ATLANTA - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain swept into Georgia on Monday and scooped up $1.75 million for the GOP and his own campaign.<br />
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Many of Georgia's GOP bigwigs were on hand for the fundraiser, including the state's two U.S. senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson as well as Gov. Sonny Perdue. One Georgia Republican who was nowhere to be seen: Ralph Reed, whose ties to a Washington lobbying scandal McCain investigated, and who nonetheless sent out a fundraising e-mail on McCain's behalf.<br />
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McCain on Monday repeated his calls for offshore drilling to address the nation's energy crisis and urged Congress to come back to Washington to address the nation's fuel woes.<br />
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The Arizona senator also spoke of the nation of Georgia, now locked in a conflict with Russia.<br />
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"Why do we care about Georgia? Some may not know that Georgia the country was one of the earliest Christian countries," McCain said.<br />
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He added, "This is a seminal time my friends," likening the struggle between Russia and Georgia to the challenges faced by the West during the Cold War.<br />
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Perdue told the deep pocketed Republicans Monday that the stakes are high in this year's presidential contest against Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee in waiting.<br />
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"I believe we're in a struggle, a global struggle for good and evil," the governor said. He praised McCain's performance in a family values forum Saturday hosted by a popular evangelical pastor saying the contrast with Obama was clear.<br />
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Several dozen Democrats protested McCain's appearance on Monday night, seeking to link McCain to Reed.<br />
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Reed, the former Christian Coalition, executive director sent out an e-mail soliciting contributions for McCain in advance of the event. Reed's links to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff were exposed in part by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee when McCain was its chairman.<br />
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"It's incredible to me that he (McCain) would even allow Ralph Reed in the room with him after being head of the committee that let Abramoff have it," state Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kidd said.<br />
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A spokesman for McCain said Reed was not in attendance and held no role in the campaign.<br />
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A statement issued by Reed said he is not part of the host committee for the Atlanta fundraiser. He called the attacks by Democrats "absurd."<br />
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"I hold no official role or position in the McCain campaign and am not seeking one," Reed said in a written statement. Reed said he simply sent out an e-mail solicitation using "pro forma language used by anyone asking others to support Sen. McCain."<br />
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Reed's relationship with McCain had been frosty because of the Senate probe. Reed's 2006 bid for lieutenant governor in Georgia was sunk partly because of the Abramoff allegations. Reed was never charged with any wrongdoing.<br />
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But he still holds sway among religious conservatives, a group McCain is working to court.<br />
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Kidd on Monday also attacked McCain for coming to Georgia only to raise money from big money donors. She noted that when Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was last in Georgia in July he held a free town hall meeting attended by several thousand Georgians.<br />
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Obama also headlined a pair of high dollar fundraisers in that visit.
