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Well, PPP just confirmed something we all knew: U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R. GA) is very vulnerable in the GOP primary:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
Only 38% of Republican primary voters say they want Chambliss to be their nominee next year, compared to 43% who would prefer someone more conservative. But Chambliss stomps most of the people who've shown the most interest in taking him on. He leads Congressman Paul Broun by a 57/14 margin in a head to head, has a 50/22 advantage over Congressman Tom Price, and leads former Secretary of State Karen Handel 52/23. - PPP, 12/4/12
PPP surveyed 729 Georgia voters, including 389 usual Republican primary voters, from November 30th to December 2nd. The margin of error for the overall survey is +
-3.6%, and +-5.0% for the GOP primary portion.
PPP shows that if Herman Cain were to throw his hat into the race, Cain would crush Chambliss:
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By far and away the Republican who would pose the greatest threat to Chambliss in a primary, if he changed his mind about running, is Herman Cain. Cain would lead Chambliss 50-36 in a hypothetical match up. Cain has a 68/20 favorability rating with GOP primary voters, which compares quite favorably to Chambliss' 45/36 approval spread. Other long shot candidates we tested against Chambliss were Allen West, who trails 47/26, and Erick Erickson who trails 51/22.
Chambliss is extremely weak with Republicans describing themselves as 'very conservative.' 61% of them would like to replace him, compared to only 23% who would like to see him nominated again. He would trail Cain 68/19 with that group of voters. - PPP, 12/4/12
So Chambliss is vulnerable to right-wing extremist. Now you might be scratching your head and wondering, "If Chambliss is so vulnerable, why is he crushing all the other challenger who aren't Herman Cain?" Well PPP shines a light on something:
-Chambliss is definitely vulnerable in a primary but most of his potential opponents start out with low name recognition. So against anyone other than Herman Cain, Chambliss is going to start out in the lead. But so did Mike Castle and Richard Lugar... - PPP, 12/4/12
So if Cain passes on this opportunity, it will give potential primary challengers like Karen Handel an opportunity to build up her name recognition and take down Chambliss. PPP compares the Georgia Senate race to the 2012 Indiana Senate race. If Chambliss wins his primary, he'll be the favorite to win the general. If he looses, the seat is up for grabs. PPP tested Chambliss against some big name Democrats in the race to prove their point:
Chambliss leads former Governor Roy Barnes 48-40, Congressman John Barrow 50-37, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed 52-37, and State Senator Jason Carter 52-34. - PPP, 12/4/12
The only Democrat who comes close to defeating Chambliss is the very man he swift boated back in 2002, former U.S. Senate, triple amputee and war hero, Max Cleland:
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The only Democrat who comes particularly close to Chambliss is 2002 foe Max Cleland, who despite being quite popular with a 50/27 favorability rating, only musters a tie at 45. - PPP, 12/4/12
Now here's the part that makes so frustrated with Georgia Democrats:
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The reason Chambliss does so well against all of those folks is that he actually has a fair amount of appeal to Democrats. 28% approve of him, a lot more crossover support than we see for most politicians these days. If Chambliss was taken out in the primary, it's likely the Republicans would end up with a nominee who doesn't have that going for them. We tested Tom Price against all the Democrats as well and he would trail Cleland 47-39 and Barnes 46-40 while leading Barrow only 40-38, Reed 43-38, and Carter 42-36. It could have the potential to be a race if Chambliss does get primaries. - PPP, 12/4/12
I seriously don't understand how any Democrat in Georgia can support Chambliss. I understand there are conservative Democrats in the South but how can anyone forget what Chambliss did to Cleland in 2002? Here's a quick reminder:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
No Democrat should ever forgive Chambliss for what he did to Senator Cleland.
So just like in Indiana in 2012 and Delaware in 2010, Chambliss looks safe now but once the actual primary challenger surfaces and gains name recognition, it's game over for Chambliss. Democrats had an uphill battle but all we can do is keeping looking for our ideal candidate and wait and see who will come out and defeat Chambliss. Now in terms of our ideal candidate, PPP offered this piece of advice:
-Chambliss' cross over appeal to Democrats would make him hard to defeat in a general election. But given the very real possibility of him losing to an extreme conservative candidate in the primary it might benefit Democrats to get a Joe Donnelly caliber candidate who doesn't have a lot to lose into the race, just in case... - PPP, 12/4/12
So besides Cleland and the other Democrats mentioned (who most likely won't run), any suggestions on who we should draft? I'm all ears.