagon – Deal’s response: “As a native Georgian, I was brought up to believe that a person’s word is his bond, which is why I’m grateful to the conservative Georgians who’ve remained loyal to our cause. It’s their support that has made me the only Republican with a 7-point lead over Roy Barnes.” As the AJC indicates, Deal is asserting that Price and Handel are not native Georgians.

One of Eugene Talmadge’s more well known actions as Governor was tinkering with the educational system because he felt that there were too many foreigners in charge at UGA. Ole Gene didn’t mean someone from out of the US, but someone not from Georgia. And it appears Deal is attempting to make a similar argument. Eugene was very adamant about keeping foreigners, as he saw them, out of Georgia politics and governance. Youtube has a great video of Governor Talmadge fighting off “foreign strikebreakers.”

And then there is John Oxendine, Georgia’s Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner - who has his own ethical problems. Despite this, Oxendine is the front-runner in public polls for the July Republican primary. Of note is Oxendine’s quickness to combat Obamacare. Long before the bill actually passed, Oxendine had launched a website to fight Obamacare – and had Georgians sign up to help fight the healthcare reform bill.

That certainly is a popular move these days. But in nearly every election, Eugene Talmadge launched into an attack on the New Deal programs of FDR. Sometimes his attacks were baseless and sometimes true, but he would rail and rail against the New Deal until he either won or lost the Democratic primary - tantamount to being elected in those days. While more candidates have taken stances of combating and fighting the federal government, none are so close to winning as John Oxendine. There is some substance in fighting Obamacare, but at some point it becomes pandering – like what Eugene did. I posit that when you are running around calling for a Constitutional Convention for multiple issues and pushing platforms that all sounds good but lack realistic chances of working but remain popular, you are likely pandering.

This blog is not an attempt to tear down any candidate, but rather to show that perhaps the Talmadges have more impact on the current state of politics than many would like to admit. Maybe one of these fancy state schools needs to open up The Talmadge School of Ethics in Government, I’m sure they’d make money.