Ronnie Thompson (Georgia Politician) - General Election Issues

General Election Issues

Thompson advocated decentralization of Georgia state government: He proposed the relocation of the Georgia Department of Health to Augusta to be near the state medical college and the moving of the Department of Public Safety to Macon in the center of the state. He proposed a state takeover of the City of Atlanta if the capital did not reduce the crime rate within six months of his inauguration. He favored standardized testing of school teachers to remove the incompetent. He proposed legalization of bingo and parimutuel betting by local county option.

Thompson continued hs hard-line rhetoric against crime. He said that he would offer condemned criminals the possibility of a firing squad or hanging in lieu of the electric chair. He proposed that police use Teflon-tipped flat-headed bullets which expand once inside the body. It was not clear to all whether Thompson was being serious or facetious.

Thompson could make little traction in the race against Busbee, who refused the Republican's repeated call for debates. He alleged that Busbee was tied to the Georgia Power Company, milk interests, and International Telephone and Telegraph and that the bulk of Busbee's funding was from "special interests". Busbee was so far ahead in public opinion polls that he could ignore Thompson. And it was a heavily Democratic year nationally in the aftermath of Watergate.