Beacon Media Co. is proud to be sponsoring the first “Big 4” GOP gubernatorial debate on February 4 at the Metropolitan Club on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. The debate is limited to the top four candidates that have either captured the highest poll numbers or have raised the most money to date, or both. Our invited guests are John Oxendine, Karen Handel, Nathan Deal and Eric Johnson. All have confirmed.

The debate kicks off with a candidate’s cocktail reception from 6:00 -7:15 p.m.  with a cash bar and free food from area restaurants. The debate itself gets under way at 7:15 p.m. and is scheduled to last 75 minutes. The format is wide open, where each candidate gets to ask their own questions to their opponents.

Both the cocktail reception and the debate are free and open to the general public and the press. The event will also be broadcast live on Beaconcast.com for those who can’t make it out on February 4.

2010 PREDICTIONS

As our political predictive track record in 2009 was pretty stellar, we decided to roll in the New Year with some more bold political predictions for 2010.

GEORGIA GOVERNOR

GOP: Karen Handel and John Oxendine in the GOP primary run-off, but its too close call the winner now, so we’ll wait on that.

This prediction represents a stark change in our analysis, but we are now convinced Handel is a powerful force to be dealt with. Her appeal to conservative women voters is taking firm root, and her message of “sex, lies, and lobbyists,” however politically expedient or hollow it may be, is resonating with her core vote block. Handel now possesses the makings a powerful political elixir that has the potential to motivate a base of Republicans who are petrified of losing Georgia back to the Democrats. Handel is the safest bet to insure that scenario doesn’t play out. Her campaign brain trust knows it, and we expect them to exploit it.

Dem: Thurbert Baker crushes Roy Barnes in the run-off. Baker is going to beat Barnes in the August like a dead band drum. The AG is the most underrated politician in the state. They’ll never see him coming. Neither will the GOP

STATE SENATE (D-56)-GOP

Once thought to be a close race, this is now turning into a potential route since Wendell Willard’s decision to stay in the House and subsequently forego his state senate run.

Brandon Beach wins the GOP primary straight up and replaces the retiring Dan Moody in November. David Belle Isle is going nowhere fast and John Albers, although gaining traction, is just no political match for Beach now that Willard is out.

DROP OUTS

Alpharetta Councilman David Belle Isle drops out of State Senate race in April, readies a run for Alpharetta Mayor in 2011 instead.

MILTON COUNTY: GETS ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER

Milton County passes both the House and Senate by one vote each (two-thirds majority needed in both Houses), gets on the November ballot and wins with 74 percent of the vote in November. There is one person I have learned to never in underestimate: Jan Jones.

PRESIDENT

Sixth District U.S. Congressman Tom Price forms exploratory committee in November, stumps in Iowa and New Hampshire in preparation for 2012 bid for President.

ROSWELL COUNCIL GOAL-A-MANIA ON MONDAY NIGHT

Here is what we love about Roswell Mayor Jere Wood: he has asked his city council—he has two new members—to present their personal goals as it relates to their service to the city for the next year. In effect, he’s saying OK, great you got elected; so now what do you actually plan to do? To make it fun, they have to present their goals as a matter of public record at a work session next week. I can’t wait to get them and print them in The Beacon, and then do a weekly scorecard each week. We can even start a fantasy Roswell Council league, and set odds on who accomplishes anything.

THE BELLE ISLE SHAKEDOWN?

Two Alpharetta City staff workers emailed us to complain about Alpharetta Councilman and State Senate candidate David Belle Isle’s relentless fundraising shakedown urging them to donate to this state senate campaign. One even asked us if there were laws against such a thing. Perhaps Belle Isle was just pulling out all the stops before the January campaign financial disclosure deadline. But not to worry, we expect him to drop out of the race before April’s filing deadline, anyway. 

WINISKI WHINING

Reports from double agents (spies) inside the East Roswell Political Cartel (ERPC), David Tolleson’s potent political machine that came within 77 votes of propelling him to Roswell mayor, say that the ERPC’s intellectual and spiritual leader, former Roswell Councilwoman Paul Wilinski, is still whining about their December run-off election loss.

In a letter sent to her east side HOA honchos, and forwarded to The Beacon, she now blames former House Speaker pro-tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek) for Tolleson’s bitter defeat, saying that he let Wood and Lori Henry use his name as their solution to solve the Martins Lake dam problem, only to leave his powerful leadership post to pursue private business interests.

In part, Winiski’s email read, "When I recently contacted Representative Burkhalter’s office to get an update on these requests, I learned that on November 23rd, Safe Dams issued a letter to Burkhalter’s office and to Martin’s Landing Foundation. In this letter Safe Dams repeated their position that the issues identified by the EPD and MLF’s engineers must be addressed and that the dam must be brought into compliance. Soon after, Burkhalter’s office left word with me and Lisa DeCarbo that after they had asked the program manager to look at the situation again and to reevaluate it, it is still Safe Dams’ determination that the dam needs to be brought into compliance.

They relayed that at this point there is nothing more that he [Burkhalter] can do."

In essence, Winiski puts forth the implied notion that Burkhalter knew all along he couldn’t influence Georgia Safe Dams decision, and that he attempted to help Lori Henry politically by signing off on their press release touting thier plan in vote rich Martins Landing weeks before the election.

Truth be told, if Burkhlater chose to remain as House Speaker he would have gotten his dam plan executed in a New York minute, and they know it.