Political Rewind

Tuesday on Political Rewind: The first pitch in Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game is set to be thrown in Denver tonight instead of Cobb County as originally planned. Republicans have launched a blistering campaign blaming Democrats for the relocation. MLB moved the game in response to the state's new election law, which league officials insist discriminates against minority voters. Gov. Brian...

Monday on Political Rewind: The latest campaign financial reports in races across the state reveal once again the staggering sums of money that now are commonplace in political campaigns. And a new Georgia law opens the door for the state’s political leaders to rake in even more cash. We took a look at the latest fundraising reports and the powerful impact of money in politics with our panel. But...

Friday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp is launched his campaign for reelection recently. He starts the race with a formidable war chest but he continues to face criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Is there a credible Republican primary challenge waiting in the wings? And what kind of tone will Kemp seek to strike in his campaign? Does he have a chance at attracting cr...

Thursday on Political Rewind: First lady Jill Biden is in Savannah today. Her visit is designed to encourage younger Georgians to become vaccinated against COVID-19. The Georgia Department of Public Health reports that only 6% of those between ages 12 and 15 have been fully vaccinated, even as the new school year approaches at the end of the summer break. Compared to other states, overall rates of...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: As Gov. Brian Kemp prepares to formally launch his bid for reelection later this week, his campaign sends a warning signal to those looking to challenge him. His campaign revealed the Republican had raised roughly $12 million so far this cycle for his bid for a second gubernatorial term, with $3.9 million in cash collected over the last three months. For Republican c...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Voting rights experts are assessing the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Arizona voting case. The July 1 decision will make it harder to challenge new voter rules put in place by Republican lawmakers following the 2020 election. Advocates also worry the decision will further weaken federal laws designed to protect the rights of minority voters. What might th...

Friday on Political Rewind: As the July 4 holiday approaches, New York Times bestselling author Sebastian Junger joined us to reflect on the basic tenets of freedom in society. In his new book, Freedom, Junger writes that throughout history, humans have always been drawn to two competing ideals: community and freedom. The author writes that the two have never coexisted easily. After all, we value...

Thursday on Political Rewind: As the Peach State seeks a new permanent chancellor for its public universities and colleges, leaders of North Carolina's public university system find themselves embroiled in a national debate over race, journalism and academic freedom. The attention came after trustees of the University of North Carolina system initially denied tenure to journalist Nikole Hannah-Jon...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: How American history is discussed in schools is receiving new attention in Georgia and across the country. State Republicans have joined a chorus of conservatives voices demanding an end to the inclusion of so-called "critical race theory" in school curriculum, though few of its critics can provide a clear definition of what it is. At issue is how we discuss the atro...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: It has been 50 years since Atlanta’s first gay Pride parade kicked off on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. Compared to its recent iterations, the march was a small event. At the time, homosexuality was illegal under Georgia law and members of the LGTBQ community typically lived lives in the shadows. But on June 27, 1971, they congregated in Atlanta to publicly demand an en...

Monday on Political Rewind: Georgia lawmakers and politicians sound off on a new federal lawsuit challenging state election law. Georgia Republican leaders criticized the Department of Justice decision to file a lawsuit challenging the state’s new voting laws. They insist the lawsuit is a partisan effort to upend provisions designed to stop voting fraud.  Also, the state has announced it will halt...

Friday on Political Rewind: Vice President Kamala Harris visits the Mexican border for the first time today. She’s been criticized by Republicans and Democrats for failing to take the leadership role President Biden assigned her to find solutions for dealing with the surge of immigrants looking to enter the United States. Our panel looks at what to expect as she visits the border. Plus, a superior...

Thursday on Political Rewind: President Joe Biden has laid out his strategy for combatting spiraling gun violence in cities across the country, including Atlanta. He’s called for cities to tailor their own plans for using $350 billion from the federal COVID Relief Fund to fight violent crime. Biden’s proposal marks a change by Democrats away from calls by liberals in the party to shift funding awa...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Incumbents in important elected offices in Georgia are already bracing for the 2022 election season. But challengers have yet to materialize in several prominent contests, including in the race against Gov. Brian Kemp and race for the Senate seat held by the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Kemp is expected to face a primary challenge from a yet undeclared Republican before the g...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, a massive mobilization began across the world. Public health officials released safety guidelines and news organizations ran thorough coverage. But when HIV/AIDS was first identified almost 40 years ago, the response was tragically different. President Ronald Reagan refused to acknowledge the disease, public health agen...

Monday on Political Rewind: Seven months after the 2020 presidential election, the outcome in Georgia is still being contested by those convinced a myriad of conspiracies stole the election from Donald Trump. A court case today will determine whether plaintiffs have the right to have Fulton County absentee ballots examined for fraud. A weekend New York Times article describes how Georgia’s new ele...

Friday on Political Rewind: Deep political and theological divides among leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention are on vivid display during the SBC’s annual meeting in Nashville this week. The nation’s largest religious denomination is struggling with taking a stand on teaching of critical race theory, support for Donald Trump, the role of women in the pulpit and other issues that in many ways...

Thursday on Political Rewind: The bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature. June 19 is set to become a federally recognized commemoration of the emancipation of slaves in the United States. It will become the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983. The measure won overwhelming bipartisan support in the Sena...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: It was the first opportunity for the public to weigh in on the consequential and likely contentious process of drawing Georgia's new political boundaries. Last night's virtual meeting saw input from many young students' concerns about gerrymandering. Georgia Tech student Alex Ames told the committee that districts drawn to split up colleges and universities leave stu...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: It has been more than a year since many Americans were shaken into action by the police shootings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and other Black Americans. In response, millions took to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism, police brutality and injustice in American society. Meanwhile, corporations, universities and other institutions began...

Monday on Political Rewind: Georgia’s new election law could face federal scrutiny after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced plans for the Department of Justice to review state laws across the country that some say limit the right to vote. Garland announced he would double the number of voter enfranchisement lawyers on staff in his department's Civil Rights Division. During his remarks on J...

Friday on Political Rewind: The Cobb County School Board waded into the contentious effort to ban the teaching of so-called critical race theory. A divided board yesterday outlawed the concept, an academic framework that analyzes racism as not just individual bias but as embedded in legal systems and policies.  One Republican board member called the theory a divisive concept. A board member oppose...

Thursday on Political Rewind: Leaders in Georgia’s Republican party traveled to Arizona this week to take a look at the controversial GOP-driven recount of presidential ballots in Maricopa County. The probe, which received vocal support from former President Donald Trump, has drawn Republican leaders from states nationwide. State Sens. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and Burt Jones (R-Jackson) and st...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Religious leaders representing more than 1,000 churches staged a voting rights rally at the state Capitol yesterday. They said they will use Georgia’s new election laws as proof that congress must pass federal legislation removing barriers they say limit access to the vote for minority communities. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are facing resistance from Republi...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: High levels of incidents of gun violence are gripping the nation. Georgia communities are struggling to address the issue. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond unveiled a sweeping proposal to use federal COVD relief funds to reform his county’s approach to criminal justice. Also, Atlanta’s new police chief says he is restructuring his department to address the alarming i...