It hasn't been a good week for George W. Bush. His inept handling of Katrina has been well documented just about everywhere. Democrats, emboldened by already weak approval ratings, have been on the attack.

But this should not just be about Bush or this administration.

A friend of mine noted after Katrina that Democrats should use the Tsunami disaster as a metaphor, as a narrative for why progressive politics are so important. I was skeptical of the worthiness of such an attempt. It was simply too difficult to internalize the depth of a tragedy halfway around the world. People felt for the Tsunami victims, but it was unclear how politics played in that situation, and how Democratic politics could have possibly made the situation any better. I did think that, in the end, Democrats should have made an attempt to use the Tsunami narrative as Republicans used the 9/11 narrative. But I knew we would wait for the day when we found a blisteringly apparent justification for our policies.

No longer must we wait for that day....

This originally appears at Corked Bats.

Sonny Perdue, up for re-election in 2006, has just become the first Governor in Georgia's history to be convicted of an ethics violation.  This violation adds to the ethics woes of Georgia's Republican Party, posterboy Ralph Reed.  

Lots more corrupt goodness below the break..

From the diaries: Let's hope the Republican Party in Georgia eats its own Reed in the primary, as I don't know that the Georgia Democratic Party will be up to the task in the General, though I'd love to be proved wrong on that one. Jerome

Unbelievable.

Political Vine goes to town on Ralph Reed today in a scathing article that finally blows open this whole Ralph Reed gambling scandal.  For those of you unfamiliar, and I imagine most of you are, Reed is running for Lt. Governor in Georgia in 2006 for the spot being vacated by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Taylor.  But he's been embroiled in scandal since he announced, most recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ralph Reed delivered what was expected as a consultant to two Alabama anti-gambling campaigns: victories over proposals for a state lottery and video poker, and donations totaling $1.15 million.

But Reed didn't tell the campaign organizations -- and, he insists, he didn't know -- that the money came from a Mississippi Indian tribe trying to protect its casinos from competition.

Get the full story on the flip....

This originally appears over at Corked Bats

Over the next couple of years, I plan on covering Georgia's gubernatorial race pretty closely. Despite Georgia's red state status, this is one of the more vulnerable governor's races up in 2006. Besides, Montana elected a Democratic Governor, and Virginia hasn't voted for a Democrat for President in a few dozen years but was willing to elect Mark Warner. So don't be fooled.

Sonny Perdue defeated incumbent Roy Barnes in 2002 in a huge Republican sweep year--still riding the tide of 9/11, Republicans had a big year in Georgia, beating Max Cleland and Roy Barnes. But Democrats still held both the Senate and the House...that is, until Perdue convinced four Democratic Senators to jump ship and switch parties, giving Republicans control of the Senate for the first time since Reconstruction.

In fact, Perdue won, in large part, for two reasons. Barnes ticked off the teachers, giving Perdue a slight opening. But the biggest election issue? You'll love it...

Deficit hawking is an important part of putting together a new coalition in the coming years.  The Republicans are on the verge of (if not past the verge) of permanently forfeiting their right to claim to be the bearers of fiscal responsibility.  There are a large group of voters (largely younger suburban voters) that are not comfortable with voting for the Democratic party for two main reasons right now.