They came together when storm clouds appeared on the election horizon in Macon.
For years, local business and political leaders had been held hostage to a class of politician in Macon who demanded re-election money or, as we saw in some variation during the last SPLOST fight, “walking around money.” That last SPLOST fight actually flipped on the light bulb in various local business leaders’ minds.
David and Elaine Lucas have always been viewed as a powerful force in this community. They stir the pot of racial animosity, take a “what do I get out of it” approach to public policy decisions, and reward their friends. But then the SPLOST fight happened. NewTown Macon got David and Elaine Lucas on their side. And the SPLOST lost.
They were vulnerable. Then a three-way fight shaped up in the mayoral race while Elaine Lucas, stirring the pot in the community, caused North Macon’s alarm sirens to start firing up. Sarah Hunt on the City Council? C. Jack’s comeback? DEFCON 1.
A bipartisan group came together quietly. Having aided and abetted the Lucas’ and others in the past, this bipartisan group knew, based on the outcome of the SPLOST and various other factors, that it was time. They formed “Move Macon Forward.”
It is an independent political action committee that supported Robert Reichert for mayor of Macon and Miriam Paris for state Senate. Along with Georgia’s WIN List for Miriam Paris, it brought together assorted factions who’d never be on the same team for state or national politics, but at the municipal level, well, as the legendary U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neil once said, “All politics is local.”
Party did not matter. All that mattered was taking the leap to get Macon past multiple decades of gutter politics.
For the first time, operating completely independently from campaigns in Middle Georgia, Move Macon Forward made a series of targeted, calculated independent expenditures to turn out voters. After the initial shock of the primary election, Move Macon Forward sprang into action mobilizing voters early, by absentee and any other way they could.
I’m told the group mobilized with the help of Mitch Hunter of COMM 360, a Republican and former chief of staff to Rep. Phil Gingrey and Democratic consultant Chris Carpenter of Peachtree Battle Group, Roy Barnes’s campaign manager for the 2010 election and the Democratic consultant who’ll help lead the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s efforts for the regional transportation SPLOST fight.
When election night arrived, Move Macon Forward knew it would be a good night for Miriam Paris early. As results started trickling in, she lost all the counties in state Senate District 26, except Bibb, but Bibb came on strong for her -- too strong for David Lucas. The mayoral race was an anomaly. The runoff turnout was higher than the primary, which is unheard of, yet happened.
As the night wore on and fingernails were chewed to nubs, the early and absentee ballots pushed Robert Reichert over the line by 537 votes. Move Macon Forward had moved Macon Forward.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, C. Jack Ellis now intends to flatter Move Macon Forward. He’s forming his own group. But he is doing so with the loud fury of a spoiled loser. He should learn one lesson from Move Macon Forward, that they no doubt learned from our 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt, who in turn picked it up from a West African (Ghanaian) proverb. “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
Erick Erickson is a CNN contributor and radio talk show host in Atlanta.
