Zoller Meets with Grassroots Leaders

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“We are the campaign that will be relating to people the best”

Gaining steam on the campaign trail, Ninth District Candidate Martha Zoller paid a visit to Gilmer County last Friday, January 6th. Seeking a sound start to the year, the visit was part of Zoller’s Campaign push into this part of the district. Closed to media, the purpose of the Candidate’s call was to meet with volunteer coordinators, part of her grassroots campaign. She explained she will eventually meet with her grassroots leaders and volunteer coordinators in each county to discuss the upcoming months.

“We are the campaign that will be relating to people the best,”

Zoller told FYN before the session, adding,

“ This is what I’ve been doing the last 15 years…I’ve been listening to folks and I’ve been talking to people.”

FYN had the opportunity to sit down with Ms. Zoller before the meeting and discuss both accusations and issues.

In a November 7th press release, Zoller welcomed Jackson County Commissioner Hunter Bicknell to the race. According to an email to FYN, the Bicknell Campaign is

“focusing on rural counties such as Fannin, Gilmer, and Pickens,” asserting, “Hunter being the only candidate in the race that is not from Hall County really helps him understand the needs of the folks in the rural parts of the district.”

Zoller disagrees.

“There’s not much difference between Hall County and Jackson County, as far as how they’re placed and, in fact, we go after a lot of the same businesses,” she said,” adding, “I’m the one more tuned into the rural part of the district, because I’ve been here for the last 15 years.”

Martha Zoller, Hunter Bicknell, and Rep. Doug Collins have been in the race for several months now. When they announced their candidacy, though, it was 2011 and the 2012 Elections seemed a distant, almost abstract destination. But, now, election year is here and with it, greater demands from voters, voters who have heard eight months of talking points from presidential candidates and now, several months more from candidates on the local level. Voters are ready to hear specific solutions to local and national issues.

In the wake of the rhetoric, voters in Gilmer, Fannin, and Pickens feel their concerns will be ignored when the new congressperson goes to Washington. FYN asked Zoller how she responds to these concerns.

“I see this part of the district as being a very important part for a couple of reasons,” she said. “Number one,” she explained, “they haven’t participated in the very lack-luster recovery…unemployment rates in this area are much higher than the average in Georgia and much higher than the average in the Nation.”

In November, the national rate was 8.7 percent, while in Gilmer for the same month it was 10.4, Fannin 9.3, and Pickens 8.7. For job-creation, she said she wants to get the “barriers out of the way,” meaning regulations that she says prevent and will prevent businesses from starting and thriving.

When FYN asked Ms. Zoller what specific regulatory barrier she would get rid of, she said the number one regulatory barrier is Obamacare (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), which she said she would work toward repealing. Her caveat, though, is that she thinks some aspects of Obamacare good, such as the preexisting condition component and keeping young people on their parents’ insurance plans until a certain age. Zoller, however, feels confident that the Supreme Court Cases scheduled for June will ultimately rule it unconstitutional. Although generally agreed upon by Ninth District Constituents, voters are starting to take “repealing of Obamacare” as a talking point too. They are ready to hear how it will be repealed, the process of repealing it, and how to address the high cost of healthcare in the aftermath.

On the economy, she referred to Frank Norton’s Forecast, which highlights a shortage of entry-level houses currently in the state.

“So, there’s opportunity,”

she said, seeing this as a sign of hope for the state and, perhaps, the nation. Although, here, Zoller’s answer was more pointed, she did not elaborate on how she would help translate this opportunity to benefit the economy. She did say, however that she would work with Rep. Tom Graves to help bring manufacturing jobs back to Georgia and that she wants to get the construction jobs “back on track”

“I know this region is hurting more than a lot of the rest of the state is; I’ve looked at it closely,” Zoller confided, “I’m going to take my business experience as well as my ability to be able to work with people of all types to be able to try to help this area.”

Looking ahead, she said that while concentrating on rural counties, like Gilmer, Fannin, and Pickens, that she is not going to turn her back on Northwest Georgia either, emphasizing,

“We’ve got to work together as a team.”

But, as Zoller and her opponents move forward on the campaign trail, they will face tougher questions. They will realize that all anticipation of the election year is past and that it is now 2012. They will realize time for giving general answers is gone and will have to answer with specific solutions to critical questions.

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