I have been working on this diary for a while now and I am happy to finally release it. Even though she hasn't announced her candidacy, the NRSC is already going after Michelle Nunn (D. GA):
http://www.politico.com/...
Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, hasn’t announced she’s running in Georgia’s open Senate seat—but the National Republican Senatorial Committee is already going after her for being “to the left of Barack Obama.” Nunn, CEO of the service organization Points of Light Institute, hasn’t been on the political stage much in the past—and the NRSC is calling on her to outline her positions on issues like the Obamacare. They also point to one of her few public statements on a political issue, a 2011 editorial in which she praised the values of the Occupy movement, as a sign she is too “extreme” for the state’s voters. Nunn is Democrats’ top prospect in the race after Rep. John Barrow announced he was staying in the House; Republicans, however, already have a crowded primary. - Politico, 5/28/13
If that isn't a sure sign that the GOP is scared shitless about losing this seat due to a crowded primary that I don't know what is. But the GOP attacks aren't going to scare Nunn away. She's already taking the steps to put together a strong campaign:
http://thehill.com/...
Businesswoman Michele Nunn is actively preparing for a Senate campaign in Georgia and Democrats there expect an announcement early this summer, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans.
“I don't think she'll make an announcement until the beginning of the summer, mid-June or early July. There's no urgency and she has to resolve some things with the charity [Nunn is in charge of]. But she is running,” said one source close to Nunn, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about private discussions.
Another senior Georgia Democrat said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has called a few key Democrats in the state in recent days to tell them Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), was definitely running for the seat.
While plans could still change, both sources say Nunn intends to wait until after a major early June event being hosted by her charitable organization, Points of Light, to make any announcement. - The Hill, 5/24/13
So we will be hearing something about this very soon. But while we're waiting, I think it's important that we get familiar with who Michelle Nunn is. Sure, we know she's the daughter of former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D. GA) and we know that she's the CEO of the charity, Points of Light. In fact, here's her bio:
http://www.pointsoflight.org/...
Michelle Nunn is the CEO of Points of Light and co-founder of HandsOn Network. Points of Light inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. Michelle began her service journey when she helped found HandsOn Atlanta in 1989. What began as a grassroots startup of 12 individuals hoping to get more people involved in volunteer service has grown into the largest volunteer network in the country, working each day to connect 21st century volunteers with their power to create change in their communities.
At Points of Light, Michelle leads the organization in engaging millions of volunteers each year to use their time, talent, voice and money to solve the pressing issues of our time. Through Points of Light and its three divisions: Programs, Civic Incubator and Action Networks, which include HandsOn Network, the largest network of 250 local volunteer centers across the country and around the world; generationOn, the youth service movement that ignites the power of kids to make their mark on the world; AmeriCorps Alums, the national service alumni network that activates the next generation of service leaders; and Points of Light Corporate Institute, our enterprise that enables companies to engage their employees and customers in service, individuals, families, and corporate and community groups find meaningful opportunities to give back and create impact.
Michelle has been a leader in the service and nonprofit sector for two decades. She has served on the President’s Council on Service and Civic Engagement and as a co-convener of the Service Nation Coalition and Re-Imagining Service. She has received a variety of awards, including the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award and honorary degrees from Oglethorpe University and Wesleyan College. The NonProfit Times has named Michelle to its annual “Power and Influence Top 50” list of change agents from the nonprofit sector for six consecutive years.
She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Virginia with a major in history and a minor in religion. She has studied at Oxford University and in India. She was a Kellogg National Fellow and has a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Michelle lives in Atlanta with her husband, Ron Martin, and their two children, Vinson and Elizabeth.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution released a great piece about Nunn and here's the section that I really like:
http://ireader.olivesoftware.com/...
The 46-year-old became the most coveted Democratic candidate in the race to replace Sen. Saxby Chambliss after U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta decided not to run. The latest sign of her interest came May 19 when she appeared at a fundraiser in Atlanta with President Barack Obama.
The race is an uphill battle for any Democrat in Republican-leaning Georgia, but particularly for a newcomer to Georgia politics like Nunn. Yet even as Republicans seek to paint her as too liberal for Georgia, allies say Nunn is a non-ideological pragmatist whose lack of a political record is one of her greatest strengths.
