With his candidate of choice, Eric Johnson, out of the race, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston is throwing his support behind Nathan Deal in the gubernatorial runoff.

"I encourage conservative Republicans in Southeast Georgia to join me in rallying behind Nathan Deal to be Georgia's next governor. For those who supported Eric Johnson, Nathan is the natural fit for the Aug. 10 runoff.

"As a member of Congress, Nathan earned a perfect score from the American Conservative Union which speaks volumes for his conservative record.

"On immigration, he introduced legislation and led the fight to end birthright citizenship. His citizenship verification law slashed Medicaid fraud, cutting Georgia's Medicaid rolls by 160,000 and saving our state millions.

Not really. But he and Phil Gingrey are the most liberal of Georgia’s seven Republican congressmen, according to the American Conservative Union.

The ACU named Rep. Paul Broun a “Defender of Liberty,” his office announced Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, Kingston announced he’s an “ACU Conservative.” So what’s the difference?

I figured it had something to do with their stances on earmarks – Kingston takes them, Broun doesn’t – but the ACU actually bestows the Defender of Liberty label on congressmen who voted the ACU’s way on 25 issues. Kingston, along with Rep. Phil Gingrey, scored a mere 96.

Gingrey’s sin was voting for Cash for Clunkers. Kingston voted against killing something called the Legal Services Corp., a $440 million expenditure.

Like Broun, Reps. Nathan Deal, John Linder, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland also scored a perfect 100.

A host of fissures in the Republican Party are opening up during qualifying week.

There’s the strange saga of Ray Boyd, the self-funded millionaire candidate for governor turned away by the GOP today because he refused to sign a loyalty oath.

If Boyd follows through and runs as an independent, Democrats will be jumping up and down. Assuming his $2 million investment can buy him even 5 percent of the vote, combined with a Libertarian candidate who is likely to draw 3 or 4 percent, Boyd could potentially turn what would have been a sizeable Republican victory into a runoff.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Austin Scott is playing Hamlet, trying to decide whether to continue with his long-shot bid for governor or switching over to try to oust Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. It’s a sign of Cagle’s unpopularity and voters’ anti-incumbent attitude that Scott is even considering it.

Despite Rep. Paul Broun’s insistence that Republicans are going to take power and repeal health care reform, cracks are showing in the GOP façade.

"I think there's a very good likelihood that it could be stopped on a constitutional basis," Broun said at his town hall meeting Thursday in Carnesville. "But I promise you, every single House Republican is going to work to repeal this abomination."

The Brunswick News reported Thursday that Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, is backing away from “repeal and replace.”

Funny story … I was at my desk at around 5 p.m. today, getting ready to go to the Athens-Clarke Commission, when the phone rang. It was Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s press secretary, Jaillene Hunter, wanting to know if we’d use her boss’s tweet in our story about Uga VII dying.

As we say back home in Alabama, “Do what?”

It was the first I’d heard of it. A quick Google search, and I realized it was the first anyone had heard of it. So I told my editor, and we all started calling around trying to get it confirmed. Ten minutes later, we had it, and 10 minutes after that, our initial short story was up on the Web.

Cagle’s tweet, by the way, read “Just got word that Uga VII died. As many in the Bulldog Nation will no doubt say, he was a darn good Dawg.”

Sen. Johnny Isakson is making two stops in Athens today. He’ll be talking to Dawgs for Israel at 2 p.m. at the Miller Learning Center, then to the Athens Area Association of Realtors at 3:30 p.m. at its Meriweather Drive office. Presumably, he’ll address foreign policy and the housing market.

Saturday, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, is tailgating at the law school quad beginning at 9:30 a.m. Democratic gubernatorial candidate DuBose Porter will be out there, too, in front of the library.

At 11 a.m., former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee – now a Fox News commentator – will be signing books at the Alps Road Border’s.

So have a couple of drinks with Jack and DuBose, get your copy of Huckabee’s Christmas book signed, then head over to the game.

Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, settled up today with Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise.

Kingston had wagered Coke and peanuts against Scalise’s shrimp on the outcome of Saturday’s UGA-LSUX, excuse me, LSU, game. (Does anyone not know the outcome and need a link?) The bet seems kind of lame to me. How about a few million dollars’ worth of flood relief? Or case of Terrapin and a case of Abita, at least?

Commenting on A.J. Green’s penalty for “excessive” celebration (the quotes are ironic, yo), Kingston said, “In Georgia, the referee is one of the few people with lower approval ratings than Congress. Of course by now, he’s back home in Louisiana, where I’m sure he got a hero’s welcome. Just wait till next year.”

It’s been a crazy week in Congress.

Let’s start Thursday, when Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, dropped an amendment to cancel funding for a new National Climate Service. The agency would be redundant since we already have a National Weather Service, he said. The failed amendment sparked a chain of events that led to Rep. Jack Kingston doing his best Ginuwine impression.

(It would be funnier if I could embed the video but the yootoobz won’t let me, so here’s the link.)

Broun makes a compelling cases that the National Climate Service is, in fact, unnecessary spending. The liberal Web site Daily Kos will give you the other side of the story.

Jack Kingston is up to something.

The Savannah Republican, who represents South Georgia, spoke on Wednesday at the UGA College Republicans’ teabagging party.

Kingston comes to Athens fairly frequently, so it’s not unusual. He’s from here, after all, and he’s the go-to guy in Congress for UGA administrators and lobbyists, since the guy who actually represents us refuses to earmark funding.

But Peach Pundit also spotted him at the tax protest in Rome, which is represented by Phil Gingrey and as far away from Kingston’s district as one can get and not be in Tennessee.

Why would he be more than 300 miles from home?

Blake.aued@onlineathens.com

Remember when Republicans were ridiculing Barack Obama for telling people to keep their tires inflated to save gas?

Gov. Sonny Perdue and Rep. Jack Kingston must not.

In light of Hurricane Ike and spiking gas prices, Perdue issued a press release this afternoon on how to improve fuel efficiency. Among the tips are no-brainers like driving your car that gets the best gas mileage if you own more than one, slowing down, avoiding idling and, yes, properly inflating your tires.