More About Ultra-Conservative Debra Honeycutt (Psst . . . She's black!)

Thanks to a commenter, who's apparently going around busting on African American Republicans for funsies, from an earlier post, "This Is Why Black Folks Don't Vote Republican," we have this article from the Atlanta Constitution. (Psst . . . look for the part where she accuses Obama of supporting black genocide. No, she's not referring to Darfur or Congo.) - No1KState

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Non-incumbent raises $4.3 million for her campaign, but questions linger
By Ben Smith

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Deborah Honeycutt has raised $4.3 million to run for Congress, more than any candidate seeking a Georgia seat in the U.S. House this year.

That includes all of Georgia’s veteran GOP congressmen, none of whom has raised more than $1.5 million for their re-election campaigns. Among non-incumbents running for Congress, Honeycutt ranks third in fund-raising nationally, according to CQPolitics.com.

Honeycutt is a Riverdale physician who’s never held elected office, running in a congressional district that’s overwhelmingly Democratic. Honeycutt knows that firsthand. She raised $2.3 million to run for the same seat in the suburban metro Atlanta district in 2006 and lost. Democrat David Scott, the 13th District incumbent, trounced her by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

Honeycutt is seeking a rematch. Political experts find that puzzling.

“It’s a rather strange phenomenon,” said William Boone.

Boone, a Clark Atlanta University political science professor, noted that Honeycutt, who, like Scott, is African-American, is an “ultraconservative” candidate running in a district that doesn’t vote that way. Honeycutt says she opposes Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because “he’s for black genocide.” (Emphasis mine. Didn't want you to miss it.)

Honeycutt is referring to Obama’s support of abortion rights. On Feb. 5, a large majority of voters in the six-county district cast ballots in the Democratic presidential primary. The vast majority of voters picked Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Boone also said the Honeycutt campaign “doesn’t appear well organized, not well enough to unseat an incumbent congressman.”

“It doesn’t come close to looking like a $4.3 million campaign,” Boone said.

Honeycutt has paid to advertise on billboards and radio. The campaign has spent $390,000 on cable TV spots. But cable doesn’t reach nearly as many people as TV commercials broadcast on major network affiliate stations. To date, according to records filed at Atlanta’s four affiliate stations, Honeycutt has spent roughly $4,000 to air one ad.

By contrast, the two candidates in the state’s most competitive congressional election, Democrat Jim Marshall of Macon and Republican Rick Goddard of Warner Robins, have spent at least $1 million combined in television advertising at broadcast stations in Middle Georgia. Honeycutt has raised more money than both candidates combined.

But records show that most of the $4.3 million reported by the Honeycutt campaign went to the Washington direct mail firm that raised it, BMW Direct and its contractors.

Honeycutt and a company official said that’s not unusual.

“It takes money to raise money,” said Honeycutt.

Campaign watchdog groups have questioned whether BMW Direct shortchanges clients running longshot campaigns by raising huge sums of money on their behalf and then keeping most of it.

The Boston Globe, in a June 29 story, reported that BMW Direct had raised money on behalf of a conservative write-in candidate long after the congressional hopeful had suspended his campaign. The candidate, Charles Morse, only received $30,000 of the $700,000 the company reported raising on his behalf, the Globe reported.

Company officials defend their fund-raising practices.

“When this election’s over we will have transferred $1.1 million to the Honeycutt campaign,” said Jordan Gehrke, director of business development for BMW Direct. “We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Boone said the chances of Honeycutt winning the 13th District are extremely slim. But the Scott campaign is taking her candidacy seriously.

Tuesday, Scott filed a formal complaint accusing the Honeycutt campaign of paying for a flier distributed by a group called “Democrats for Good Government,” whose founder has denied that he’s working for Honeycutt.

“We caught them red-handed,” Scott’s attorney, Michael Williams, said at a news conference.

Honeycutt said she was unaware of the flier, but would investigate whether her campaign was involved in distributing it.