“With the logjam in Washing-ton, one of her best assets is she doesn’t carry that baggage,” said Mike Berlon, head of the state Democratic Party. “In this race, we think not having political experience is a good thing. She’ll match up extremely well with any of the Republicans coming out of the primary.”
If she announces, she may have to first repair divisions within her own party. Several top Democrats, including Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, were said to be behind Barrow. The specter of a primary may have swayed Barrow against a run, though he downplayed it by saying: “I actually like the job that I’ve got.”
Republicans are eager to define Nunn before she can do it herself. Joel McElhannon, a GOP strategist, said Nunn’s nonprofit service can’t hide the fact that she’s “another Atlanta liberal advocating the Obama agenda.”
“She has no track record of political achievements or business success,” he said, adding: “That’s not the resume of a crossover candidate who can turn a red state blue.”
Nunn’s interest in volunteering dates back to her days as a junior high student in Mary-land when she delivered toys to needy children and read books to the elderly — and then sought to return again and again, her father said. When she moved to Atlanta after graduating with a history degree from the University of Virginia in 1989, Sam Nunn said she was set on the notion of making “volunteering more efficient and more effective.”
“I say my main role in her success is to listen to her goals, tell her why it’s impossible and then watch her make it happen,” the elder Nunn said. “She has consistently proved me wrong.”
She applied to be the first executive director of Hands On Atlanta, the brainchild of a dozen young professionals who wanted to connect people like themselves with community service opportunities that met their busy schedules.
Elise Eplan, a founder of Hands On Atlanta who is now a nonprofit consultant, said Nunn was “responsible for taking it from this seed of an idea, this kind of initial very small startup, into the powerhouse our organization is today.”
One bold move, recalled another Hands On Atlanta founder, Kent Alexander, was Nunn’s decision to seek corporate backing “before the term ‘corporate engagement’ was a term.”
“Michelle was always our main asset, but having Sen. Nunn somewhere in the picture never hurt,” Alexander said.
Hands On Atlanta expanded in the early 2000s, as many nonprofit groups struggled to raise money, and Nunn stunned many supporters when she announced a multimillion-dollar capital campaign for a new building for the organization, which had been housed in temporary space. It succeeded, and the group’s headquarters now sits in a sleek building on Atlanta’s westside. - Atlanta Journal-Constitutional, 5/28/13
Now this is quite an impressive background for someone like Nunn and reading about her makes me a little more excited about her candidacy. But of course we will need to know where she stands on the issues which right now we don't know much about:
http://www.examiner.com/...
As a Democrat, I would like to know where Ms. Nunn stands on 'common sense' gun-control issues.
The Newtown incident brought the issue of gun violence to the forefront.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has provided significant pushback, but will Nunn take a principled stand and support President Obama's and the Democrats' efforts to pass legislation involving universal checks, closing loopholes and limiting the number of bullets in magazine gun clips?
Another issue is immigration reform. Republicans have often tried to have it both ways, but does Ms. Nunn believe in a 'pathway to citizenship' for undocumented citizens? Does Nunn even believe in the Dream Act?
Republicans have attempted to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act thirty-eight times over the past three years.
Does Nunn support the Affordable Health Care Act or does she side with John Barrow in opposition?
As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, I believe it is fair to ask her opinion about issues involving the Supreme Court. If there is vacancy on the Supreme Court, she will have a vote in regard to confirming or not confirming the President's nominee along with federal judges.
For Nunn or any Democrat to win the 2014 U.S. Senate race, the candidate will have to be able to inspire the progressive base in the larger cities such as Atlanta, Macon, Augusta, Savannah, and Columbus.
Rural Georgia is anther place where Democrats can do well, but will Nunn campaign aggressively in counties such as Lowndes, Houston, Laurens , Glynn, Colquitt and Coffee for example.
In 2012, President Obama only lost Lowndes County (Valdosta) by 4,000 votes. This gap can be closed, because there are least 25,000 unregistered voters who are at least 18 years old or older in Lowndes.
