Georgia's Very Own Megathread!

[Miles]

Dalton mayor David Pennington is looking to running in the primary against Deal.

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[Adam Griffin]

Dalton mayor David Pennington is looking to running in the primary against Deal.

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Pennington isn't the worst; Dalton is my stomping ground. He's had running for Gov planned since 2010, when he was holding fundraisers for Carol Porter and schmoozing with big cross-over donors. He's more of a Libertarian than a Republican, and he certainly is right - the Republican leadership here has been rather inept. I sincerely hope he primaries Deal.

[Adam Griffin]

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/mar/29/bob-barrs-controversial-national-level-campaign-te/

Bob Barr wants his old seat back! From R to L to R again.

[Bacon King]

The Barr campaign team:

• Barr's general consultant hates the Tea Party and has worked for the DCCC.
• The chief strategist was in charge of Oxendine's 2010 campaign (for non-Georgians, Oxendine was the guy who went from unstoppable frontrunner to 4th place finisher in about a month).
• The pollster did the internals for the Gingrich 2012 campaign (who thought Nevada was neck-and-neck, among other silly things).
• The ad-man is the guy who created hits such as "Demon Sheep," "I'm not a witch," "Chinese lady thanks Debbie Spenditnow," "Ben Quayle wants to knock the hell out of things," and "Jon Huntsman rides a dirtbike through the desert for a really long time".

There is no way this campaign ends up with some sort of hilarious implosion!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Barr campaign team:

• Barr's general consultant hates the Tea Party and has worked for the DCCC.
• The chief strategist was in charge of Oxendine's 2010 campaign (for non-Georgians, Oxendine was the guy who went from unstoppable frontrunner to 4th place finisher in about a month).
• The pollster did the internals for the Gingrich 2012 campaign (who thought Nevada was neck-and-neck, among other silly things).
• The ad-man is the guy who created hits such as "Demon Sheep," "I'm not a witch," "Chinese lady thanks Debbie Spenditnow," "Ben Quayle wants to knock the hell out of things," and "Jon Huntsman rides a dirtbike through the desert for a really long time".

There is no way this campaign ends up with some sort of hilarious implosion!

Maybe Baby Doc can fly up to Georgia to campaign for him!

[Bacon King]

 PERDUE SET TO ENTER US SENATE RACE  








Nah, not Sonny. His cousin David.

[Miles]

Michelle Nunn, Sam Nunn's daughter, sounds like a decent alternate if Barrow passes.

[Mr.Phips]

Barrow for Senate? He may actually be considering it.

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http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/mar/06/your-daily-jolt-evidence-john-barrow-may-be-intere/

If Barrow runs, he is a complete idiot.  Georgia is not quite ready for Democrats at the statewide level, especially in a midterm. 

[nolesfan2011]

The Barr campaign team:

• Barr's general consultant hates the Tea Party and has worked for the DCCC.
• The chief strategist was in charge of Oxendine's 2010 campaign (for non-Georgians, Oxendine was the guy who went from unstoppable frontrunner to 4th place finisher in about a month).
• The pollster did the internals for the Gingrich 2012 campaign (who thought Nevada was neck-and-neck, among other silly things).
• The ad-man is the guy who created hits such as "Demon Sheep," "I'm not a witch," "Chinese lady thanks Debbie Spenditnow," "Ben Quayle wants to knock the hell out of things," and "Jon Huntsman rides a dirtbike through the desert for a really long time".

There is no way this campaign ends up with some sort of hilarious implosion!

Maybe Baby Doc can fly up to Georgia to campaign for him!

Ok that bit of news is just awesome... now I can't wait for the implosion. LOL

[Miles]

I saw this pic and thought you Geoegia folks might like it!



'Warms my heart.

[free my dawg]

Barrow for Senate? He may actually be considering it.

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http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/mar/06/your-daily-jolt-evidence-john-barrow-may-be-intere/

If Barrow runs, he is a complete idiot.  Georgia is not quite ready for Democrats at the statewide level, especially in a midterm. 

Don't underestimate the Akin effect. Barrow is known as a Blue Dog, his ad team is incredible, and he is a good campaigner. Meanwhile, on the Republican side of things, you have the man who believes the Big Bang Theory was created by Satan and that Charles Darwin is probably rotting in the Ninth Circle of Hell and a man who actually said that Akin himself was "partially right".

Any other candidate would lose, but John Barrow makes this a race, especially against someone as nuts as Broun or Gingrey.

