Political Rewind

Monday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp received a raucous welcome at the GOP state convention over the weekend. He heard plenty of booing from Republican activists still angry he did not do more to support President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The jeers were mixed with the cheers of those ready to support him for a second term in 2022. However, Kemp wa...

Thursday on Political Rewind: As businesses across the country begin to reopen with the lifting of COVID-19 public health restrictions, many Americans are looking forward to returning to their local movie theaters. Going to the movies has long been one of America's favorite pastimes. 2018 saw 1.3 billion movie theater admissions in North America, according to the National Association of Theatre Ow...

Thursday on Political Rewind: Los Angeles in the early 1970s was a glittering confluence of creative genius, which transformed American society as we know it. Music stars like Joni Mitchell and The Eagles co-existed in the same space as television’s Mary Tyler Moore and movie master Roman Polanski. It was an era that gave us All in the Family, M*A*S*H, and Chinatown. Journalist and cultural histor...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Tamar Hallerman, senior reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, guest hosted the show. President Joe Biden marked the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre in Oklahoma yesterday. It has been a century since white Tulsans attacked Black residents of the Greenwood neighborhood in that city. The type of widespread, targeted violence seen in Tulsa in 1921 was nei...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Many COVID-19 restrictions governing Georgia's public spaces and businesses were lifted yesterday. An executive order from Gov. Brian Kemp relaxed public health guidance in restaurants, bars, child care facilities, music venues and convention centers. While the order discourages public schools from enforcing their own mask mandates, it falls short of a ban on local mas...

Friday on Political Rewind: House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) joined us to discuss a recent visit to Republican leaders in Congress and speculation he is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. Ralston, a top leader of Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly, said he was interested in the role representing Georgia in the U.S. Congress, but had not made a decision yet. "Decisio...

Thursday on Political Rewind: GOP legislative leaders have begun a series of hearings they say are designed to address the spike in violent crime in Atlanta. Speaker of the House David Ralston told reporters he thinks Atlanta has a crime problem that the city does not seem able to control. Democrats agree crime is on the rise in the city, but say Republicans are exploiting the problem to win back...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp has issued an executive order banning state agencies and schools from requiring proof of vaccination against the coronavirus. Kemp said vaccination status is a personal matter between an individual and a doctor, and the state should not intrude. In a statement, Kemp urged all Georgians to get vaccinated but said the decision to receive a vaccine was n...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: It's been one year since the murder of George Floyd. His death sent millions of Americans into the streets to demand racial justice and police accountability. Our panel looked back at this year of reckoning. Change is coming to Stone Mountain Park after its governing board approved a series of plans that begin reframing the park’s glorification of the Lost Cause. Part...

Monday on Political Rewind: The Stone Mountain Memorial Association meets today to discuss how to reshape the park's telling of Confederate history. Memorials at the park for decades have celebrated Lost Cause mythology; a view of history casting the Confederacy in a benevolent light. The association's new CEO, Bill Stephens, said it is time to tell the whole truth about the longtime memorial to C...

Friday on Political Rewind: Is Georgia House Speaker David Ralston considering a run for the U.S. Senate? A recent visit to D.C. to meet with Republican congressional leaders and social media posts about the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Raphael Warnock is leading some to speculate Ralston might consider a challenge in 2022. At the moment, there are no well-known Republican challengers to War...

Thursday on Political Rewind: A bipartisan vote in the U.S. House approved the establishment of a congressional commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. While 35 Republican House members voted in favor of the commission, the proposal was opposed by all of the Republicans in Georgia’s congressional delegation. Every member of the GOP delegation also voted against a res...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The past year was difficult for many people. The friends and families of COVID-19 victims mourned the loss of loved ones. It was a year when poisonous politics continued to split families along the fault lines of partisan loyalty. The economy collapsed and exacerbated hardship across Georgia and beyond. There may be no more important time for all of us to talk about...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced yesterday he will not seek a second term in 2022. Instead, the former state representative of District 26 says he will work to build a Republican Party free from former President Donald Trump’s lingering control. Meanwhile, following the latest CDC guidance, nearly two dozen states are giving their approval for vaccinated residents to go...

Monday on Political Rewind: Federal unemployment benefits helped buoy Georgians through a difficult year of economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Gov. Brian Kemp and several Republican lawmakers across the country are moving towards ending the weekly checks for the unemployed in their respective states. Kemp announced last week the $300 weekly payments would end on June 26, saying the...

Friday on Political Rewind: It has become a commonplace cliche to say Jimmy Carter’s tenure as President of the United States was fraught with disappointment. Carter's term was colored by multiple crises, low approval numbers and a lost reelection bid. Pundits often says Carter made a far more significant mark on the world after leaving office than he was able to achieve in the White House. But as...

Thursday on Political Rewind: In the midst of the pandemic that gripped the nation, two of the country’s greatest civil rights leaders died on the same day. One of them, Rep. John Lewis, was a man whose name was known around the world. The other was C.T. Vivian, whose courage and visionary leadership was only equaled by the humility he displayed by rarely seeking the spotlight. It is his story we’...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: In Congress, Republicans decided to remove Sen. Liz Cheney from a party leadership position today. New York’s Rep. Elise Stefanik could be promoted in Cheney’s place, but Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is asking for more time to find a replacement. What does Cheney's ousting tell us about Greene’s role and influence in the GOP and internal fractures wit...

Tuesday on Political Rewind: Georgia’s economy struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic slump. According to statistics from the Georgia Chamber, 231,000 Georgians are currently receiving unemployment benefits after being laid off. In a letter, the Georgia Chamber called on state officials to change the benefits unemployed workers currently receive. But labor advocates say suspend...

Monday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp signed multiple bills in the past several days, including legislation Friday forbidding local governments from making sharp reductions to their police department budgets. The governor used hyper-partisan language in a statement following the signing. Kemp said the new law prevents Democratic officials from passing "radical" defunding measures that would...

Friday on Political Rewind: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has announced that she will not run for reelection. In a letter, Bottoms highlighted her proudest accomplishments in office, but gave no reason for her decision not to seek a second term. We’ll look at what her withdrawal means for the race for mayor of Georgia’s most influential city. Plus, another significant withdrawal is in the new...

Thursday on Political Rewind: The Atlanta Police Department officer charged with felony murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks was reinstated to duty by the city’s Civil Service Board yesterday. The board ruled Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms denied officer Garrett Rolfe due process when she fired him within 24 hours of the shooting. How does this twist complicate the ongoing quest for justice in the c...

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Candidates continue to line up for the 2022 election in races that will determine just how purple Georgia has really become. Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen launched her effort to take on Brad Raffensperger in the battle for Secretary of State, while 6th District congresswoman Lucy McBath draws another GOP challenger. In the gubernatorial race, it is unclear if Gov....

Tuesday on Political Rewind: State election officials begin the biannual process of removing names of inactive voters from the voting rolls. State officials intend to remove voters who have died or moved to another state from the list. Voting rights groups said they will be watching the process to make sure the state conducts it properly. Critics say the process disenfranchises voters by undoing t...

Monday on Political Rewind: Recent data shows a slow in the spread of the virus in many states, including Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp lifted many of the remaining pandemic restrictions placed on Georgia businesses including gyms, bars and restaurants. But is it too soon to relax public health guidelines? The Atlanta City Council is considering whether to approve Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ executive...