Lowndes has become a more progressive county by the decade and its largest city, Valdosta had become majority-black city --52 percent--for the first time.
In presidential elections, winning 60 or more percent is a good sign for the candidate. However, in non-presidential year, turnout has been traditionally lower and favored conservative statewide candidates. Nunn, in particular, will have to explicitly state whether she support President Barack Obama or the major issues he has supported and fought for. - Examiner, 5/18/13
It's very understandable for people to be curious about how Nunn will run on the issues. Is she more in line with her father, a conservative Democrat who voted against raising taxes and strongly favored balancing the budget but took liberal positions on issues like gun control, immigration and reproductive rights? Or is Nunn her own candidate? This we will have to see. But there are some indications about where Nunn leans on the issues. One thing that makes me like Nunn was her op-ed piece for the Washington Post about the Occupy Wall Street movement:
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/...
Despite the economic downturn and the headlines, the nation’s private sector is still lively. The values behind Occupy Wall Street are manifesting themselves in the marketplace and companies that are failing to take notice should start. These people-powered movements may not have stopped the markets in their tracks, but they are creating the demand for new forms of corporate behavior and ethical imperatives. The winning brands of the future will be ones that authentically respond.
This may result in an aligning of private-sector muscle to address the very inequities, lack of transparency and poverty that Occupy Wall Street has spotlighted. A new generation of employees, consumers and entrepreneurs is stepping forward with a better way of doing business — putting its bets on the goodness of people rather than loading the dice in its own favor. - Washington Post, 12/20/11
She's also not afraid to stand with Obama:
http://www.ajc.com/...
Michelle Nunn gave the latest indication today that she will be entering the U.S. Senate race by showing up to a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser with President Barack Obama.
The fundraiser came after Obama spoke at Morehouse College's rain-soaked commencement. Neither Obama nor U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, the chairman of the DSCC, mentioned Nunn in their remarks, though Bennet said: “We believe Georgia presents us with the greatest opportunity for a pickup.”
U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta – who often tries to avoid Obama – turned down the chance to run for Senate, turning national Democrats' complete focus to Nunn, the CEO of the nonprofit Points of Light and daughter of former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn. No doubt she got a hard sell from some combination of Obama, Bennet and DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil, who was spotted in the audience.
There were about 100 guests at the Arthur M. Blank family office, with an entry fee of $10,000 per couple, or $32,400 for a couple to be a “sponsor.” According to an invitation we’ve seen, the sponsors included: Arthur M. Blank, Governor Roy E. Barnes, Mayor Kasim Reed, Pinney Allen & Buddy Miller, Ken Canfield, Larry and Carol Cooper, Buddy Darden, Kirk and Barbara Dornbush, Daniel & Sonya Halpern, Samuel and Louisa Jackson, Tharon Johnson, Kristin Oblander, Justin Tanner, Michèle Taylor and Mack Wilbourn. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/19/13
Democrats in the Peach State have some good things to say about Nunn:
http://www.ajc.com/...
State Sen. Jason Carter, D-Decatur, has worked with Michelle Nunn through Points of Light. Carter said the foundation's origins make Nunn "very interesting. Her relationship with the Bush family is very close.”
“She is undeniably an independent. That will be her pitch, as an independent-minded Democrat,” Carter said. “Different than her dad, but independent nonetheless, with good relations across the political spectrum.”
Many have pointed out that a Nunn hasn’t been on a Georgia ballot since 1990. So I asked Carter, the grandson of the former president, about the power of a family name. “It means that people will remember who she is. It gives people an undeniable reference point — and that is incredibly valuable,” Carter said. “Her dad is one of the most well-respected politicians in the history of the state, especially in places where Democrats have not done well recently.”
Moreover, Sam Nunn has never become wrapped up in the hyper-partisanship of the last decade. “There’s a lot more people who hate Jimmy Carter than hate Sam Nunn,” Jason Carter said.
State Rep. Virgil Fludd, D-Tyrone, recently sought out Michelle Nunn for breakfast and an introduction. Fludd is originally from Charleston, and pointed to parallels between Nunn and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, who ran a business-oriented campaign for Congress – but lost last week to former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican.
