Thomasville Times-Enterprise by Jim Zachary
September 21, 2019
Filling a U.S. Senate seat should not be a dog and pony show or an opportunity for political grandstanding.
But that is exactly what it has become with Gov. Brian Kemp’s online application process.
Casting the wide net to find the right person to fill the vacated seat of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson may seem like an open, transparent, public process but who is kidding whom?
Does anyone really think the Kemp team does not already know the name of Isakson’s successor?
Being open and transparent is not only desirable it should be the normal course of government, but pandering to a political base and claiming transparency is a ruse. The public is not that gullible.
Telling anyone who dreams of being a U.S. senator to simply “apply” by filling out an online application and they will be fairly considered for the post is not only disingenuous, it is borderline disgraceful.
And get this: Anyone can go online and review every single application. A quick look shows quite a range of relevant experience and the lack thereof.
Let’s be honest, this will be a high-profile, Republican appointment to a Republican-held seat, by a Republican governor and no one should expect anything else.
And that is not unreasonable.
In fact, it is exactly what one would expect.
The actual field of viable appointees is small and Gov. Kemp already knows that.
Why go through all of this unless it truly is open to all?