2-14-2004 Wrathful return of Bobby Kahn guarantees bitter, partisan politics
Kahn, former chief of staff to Gov. Roy Barnes, has been named interim chairman of the state Democratic Party. No doubt the skids have been greased for him to get the job permanently when the 250-member state committee meets later this month. When he does, watch out. Kahn recognizes only two groups of people: Democrats and The Rest of the World.
A number of political observers lay Roy Barnes' defeat at the feet of his chief of staff. Even close friends of Barnes had warned him that Kahn was making more enemies for the governor than he was making friends. Rank-and-file schoolteachers were incensed at what they considered to be a lack of respect from the Barnes administration's well-intended education reform.
Kahn hasn't gotten his new seat warm yet and already has filed two ethics charges and slung a few dozen brickbats at Gov. Perdue. In typical Kahnesque fashion, he accused the governor recently of being "the John Rocker of state politics."
When Sen. Zell Miller chastised the Democratic Party's lurch to the left in his bestseller, "A National Party No More," Kahn accused Miller of undoing much of what he had accomplished during his years as an influential and high-profile Democrat. Miller's response?
"When I left the governor's office in January of 1999, the Democratic Party controlled both houses. The Democratic Party in Georgia had most all of the statewide elected officials," Miller said. "It's been dismantled on Bobby Kahn's watch."
Today, a Republican sits in the governor's office, the state Senate has a Republican majority and the GOP see to welcome the return of their favorite lightning rod. When he heard the announcement of Kahn's appointment, Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, R-Canton, said, "The captain of the Exxon Valdez is back on deck."
Kahn, former chief of staff to Gov. Roy Barnes, has been named interim chairman of the state Democratic Party. No doubt the skids have been greased for him to get the job permanently when the 250-member state committee meets later this month. When he does, watch out. Kahn recognizes only two groups of people: Democrats and The Rest of the World.
A number of political observers lay Roy Barnes' defeat at the feet of his chief of staff. Even close friends of Barnes had warned him that Kahn was making more enemies for the governor than he was making friends. Rank-and-file schoolteachers were incensed at what they considered to be a lack of respect from the Barnes administration's well-intended education reform.
Kahn hasn't gotten his new seat warm yet and already has filed two ethics charges and slung a few dozen brickbats at Gov. Perdue. In typical Kahnesque fashion, he accused the governor recently of being "the John Rocker of state politics."
When Sen. Zell Miller chastised the Democratic Party's lurch to the left in his bestseller, "A National Party No More," Kahn accused Miller of undoing much of what he had accomplished during his years as an influential and high-profile Democrat. Miller's response?
"When I left the governor's office in January of 1999, the Democratic Party controlled both houses. The Democratic Party in Georgia had most all of the statewide elected officials," Miller said. "It's been dismantled on Bobby Kahn's watch."
Today, a Republican sits in the governor's office, the state Senate has a Republican majority and the GOP see to welcome the return of their favorite lightning rod. When he heard the announcement of Kahn's appointment, Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens, R-Canton, said, "The captain of the Exxon Valdez is back on deck."
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