[HansOslo]

Are there any non-crazy Republicans running for the nomination for this Senate seat?

Considering how strong the Georgia GOP is, they must have some people that are more reasonable than Broun.

[old timey villain]

Are there any non-crazy Republicans running for the nomination for this Senate seat?

Considering how strong the Georgia GOP is, they must have some people that are more reasonable than Broun.

People are saying Karen Handel might run. She was Georgia's secretary of state and lost the GOP primary for Governor in 2010. Honestly, she's about as conservative on most issues as the rest of them, but she cultivated a more moderate image by campaigning against the "gool ol boy" network in the governor's race, thus winning a lot of the wealthy suburbs that are less socon. It all depends on what her campaign focuses on- she could be the moderate alternative to Gingrey and Broun if she keeps up the "gool ol boy" shtick and focuses more on fiscal responsibility. But if she builds her campaign around her almost fanatical opposition to abortion (see Susan G Komen scandal) then she could come across as another Sharron Angle.

[HansOslo]

Are there any non-crazy Republicans running for the nomination for this Senate seat?

Considering how strong the Georgia GOP is, they must have some people that are more reasonable than Broun.

People are saying Karen Handel might run. She was Georgia's secretary of state and lost the GOP primary for Governor in 2010. Honestly, she's about as conservative on most issues as the rest of them, but she cultivated a more moderate image by campaigning against the "gool ol boy" network in the governor's race, thus winning a lot of the wealthy suburbs that are less socon. It all depends on what her campaign focuses on- she could be the moderate alternative to Gingrey and Broun if she keeps up the "gool ol boy" shtick and focuses more on fiscal responsibility. But if she builds her campaign around her almost fanatical opposition to abortion (see Susan G Komen scandal) then she could come across as another Sharron Angle.

So it is possible to envision a scenario where Broun and Gingrey splits the very conservative/Tea Party vote, and allows Handel to win? Because I think there probably are a lot of conservative minded people in Georgia that want to vote for a Republican, that don’t want to vote for Broun or Gingrey. If Handel can seem like a reasonable (and intelligent) candidate, she might win simply by being the only option for a lot of these voters.
I have a question about Barrow. Because he seems like the best candidate the Democrats can field next year. What sort of opposition do you think he will meet in the primary?

[old timey villain]

Are there any non-crazy Republicans running for the nomination for this Senate seat?

Considering how strong the Georgia GOP is, they must have some people that are more reasonable than Broun.

People are saying Karen Handel might run. She was Georgia's secretary of state and lost the GOP primary for Governor in 2010. Honestly, she's about as conservative on most issues as the rest of them, but she cultivated a more moderate image by campaigning against the "gool ol boy" network in the governor's race, thus winning a lot of the wealthy suburbs that are less socon. It all depends on what her campaign focuses on- she could be the moderate alternative to Gingrey and Broun if she keeps up the "gool ol boy" shtick and focuses more on fiscal responsibility. But if she builds her campaign around her almost fanatical opposition to abortion (see Susan G Komen scandal) then she could come across as another Sharron Angle.

So it is possible to envision a scenario where Broun and Gingrey splits the very conservative/Tea Party vote, and allows Handel to win? Because I think there probably are a lot of conservative minded people in Georgia that want to vote for a Republican, that don’t want to vote for Broun or Gingrey. If Handel can seem like a reasonable (and intelligent) candidate, she might win simply by being the only option for a lot of these voters.
I have a question about Barrow. Because he seems like the best candidate the Democrats can field next year. What sort of opposition do you think he will meet in the primary?

Yes it's possible but keep in mind that in Georgia primaries if a candidate doesn't win a majority then there's a runoff between the top two finishers. It happened in 2010. Nathan Deal and several others split the very conservative vote while Handel won with a plurality, but in the runoff Deal beat Handel and went on to win the election, probably because the majority of Republicans in the state are the very conservative type and liked Deal more than Handel. So that could definitely happen again, especially since Republicans here keep getting more and more conservative. Of course that's what I'm hoping will happen.

As far as Barrow goes, there's talk of other Dems entering the race but most don't seem to have the same clout as him. Sam Nunn's daughter is apparently in talks to run but she has very little name recognition. There are a lot of black democrats in GA who may run as well, and they could stand a chance although black democrats don't do well in statewide races lately for obvious reasons. I'm really hoping Barrow wins the primary though, should he choose to run. He knows what it takes to win and I think he could pull it out.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Are there any non-crazy Republicans running for the nomination for this Senate seat?

