http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/29/barnes0329.htmlMore than six years after Gov. Roy Barnes’ defeat signaled the death of Democratic dominance at the statehouse, the 61-year-old Marietta lawyer appears primed for a comeback.
He’s making the rounds of speaking circuits, venting populist outrage over the perceived wrongs of the Republican-controlled Capitol. He’s been in touch with old political allies about the 2010 governor’s race, and he’s answered endless inquiries from the media wanting to know whether he, indeed, is going to run.
But his potential candidacy raises questions: Is the polarizing politician whose crushing defeat in 2002 ushered in the first Republican administration since Reconstruction the man to bring Democrats back? And is a state that has become used to electing Republicans open to change?
Backers argue that Barnes wouldn’t get into the race to succeed Gov. Sonny Perdue, the man who beat him in 2002, if he didn’t think the answer to the last question was yes. But he’s not ready to publicly commit just yet.
“I’ve never had trouble making decisions, but this is a tough one,” Barnes said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m satisfied with where I’m at, but not where the state is.”
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island), who considered running for governor in 2010 but decided against it, said Republicans should take the possibility of a Barnes candidacy seriously. “He’s shown he can raise money; he’s campaigned statewide and won. Those two things make you fairly credible.”
But he thinks the former governor would have a tough time winning. “Georgia is still a very solid Republican state.”
The fact that Barnes is considered a top contender in the 2010 general election shows how time heals many political wounds.
An activist governor after being elected in 1998, he tried to fix everything from Atlanta’s gridlocked traffic to Georgia’s often-criticized schools.
But Barnes alienated teachers, who thought he blamed them for the failings of Georgia’s schools. He infuriated supporters of the old Georgia flag, whose Confederate symbol was minimized by Barnes as part of a new, short-lived state banner.
He created enemies as the state pushed for the Northern Arc, a highway that was to have been constructed north of Atlanta. He and his staff were accused of political strong-arm tactics in raising $20 million for his 2002 re-election campaign.
Polls still made him the favorite for re-election. But by 2002, Republicans were growing stronger across the state and were hot nationally on the heels of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Perdue, a former Democratic state senator with limited resources, ran a grass-roots campaign to overcome the incumbent’s vast resources. And it worked.
Barnes said the loss was partly his fault, partly bad timing.
“I didn’t do a good job of listening,” he acknowledged. “Sonny Perdue said that, and it’s the only thing I agree with him on.”
After getting beaten, Barnes reopened a law firm in Marietta and started a Web site to help Georgians understand consumer protection laws. He stayed out of sight for the most part but kept an eye on the state’s evolving political landscape.
Within a few years, both chambers of the General Assembly were Republican-dominated. Among the 15 nonjudicial statewide offices, only three are held by Democrats.
Still, after more than six years of Republican control, some Democrats believe the time may be ripe for change.
Perdue and the Republicans have angered some of the same people Barnes did. Tough budget times have meant school funding cuts and often skimpy raises —-or no raises —- for teachers. Confederate heritage buffs put up “Sonny lied” stickers across the state after Perdue didn’t give them a vote to restore the old state flag.
Business leaders have griped about the inability of the Republican General Assembly to come to grips with metro Atlanta’s traffic problems.
Republicans have fought among themselves, just as Democrats did when they were in power. And they face a possibly bloody gubernatorial primary next year. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Secretary of State Karen Handel and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine have all entered the race, and more candidates may follow.
At the same time, the overall political climate has, for the first time in years, given Democrats hope. While Republicans continued to win elections last year, Democrats set records registering new voters, and Barack Obama got 47 percent of the vote for president in what was considered a solidly GOP state.
“The state has changed demographically; it’s much more diverse,” said Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, a Democrat.
Barnes said, “Barack Obama showed we are not as solid Republican in Georgia as some people think.”
Still, in 2008, Republicans maintained control of the Legislature, no Georgia GOP congressman lost and Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss won re-election.
Matt Towery, head of Atlanta-based InsiderAdvantage, has already polled the race, matching Barnes against Cagle, Handel and Oxendine. Barnes narrowly beats Oxendine and Handel and barely trails Cagle with more than a quarter of respondents undecided.
Towery, a former Republican state legislator who served with Barnes, said his polling shows the former governor doing well among independent voters who could swing an election.
“Everything is a snapshot in time. But this is a nation that wants people to do stuff,” Towery said.
Some Republicans seem to relish the prospect of a Barnes candidacy.
“It’s like a busted pinata looking for a rematch,” said Dan McLagan, a Republican consultant who worked on Perdue’s campaign in 2002. “The pinata can’t win, but everybody else will enjoy watching him get the stuffing knocked out of him.
“Anyone who remembers Roy Barnes remembers him for failed education policies, bloated government and brutal, gerrymandered redistricting.”
Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators said many teachers have long memories and haven’t forgiven Barnes for the way they thought he mistreated the profession.
“If the former governor wants to start with a fresh slate, he’d almost have to start with a mea culpa,” said Callahan, whose group is the state’s largest teacher organization. “It would depend on how he approaches educators. I think educators still have bad feelings about that [Barnes] era.”
Not all Democrats want to see Barnes’ name on the ballot.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), who wants to run for governor, said he would like to see Barnes involved in the political process but not as a candidate again. House Minority Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) said Democrats must avoid a bitter primary fight if they are to have any hope of winning.
None of that has deterred Barnes as he’s toured the chicken-dinner circuit, complaining about “special interests” taking over the state. It seemed that the old Roy Barnes, the high-priced “country lawyer,” the natural campaigner with the back-slapping, joke-telling ways, was back on the trail.
He has railed against Republican attempts to do away with corporate taxes while passing legislation likely to raise property taxes on homeowners.
He’s expressed outrage over the Republican push to let Georgia Power start charging customers to pay for the construction of nuclear power reactors well before they will be operable.
“I just can’t believe what’s happening down there,” Barnes said.
“The Senate repealed the corporate income tax, but we can’t find enough money to give everyone $200 to $300 breaks on their property taxes. But the rich folk, flying around on their airplanes, we can find the money to take care of them.”
Roy Barnes
Age: 61
Job: Marietta attorney with the Barnes Law Group.
Personal: Wife, Marie; they have three grown children.
Political life: Democrat. Elected to the state Senate in 1974; served eight terms. Ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1990. Won state House seat, 1992. Ran for governor and won in 1998. Ran for re-election in 2002 and was defeated by Republican Sonny Perdue.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, University of Georgia, 1969. Law degree (with honors), UGA, 1972.