Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Poythress sent out an email to supporters Wednesday afternoon pleading with former governor Roy Barnes to end his campaign for the good of Georgia’s Democratic Party.
Here’s a snippet:
Sometimes it takes a friend to speak the truth, even when that truth is hard to hear. Roy Barnes and I have been friends for many years, but I believe I have to say out-loud what is being uttered in hushed tones all across the state: Roy, you shouldn’t run.
Democrats are worried that he’ll bring the Party down – again. All the groups of people that Roy offended before – including all the teachers who still feel insulted – are ready to vote against him. And the Georgia Republican Party is lying in wait to slam-dunk his attempt to get back in office. Meanwhile, Roy remains completely out of touch with ordinary Georgia voters, touring Atlanta socialites through his new mansion last weekend so they could admire the state seal buried in the floor, while record high, double digit unemployment struck the state.
Poythress also accused Barnes of leaving the state Democratic Party “high and dry” after his loss to Gov. Perdue seven years ago writing that, “Instead of helping re-build the Democratic Party so it was prepared for victory after he lost to Sonny Perdue, Roy sat silent.”
“Instead stepping in to stop the Mark Taylor v. Cathy Cox bloodbath in 2006, Roy sat silent. Instead of speaking out against Sonny’s ‘austerity cuts’ to Georgia’s public schools, Roy sat silent,” the Poythress email reads.
Recent polls show Barnes leading the field of Democratic gubernatorial candidates by a substantial margin while those same polls show Poythress stuck in single digits.
Below is the full text of the Poythress email:
FOR THE GOOD OF THE PARTY, ROY SHOULDN’T RUN AGAIN
Sometimes it takes a friend to speak the truth, even when that truth is hard to hear. Roy Barnes and I have been friends for many years, but I believe I have to say out-loud what is being uttered in hushed tones all across the state: Roy, you shouldn’t run.
Democrats are worried that he’ll bring the Party down – again. All the groups of people that Roy offended before – including all the teachers who still feel insulted – are ready to vote against him. And the Georgia Republican Party is lying in wait to slam-dunk his attempt to get back in office. Meanwhile, Roy remains completely out of touch with ordinary Georgia voters, touring Atlanta socialites through his new mansion last weekend so they could admire the state seal buried in the floor, while record high, double digit unemployment struck the state.
I find it very disingenuous for Roy to claim the title “white knight” of the Democratic Party galloping to the rescue especially since it’s his late entry into the race, after an overdramatic 6 month Hamlet routine, which will cause a long and expensive Democratic primary. But this isn’t the first time Roy has put the Democratic Party through pain. Here are three glaring instances where he left our Party high and dry:
- Instead of helping re-build the Democratic Party so it was prepared for victory after he lost to Sonny Perdue, Roy sat silent.
- Instead stepping in to stop the Mark Taylor v. Cathy Cox bloodbath in 2006, Roy sat silent.
- Instead of speaking out against Sonny’s “austerity cuts” to Georgia’s public schools, Roy sat silent.
Simply put, the new Roy sounds a lot like the old Roy.
His late entry into the race has strengthened my resolve and made victory twice as important as it was in January. Not only do Democrats have to stop Roy Barnes in the primary, we have to then come together to win the general election so we can solve some of the toughest policy challenges in the history of our state.
For the good of the Party, I hope that Roy Barnes realizes that there’s still time for him to change his mind so we can avoid a divisive primary. Ironically, the only sure-fire way to prove that he has changed is for Roy to put Georgia’s needs before his own ambition and stay out of the race for Governor.
{ 12 comments }
No conflict of interest there.
…says the guy with 4 points in the polls.
Sometimes it takes a complete stranger to speak the truth: “You’re polling at 2-4% and can’t win. You can only feed ammunition to the eventual nominee’s opponent. Poythress, you shouldn’t run.”
Poythress has supporters? Who knew
Poythress is a _ _ _ _, but I’m smiling at what he’s saying here. He’s funny to me today.
Hey,
I almost was dragged on that tour of his house. My wife found out about it late so I did not have to go. Roy’s wife does something like this every year and community people attend. Does this mean that I am out of touch if I host a neighborhood Bar B Que? How about having them admire my kegerator buried in the basement floor?
Honestly, this looks like smart politics to me – and this is pretty much the FIRST time I’ve been able to say that about Poythress.
Based on what I know about them, and I could be wrong, he and Barnes aren’t that different on the issues, so he HAS to do SOMETHING to separate himself from Barnes, and playing up Barnes’ past failures and the criticisms that even *I* have heard from Democrats about Barnes is probably the way to do it.
Will it get him the win in November? Not a chance. But could it at least get him in a runoff in July? Quite possibly.
What a LOSER and Judas David Poythress is!! He reminds me of the mosquito who roared. Claiming to be a “friend” of Roy, he shoves the stiletto into his shoulder blades. Completely forgetting that Roy Barnes has been his long-time benefactor who appointed him to the juicy position of Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard, Poythress is evidently attempting to divert attention from his DOA campaign. Now Poythress collects a hefty monthly pension check courtesy of Roy Barnes and feels he can afford to attack his old friend in a very, very desperate attempt to get some attention. The best thing David Poythress could do is shut his mouth and shut down his pitiful campaign.
but fish, are you going to tell us how you really feel about poythress?
Poythress is a great man, and a good candidate.
His campaign manager is Wendy Davis, a Rome Ga native who is known for her dirty, mud slinging politics. He made a mistake by picking someone with a losing, dirty campaign record like Wendy Davis.
I’ll address the specific fallicies in the negative points over at GA Liberal later.
I’d like to see Wendy, and Poythress to start being positive, and pointing our the differences, and not looking to the past and trying to tear each other apart, especially when Poythress is only polling in the single digits, and Gov. Barnes is a 50%.
Gen. Poythress’ resume is as big as it is thanks to his good friend Gov. Roy Barnes, but as I said before its hard to win a campaign if Wendy Davis is the campaign manager.
This is a shame that Poythress would attack his old friend like this, its just a shame, and that he was the first one to throw mud (as I noted at GA Liberal, he was VERY negative towards Dubose Porter, another democratic hero).
With unemployment so high, drop out rate up, healthcare issues and transportation a mess the election will focus on real problems the average family is facing.
I think the candidate from either party that can focus on pragmatic problem solving will be the next Governor. Not the candidate that throws the most mud.
What I find very disappointing is the lack of focus on real issues from all the candidates from both parties.
The real question is which candidates have thoughtful pragmatic solutions not just talking points and mudsling.
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