Considering how strong the Georgia GOP is, they must have some people that are more reasonable than Broun.

People are saying Karen Handel might run. She was Georgia's secretary of state and lost the GOP primary for Governor in 2010. Honestly, she's about as conservative on most issues as the rest of them, but she cultivated a more moderate image by campaigning against the "gool ol boy" network in the governor's race, thus winning a lot of the wealthy suburbs that are less socon. It all depends on what her campaign focuses on- she could be the moderate alternative to Gingrey and Broun if she keeps up the "gool ol boy" shtick and focuses more on fiscal responsibility. But if she builds her campaign around her almost fanatical opposition to abortion (see Susan G Komen scandal) then she could come across as another Sharron Angle.

So it is possible to envision a scenario where Broun and Gingrey splits the very conservative/Tea Party vote, and allows Handel to win? Because I think there probably are a lot of conservative minded people in Georgia that want to vote for a Republican, that don’t want to vote for Broun or Gingrey. If Handel can seem like a reasonable (and intelligent) candidate, she might win simply by being the only option for a lot of these voters.
I have a question about Barrow. Because he seems like the best candidate the Democrats can field next year. What sort of opposition do you think he will meet in the primary?

Yes it's possible but keep in mind that in Georgia primaries if a candidate doesn't win a majority then there's a runoff between the top two finishers. It happened in 2010. Nathan Deal and several others split the very conservative vote while Handel won with a plurality, but in the runoff Deal beat Handel and went on to win the election, probably because the majority of Republicans in the state are the very conservative type and liked Deal more than Handel. So that could definitely happen again, especially since Republicans here keep getting more and more conservative. Of course that's what I'm hoping will happen.

As far as Barrow goes, there's talk of other Dems entering the race but most don't seem to have the same clout as him. Sam Nunn's daughter is apparently in talks to run but she has very little name recognition. There are a lot of black democrats in GA who may run as well, and they could stand a chance although black democrats don't do well in statewide races lately for obvious reasons. I'm really hoping Barrow wins the primary though, should he choose to run. He knows what it takes to win and I think he could pull it out.

I don't know. Michelle Nunn is starting to sound really good, and she doesn't have the unfavorables that Barrow has. That's why Heitkamp, Tester, Donnelly, and others were able to win in 2012. People liked them. I believe Barrow is underwater statewide. Democrats could go in early and define Nunn as a moderate in the mold of her father and other red-state Dems.

[old timey villain]

Heitcamp was an extremely charismatic and folksy candidate who ran a stellar campaign based on relating to the average North Dakotan, and she still only won by a few thousand votes. I just don't know enough about Elizabeth Nunn. She doesn't have any political baggage but is she likeable and in touch with the average Georgian, especially those white blue collar folks we need to win? I'll have to find out more about her but I'm still placing my bets on John Barrow- he knows what it takes to win.

[Miles]

Ron Paul endorsed Broun.

[Adam Griffin]

Ron Paul endorsed Broun.

I've been LOL'ing all day. It's going to be great to see this buffoon pick up the nomination. Here comes Barrow!

Oh, and on an unrelated (or perhaps somewhat related) note, Organizing for Action is hiring paid staffers in Georgia.

[Miles]

Between this and Sanford, I don't know which insane southern Republican Paul will endorse next.

[nolesfan2011]

Paul only got 6.5% of the primary vote this time around, and similar in 08, so he doesn't have a massive base here. Not sure if it really helps Broun with votes, especially since a lot of those Paul voters were probably crossover youth votes too (the same people that wrote in Charles Darwin to protest Broun just a few months later). They don't have the same groups of supporters really.

That being said it helps with fundraising and outside volunteers more than anything I guess. 

[RogueBeaver]

Karen Handel email to supporters, H/T Weekly Standard.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/karen-handel-moving-closer-senate_720450.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

State Rep. Scott Holcomb apparently thinking about running for either Gov. Or Senate, but it sounds like he leaning more towards Senate.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/hotlineoncall/2013/05/holcomb-considering-ga-senate-gubernatorial-bids-01

[Adam Griffin]

And here comes Kingston!

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/may/01/jack-kingston-declares-us-senate-and-karen-handel-/

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[Miles]

Apparently Handel is entereing the Senate race tomorrow:

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