Made in Georgia

I lied when I said there'd be no politics.

Very little of what a reporter observes makes it onto the page. You get one dateline, no matters how many places you traveled to while working. You hear hours of speeches but can only quote a few sentences without them overwhelming the piece. You talk to dozens of voters and staff and candidates and, in a quick-turnaround story, maybe quote six of them.

I think about this, well, frequently - but I obsess about it when I’m reading any kind of history that quotes contemporary accounts. Political speeches are written with the press’s limitations in mind, so they’ll have key lines to quote. But they’re mostly meant to move opinion, and what resonates with a crowd might sound glib to us. Off-the-cuff speeches or remarks by lower-tier party activists are unfiltered, revealing what people are really animated about. But unless a quote is really wild, some county co-chair isn’t taking article space away from a candidate.

Public campaigning is only one aspect of winning, and we miss the story if we just focus on the presentation. I’ve just always liked the text - 30-second ad scripts, verbatim remarks. So one thing I can do with this website is share that, occasionally. I will only post transcripts of speeches that no one else would bother posting in full.

These are the remarks that Kim Klacik, an unsuccessful 2020 congressional candidate, made at a rally for Georgia Republicans in Sugar Hill, on Sunday. Klacik raised more than $8 million on the strength of viral videos that also got her a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention. She lost by 54 points.

KIM KLACIK
SUGAR HILL, GA.
JANUARY 3, 2021

What’s up, Georgia? How are you?

My name is Kim Klacik. I ran in the greater Baltimore area. If you haven't seen it, please check it out: I did an ad where I wore my red dress and my red heels, walking down the streets of Baltimore, one, because I wanted to look cute, and two, because I wanted to show people exactly what's going on in Democrat-controlled cities.

The same people that ran Baltimore into the ground, they're running for office here in Georgia. And so you’ve got to hold the line. So I just want to run down three clowns real quick. And I can say everything I want to say today, because according to Democrats, because I'm a black woman, I am neither racist nor sexist? Right. So I can say whatever the heck I want right now. Right?

First clown? Stacey Abrams. Not even two years ago, she ran for governor and Georgia rejected her. But she's like a crazy ex-girlfriend that just won't go away. Here she is now, getting involved, to try to change the election rules so she can lie, cheat, steal and change the election.

She talked about voter suppression while her sister, who looks just like her, unfortunately - God bless them - her sister is now a judge in Georgia. And she's suppressing legal voters. How did that happen? It's ridiculous. That's why, again, we must hold the line.

Clown number two, Ralph Warnock. [Ed. - This is Klacik’s error, the candidate’s name is Raphael Warnock.]

Now, Warnock is actually very dangerous, right? Not just the domestic abuse case, we can't talk about that. Right? Media? Can’t talk about that.

But he is dangerous because he wants to defund the police. If you defund the police in Baltimore City, we would all die, OK? We have so many shootings each year, we’re at a daily rate now, shootings every single day. We need a police presence.

The only people that are pushing for defunding the police are those that are basically protected by the Capitol Police every single day, like AOC. Right? Iyan Omar. [Ed. - Klacik misstated the name of Rep. Ilhan Omar.] They want to defund the police, but us who are out there, American civilians, we’re the ones that are at stake, and they don't care.

Now, he's also dangerous because he acts as if you can't criticize him because he shoots himself with the Bible. Right? He calls himself a reverend. Those are the most dangerous types of people.

Now, the third clown is Jon Ossoff. I like to call him the bought and sold candidate. Right? When you go to the Senate, you have to take an oath and you have to swear to defend the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies. He is so far in bed with China, he would be a domestic enemy. He could not take that oath.

[audience member: SOY BOY]

A soy boy! That’s hilarious. Okay! A soy boy, at that.

So you know what? You've got to hold the line, Georgia. You don't want this country to look like Baltimore City. I can tell you. It's awful. We have to hold the line. We have to make sure we tell our friends, our cousins, all of our relatives to get out and vote on January 5th for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

America, I know it's a lot of pressure, but we are really relying on you guys to do this for us. And I know someone asking earlier, has things changed? There are a lot more poll workers out there right now. There's a lot more volunteers. There's a lot more eyes on the ground. Take a look at everything that's going on. So you’ve got to get out there because if you don’t vote then we definitely will not win.

My name is Kim Klacik. I love you, Georgia.