Among the Deep South, inGeorgia has always been a leader. It was the industrial and commercial center of the “New South” of Henry Grady. Probably its greatest achievement was the leadership Georgia demonstrated in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. It federal courts enforced integration while its politicians (like Ivan Allen of Atlanta) prepared its population for a non-violent transition. Certainly, it was not perfect, but neither was it Alabama or Mississippi. It was the home of Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Andrew Young, just to mention a few.
Through leaders like Richard Russell and Sam Nunn, conservative Democrats, Georgia politics often carried the balance of power in Congress.
But the conservative values of Georgia Democrats were easy pickings for the Reagan Revolution. Conservatives who had never been politically active switched parties or otherwise identified themselves as Republicans and 24 years later, 2004, Georgia became a red state in every sense of the word. Republican Governor in 2002, and legislative majorities in the Georgia House and Senate.
And now, like it or not, Georgia finds itself at the crossroads of another historic opportunity.
The first African American has been elected President. In the wake of Republican excesses, the Republican Party has in two years, lost all of the ground it had gained since 1980. Even so, Georgia has re-elected Democrats to Congress in surprising majorities, while at the same time returning incumbent Republicans to Congress with equally impressive majorities. Not one Congressional incumbent came close to defeat. Democrats who voted against the “baleout” did as well as Democrats who voted for it.
What does this mean? Georgia has always been conservative. It is Republican by default. When Georgians examine an individual candidate for who he is, such as John Barrow or Jim Marshall, a Democrat has just as much credibility as any Republican challenger. But incumbents have a special place in the hearts and minds of Georgians in general. Republicans won the legislature by tagging good, conservative Georgia Democrats with the National Democratic Party stigma of an abortion loving, gay marriage endorsing political party. All is fair in love and war. So be it.
But now, there is one difference, one practical change, which all Georgians, Republicans in particular should seriously consider. The Democrats, not the Republicans, control Congress, House and Senate. We didn’t necessarily know this when we went to the polls in November, but it is a reality, which I think everyone needs to think about when we go back to the polls in December.
Georgia may have it reasons for being a red state when it comes to local politics, but if Georgia wants to be a player in Washington during the next 4 years, its only opportunity to do that is to elect a Democrat to the Senate in the run-off election in December. The question for Georgians is whether or not it is more important, more beneficial, to this State to elect a conservative Democrat than to re-elect a conservative Republican who will be without influence for the next 4 years. The truth is that unless Saxby Chambliss becomes a swing vote by which Democrats achieve the magic 60 in the Senate, he will be without influence. Georgia will be without the opportunity for an effective voice in Congress for 4 more years.
Is the Republican party worth impotency for 6 years? Is it better to have Jim Martin fighting to keep Robins Air Force Base in a Democratic administration or to have Saxby Chambliss simply be part of the Republican opposition. Is there anything about Saxby Chambliss that suggests that he is such a leader that Georgia, in these changed times, cannot survive without him? Is Saxby’s re-election important to anyone other than him? Is his re-election important to Georgia? I suggest that these are questions which each and every Republican voter needs to think about before they cast a vote in the December 2nd run-off.
I have to believe that in these times Georgians are both independent and practical enough to consider the benefits of electing a player in the majority party. Like it or not, America has changed. That change may be as “permanent” as the Reagan Revolution, or it may last 4 years. Like it or not, Obama and the Democrats are going to have an opportunity to show America what they can accomplish or how they can fail. If they succeed in solving the pressing problems we face as a nation, it will be much better for Georgia to be a participant in that future.
If the Democrats fail, there will be another opportunity to elect another Republican 6 years from now.
I hope Georgians will consider the run-off election to be an opportunity to vote that Georgia participates in the future, rather than fighting it solely for partisan reasons. I am absolutely certain that voting for Jim Martin will never hurt this great State. Returning Saxby Chambliss will simply mean that Georgia has no effective voice.
The choice is yours. Vote December 2nd.
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