Free Republic

In times past, an open U.S. Senate seat would have touched off a stampede among ambitious Georgia Democrats eager to offer for the job. Even against an incumbent, there sometimes was a crowd. The 1972 race, for example, featured 15 Democratic candidates, counting an appointed incumbent who hadnt held office long. But in the new Georgia, with a Republican in the executive mansion and the GOP controlling eight of 13 congressional seats, Democrats seem to be having a hard time finding candidates for the Senate seat that will come open next year. Sen. Zell Millers post is the only one...

You wouldn't think the fight over the state flag referendum has played a role in the 2004 U.S. Senate race, but it has. Privately, leading Democrats will tell you the flap has soured the climate for prominent African-American politicians who otherwise might consider running for a top-tier statewide position -- and the chance to make a bit of history. Instead, the flag referendum -- along with the overwhelming figure of Zell Miller -- has kept strategists searching for a white, conservative Democrat who is not Mark Taylor or Cathy Cox. Last week's news that Mary Squires might seek the nomination...