Author

Jay Bookman

Jay Bookman

Jay Bookman covered Georgia and national politics for nearly 30 years for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, earning numerous national, regional and state journalism awards. He has been awarded the National Headliner Award and the Walker Stone Award for outstanding editorial writing, and is the only two-time winner of the Pulliam Fellowship granted by the Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the author of "Caught in the Current," published by St. Martin's Press.

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Brian Kemp’s brand of Republican no longer plays on national stage

By: - November 3, 2022

Time and again on the campaign trail, Gov. Brian Kemp has made it clear that he sees his mission as two-fold, “to make sure Stacey Abrams ain’t gonna be our governor — or the next president.” It’s an effective bit of rhetoric, testament to the Republicans’ strategy of treating Abrams not as another state-level politician […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Top Republicans embrace Marjorie Taylor Greene’s violent rhetoric

By: - October 20, 2022

In a recent campaign video, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia, likened Democrats to destructive feral hogs allowed to range free and destroy the American countryside.  But Marjorie had a solution:  As the camera followed her, she grabbed a rifle and climbed aboard a waiting helicopter, where she tracked down and shot a […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: How much is too much for Herschel Walker’s ‘family-values’ voters?

By: - October 5, 2022

You can tell Herschel Walker was raised right. After all, only a gentleman would think to send a “Get well” card – hand-signed, from #34! — to the girlfriend whose abortion he had just financed. That’s classy, or as close to classy as you’re going to find in this mess. It is not classy to […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: National politics, career arcs explain why Kemp polls ahead of Abrams

By: - September 22, 2022

I follow polls. I study polls. I look to polls for insight into how people outside my immediate circle might be thinking about things.  But no, I do not trust polls. If you trust something you put faith in it. Trust implies a readiness to make decisions based on what those polls tell you, and […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Fulton DA builds 2020 election conspiracy story from bottom to top

By: - September 8, 2022

I don’t think Georgia is prepared for what’s coming its way. I don’t know how it could be, not with the most important and controversial trial in American history looming in its not-too-distant future. Now, maybe that trial will never happen. After months of investigative work into an alleged criminal conspiracy to interfere with and […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Sometimes, it’s not about the money. Take Music Midtown, for instance.

By: - August 11, 2022

“The cancellation of Music Midtown will cost Georgia’s economy $50 million,” says Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor. “It’s shameful, but not surprising, that the governor cares more about protecting dangerous people carrying guns in public than saving jobs and keeping business in Georgia.” On the issue itself, Abrams is right. It’s a scandal […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: No guts no glory if Herschel weasels out of Warnock debate

By: - July 28, 2022

Back in the primary, Herschel Walker wanted nothing to do with a debate against his Republican opponents, but at least he had a lame excuse of an excuse. With polls showing Walker with an insurmountable lead among Republicans, he could shrug off calls for a debate on the grounds that none of his opponents had […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Georgia GOP puts Herschel Walker in bad position

By: - July 12, 2022

The nomination of Herschel Walker to be U.S. senator was an act of cynical disrespect, not just to the important office that he seeks, but also to Walker’s legacy and to Herschel Walker the person. In sports terms, a coach who cares about his players will put them in a situation where they are most […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Mark Meadows could come to regret acquiescence to Trump coup attempt

By: - June 30, 2022

For two hours Tuesday, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson calmly, matter-of-factly testified to the commission of high crimes by the former president and by many of those around him. She told her fellow Americans that Trump had been informed on the morning of Jan. 6 that the mob assembled by his command had […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Why wait till next session to pass an outright abortion ban in Georgia?

By: - June 27, 2022

I have a question for Gov. Brian Kemp: When’s the special session? Last week’s monumental ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade has swung the gates wide open to Georgia’s conservative governing party, giving Republicans permission to enact the anti-abortion legislation that they claim to have always wanted. I have no doubt […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Evidence builds that Trump knew he lost, so attempted coup was criminal

By: - June 16, 2022

We can’t know what’s happening inside the secret, special-purpose grand jury convened at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta. We can’t hear the sworn testimony being given about Donald Trump’s multiple efforts to overturn the 2020 elections here in Georgia; we can’t read the documents being subpoenaed; we can’t know what revelations the investigation might […]

COMMENTARY

Bookman: Responsible gun owners know it’s nuts to permit firearms that scare police

By: - June 2, 2022

Last week an untrained 18-year-old kid, armed with an AR-15 and multiple high-capacity magazines, intimidated an entire police force into doing nothing while he slaughtered their town’s helpless schoolchildren. For more than an hour, while kids frantically texted and called 911 begging to be rescued, the “good guys” did nothing. They did nothing because they […]