Posted on 09/02/2003 11:20:57 AM PDT by Phlap
ATLANTA (AP) - Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia is retiring, and the party's pool of 2004 candidates looks emptier than the vegetable drawer in a frat-house refrigerator.
The potential candidates include two men in their 70s who have not even committed themselves to the race; a political neophyte whose main asset is her last name; a freshman congressman unknown outside of his district; and a state legislator famous only for calling the governor a racist and then running off in tears.
Just a year ago, Georgia Democrats had a virtual lock on state government dating back to the end of Reconstruction. The party controlled the Legislature, the governor's office and both Senate seats. But the Democrats' fortunes have declined since then.
In 2002, the governor's mansion fall to the GOP for the first time in 130 years. In the same election, Democratic Sen. Max Cleland lost to Saxby Chambliss, and the Democrats lost control of the state Senate.
How did this come to pass?
The end of the solid Democratic South and the rise of the GOP in Dixie were set in motion during the 1960s, when the Democratic Party nationally became identified with civil rights. More recently, though, Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes alienated two large groups of formerly loyal Democrats, upsetting teachers with his plan to hold them accountable for student test scores and enraging rural Georgians by getting rid of the state flag with its large Confederate emblem. Barnes was upset last year by Republican Sonny Perdue.
Now the GOP looks poised to run roughshod over the Democratic Party and claim both Senate seats for the first time in modern Georgia history.
The Republicans have four announced candidates to replace Miller, including two congressmen - Reps. Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins. Joining the congressmen are two wealthy black businessmen, one of whom owns Godfather's Pizza and worked on the presidential campaign of Steve Forbes.
But on the Democratic side, state Sen. Mary Squires, a suburban Atlanta paralegal, is the only announced candidate. Others have expressed interest, including former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, but have not committed themselves.
During last spring's debate over changing the Georgia flag, Squires went to the podium and dropped the "R" word. "The governor is a racist," Squires said, tearfully condemning Perdue for endorsing a referendum on reviving the flag dominated by the Confederate emblem. Squires then fled the chamber in tears.
The statement made Squires a minor celebrity at the Capitol, but political watchers doubt she can make it to Washington.
Emory University political scientist made a grim prediction for a matchup between Squires and Isakson or Collins: "That would be a noncompetitive race. She couldn't raise any money, and she's not known outside her district. She wouldn't even carry Gwinnett County," her home county.
Understandably, Georgia Democrats are looking for another candidate.
First the Democrats floated the name of Vince Dooley, 70, the beloved athletics director at the University of Georgia. Dooley toyed with the idea but said he wants to stay at the university for at least another year.
The Democrats' greatest hope is Young, a household name in Georgia, well-liked for his role bringing the Olympics to Atlanta.
But the 71-year-old has not run for office since 1990 (Miller drubbed him in the gubernatorial primary), has had health problems - including surgery to remove a cancerous prostate in 1999- and spends at least one week a month in Africa. And he sounds ambivalent about running for the Senate.
In a recent profile in The New York Times, Young talked mostly about foreign affairs, not his home state, and at one point said: "I almost wish I could run a really good campaign, and lose."
In any case, there are strong doubts about whether the statesman could revive the Democratic party in Georgia and win back conservative whites, most of whom have already defected to the GOP.
"He's a good candidate, but he'd still be an underdog against whoever the Republicans nominate," Black said.
Democrats are not having much luck from their traditional training ground in the Legislature, either.
Moreover, the state's top Democrats - Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and Secretary of State Cathy Cox - seem to have their eye on taking back the governor's mansion, and are not interested in the Senate.
"Washington is just not an attractive place to work anymore," Taylor said. "Democrats like to get things done in government. We like to see the results of our work."
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has so far passed on the Senate race, too. Another possibility is Michelle Nunn, executive director of a volunteer organization and daughter of former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn. But she said she will not run if Young does.
There is a Democratic congressman flirting with a Senate run - Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon - but he is a freshman and no lock to return to Washington even from his own district.
State Democratic Chairman Calvin Smyre said he is upbeat about the future of the party in Georgia - "All is not lost" - but conceded it will not be easy to hold on to Miller's seat.
"We know it's not going to be a cakewalk," he said.
You just gotta love objectivity in reporting.
Andrew my boy, you can run any kind of campaign you want, and you'd STILL get your wish!
If you cant hold your own seat, how you going to pick up an open one?
What with the internet and all, the folks of Georgia have finally figured out what a flaming wild-eyed liberal ol' Max is, and have permanently retired him!
He'd be lucky to be elected county sanitation commissioner today.
HERMAN CAIN. They don't even mention his name?!? Is that a joke?
Cain would be awesome. A true conservative, especially on the fiscal side. Would do miracles for the GOP in Georgia as well.
Me too. But did you notice how this paragraph names all the candidates but Cain....
Snip...
The Republicans have four announced candidates to replace Miller, including two congressmen - Reps. Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins. Joining the congressmen are two wealthy black businessmen, one of whom owns Godfather's Pizza and worked on the presidential campaign of Steve Forbes.
Hmmmm...
Never. She knows she wouldn't have a prayer. She couldn't even win a primary in her own district.
You noticed that too? See #13.
BTW....HOW BOUT DEM DAWGS!
It all started when the dems began their victim disarmament programs, other known as gun control.
Once again the big lie is spread by the liberal media. First, this is to imply that the south is rascist now because Republicans are against "civil rights". It was in fact Republicans who were the ones who passed civil rights legislation in the 60's. So if you were raging rascist from the south, who were you to vote for in the 60's?
Regardless, the reason democrats are doign awful in the south is that the democrat party has gone too far left for even the most yellow dog Georgia democrat. Gay marraige and hating America is just too much for them.
Excellent. Didn't get down to the game, but I should be going to LSU and Alabama for sure. (Tennessee as well if we're still undefeated... though that will take some serious work.)
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