If Zell Miller hadn't retired ........

[Democratic Hawk]

would he still be Senator from Georgia?

I think he would have lost the Democratic primary would would have gone on to hold the seat in the event of no GOP opposition (of course, I may be wrong on the last score)

I also think had Breaux (LA), Graham (FL) and Hollings (SC) would have been re-elected; though Edwards (NC) would have lost

Dave

[TheresNoMoney]

Why does everyone think Edwards would have lost re-election? Where there polls?

I still can't believe he tried to run for president so early. Very stupid. We could really use him in the Senate right now.

[ATFFL]

Why does everyone think Edwards would have lost re-election? Where there polls?

I still can't believe he tried to run for president so early. Very stupid. We could really use him in the Senate.

The less time Edwards spent in state, the better he did.  In 2003 his re-elect numbers were in the low 30s.  When he announced he would not run for re-election while running for President (and, later, Vice President), he got a bounce.  The more time he spent not campaiging for Senate the better he did.

May 2003

If he could have figured out a way to effectively campaign from the road for his Senate seat, he might have kept it close.

[TheresNoMoney]

What do you think the low re-elect numbers were due to? Were the people of NC mad that he was more interested in running for president than representing his constituents?

[ATFFL]

What do you think the low re-elect numbers were due to? Were the people of NC mad that he was more interested in running for president than representing his constituents?

Pretty much.  He spent as little time in the state as possible.  WHen the media that had so heartily endorsed him in 1998 took to calling him Senator Gone, he took a real hit.

Fact is, he became a Senator in January of 1999 and was a Presidential candidate in February of 1999.  He campaigned for the 2000 VP spot and was clearly going to enter the race in 2004 once it was clear Gore was not going to be President.  He focused on beign a Senator only for a few months in 2000, during the Presidential Campaign.  Before and after that, his main focus was on getting into federal office.

[TheresNoMoney]

Stupid, stupid. He should have just focused on being a Senator.

[AuH2O]

Too liberal anyway for the state.

[ian]

Too liberal anyway for the state.

That's what I was going to say.  If he had run and been beaten, that's why.

[ian]

And as far as Zell goes, he wouldn't have been beaten in the primary.  He's been that conservative always; he ran in 1998 with the same conservative record.  No one important challeneged him in that primary!

[TheresNoMoney]

The "too liberal" myth is way too common on these boards. If Edwards had just stuck to his duties of being a NC Senator he would've been fine.

[Joe Republic]

I know we're getting off the topic of Zell Miller here, but I have a question.  If John Edwards was hardly ever present in the state of North Carolina during his term, and his attendance level in the Senate was also incredibly low, then where the hell was he?

[nini2287]

I think Zell would have switched his registration if he were to run for re-election.

[Sam Spade]

I know we're getting off the topic of Zell Miller here, but I have a question.  If John Edwards was hardly ever present in the state of North Carolina during his term, and his attendance level in the Senate was also incredibly low, then where the hell was he?

Campaigning for President.  He's still doing that right now as we speak, in case you haven't noticed. 

[Q]

As I posted in another thread:

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I think he would have lost the Dem primary if someone credible ran - even Denise Majette (the '04 candidate for Senate), as so many Dems in Georgia were furious at him by 2004.

However, he would have certainly won the general election had he reached it.  Would a party switch have been out of the question if he had decided to run for re-election?  I don't think so.

No Georgia politician could have beaten him in anything but a Dem primary.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Zell Miller could not have run for reelection as a Dem after endorsing Bush and speaking at the GOP convention.  He would have been thrown out of the caucus like Jim Traficant.  If he had decided to run, I'm sure he would have switched parties.

John Edwards would have had a close race in 2004 if he had never decided to run for President.   But if he had gotten back in the race in, say, April 2004, instead of running for VP, he would have won easily.  At that point, he was by far the most popular politician in NC.

[J. J.]

Zell Miller could not have run for reelection as a Dem after endorsing Bush and speaking at the GOP convention.  He would have been thrown out of the caucus like Jim Traficant.  If he had decided to run, I'm sure he would have switched parties.

John Edwards would have had a close race in 2004 if he had never decided to run for President.   But if he had gotten back in the race in, say, April 2004, instead of running for VP, he would have won easily.  At that point, he was by far the most popular politician in NC.

It's next to impossible to throw someone out of the caucus.

Edwards was toast in 2004 in the Senate.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Zell Miller could not have run for reelection as a Dem after endorsing Bush and speaking at the GOP convention.  He would have been thrown out of the caucus like Jim Traficant.  If he had decided to run, I'm sure he would have switched parties.

John Edwards would have had a close race in 2004 if he had never decided to run for President.   But if he had gotten back in the race in, say, April 2004, instead of running for VP, he would have won easily.  At that point, he was by far the most popular politician in NC.

It's next to impossible to throw someone out of the caucus.

Edwards was toast in 2004 in the Senate.

Anyone who refuses to support a candidate from their own party for Speaker is pretty much automatically going to get thrown out of the caucus in the House.  I'm not sure how it would work in the Senate, since there isn't actual a control vote, but I'm guessing Miller's actions would have qualified him for expulsion as much as Traficant.  Remember, Traficant wasn't thrown out of the caucus for corruption, he was thrown out for voting for Hastert for speaker.

On what basis do you say Edwards was toast?  Did you see he poll numbers in NC at any point in 2004? 

[Ben.]

Too liberal anyway for the state.

That's what I was going to say.  If he had run and been beaten, that's why.

It really was amazing how liberal the guy was, though I don’t buy that it his voting record was indicative of his own views, he simply wasn’t in the senate enough to actually build up a voting record which could reflect any kind of political ideology, other than making sure to vote the right way on the issues which where perceived to matter to the Democratic Primary voters.

A terrible waste IMHO, he was an engaging and likeable politician and a democrat from the south with a certain kind of canned charm, had he really wanted to run for president, after lobbying for the veep spot in 2000 he should have knuckled down to work done well on his Senate Committees, carved out a moderate record with a some progressive flashes and toyed with an entry into the 04 race (much as I think Warner is now), he’d have faced a tough fight against Burr but would probably have succeeded in beating him and then continued his hard work in the senate and hey-presto! He’s the presumptive Democratic Nominee for 08, young, charming, southern who’s won two state-wide races with moderate but not too moderate stances on the key issues…. Sadly he wasn’t bright enough to realise this or perhaps he just didn’t have the patience.     

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Obviously he would have lost the primary. We may be the big tent party, but having racist vampires who support Bush, and have an ACU rating of 96 in our party is unacceptable.