Salon.com > Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

Does Chambliss win mean trouble for Democrats?

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:40:00 +0000

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."

AP calls it: Chambliss re-elected

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:05:00 +0000

Left, Saxby Chambliss, right, Jim Martin.

At about 9 p.m. EST Tuesday night, two hours after polls closed, the Associated Press called the run-off election between incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Chambliss, as expected, is the winner.

Chambliss' win seems to put the Democrats' goal of achieving 60 votes in the Senate out of reach, at least for now. If Al Franken is able to prevail over Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in the ongoing recount in their race, the Democratic caucus -- which includes independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders -- will have 59 members. Democrats can, of course, still try to persuade a Republican or two to cross the aisle.

Low turnout in Georgia run-off

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:45:00 +0000

The heavy turnout on Election Day -- and, for that matter, during early voting -- is apparently not carrying over into the vote going on in Georgia today. The New York Times says there are short lines at the polling places where voters are going for a run-off between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and challenger Jim Martin, a Democrat.

The Times' Robbie Brown calls turnout "critical to both candidates’ success." Of course, that's technically true. But really, as in most elections, turnout is most important to the Democrats in this case, and this is not a good sign for Martin. Worse, from his perspective, is that African American turnout has been low during early voting. Prior to the general election, blacks made up 35 percent of early voters. Their share this time around stands at about 23 percent. On Nov. 4, African Americans went heavily for Martin; according to exit polling, he won 93 percent of that demographic.

Polls close at 7 p.m. EST -- we'll be bringing you the results.

Palin to hit the trail for Chambliss

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:44:00 +0000

One day before the runoff election between Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin, the GOP will be pulling out its biggest gun yet -- the party's newest star, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Palin will be at four Chambliss rallies this coming Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The runoff is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2. Today, another of the Republican Party's big draws, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, was in Georgia campaigning for Chambliss.

Other prominent figures, from both sides of the aisle, have gotten in the race: Bill Clinton and Al Gore campaigned for Martin, while John McCain, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have worked for Chambliss. President-elect Barack Obama hasn't made it down to the state yet -- though Martin's people want him to -- but he has recorded a robo-call on the Democrat's behalf.

Everyone went down to Georgia

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:15:00 +0000

With Mark Begich winning in Alaska, Jeff Merkley victorious in Oregon and Al Franken hot on Norm Coleman’s heels, it looks like the Democrats' quest for 60 Senate seats is headin’ on down to Georgia, where early voting has begun in a run-off between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

Democrats are fighting an uphill battle in the red state: A Rasmussen poll shows Martin 4 points back and Georgia’s secretary of state reports a decrease in African-American turnout. But the party is doing its best to take the seat, and hoping that some of the residual enthusiasm from Barack Obama's win will help Martin.

Georgia Dem’s new ad features Obama

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Here's an interesting question to ponder -- in a state as red as Georgia, can a Democrat defeat a sitting Republican senator by attacking said incumbent for not supporting Barack Obama's economic proposals?

Even a year ago, the idea that such a gambit might work would have seemed a little crazy. Even just this spring, Republicans running for Congress were using Obama as a club to bash their opponents. But that strategy failed.

Plus, though Obama ultimately lost Georgia to John McCain, he fared much better than John Kerry did in 2004. Kerry lost the state to George W. Bush 58-41; Obama only lost it 52-47. And in the process, he caused a surge in African-American voter turnout, bumping their share of the electorate up 5 percentage points from where it was in the last presidential election. Those voters are crucial to Democratic challenger Jim Martin's hopes as he faces a runoff against Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Quote of the day

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) is facing a run-off election against Democratic challenger Jim Martin. But he's still finding time to weigh in on the undecided Senate race between Alaska Republican Ted Stevens and Democrat Mark Begich. Here's Chambliss' stance on Stevens (hat tip to Taegan Goddard):

First of all, I hope Senator Stevens is successful in being re-elected. And assuming that he is, I intend to support any motion to remove him.

Georgia Republican tells supporters: “The other folks are voting”

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:40:00 +0000

As I discussed in an article Thursday, the African-American vote could prove crucial in down-ballot elections this year, especially in the South. Democrats have a chance to pick up quite a few seats in both the House and the Senate that could hinge on the black vote.

One of the Republicans who's most vulnerable to a surge in African-American turnout is Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss. The incumbent's lead in recent polls is only in the low single digits, generally within the margin of error. And early voting numbers from the state have contained some really bad news for Chambliss. As of this post, the number of people who've voted early there is equal to a stunning 47.4 percent of the total number of people who voted in 2004. Of those who've voted so far, 35.1 percent are African-American; in 2004, 25 percent of the overall electorate was African-American. Since this is the Democratic Party's most loyal demographic group, well, you can imagine the potential consequences for Chambliss.

As Politico's David Rogers reports (h/t Balloon Juice), Chambliss seems to be well aware of what's happening. Rogers writes: "The Republican is outwardly confident, but there’s urgency in his voice as he tours North Georgia, trying to boost turnout in his predominately white base: 'The other folks are voting,' he bluntly tells supporters."

GOP senator on spying: If you don’t have anything nice to say …

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 16:27:00 +0000

We asked this morning why the president keeps talking about his warrantless spying program if the leaks about it are supposedly so "damaging." We meant the question rhetorically, but it turns out that Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss has an answer.

See, the problem isn't the president's campaign-style chat about the program or his defense of it in his State of the Union address. It isn't the Justice Department's 42-page "white paper" on the program or Alberto Gonzales' discussions of it at Georgetown University and on "Larry King Live." It's not Karl Rove's speech about the program before the Republican National Committee; it's not Scott McClellan's attempts to spin the program in the White House press briefing room; and it's not Gen. Michael Hayden's discussion of the program at the National Press Club.

No, Sen. Chambliss says, the danger comes only when people speak of the spying program in critical ways. During proceedings Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chambliss said: "Those folks who continue to go out front and talk in a negative way about this program may be aiding and abetting the terrorists."