Primary Season Already Kooky in Northeast Cobb

From what I’ve heard lately, East Cobb Republicans aren’t too proud of some of the candidates they have elected. An article in the Feb. 25 Marietta Daily Journal, our local Republican newspaper, said some very negative things about state Rep. Don Parsons in Northeast Cobb.

The MDJ article makes him out to be a pawn of power companies and electric cooperatives. The last time he had a conversation with a constituent was when he was cutting grass in his front yard and someone walked over and said hello.

(Earlier this month, Northeast Cobb Patch reported  at as part of the character education program.)

We are used to representatives in East Cobb who don’t return phone calls, emails, or have public meetings but Don Parsons seems to be especially bashful. I may not always agree with Commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell or Chairman Tim Lee, but at least they have town-hall meetings. These meeting are actually pretty good and much better than an evening in front of the television.

In the MDJ article, it says that Don Parsons will have a primary opponent, JoEllen Smith. I met the Tea Party candidate (that is what her bumper sticker said) at one of the anti-Cobb EMC forums last Tuesday at the Mountain View Community Center. A couple dozen candidates for the board (mostly guys) spent the evening saying that they are for and against the same exact things.

Ms. Smith would walk up to someone, state her name and that she is running for state representative, and ask for their vote. If they said yes, and it would be rude to do otherwise, she immediately gave them an absentee ballot request form. She won’t need a GOTV (get out the vote) element to her campaign. If you met the candidate, your ballot will soon be on the way.

She passed out a lot of copies of the MDJ article about Don Parsons. The MDJ will lie about a Democrat, but you can generally trust them when they criticize a Republican.

What was unusual was her actual absentee ballot request form. It was hard to read and missing a lot of helpful information that you’ll see on a Cobb Elections form.

Ms. Smith said that she got it from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. I asked her why wasn’t she using the easier Cobb form? She said that she had tried, but her Tea Party friends refused to touch it since there were arrows pointing to the Democratic ballot box. Yes, but there was an arrow pointing to the Republican ballot box too. Apparently, when you are easily confused and see conspiracies everywhere, it gave Ms. Smith no choice.

Yes, the head of the Cobb Elections Commission is a Republican.

Too bad the Democrats don’t have a candidate with some money because the Republicans in State House District 42 only have one thing going for themselves, an “R” next to their name on the ballot.

If either one of these Republicans has an open forum or a debate, I’d love to be there in the back of the room. It will be better than the best episode of I Love Lucy.