Fludd described Nunn as having a “keen sense of having a solid relationship with the business community.”
Michelle Nunn has also sought advice from Andrew Young, the former U.N. ambassador and mayor of Atlanta. He turned 81 last month.
I asked Young where he would put Michelle Nunn ideologically. “I wouldn’t. And that’s what I told her,” he said. “I said, ‘Look. You don’t need to go in anybody’s box. Any label that anybody puts on you, limits you.’”
Georgia Democrats have been in free-fall since 2002. But something in Michelle Nunn reminds Young of 1970, the year when Jimmy Carter knitted together the black-and-white coalition that allowed his party to survive here for another 30 years.
“She’s been a part of the growth and development of this state all of her life. And she’s never done it for money, or for credit,” Young said. “She’s not ideological.” That last point is the key to success in Southern politics, he said.
“We’re not ideological in the South. We’re ideologically ignorant. Ideologies don’t make sense to us,” he said. And that’s a good thing because it allows practicality to thrive, the former mayor said. - Atlanta Constitution-Journal, 5/15/13
So I'll be looking forward to learning more about Nunn. But there's some evidence that proves Nunn would be a stronger candidate for the Democrats than Blue Dog Democratic Congressman John Barrow (D. GA-12):
http://www.ajc.com/...
An internal Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee poll obtained by the AJC showed that Michelle Nunn was a slightly stronger candidate than Rep. John Barrow against Republican Rep. Jack Kingston.
The March poll of 800 respondents found Kingston leading Nunn 33 percent to 32 percent, while Kingston led Barrow 33-29.
Barrow announced Tuesday that he would not run for Senate after months of flirting with the idea, and indications are that Nunn's refusal to step aside in a primary was a major reason for his decision. Democrats are now trying to spin Nunn as the superior candidate who can better turn out the base, while Republicans are crowing about how the battle-tested Barrow turned down the DSCC and dampened Democrats' dreams of taking over the seat after the retirement of Republican Saxby Chambliss.
Nunn, daughter of the former senator Sam Nunn, is the CEO of the volunteer service organization Points of Light. She has not run for office before and is mostly a blank slate to Georgia voters, according to the DSCC poll. She was viewed favorably by 14 percent of respondents and unfavorably by 5 percent. Barrow stood at 18-10 favorable/unfavorable, identical to Kingston and the latest sign of how little-known these members of Congress are outside their districts.
After unspecified "positive and negative messaging" about the candidates was read to the respondents, Nunn pulled ahead of Kingston 37 percent to 34 percent, while Kingston led Barrow 33-32. The AJC was not provided any additional information about the poll, such as how the Democrats performed against the other Republicans in the race.
Kingston is generally seen as the more palatable GOP general election candidate than Gingrey or Broun, who have more often made controversial statements. No need to list them all here. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/8/13
Here's another poll to back up the DSCC's poll:
http://www.ajc.com/...
Better Georgia, the progressive group associated with Democratic causes, has just released an automated May 8-10 poll of 1,662 registered voters that indicates Nunn could best Republican Karen Handel, who has not entered the race, but could also be beaten by likes of U.S. Reps. Paul Broun and Jack Kingston.
“It’s an honest poll. She would be competitive,” said Bryan Long, executive director of Better Georgia. See the numbers above, and the entire press release here. MOE is +/-2.4 percentage points.
The Better Georgia poll also declares that Broun leads the Republican field, with 33 percent of support from GOP voters polled who had been briefed on Broun’s biography. - Atlanta Journal-Constitutional, 5/13/13
When Barrow declined to give the Senate race a try, the pundits we're starting to write this race off for Team Blue:
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/...
U.S. Rep. John Barrow’s announcement this week that he won’t run for the retiring Saxby Chambliss’ Senate seat is seen pretty much everywhere as an enormous setback for Georgia Democrats.
Actually, “setback” is the wrong word, since it implies a diminution of power or reversal of fortune. And, with no statewide elected officials in their camp, super-minorities in both the state House and Senate for the foreseeable future, and no visible political momentum, Democrats in Georgia cannot, technically speaking, be laid any lower than they already are.
