Saturday, June 2, 2007, 02:33 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Friday, Dale Cardwell ended an 11-year stint as an investigative reporter at WSB-TV.
On Saturday, he became a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, looking to knock off Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Surprise.
“It’s been so doggone hard to keep this under wraps,” the 44-year-old former journalist said. But he’s done it.
Cardwell, a six-time Emmy winner, will formally announce his candidacy on Monday at his campaign headquarters in College Park. He joins DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones as the only Democrats yet to express public interest in the ’08 race.
Cardwell said he will run against what he calls the daily, debilitating corruption of Washington, and promises to eschew money from special interest groups and political action committees.
Anyone who has seen Cardwell on TV knows there is a mild-mannered look about him.
But it turns out there’s a bit of mad-as-hell Howard Beale in him, too. “I have a passion as a believer and an observer, and I just can’t stand it any more,” Cardwell said.
The first issue he mentioned to us was the immigration reform bill now before the U.S. Senate, and hammered out with the assistance of both Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.
Cardwell called it an “amnesty” bill that’s aimed at satisfying corporate interests. “Georgia has to be freed from this illegal invasion that’s holding down salaries,” he said.
No, Cardwell hasn’t ever run for public office before. But he’s got a background that lends weight to his rookie attempt. And it was pointed out to us that WSB-TV’s footprint covers 60 percent of the state.
“I don’t have any baggage. I have 5 million people — they may not know my name, but they know what I stand for,” Cardwell said. “They know I’m an equal opportunity investigative reporter. I’ve investigated as many Democrats as I have Republicans.”
But Cardwell’s family background is hardcore Democrat. He was born in Kentucky and raised in Alabama, the son of a union man, a coal miner.
His wife Angie, of 21 years, is a hospice nurse. He has two children, 19-year-old Adam and 16-year-old Jessica.
Here’s a tidbit from his official bio: His mother “recalls Dale was born during a particularly brutal winter, and [that she] went as far as wrapping her newborn in blankets and placing him on the opened door of the kitchen oven, in order to ward off the single digit temperatures and biting wind that pounded the mobile home in which they lived.
Says the new candidate: “If you boil both parties down to the salt, the Republican motto is survival of the fittest. The Democratic motto is do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Cardwell says his Southern Baptist upbringing would never let him embrace social Darwinism.
It doesn’t sound like Cardwell will be one of those white Democrats who cringe at any mention of religion. He’s a deacon and substitute Sunday school teacher at Dunwoody Baptist.
His bio also lists his hobbies: restoring classic cars, sports, and singing with his brother in their long-time gospel group. So music at fund-raisers will be no problem.
Tell us the truth. You thought Clark Howard had a lock on local politics, didn’t you?
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/?cxntfid=blogs_political_insider
