The Democratic Party of Georgia sent out five news releases over the past few days mocking five Republican Georgia congressmen for taking credit for stimulus projects back home when they voted against the stimulus package.

Among the culprits: Rep. John Linder, who solicited stimulus grants for in-car laptops for Walton County sheriff’s deputies and bulletproof vests for Barrow County deputies, and Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, who took credit for University of Georgia financial aid and teacher hiring in Clarke County, according to the DPG.

Unlike Rep. Phil Gingrey, grip-and-grin photos of our congressman Paul Broun holding an oversized check have not emerged, but I dug up this nugget from March 2009 out of the files:

An Insider Advantage poll released today (subscription only) shows that almost half of Republican voters haven’t decided who they’ll vote for for governor.

The poll shows Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine in the lead at 25 percent, followed by a statistical three-way tie between former Secretary of State Karen Handel (10 percent), U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (9 percent) and former state Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (7 percent). State Rep. Austin Scott and states’ rights activist Ray McBerry are spinning their wheels at 3 and 1 percent, respectively. State Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, was not included. Forty-five percent are undecided.

President Barack Obama’s meeting with House Republicans today quickly turned ugly, as Obama accused the GOP of obstructing and demonizing his policies, while Republicans insisted the president wasn’t listening to them.

“What happens is that you guys don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me,” Obama said, according to The Politico. "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable with your own base, with your own party because what you've been telling your constituents is, ‘This guy's doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America.' ''

And who would say a thing like that? Maybe this guy.

Six Republican candidates for governor will be debating at 7 p.m. today at the University of Georgia.

The debate isn’t open to the public, but it will be broadcast on WNEG (channel 6 for Charter customers). No liveblog, since television makes them sort of redundant, but I’ll post here if there are any fireworks, so check back.

Confirmed candidates include state Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Gainesville, former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former state Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, Cumming businessman Ray McBerry and state Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine says he has a scheduling conflict.

WNEG anchor Ray Metoyer will moderate, and panelists will include WALB anchor Dawn Hobby, WGCL anchor Stephanie Fisher and WGAU 1340 AM news director Tim Bryant.

State Rep. David Ralston is ahead of the curve.

Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, has been here before. He challenged Glenn Richardson for House speaker last year and failed, but the experience might give him the inside track at Thursday’s caucus meeting, when Republicans will select the next speaker. Richardson is resigning effective Jan. 1.

“I didn’t come late to the change party,” Ralston said in an interview Tuesday. “These are all things that have become very fashionable this year. I talked about them last year.”

President Obama proposes moving 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. You’re a Republican congressman. One of your party’s hallmarks is strong national defense. Yet you’re completely politically invested in stalling this president’s agenda. What do you do?

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, rejects Obama's middle way. He says come heavy or don’t come at all.

“I believe we must give our troops everything they need to win in Afghanistan so that we can bring them home in victory,” Broun said in a statment released just prior to Obama's speech tonight. “If there isn’t a commitment to that, we should bring them home right now.

“I’m very proud we have our first black president. … I can respect him. I can respect this historic moment. But that’s where the story ends in that regard, because his ideology is not what I believe.” – Michael McNeely, chairman of the Georgia Black Republican Council, speaking to the Clarke County GOP on Monday.

Doesn’t that sound refreshing after a year or so of this and this? It’s probably a more effective political strategy, too.

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Judging by the calls and e-mails we’ve been getting at the ABH, Republicans seem to have struck a nerve with their crusade against the presidential aides known as “czars,” particularly the Van Jones controversy.

“We do not need, and should not have, ‘Czars,’” Broun said in a news release today. “The last time I checked, only pre-Communist Russia had Czars, and we are most certainly not in Russia.”

And who overthrew the czars in Russia? As Broun alludes to … the Bolsheviks! Does this mean the Republicans are the real Reds?

Here’s a clip of Broun speaking at a news conference to announce the HR 3226, the Czar Accountability and Reform Act of 2009. The bill was introduced by Athens’ unofficial congressman, Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, and co-sponsored by Broun, among other Republicans.

Time magazine columnist Joe Klein says the GOP has become a party of nihilists.

The nut graf, as we call it in the biz: “How can you sustain a democracy if one of the two major political parties has been overrun by nihilists? And another question: How can you maintain the illusion of journalistic impartiality when one of the political parties has jumped the shark?”

Does this mean Congressman Paul Broun is going to throw a marmot into President Obama’s bathtub?

I just got back from the 10th District GOP Convention at the Georgia Center, where, on the most beautiful day of the year, hundreds of Republicans chose to stay indoors, listen to speechifying and argue about parliamentary procedure.

Call it Fear and Loathing in Athens. The convention had all the paranoia of a Hunter S. Thompson book, minus the drugs and drinking. President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are coming for your guns, your money and your freedom.

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, had few friends at the 2007 convention, but he returned this year as a conquering hero. His message – socialism yadda yadda Marxist yadda yadda yadda – has now become the message of the mainstream.