Alright Democrats, what's the deal?

Written by Jordan Wednesday, 19 August 2009 11:03

Alright, I have been gone for a while. It won't be long before fall arrives & I want to talk about other races that are still up in the air. For Secretary of State we have a new comer Michael Mills, who worked for Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, Gary Horlacher, who was Roy Barnes press secretary, Gail Buckner, who ran for SOS back in 2006, & possibly Darryl Hicks as well.

No one has steeped up to run for Lt. Governor. Forget about Michael Thurnond running for that post. He has his eyes on the governor's seat in 2014, or the U.S. Senate. This guy Carl Camon in my opinion should be persuaded to run for Lt. Governor. He has trave;ed all over the state, mainly in rural georgia. If not him, then Former State Senator Michael Meyer von Bremen should be considered, or my guy Floyd Griffin, Jr of Milledgeville, who ran for Lt. Governor back in 1998 & was a former state senator. No one has yet steeped up to run for the U.S. Senate against Johnny Isakson, who people say is popular hiere in Georgia. Still he needs to be challenged for following in lock step with the party of "NO". Thurbert Baker should look at this spot. He maybe the next U.S. Attorney for the North Georgia district. Bit someone will come forward to challenge Isakson, you can bet on that. Still waiting on Terry Coleman to make his announcement that he will seek the Agriculture Commissioner post vacated by Tommy Irvin, who is retiring. He is the only democrat mentioned for the post. I keep hearing about Rand Knight as a possible candidate. Stay Tuned for that one. My question is: how will this all look by the end of the year? Will anymore democrats step forward to run statewide?

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Peanut Politics: ...

The field is pretty much set for Insurance Commissioner, State School Superintendent. Lt. Governor, by the way it looks right now, Cagle may well go unchallenged. He hasn't done anything to address the big issues facing the state & to just let him skate by because he is an incumbent is down-right stupid. The same goes for Isakson who also might go unchallenged as well. You have to contest as many races as you can if you are the democrats. The governor's race is a toss-up. Forget the polls right now. David Poythress is the front-runner followed by DuBose Porter & after that, it's anyone guess. The wildcard here is Thurbert Baker. He's been M.I.A. If he gets a federal appointment by the Obama administration, then the field becomes much clearer. No one should underestimate Carl Camon. He's been under the radar as far as campaigning goes. He will be a factor, you can count on it. As for Barnes, I don't have a clue. How will rural georgians react to him running for a second time around? We'll have to see come 2010. Terry Coleman is the democrat for Ag Commissioner. I don't see anyone else running, but who knows. Secretary of State is a tossup as well. If Darryl Hicks run again, he probably wins it. Just my two cents. But once 2010 rolls around, we will have a better clue.

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August 20, 2009
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drjay: ...

poythress is the front runner? i'd love to be filled in on the logic there...

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August 20, 2009
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sndeak: ...

Horlacher is the only Democrat that has filed a DOI for SOS so far.

I too see Poythress as the best General Election candidate. The problem will be getting through the primary. He fits the Georgia general electorate better than your typical democratic primary voter.

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August 22, 2009
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Peanut Politics: ...

Poythress is the leader right. He's getting contributios from all 159 counties in the state, which I think is very impressive. He's gone to places democrats haven't gone into in years, if not decades. He's willing to campaign here in rural georgia, (which will be critical for democrats) & along the way has pickedup some support even among some republicans. Voters down are more of the conservative democratic mold, they just vote rebublican because they think dems don't share their values or concerns. When you go to Quitman County, the smallest & poorest county in the state to campaign, that should tell you something. I bet the majority of the people in Metro Atlanta dpesn't know where Quitman County is. And let's not forget DuBose Porter, who is doing the exact same thing. He was down in Appling County just last month. Both men has made appearances here in Macon County, my home, which is the 3rd poorest county in the state. My eyes are on the general election. Let's not forget that the election sin't won in the primary, it's won in the GENERAL ELECTION & both men Poythress, Porter & even Thurbert Baker, if he begins to show signs of life as a candidate can all win in the general. The liberals are only focusing on who best at winning in the general. Barnes maybe leading in the polls among dems, but he can't & won't win in the general election.

