Chris Riley Tries Subtlety
Chris Riley, Governor Nathan Deal’s Chief of Staff, doesn’t usually do “subtle”. He’s blunt. He’s direct. If you have to question what he just told you, you’re likely not paying attention. And his words have the full backing of the office of the Governor, and have for the past seven years.
This tweet, however, has the AJC’s Greg Bluestein questioning if it’s aimed at Clay Tippins’s ad released over the weekend.
Been thinking…Thank you to all who served to protect our freedoms but I am not going to apologize for living in a state that is #1 to do business for five consecutive yrs., one of the lowest tax burdens on its residents and has a record surplus of over 2.3 billion in its RSR!
— Chris Riley (@ChrisRiley__) February 5, 2018
The target isn’t specified, so Greg’s open question is valid. I’ll offer my own Rorschach answer: It’s aimed at at least three of the candidates for Governor, one or two of the candidates for LG, and at least one candidate for Secretary of State. It’s a tweet that casts a wide net. And that net includes the General Consultants of many of these candidates that have chosen to run against Georgia’s turnaround story of the last eight years.
It’s a story that has taken the state from two days cash on hand to roughly $2.5 Billion in reserves. It’s a story that has taken us from our worst unemployment since the great depression to one that is not only adding jobs at a frenetic pace, but has attracted and developed entirely new high wage, high growth industries. It’s one that has reformed our criminal justice system with literally thousands of prison beds not constructed due to positive reforms. And it’s one, as specifically mentioned in his tweet, that has made Georgia the number one state to do business.
If you attend many of the current candidate’s stump speeches, however, you would think that Georgia was Illinois. You would think that those claiming leadership titles were members of the minority party. You would think they haven’t had a seat at the table during the success of the last eight years, as they reject it all in order to pander to a permanently aggrieved and unhappy sector of their party’s base.
Even the AJC has reported recently that 2/3 of Georgians believe the state is on the right track. And yet, there’s an entire slate of candidates running who can find every cloud in a sunny sky. Thus, Chris Riley is more than happy to give them what they obviously want: He’s throwing the lot of them some shade.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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One of the traits of a long history of being blunt and direct is that you develop a long line of critics. While offering criticism of Mr. Riley is fair game for the comments section, committing libel per se isn’t, and a previous comment that did that has been deleted.
I’m willing to spend the hosting costs to keep this site going. I’m not willing to spend legal fees and risk potential judgments for folks that believe their right to “free speech” requires me to open myself up to potential litigation so they can take pot shots, on this or any other post. Repeat offenders will be banned.
How much of the base do folks here think are motivated by feelings of seemingly unwavering discontent or contempt for government? Could a positive or optimistic campaign have any impact on that segment?
Leaders lead, they don’t pander.
I’m still looking for a candidate to back in the Governor and Lt. Gov races. I haven’t seen or heard anything from the current crop of candidates in either party that inspires me or gives me any confidence that they wouldn’t take this state the way of Alabama.
We can do better!
Yes it has been a bed of roses, but Mr. Riley is only capable of discussing the blooms and not including the thorns, as can only be expected from the guy who has carried all of that water for them.
I have long been tired of the military worship and the implication that just because someone “served” they are better than a normal citizen. That’s nonsense.
You don’t have to wear a patch to have honor.