Barnes says the old Georgia flag did him in

Access Atlanta ^ | November 12, 2002 | Bill Nigut

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Gov. Roy Barnes said Tuesday that he knows why he lost his re-election. He says it all comes down to the old Georgia flag.

"There's no question in my mind about it," he told Channel 2 in an exclusive interview. "And I realize now and I realized it at the time (the flag was changed). I was hoping that we had moved past it."

Although he had a $19 million campaign war chest to present his political agenda, he said it was not enough to overcome the flag issue.

"When you have an issue like that, advertising may not be able to overcome it," the defeated Democratic governor said.

Barnes lost the Nov. 5 election to Republican Sonny Perdue. Barnes drew 46 percent of the vote to Perdue's 52 percent.

He said his successful push to change the state flag by minimizing the size of the Confederate battle emblem was a "tough call." But he had seen the same issue become divisive in South Carolina and didn't want Georgia to go through the same acrimony.

Although he is proud of his Southern heritage, Barnes said things that are "ugly about the Old South" should not be preserved.

In addition to the flag issue, the governor said President Bush's campaign visits to Georgia gave the Perdue campaign a big boost.

Fresh from a vacation, Barnes pledged to work with Perdue to foster an orderly transition. "The interests of the people of Georgia will be above politics," he promised.

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Hear it from the King Roy - it was all about the flag!

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[PAR35]

I had heard that he fled the country after the election. I'm surprised that he returned.

[Godebert]

[xm177e2]

Barnes says the old Georgia flag did him in

More like the NEW Georgia flag. That thing is so damn ugly.

[PistolPaknMama]

The rat that ate Georgia. Too bad I feel no more for him than I felt for Clinton/Gore. Sorta like flushin' a toilet!

[varina davis]

I was hoping that we had moved past it."

Barnes should know that you might move past history, but you can't change it and you can't bury it. Nor can you change and bury the spirit and heritage of an entire culture. Not 140 years ago, not now.

[PistolPaknMama]

More like the NEW Georgia flag.

Good point. It wasn't the OLD Georgia flag, it was the NEW one!

[Political Junkie Too]

I think it was the new Georgia quarter that did him in.

-PJ

[TomServo]

Barnes said things that are "ugly about the Old South" should not be preserved.

Apparently, the voters thought the same thing about their Governor.

Good for them.

[Maelstrom]

He should have totally ignored the contingent pushing for the destruction or minimization of a rich and proud heritage.


Copperhead

[Clemenza]

Personally, I think the post 1950s Georgia Flag was ugly and the new one that Barnes approved even uglier. They should bring back the old flag they had from the 19th Century onward. I'm sure cousin Daisy would approve as well.

[higgmeister]

being King Roy did him in.

I had been for changing the Flag,
for several years now and he still
didn't get my vote.

[stainlessbanner]

Excellent point! He learned a lesson the hard way. Southerners know to leave well enough alone.

[Illbay]

Just one more cop-out from the Democrats. It's easier to blame something silly and irrelevant--we couldn't get our message out, Bush was too popular, it was the old flag--than confront the fact that their party is way, way, way behind the times.

[RightWinger]

It goes to show...
when you wimp-out, you get voted-out!

[Clemenza]

BTW: Roy Barnes was once mentioned as a prospective presidential candidate. I guess now he will have to start hanging out with Ben Jones selling Dukes of Hazzard Memobilia.

[Pan_Yan]

I have the feeling that our state ranking 50 out of 50 in SAT scores didn't help. Especially when all of Barnes' TV ads were about education.

The only good thing he did was end tenure for teachers, which cost him their support as well.

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Roy Barnes was once mentioned as a prospective presidential candidate.

I thought there was a ban on any more former GA gubners running for presdent.