From the Chairman
New party chairmen want to shake up electorate
By Charles Oliver
Dalton Daily Citizen
When it comes to local politics, communication
is the key, according to the new leaders of Whitfield County’s
Republican and Democratic parties.
Republican David Blackburn and Democrat Rodney Hackney were both
recently elected to two-year terms as chairmen of their respective
parties in Whitfield County.
Both are relative newcomers to party leadership in Whitfield County,
but each has a long interest in politics.
Blackburn’s father Ben served as a U.S. representative from
1967-1974. He represented Georgia’s 4th Congressional District,
which was then primarily DeKalb and Fulton counties.
“My dad was a Republican when it wasn’t cool to be
a Republican in Georgia,” he said.
Blackburn, an attorney, says his father was one of the people
who started the Republican Party in DeKalb County.
Blackburn, who has lived in Whitfield County since 1988, has seen
the Republican Party’s fortunes grow both locally and across
the state. He gives much of the credit for the GOP’s surge
to the late President Ronald Reagan.
“He showed that a straight-talking conservative can win,”
Blackburn said.
He says one of his goals is to help the party communicate its
conservative message to voters.
“We’re planning to bring in some big names, people
who are big in the state and perhaps nationally, too,” he
said.
“We want to have a big fundraiser dinner, and we are also
looking at doing something with our monthly meetings. We are not
going to have a big full fan fair at every meeting, but we hope
to have at least one pretty significant meeting every quarter,”
he said.
Blackburn says he wants to make sure the party is where it needs
to be to help its nominees for local, state and national offices
in 2008.
Blackburn and his wife Beth have three children: Ben, Matthew
and Lara.
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