Democrats may talk about change but that seems dubious given that the names at the top of their Georgia ticket harken back to the politics of decades ago. State legislator and grandson of the notoriously failed President Jimmy Carter, Jason Carter, is running for Governor and Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Senator Sam Nunn, who retired in 1997 is running for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant with the retirement of Saxby Chambliss.
While it may be true that Democrats have a shot in Georgia, clearly Al Hunt couldn’t manage to put his pom poms down long enough to write this item for Bloomberg.
Democrats are feeling blue about Georgia, and they like it: Namely, in difficult midterm elections, the party is positioned to take over a Republican-held Senate seat and the governorship.
On the GOP front, Republican Governor Nathan Deal is running for re-election and, fresh off hisoprimary victory, businessman David Perdue is running for the open Senate seat.
Meanwhile, Republicans posit that Georgia will remain true to its mostly right-leaning roots and, with the primaries over, the flaws and foibles of today’s Democrat Party will re-emerge and hamper their candidates in Georgia, just as elsewhere.
President Barack Obama will be an albatross for the Democrats in Georgia, though one crucial question is whether the party can register several hundred thousand new African-Americans and Latino voters and turn them out on Nov. 4.
Both contests likely will be close. Yet the early odds suggest an even chance that Georgia next January will be represented statewide by a Carter and a Nunn, just as it was 40 years ago.
The race is one of a few that could prove pivotal in terms of which party ends up in control of the Senate after November; however, it’s a bit early to put too much emphasis on polls. Most voters are still enjoying their Summers and are anything but focused on politics just now. Unfortunately, that bit of objective analysisseems to have eluded Hunt’s grasp. Perhaps next time he’ll put down his pom poms before penning his next piece.
As Democrats struggle to retain control of the Senate — the Republicans need to win a net of six seate(sic) — Democrats hope to offset any losses by picking off a couple held by Republicans; at the top of the list is the one in Georgia of retiring Saxby Chambliss.
Team Nunn must be looking to start fast now that the primary season is over. This type of thing, along with the Hunt column, doesn’t just happen. Keep your eyes on Georgia, it’s game on for the Democrats, to be sure.
By Wednesday morning, baseball legend Hank Aaron was pushing for a ‘money bomb’.
“In baseball, every hit matters. The big ones, the little ones — they all add up to a chance for your team to win,” said an email signed by Aaron.
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