Instead, consider it a lost opportunity, and a huge one at that. In Barrow–the only Deep South white Democrat left in Congress–the party had its clearest shot at recovering–or at least being competitive for–the soon-to-be-open Senate seat. Without Barrow, the Dems will need a perfect storm of semi-miraculous events to have any hope of winning.
Before this week’s body blow, the Democratic strategists I’ve talked to had suggested three types of candidate who’ve got a chance of winning, in declining order of preference: Barrow; a largely untested, but bright young politician or political legacy (or, ideally, a politician who’s also a political legacy); or a charismatic rich person able to self-fund his or her own campaign, an unlikely scenario that we’ll call deus ex millionaire.
Despite the fact that Democrats have largely been routed in Georgia politics, Barrow still looked good in a match-up against a GOP congressman to be named later. He’d already survived two redistrictings by moving from Athens to Savannah to Augusta, giving him a larger constituent base than any potential Republican opponent. And not only is he the most conservative major Democratic office-holder in Georgia, but arguably the most conservative Democrat in Congress, with his vote against Obama Care and his vocal support for gun rights. That might not energize many liberal voters, but then liberals don’t tend to win statewide elections in Georgia.
And if you assume that flaky, right-fringe, anti-evolutionist Rep. Paul Broun wins the GOP nomination next year, then Broun’s chances of succeeding Saxby jumped somewhere north of 50/50.
With Barrow out of the running, any reasonable Democrat hopes would assume a Broun primary victory as a necessary starting point. In other words, the seat is again the Republicans’ to lose. - Atlanta Magazine, 5/9/13
Yes Barrow's ability to win over both black voters and conservative white voters in his district makes a great argument for him to be a top notch candidate. Sure, he's survived rough GOP attacks to try and get rid of him. All valid points indeed. But here's the factor that would've hurt him in the general election:
http://www.ajc.com/...
Barrow is perennially targeted by national Republicans, and will have a race on his hands in the 12th District again in 2014. But if he had not run for his House seat again, it would have almost certainly been a GOP pickup.
A Washington-based Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, downplayed Barrow's strengths in the Senate race.
"National Democrats originally wanted Barrow but soon realized that he couldn't turn out women and Democrats in an off year election," the Democrat said.
Georgia Democratic Party chairman Mike Berlon told the AJC's Greg Bluestein that this helps consolidate the field.
“John is in a situation where he’s probably the only guy who can win that Congressional seat back and we’ll need that for the next cycle," Berlon said. "From the party’s perspective this solves one part of the equation. Now we can move forward and go for a non-contested or barely-contested primary. The DSCC is now having conversations with Michelle Nunn about a run. John’s a team player and he’s always been.” - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/7/13
Plus top Democrats knew Barrow wouldn't run for Senate a while now:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York told reporters Wednesday that he is confident that conservative Democratic Reps. John Barrow of Georgia and Nick Rahall of West Virginia will run for reelection next year, even as they have been mentioned as attractive candidates for open Senate seats.
“I’m confident not only because I believe their path to victory in the House is secure, but also based on my own personal experience,” Israel said. “I too believed that I would be a senator for a short period of time. And then the deeper I got, the more I fell back in love with the House of Representatives. So I can speak from personal perspective here. I’m pretty comfortable they’ll continue to offer solutions in the House of Representatives.”
If either Barrow or Rahall left to run for the Senate, Democrats would be in very tough positions in their districts.
Israel was briefing reporters on the DCCC’s 2014 recruitment strategy and outlook. Democrats need to pick up 17 seats to win back the House majority, a hefty task for President Obama’s second midterm. Israel praised the president’s commitment to retaking the majority and said the committee is in a “very good place” regarding his buy-in. - Washington Post, 3/13/13
We do need more strong, intelligent women in the Senate and based on Nunn's resume, she sounds like the perfect fit. But is she the candidate that can fire up an eager and thriving base? The DSCC sure thinks she is:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
If she does, Democratic Party operatives think they can plug her into a formula for victory in Georgia -- a formula they think can also win in Kentucky, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) is up for reelection next year. They have similar hopes for seven other Republican-leaning states where Senate Democrats are up for reelection or retiring -- Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.
