Deal vs. Barnes: Readers react to governor’s race

Re: Election discussions at facebook.com/thegavoice (Aug. 11)

Editor’s note: GA Voice readers had plenty to say about Nathan Deal’s victory over Karen Handel in the Aug. 10 GOP gubernatorial primary runoff. Deal, who attacked Karen Handel on gay issues, now faces Democrat and former Gov. Roy Barnes and Libertarian John Monds on the November ballot.

Here’s hoping that moderates are as scared of Nathan Deal and that his corruption charges follow him long enough to get Barnes elected.

Barnes might not be marching in the Pride Parade, but I’ll take him over the bigoted Deal any day.

Barnes has an upper hand in this election: His four years was a good period economically. The last conservative eight years have been piss and shit. Another four years of Barnes? Hell yeah! We were better off then.

We’ll have to put money and sweat equity into the Barnes campaign. If Deal’s campaign tries to stoke the gay baiting fires, Barnes should point out very publicly that most of Georgia’s population would really rather have the governor’s race address other issues like employment, education, environment, economy, etc., and that he (Barnes) doesn’t believe it’s right or ethical to single out any group of Georgia’s citizenry for a hate campaign in a cheap attempt to raise funds from fear.

Like Roy Barnes is really going to further our cause. Get real.

Barnes met with LGBT groups during his first run for governor, but he’s vocally said he’s against “marriage” (but didn’t dismiss “union”). He may not be a lib like in Washington, but he doesn’t throw hate our way.

Deal will only hold gays back, and the morale of Georgia’s residents. Barnes at least will neutral-out on issues this deep. He won’t further our cause, or corrupt our state.

Barnes did openly meet with LGBT groups, and his particular genius was his ability to get the General Assembly to bottle up bills he didn’t want to deal with. He will avoid LGBT issues if at all possible. On an issue like gay adoption, he’d probably say the current law is working fine and we don’t need to change it — which is the correct position, but he won’t directly defend our families in a way we might hope. Expect the statewide Democrats to deflect social issues as “not as important” as the economy, jobs, education, etc. Realize that we are in Georgia, and every politician knows that the anti-gay-marriage amendment passed with 76 percent of the vote in 2004. What we shouldn’t see from Barnes or anyone else is the kind of Handel-like public reversal and return of gay bashing.

We were never going to have a friend in the governor’s mansion regardless. I was in Georgia for Gov. Barnes #1 and like typical politicians Roy met with the LGBT community and ignored us after being elected. He is as good at pandering and taking advantage of gullible Democrat voters as Nathan Deal was at pandering to the gullible homophobic rural, conservative, so-called “Christian” base. The only honest vote is to vote as if we were seeking a new pest control contract. Do we want to get rid of roaches or flies? But we will still have the creepy crawlers in November.

All LGBT, African-American, liberal or even moderate persons must unite in November and do all we can, meaning we all must register and vote for Roy Barnes. We must do all we can to insure that this crooked little crypto-Nazi gay-baiting hypocritical waste of skin Mr. Deal is not elected.