Greetings, fellow political nerds

When Scot Turner, the new owner of this esteemed site, approached me to ask if I would be interested in writing for him, he made two requests: that my first post be a personal introduction to you, the reading audience, and that I make my best effort not to libel or defame anyone. Here is my best attempt at accomplishing the first while avoiding the second. 

In 2009, I met a woman who happened to be an officer of the Buckhead Young Republicans. Prior to that time, I had generally voted Republican but had never so much as waved a sign or knocked a door for a campaign. I started going to meetings and events with her, and eleven years and two amazing daughters later, I can honestly say that my involvement in the political arena is, technically, her fault. 

Then, in early 2016, before things started getting real weird, I had the wild idea to attempt a run for office myself. Contrary to some conspiratorial rumors that some of my opponent’s supporters circulated on social media, my decision to run was finalized at a trivia night at the now-shuttered Famous Pub in Toco Hills. Some very good friends of mine completely failed to talk me out of it, and by the end of the night, I had a campaign manager, a strategic plan, and a second place finish in trivia. (This, sadly, was to foreshadow my ultimate outcome in that race.)

Soon after the 2016 election, I ran a more successful campaign for Chairman of the DeKalb County Republican Party, and ended up serving two terms in that role. I’m quite proud of the work our board and I did over those four years reviving what was at the time a rather moribund local organization. But being a volunteer GOP officer in one of the bluest counties in the state isn’t always as much fun as it sounds, and after four years, I was happy to see the next generation of leadership take over. They’re a passionate and active group now, and I encourage readers in DeKalb to stop by www.dekalbgop.org and see what your local GOP is up to.

That’s a summary of my political resume; I would like to think there are other interesting things about me, but I don’t want to use up all my good material on the first day. I anticipate writing about such things as cars, flying, and Jeopardy!, just as soon as I figure out ways to shoehorn them into pieces that are supposed to be about Georgia politics.

Speaking of which, I’ve been given a great deal of leeway on topics to write about, as long as they do relate to our politics in some way. I’ll do my best to find relevant, meaningful subjects that will be of interest to people like me who pay just a little bit more attention to politics than is probably healthy. Suggestions are always welcome.

I look forward to joining this community and helping participate in the creation of high-quality, useful content. They say “all politics is local”, and if that’s true, local political news and opinion is of vital importance to the political dialogue. Peach Pundit can be an important part of that dialogue, and I hope to contribute in some small way to making that happen.

(If anyone feels libeled or defamed by the above, I’m sorry. Please don’t tell Scot.)