Casey Cagle Owes 11 Republicans an Apology

In the Lt. Governor debate taped on Friday and aired on WSB Sunday morning, Casey Cagle responded to questions about his suspect environmental record with an attack on the Sierra Club of Georgia. I guess Casey's mad because the Sierra Club found his record so deplorable that they put him at the top of their "Dirty Baker's Dozen" list.

In his attack on the club, to which I am a member of, he called them a "liberal" (surprise, surprise) organization designed to help Democrats. The problem with Casey's statement is that there are ELEVEN Republicans on the Sierra Club of Georgia's endorsement list for the 2006 general election. That's because the Sierra Club is not a partisan organization. It's only aim is to call public awareness to environmental issues facing all of us. But perhaps Casey thinks those 11 Republicans aren't really Republicans at all? How dare they make the environment a priority in their campaign?!!!

Also take into account the fact that the Sierra Club does not rubber stamp Democrats. For instance, this year, the committee elected not to make an endorsement for any candidate in the gubernatorial race.

I am not a spokesperson for either the endorsements committee (to which I do not belong) or the club itself. But I feel comfortable in saying that it doesn't play political games. And it caters to no party nor any candidate. An endorsement is earned based on the record of a candidate or the priority in which they place on our issues, not by their party affiliation.

So while Casey may not like the fact that the Sierra Club of Georgia exercised its right and its responsibility to its members to inform voters of his poor record, that doesn't mean that its claims about Casey's record aren't valid. Something tells me that the environment and those who care about it were not important enough to Casey to even seek the club's endorsement, nor the endorsement of any other environment group.

So what's the use of complaining? Because in doing so, he's also trying to invalidate the club's endorsement of 11 of his fellow Republicans.