The first political event I attended in Cobb County was a Madison Forum meeting chaired by Richard Castellucis. It was a very special meeting. Bill Byrne spoke at the meeting. At the time, he was serving as Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners. He chose that meeting of this group to announce his gubernatorial race.
At the time I thought it strange that an announcement of such import be made at what appeared to be a rather informal meeting of political gadflies where the questions took longer to state than answer by an order of magnitude.
In the intervening years, though, I met the other attendees of that meeting and have come to realize that major legislation and political movements have their roots in meetings such as these.
There is something very special about Cobb County. Among its current sons and daughters are a former Speaker of the US House, a Governor, a Senator, a state party legal counsel, and a soon to be state party chair. Among its political activists – most being Madison Forum members -- an intellectual spark arose that eventually became the Republican Revolution encapsulated within Speaker Gingrich’s Contract With America.
The Madison Forum is evolving. Its current President, Michael Opitz, is moving it in a new and very interesting direction – transitioning from speaker’s bureau to think tank. Given the history of political thought in Cobb County, I’m excited to be part of this venture.
Many friends have inquired about the possibility of a revival of The Majority Builder, a column I wrote while active in the Cobb GOP and I never have had a good answer. I’ve always had a thirst for knowledge and an itch to write, but learned that party politics isn’t a good match for me.
In the new Madison Forum, I feel I’ve found a home.
I’ll be researching and writing about emerging sources of energy.
We’ll explore renewable sources of energy such as ethanol, bio-diesel, fuel cells, hydrogen and distinguish between hype and fact. We’ll learn about the current state of technology and discover what the future may hold.
Recent technological breakthroughs have made alternatives to fossil fuels economically viable and public policy has yet to catch up. For this column, I intend to do the research to present facts giving members of the Madison Forum opportunities to be involved in policy decisions as they have in the past.
I invite comments, suggestions and questions via email at craig@sysDevGroup.com.