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August 24, 2009
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TheUnknown285: ...

I'm sorry, Keith, but a lot of what you just said is ludicrous. Spending time in a county that has less than 3,000 of the state's over 9 million residents is not a sign of electoral strength. It's a sign of foolishness. It ignores that political and geographic realities that 1) the rural areas are NOT going to vote for a Democrat in any large numbers. They're going to go with who they believe will most suit them. That will be Republicans. 2) that trying to win them over by pandering to their "values" will only backfire, because most will still go to the Republicans, as I've said, and whatever gains you make with them will be more than negated by alienating parts of your base. Mark Taylor tried this and got his ass handed to him. Not to mention, resorting to me-tooism is a great way to fail to win over swing voters. 3) even if you were somehow to win these rural areas, it'll only amount to a drop in the bucket. The Metro areas Jim Martin won more counties than Obama (winning a few Middle/South Georgia counties) but did worse than Obama because Obama overperformed him in the cities, suburbs, and exurbs.

The sooner Democrats in Georgia quit pining away for a bygone era of rural Democratic victories, the better we'll be. The county unit system is dead as is the old rural-urban coalition.

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August 25, 2009
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Peanut Politics: ...

Unknown 285, you're missing my point. When a candidate goes to a place like Quitman County, folks down here in this part of the state take notice. The rural part of the state is what I consider the "tie breaker". The perception of Georgia Democrats since the GOP took over is that they don't represent their values & issues. They have framed the State Dems as being out of touch liberals like the national party, which is not the case. You can't just can't settle for votes from metro Atlanta, macon, Columbus, Albany, Savannah, Augusta, Athens, Valdosta, & the Black Belt region of the state to win statewide. That's not going to work. Dems are going to have to appeal to the entire state, expand their reach & stop catoring to the liberals. Mark Taylor was a weak candidate who I didn't vote for, (it went to Cathy Cox). Alot of these voters are conservative democrats that stop voting democratic & those are the voters that democrats need to bring back into the party. The last time I checked, this is a statewide race, not a regional race.. I'm glad to see David Poythress, DuBose Porter, Carl Camon, even Thurbert Baker, who was in Bainbridge, a couple of weeks ago take their message to small towns. It shows they are not afraid of coming down here & going against conventional wisdom that democrats should abandon rural georgia altogether. As for rural counties not going to vote democratic, all it takes is the right candidate to win those counties & this time I think we have some candidates that can do that. And one thing: the most crucial voting bloc, african americans have to turnout in numbers, or close to the numbers like they did in 2008 & that means having a african american candidate in the general election either at Governor, U.S. Senate, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State. No african american in the general election at one of those positions will make it even harder for democrats to win next year.

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August 25, 2009
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Jordan30: ...

Both of you guys make great points, but I agree with Peanut Politics that democrats need to get back into rural georgia if they have any chance of winning in 2010. The typical votes from democratic areas are going to be there, but we need more. The GOP aren't going to lay down & let dems take back the mansion. Their forces north of atlanta & elsewhere are going to go to the polls. Our voters tend to stay home or some are not motivated on any particular issue. Unknown 285 is right that dems need to focus on the electoral strength of the state & that is metro atlanta. The more rural counties dems can win, the better likelihood that they win win statewide in 2010. And I also agree that Poythress is the frontrunner right. Forget these polls showing Barnes with this commanding lead. Barnes is the favorite among the Atanta Democrats, but once you get outside that, he will run into problems. He will not & cannot win in the general election. The dems need a new face as their candidate. I rather have Poythress, Baker, or Porter as my nominee that Barnes. I still say Carl Camon needs to be talked into running for Lt. Governor or hell, the U.S. Senate. Dems are going to need the african american voters out in full force if they want to win. Just look at Creigh Deeds up in Virginia where the black vote is not energized to go to the polls. He is losing big to republican Robert McConnell by 10%. But the bottom line is RURAL GEORGIA STILL MATTER. DEMOCRATS DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON RURAL GEORGIA OR YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER.

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August 25, 2009
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Rural Democrat
Location: Georgia