In the 2016 Congressional election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District the incumbent Tom Price (Republican) was up against someone named Rodney Stooksbury representing the Democratic Party. The only problem was… no one knew who he was. There were no campaign signs, no web sites, heck, you couldn’t even find the guy on face book!
When reporters went to his town house in Sandy Springs, no one answered the door. When they inquired with the neighbors, no one had heard of him. He apparently had run no campaign, and had raised no money. Heck, it wasn’t even clear that this guy existed! Was he a Republican stooge?
In spite of all this, our resilient Rodney was able to get 40% of the vote.
As my sister would say, this case just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.
When we started our own investigative reporting, the only thing we could find was that he was a retired “aeronautical”.
But what does that mean?
Which begs the question, what was this guy doing on the ballot in the first place? For that we turn to the Democratic party of greater Atlanta, who call themselves the “insiders baseball club.” How could they drop the ball in such a big way? The only conclusion you can draw is that they got so used to losing they lost interest in the elections, and were more focused on their election night parties (for which the chance to party was the only reason to get together, since they always lost). I mean, if they can’t get people with distinguished political pedigrees like Jason Carter and Michelle Nunn elected… I think a lot of people were wondering, what’s the point of going to the polls? Maybe they thought they could just throw Rodney against the wall and see if he stuck. Who cares if he exists?
One of the things you can count on in Georgia politics is that the hand-picked candidates of the Democratic party will lose. Which is why you shouldn’t be so eager to play that role. They pick people who are too young or liberal, or come across as being the types that people from Georgia’s 6th District don’t want to vote for. This year is no different. You have to ask yourself, can the person they’ve endorsed actually get elected? Doubtful. We think a better alternative is Richard Keatley, a veteran and educator, first generation college grad, who’s the type of guy you’d want to sit down and have a beer with. Or an iced tea.
