So a little while ago I had a diary about how an early primary could hurt the Georgia GOP's chances of holding onto Saxby "Chicken Hawk" Chambliss' (R. GA) Senate seat:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
A judge recently moved up Georgia’s Senate primary date. It might seem like a minor housekeeping adjustment, but it has the potential to leave a mark in the battle for the Senate.
Why? Because it could alter the way the Georgia Senate campaigns are run, change turnout models, and in the eyes of some Democrats, boost their chances of pulling an upset in the Peach State — all against the backdrop of a shrinking Senate map and a race for the majority that looks increasingly close.
First, some background on where things stand. District Court Judge Steve Jones ruled Thursday that Georgia’s federal primary date must be moved up to June 3 from its usual mid-July placement. The rationale is to allow enough time for military personnel and others living overseas to return their ballots, should a runoff election be triggered.
Under prior law, Georgia’s runoffs were slated for three weeks after the primary, a timetable at odds with a federal law requiring that military and overseas residents be given 45 days to return ballots. The Justice Department sued. And Jones ruled in its favor, deciding that an Aug. 5 runoff would follow a June 3 primary. - Washington Post, 7/17/13
Well the Georgia GOP has a brilliant idea: make the primary earlier!
http://www.ajc.com/...
Less than a month after a Democrat with national fundraising possibilities entered the race for U.S. Senate, Republicans in the state Capitol have begun discussing a move that could keep their side of the contest from edging too far right – and thus increase GOP odds of holding onto Saxby Chambliss’ seat.
Here’s the idea that rose up at a meeting called last week by Gov. Nathan Deal and attended by House Speaker David Ralston, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp: Move next year’s primary vote to May 20, a spring-time date that would be the earliest in Georgia history.
That’s an important two weeks earlier than the June 3 date for congressional races ordered by a federal judge this summer — before the end of the school year and the beginning of vacation season.
Historically, primaries in Georgia have been conducted in mid-July or later, during the dog days when many families check out of their daily routines. A pre-Memorial Day primary would ensure a larger GOP turnout with a voting population more akin to a November general election, and less likely to be dominated by the GOP’s most fervent and conservative activists.
A more centrist audience, the thinking goes, would result in more tempered rhetoric – and not just among U.S. Senate candidates. With state School Superintendent John Barge considering a challenge, Deal could have two opponents looking to rip away the GOP nomination for governor.
Further, a mid-May primary runs directly counter to a push by some Georgia Republicans, which surfaced this year, to give activists a greater say by putting nominations in the hands of delegates to the party’s statewide, election-year conventions. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/9/13
The Georgia GOP establishment really doesn't want Paul Broun or Phil Gingrey to win the nominee but the GOP voters prefer them:
http://thehill.com/...
Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and Paul Broun (R-Ga.) lead the field in Georgia's crowded Republican Senate primary, according to a survey from Public Policy Polling.
Gingrey pulls 25 percent support, while Broun clocks in with 19 percent backing. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) has 15 percent support, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) has 13 percent support and businessman David Perdue (R) has 5 percent in the poll.
There's plenty of room for the candidates to grow. Fully 20 percent percent of voters are undecided, and more voters don't have an opinion of the candidates than feel positively or negatively about them. - The Hill, 8/7/13
The GOP establishment would rather have this guy as their nominee:
http://www.ajc.com/...
David Perdue hopes his business experience will distinguish him among the crowded Republican field running for a U.S. Senate seat. But his boardroom background poses challenges that will test his campaign like no other this election cycle.
He’s known on Wall Street as a turnaround specialist who helps revive brands and reap rewards for investors. But his rivals will try to depict the former Fortune 500 leader as out-of-touch with regular citizens. And he’ll face questions about his business setbacks.
Perdue also will confront the same problem facing Michelle Nunn, the only big-name Democratic contender running for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat: Not since Mack Mattingly’s victory in 1980 has a candidate without public electoral experience won a Senate seat in Georgia.
He’s put together a formidable team of strategists, made up of some people who worked for his famous first cousin, former Gov. Sonny Perdue. But competition looms large from veteran politicians: Reps. Phil Gingrey, Paul Broun and Jack Kingston and former Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Perdue welcomes the scrutiny of his boardroom experience, even his brief leadership of the troubled North Carolina textile firm that went under shortly after he left. He said it’s what will help him plot a course to cut federal spending and spur job growth if elected. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/8/13
Perdue does pretty well against Nunn but he might be too much like Mitt Romney for Proun and Gingrey's supporters. Plus I would keep my eye on Karen Handel, she could be the real wild card here:
http://www.theblacksheartimes.com/...
Handel, one of the Republican contenders for the Senate seat Saxby Chambliss is vacating, went on the offensive last week against three of the male candidates opposing her in the GOP primary.
She launched a website under the mocking title of “Only in Washington” and said she would use the online venue to publicize 42 examples of the “ridiculous things” that Jack Kingston, Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun have been part of during their careers in the U.S. House.
“We are where we are in this country not just because of the Democrats, but also because of Republicans not having the will and the resolve and the courage to make hard decisions that needed to be made,” Handel contended.
Some of the things she is criticizing are the boondoggles that typically occur when you have a federal government that spends more than $3.5 trillion a year: the congressional barbership that runs a deficit of $340,000 or the expenditure of $744,000 to build a soccer field for the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
These items are chump change that Kingston, Gingrey and Broun could not have eliminated anyway, and even if they had, it would have made no real difference in solving the federal government’s fiscal woes.
Handel is on firmer ground when she criticizes the congressional trio for not doing more to rein in the national debt, which was at the $4 trillion level when Kingston first entered Congress 20 years ago and is now approaching $17 trillion.
“Only in Washington could that happen and absolutely nothing be done about it,” Handel said. - The Blackshear Times, 8/7/13
We'll have to wait and see how this plays out. But if anything, it's a sure sign the GOP is very scared of losing this one. Until then if you want to get involved with Michelle Nunn's (D. GA) campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.michellenunn.com/...