SALON

Wednesday, Dec 3, 2008 4:40 PM UTC

Does Chambliss win mean trouble for Democrats?

Some observers say Tuesday's results are a backlash, or at least an end to Obamamentum, but they're reading too much into the race.

By

Topics: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, War Room, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.,

It just doesn’t seem possible to read a true national trend into Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ run-off win. Chambliss is, after all, from Georgia — these days a dependably red state — and the fact that the campaign even had to go to a run-off was surprising, and probably attributable only to the surge in Democratic turnout in the state due to the presence of Barack Obama on the ballot on Nov. 4th.

But, of course, some people are trying to claim the results are a sign of something bigger. A few choice examples:

  • ABC News’ Rick Klein and Hope Ditto, writing for The Note: “Fresh from the glow of their historic electoral sweep, Democrats are getting a glimpse of their own limits. President-elect Barack Obama’s pull wasn’t enough to bring out voters in Georgia one more time, for one more Senate seat.”
  • CNN’s David Gergen (via Todd Beeton): “[T]hese last couple of days have been a real dose of harsh reality for the Obama team. You know, after they had that — they announced their economic heavy weights coming in, the market rallied for three days in a row there, and this week, the markets have been down, the economic news is pretty dire. And now they’ve had this defeat in Georgia. And it seems to be a fairly decisive defeat. And I think it’s really reminded the Obama team of, you know, as much hope as they have and they’ve started in the country, there are some harsh limits they’re by bouncing up against… I think this actually puts a lot more pressure on Barack Obama to govern much more from the center and not from the left. He is going to need Republicans now. He’s going to need a bipartisan approach on his economic stimulus package and on other things, even though as all this claims has lined up to get money. He’s going to need some Republican votes.”
  • Don Surber: “Sarah Palin wins the first round as Sen. Saxby Chambliss wins the runoff. Gov. Palin went to Georgia and saved the Republican senator from the dustbin of history. I suspect it will be downplayed by the media. But if you look at the early posts at the lefty blogs, you see they really had high hopes — which were dropped like a moose by Gov. Palin… The seat means little to anyone. It is Palin who has them scared.”
  • Bill Dupray: ”Will the MSM hail this GOP win as the first repudiation of the Obama Administration? After all, the Obots threw a pile of cash at this race and brought in all the heavy-hitters. Perhaps a case of buyers’ remorse set in and the voters wanted to curtail Obama’s ambitious Socialist agenda.”

Come on. This election showed the Democrats’ limits? OK, sure, if you define “limits” as “being unable to perform miracles.”

The national political situation undoubtedly had some effect on the results here. Clearly, Republicans could be motivated to vote by the threat of a 60-seat Democratic majority in the Senate. But let’s not get too carried away. Chambliss won this time around by about 15 percentage points; the results currently stand at 57.4-42.6 in his favor. Compare that to his first race, when he beat incumbent Democrat Max Cleland 53-46. If anything, now that Chambliss is the incumbent, his numbers should improve. That’s especially true in a state like Georgia. In 2004, President Bush beat John Kerry there 58-41. That same year, Republican Johnny Isakson won his Senate race 58-40.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 41 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations