Karen Handel Is An Idiot

When the story about the Susan G. Komen Foundation/Planned Parenthood deal came out, PG was not interested. There are so many stories in the news, and you can only care about so many. Add to this mixed feelings about the abortion issue, and the toxic rhetoric of the anti choice community, and it is normal to be more interested in what (if anything) Madonna is going to wear at halftime. Then PG made the mistake of reading a story about this PR meltdown, and learned that one of the players was Karen Handel. Mrs. Handel has been a political fixture in Georgia for a while, losing the Republican race for Governor in 2010.
Another reason PG was trying to ignore this story was the flood of information. You get started reading, you follow a few links, and before you know it two hours have gone by. The reward comes when you stumble onto items like this. Karen Handel gave an interview to Northside Woman , shortly after starting The Handel Strategy Group. There was a fun quote: “What I know is I will be prudent and smart about my career. I will make sure the things I have engaged in are not things that will present a difficulty for me later”.
There have been unflattering things about the SGK foundation coming to the public’s attention. Many of the people who have donated money to the pink cause are surprised to find out what their money is going for. Rawstory has a feature, Komen Foundation ousted their Democratic lobbyist just before hiring Karen Handel , that is just downright fascinating.
“It wasn’t until 2008 that the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, a 501(c)3, founded the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Advocacy Alliance, a 501(c)4 non-profit that, under IRS rules, can spend unlimited donor funds on lobbying. It’s that arm of the Komen Foundation that former Secretary of State and failed gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel (R-GA) was hired to run in April 2011, … She’d been serving “as a consultant” to the organization since January 2011… Finally, in 2009, Komen hired Jennifer Luray to run it’s advocacy shop directly and be their top lobbyist in Washington…. When picked to head Komen’s political arm, she was working as a lobbyist for Abbott Pharmaceuticals, a drug and device company that, among its many products, offers a breast cancer screening protocol. … But, according to lobbying disclosure records filed with the House of Representatives, Luray ended her tenure as a lobbyist with Komen in the third quarter of 2010, joining pharmaceutical device manufacturers Becton, Dickinson & Co. instead. IRS filings by Komen indicate she was given a $134,000 severance package upon her departure, which was almost a full year’s salary. “
So, Mrs. Handel was hired to run an advocacy alliance, and before long, Planned Parenthood lost it’s grant. One irony is, while running for Governor, some did not consider her to be pro-life enough. (This quote from Red State is typical: “Killing children in utero is the sacrament of the Church of the Secular Left and any person or organization that becomes the slightest threat to abortion rights must be destroyed.”) When Sarah Palin came to Buckhead to support Mrs. Handel, PG noted “Even though the Georgia Governor has little to do with Supreme Court rulings, some right to life groups have taken to denouncing Mrs. Handel. One of them made a reference to Trig Palin, which the Mama Grizzly denounced. The crowd was assured that Mrs. Handel does not like abortion.”
Jezebel has a story, Meet the Komen Exec Behind the Planned Parenthood Defunding There is a segment on Mrs. Handel being “prudent and smart”… “Handel herself has been largely silent on the issue, until last night, when she all but confirmed what everyone suspected by retweeting— and quickly deleting— a tweet that read “Just like pro-abortion group to turn cancer orgs decision into a political bomb to throw. Cry me a freaking river.” Alas, no one taught Karen Handel about screen grabs. The internet’s forever, Handel. Cry me a freaking river.”
The second part of this feature is a repost. It was written after the run off in the 2010 Georgia Governor’s race. Karen Handel was endorsed by Sarah Palin, and still lost.
UPDATE Karen Handel quit another job February 6, 2012.

It is the day after the runoff. Nathan Deal (once known as a corrupt congressman) beat Karen Handel. The smart people across the state have their opinions, and chamblee54’s don’t stink any worse. As always, if you get tired of the text, you can always look at the pictures. Thank you Live Apartment Fire for the video.
1- Maybe people are getting tired of Sarah Palin. The endorsement by Mama Grizzly was seen as a game changer, and indeed Mrs. Handel won the first round primary. The day before the runoff, there was a rally in Buckhead with an appearance by Mrs. Palin. PG attended, and did not gain a favorable opinion of Mrs. Handel.
Karen Handel is not a likeable person. Karen Handel is a boring speaker, especially compared to a dynamo like Sarah Palin. She got a national superstar to come to her party, and the faithful were impressed, but who else? Maybe PG was not the only one offended by Mrs. Palin telling “yall” how to vote. Maybe people are getting tired of her performance art, and the trailer trash antics of the extended Palin family. While the tea party crowd cheers on her rants about big government, maybe the rest of the country is changing channels?
2- Seeing Karen Handel in person, PG realized that he simply did not like the woman. She does not connect with the crowd. She comes across as a script reading politician.
A month ago, PG saw Mrs. Handel as the least of the evils in the governor’s race. The front runner was a squalid piece of refuse named John Oxendine. The other men included Nathan Deal, a state senator who wants teenagers to go to prison for having sex, and Humbert Humbert. While Mrs. Handel did not seem special in any way, at least she was not under indictment.
3- After going to the rally, PG went home to write about what he saw. He went to a Handel website and looked at the bio page. Two things struck him…Mrs. Handel’s maiden name was not mentioned, and her husband was referred to as “Steve”. PG decided to call the Handel campaign.
To the credit of the campaign, a live person answered the phone. When asked about Mrs. Handel’s maiden name, the lady said ” no one has ever asked me that”. She put the phone down, and went looking for someone in the office who would know.
While the search went on, PG chatted with the lady. Yes, her husband is Steve Handel. No, she is not pulling a Hillary Rodham on us. Finally, someone came forth with the word that her maiden name was Karen C. Walker. What the C stands for is a mystery.
No one is saying that Karen Handel lost the race because she did not show her maiden name in her campaign bio. But it does fit in with the impression that PG got at the rally…that Karen Handel was a script reading mannequin, saying what she thought the people wanted to hear. Maybe there is some substance behind that red suit, but we won’t find out in this election.