The DSCC plan includes picking good candidates, building on the party's technological edge in the last election and developing a ground game that brings every conceivable Democratic voter to the polls. Although the blueprint will be adapted to each individual Senate race, Georgia offers perhaps the clearest example of what Democrats are likely to do, especially with Barrow out of the equation.
There, the Democrats have (they hope) a moderate woman candidate who runs the Points of Light Foundation, launched by former President George H.W. Bush, and a landscape that is arguably ripe for producing new progressive voters.
The Atlanta metropolitan region has more than 400,000 unregistered African-American voters, and in rural parts of Georgia, there are more single white women (who trend Democratic) than there are single white men (who lean Republican). The state also has growing Asian and Hispanic populations, who tend to favor Democrats.
Party operatives, who pointed out those statistics, said that with a candidate like Nunn and a boosted turnout machine, they can win the Senate seat -- even though President Barack Obama lost the state by nearly 8 percentage points in 2012, and a Democrat hasn't fared well on the national ticket since Georgia native Jimmy Carter. - Huffington Post, 5/11/13
And Georgia Democrats are fired up:
http://romenews-tribune.com/...
Democrats tired of being in the minority aren't content to wait for circumstances to reverse.
They want to speed up political trends they perceive to be in their long-term favor. They just don't agree on what to do in the meantime.
Political idealists like to think that logical reasoning about important issues sways the majority to the proper position and support of the right candidates. That might be true in a swing state like Ohio or Florida, but in Georgia, demographics rule.
Hardboiled political operatives recognize that type of people who are moving into the state -- one of the fastest growing in the country -- largely determine who wins elections here. In the 1990s, waves of middle-class professionals from the Midwest brought their Republican voting habits and tilted the state toward the GOP. Now, demographers tell us the tide has turned, and the current waves are bringing black, Hispanic and Asians who, along with younger voters, are swinging the scales back in the Democrats' favor.
Experts predict the balancing point will arrive around the 2018 elections.
Until then, party strategists hope that in next year's U.S. Senate race Republicans will help by having a bloody primary fight that nominates a candidate so far to the right as to alienate independents.
However, waiting on demographic shifts and missteps by your opponent is too passive for politicos. They just don't agree on what to do now. - Rome News-Tribune, 4/29/13
Georgia political experts believe that though the Georgia Democratic Party right now has it's baggage, a young, rising star could be just what the party needs:
http://www.gpb.org/...
Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University, says there's a lot going on within the Georgia Democratic Party. "There are individual members of the party who have their own personal and legal troubles." she says." Then you've got a party whose finances are in shambles right now, and so they really don't have a whole lot of money to be competitive. And you've got a party that's still trying to recuperate from changes in the last ten years where they've seen themselves go from the majority party to the minority party."
While Mike Berlon resigned after being reprimanded for how he treated one of his legal clients, Gillespie says the bigger issue that led to his resignation was the state of the party's finances. "You can't be competitive running a slate of statewide candidates when you only have $30 thousand in the bank." she says.
Gillespie says this is a chance for the party to rebuild. She says the next leader of the party will have to focus on fundraising.
She says democrats are going to have to look for young rising stars who can afford to lose a race or two. Gillespie says many established democrats will be unlikely to run for the U.S. Senate race in 2018 because a loss would hurt their political careers. She says Michelle Nunn would be a good candidate for Senate. Gillespie says Nunn has a strong family name as the niece of former Senator Sam Nunn. But she doesn't have much political experience. Gillespie says even if Nunn were to lose the Senate race, it would increase her name recognition statewide and that would help her in the future. - GPB News, 5/30/13
So we shall see very soon if Nunn is that fresh face the party needs to help launch their comeback. A crowded GOP primary filled with whack jobs like Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey, Jack Kingston and Karen Handel would certainly benefit our chances. Especially since the Tea Party hated Saxby Chambliss and they are eager to take this seat:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
“There are some opportunities in other states but not quite like Georgia,” said Russ Walker, who runs the super PAC for FreedomWorks, a tea-party-aligned group.
