aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Barrow oponent emerging? Marshall staying put?

Let me be clear, I watch these guys because they represent my area but neither is my ideal Democratic candidate. They both, however, have my full support because I firmly believe that, for the time being at least, they are the best we can get.

My experience leaves my confident that those who are agitating against Barrow and Marshall both from outside and within Georgia are wrong-headed and if they are successful we will be left with far more conservative Republican representation.

Barrow and Marshall may both be Bush Dogs but they do, in fact, reflect their districts. The work that needs to be done is empowering the Democrats here to persuade their neighbors.

On to the topic at hand…

It looks as if the Republicans may have finally found someone to go up against Barrow:

The Associated Press is reporting that John Stone, who served as a top aide to two of Georgia’s former Republican congressmen, is seeking the GOP nomination for a shot at defeating U.S. Rep. John Barrow, the Savannah Democrat.

Stone said Thursday he recently moved back to his hometown of Augusta from Virginia so he could run in the 12th District, which includes parts of Augusta and Savannah, the AP reported.

The 51-year-old Stone served on the Republican congressional staffs of U.S. Reps. Charlie Norwood, who died in February, and Max Burns, who lost his seat to Barrow in 2004 and ran unsuccessfully for a comeback last year. Burns has already passed on a re-match.

Stone was a consultant to Jim Whitehead, who lost to Paul Broun for Georgia’s 10th District seat.

Whitehead should have been a shoo-in but bungled so badly (remember his “probably ought to bomb” UGA comment) that the liberals among us hoped for him to beat Braun so that Democrats would have had a shot at winning the seat.

It looks like we may get to see if it was Stone’s advice that sealed Whitehead’s fate.

As for Marshall, in a piece that finds things are looking good for our Senator Chambliss’ reelection, Grigs Crawford says:

It is still possible for other candidates to enter the race for the July 15 Democratic primary, as the filing deadline is not until May 2. There are Democrats who would like to see three-term 8th District Rep.  Jim Marshall jump in, citing his success at projecting an image as a conservative Democrat in a district that generally has a strong Republican lean.

But Marshall appears so far to be sticking with his determination to run again in the 8th District, where he defeated former Republican Rep. Mac Collins by only 1 percentage point in 2006 — the second-closest outcome for a Democratic incumbent in a national campaign year that was strong for the party. And Democratic House campaign strategists would be happy if he does run for re-election, as the seat would be much harder for them to hold if Marshall were to move on.

I’m at least glad to see that the “Democratic House campaign strategists” he talked to see things the way I do.