At the top of the conservatives’ wish list is replacing retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who has publicly flirted with raising taxes as part of a grand budget accord with Democrats, with an unrepentant hard-liner.
Already, three sitting Republican members of Georgia's House delegation have jumped into the race to replace Chambliss—Kingston and Reps. Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun. Their entrances, in turn, have translated into three open House seats.
“There’s no doubt that Georgia represents a great opportunity for conservatives, both in the House and the Senate,” said Dan Holler, a spokesman for Heritage Action, the political arm affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
All three congressman running for the Senate seat regularly rank on scorecards as more conservative than the average House Republican. Broun scored a 96-percent rating from Heritage Action, for example, and was one of only three House Republicans last year to receive a 100-percent rating from the Club for Growth, the conservative antitax group. Gingrey is often not far behind, scoring 85 percent from Heritage and 89 percent from the Club.
Kingston, who sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has rated slightly lower (he scored a 71 percent on Heritage’s scorecard). But as he entered the race this week, he vowed that he “will yield no ground to any of my opponents as to who is the most conservative.”
“We’re watching the Senate race closely. It’s an important race to us,” Walker said. “We see it as an opportunity to find somebody who is more closely aligned to us on policy.”
Walker said the current field is likely to have more than one such candidate. “The question becomes about message delivery, and the way they carry themselves and the way they talk,” he said.
The concern for some in the GOP establishment is that conservatives aren’t the only ones eyeing Chambliss’s seat. In a year with few vulnerable Republicans on the ballot, Senate Democrats consider Georgia’s open seat to be one of their party’s best plays. Democrats have courted Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., and Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, to run.
“It is one of our top pick-up opportunities of our cycle,” said Justin Barasky, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. - National Journal, 5/3/13
But if I were the Democratic nominee, I would get into the mindset that Kingston was the nominee. He would be the toughest one to beat but there's also a good chance that he wouldn't survive the primary. If Nunn does run, she can take a page from President Obama's book and prepare herself mentally to go up against the GOP's toughest candidate in a primary field filled with whack jobs and clowns. Then again, this is Georgia we're talking about and these whack jobs still could have a shot. We'll be hearing from Nunn very soon but if she turns down this run, I'll be interested to see if this guy will step up to the plate:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
Georgia state Rep. Scott Holcomb says he is considering running for his state's open Senate seat in 2014, even as the Peach State's Democratic Party brass tries to narrow down the field to a single candidate.
"It's fair to say that I'm thinking about it, and that's largely a function of many people calling me and encouraging me to think about it," Holcomb said, adding that a race against Republican Gov. Nathan Deal is also under consideration. "My background as a military veteran and also someone who understands business and can talk with business owners and the business community, many people think that might be an advantage in a statewide race."
Though only in his second term in the legislature, Holcomb is considered a rising star in the state party and has been mentioned as a potential contender by several Democratic strategists and consultants. Many cited his appeal to Republicans and independents, which helped him to pull in 56 percent of the vote in his reelection last year, even after Republicans drew him into a much more difficult district. He has also run statewide before, losing in a Democratic primary for secretary of State in 2006. Holcomb even grabbed some national attention last year after he filed a bill mandating drug tests for lawmakers, in response to Republicans' push for testing welfare recipients.
But party leaders and consultants are meeting behind the scenes in an attempt to narrow down the field of Senate candidates and avoid a primary altogether, according to several reports and strategists familiar with the meetings. State party chairman Mike Berlon is the driving force behind them, arguing that the party has lost winnable races in the past due to bruising intra-party fights. Some Democrats are skeptical that he has the power to bring potential candidates to an agreement, while others, including Holcomb, are worried about the optics of a backroom deal. "I think in terms of us winning, it's the best process. But there is something unsettling about having what may be perceived about background conversations," Holcomb said. - National Journal, 5/1/13
I wrote about Holcomb a while back, you can read about him here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The Georgia Democratic Party does have a future and does have fresh faces it's just a matter of timing. Nunn would also be making history as Georgia's first female U.S. Senator. We'll see if 2014 is that time.