Sugar Chambliss Pledges Allegiance
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| Sun, 11-30-2008 - 3:56pm |
The Atlanta Journal Constitute is running a story entitled, "Chambliss has clearly pledged allegiance to Big Business," by Cynthia Tucker. It begins:
"Saxby Chambliss has spent the last six years as a loyal servant of Big Business. He has worked to deliver whatever corporate executives wanted, no matter how greedy, selfish or dangerous their wish list. He has bent the rules to accommodate the captains of commerce.
Now that the Republican senator finds himself facing an unexpected challenge from Democrat Jim Martin, he’s trying to persuade Georgians that he’s spent his tenure working hard for the little guy. Don’t be fooled. Chambliss is the lap dog of corporate interests.
Consider the senator’s contemptuous treatment of a whistle-blower who had warned Imperial Sugar executives of the dangers of their Port Wentworth facility before an explosion killed 14 people and seriously injured dozens of others in February. When Graham H. Graham, vice president of operations for Imperial Sugar, appeared before Congress in July to testify about rampant violations of safety standards, Chambliss treated him as if he’d caused the explosion himself.
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http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/11/26/tucked.html
In asking Georgians to vote for him again, it's like the man expects us to believe he wasn't around the last six years. Where was he? Best case, he was out to lunch. Worst case, he was working hand in hand with Fox Republicans like Bush. I think it's pretty obvious it's the latter. He even admitted in an interview with Republican lapdog Fox News that he trusted the Fox Republicans and continues to trust them.
Want more of the same? Vote Chambliss. Want change. Vote for the other guy, Martin.

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*bump*
The Georgia runoff election for their Senator is tomorrow.
Palin was pounding the pavement for Chambliss. If you like Palin, vote for Chambliss. She is what he is all about. She said President-elect Obama palls around with terrorists. In his last election, draft dodging Chambliss compared then Senator and triple amputee war-hero Cleland to bin Ladin. Palin and Chambliss. Two peas in a pod.
And if you think the last 6 years under Chambliss and his Republican buds turned out well for you and have put this country in a good direction, vote for 6 more years like it.
We need a change. Chambliss and the Republicans deregulated us into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Martin is a good man. Vote for him. Give the Democrats a chance now.
And most important of all, no matter who you vote for, please vote! It's the truly American thing to do.
Sopal
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Chambliss has the lead. But,
"The frustrating thing about projecting a runoff is that few know what will happen. Polling models are hard to trust, given the small number of data points and unpredictability of enthusiasm. Right now we know that the early voting black vote is great news for Saxby Chambliss, and we know from observation that the Martin ground game is far more robust, far more experienced and far more intense, which is great news for Jim Martin."
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
For the sake of the people of Georgia as well as all Americans, I hope we can rid ourselves of another venal, ineffective Fox Republican politician. If not, it'll be up to us to keep shepherding people out of Murdoch's dangerous Fox Republican fantasyland until the next election.
It looks like Chambliss is projected to win.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28010799/
Sopal
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Sopal
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They did ... thank you Georgia.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081203/D94QV0C00.html
By SHANNON McCAFFREY
ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight.
Chambliss' victory thwarted Democrats' hopes of winning a 60 seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It came after a bitter month long runoff against Democrat Jim Martin that drew political luminaries from both parties to the state and flooded the airwaves with fresh attack ads weeks after campaigns elsewhere had ended.
Minnesota - where a recount is under way - now remains the only unresolved Senate contest in the country. But the stakes there are significantly lower now that Georgia has put a 60-seat Democratic supermajority out of reach.
With 70 percent of the precincts reporting, Chambliss captured 60 percent to Martin's 40 percent. Chambliss' win is a rare bright spot for Republicans in a year where they lost the White House as well as seats in the House and the Senate.
"It's been a hard and tough four weeks," Chambliss said at a victory party in Cobb County. "We had a hardcore campaign on both sides and while things look good right now, we're going to continue to follow the returns as they come in."
Chambliss' mantra on the runoff campaign trail was simple: His re-election was critical to prevent Democrats in Washington from having a blank check. Chambliss, 65, had angered some conservatives with his vote for the $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry and his early support in 2007 for the guest worker provision in President Bush's immigration bill. But fearful of unchecked Democratic dominance, some came back into the GOP fold Tuesday
Martin made the economy the centerpiece of his bid, casting himself as a champion for the neglected middle class. He also linked himself at every opportunity to Barack Obama and his message of change. The Democratic president elect was a no show on the campaign trail in Georgia but did record a radio ad and automated phone calls for Martin.
In the end, Martin, a 63-year-old former state lawmaker from Atlanta, wasn't able to get Obama voters back to the polls in large enough numbers to overcome the Republican advantage in Georgia, which has become an increasingly a reliable red state since 2002.
Turnout was light throughout the state Tuesday. A spokesman for Secretary of State Karen Handel predicted between 18 and 20 percent of the state's 5.75 million registered voters would cast ballots - far less than the 65 percent who voted in last month's general election.
The runoff between the former University of Georgia fraternity brothers was necessary after a three-way general election prevented any of the candidates from getting the necessary 50 percent.
Chambliss came to the Senate in 2002 after defeating Democratic Sen. Max Cleland in a campaign that infuriated Democrats. Chambliss ran a TV ad that questioned Cleland's commitment to national security and flashed a photo of Osama bin Laden. Cleland is a triple amputee wounded in the Vietnam War.
He was a loyal supporter of President Bush and, as a freshman, rose to become chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. the former agriculture lawyer from Moultrie has been the ranking Republican on the panel since Democrats won control of the Senate.
Some 3.7 million people cast ballots in this year's general election, and both sides have since tried to keep voters' attention with a barrage of ads and visits by political heavy-hitters.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore both stumped for Martin. President-elect Barack Obama recorded a radio ad for Martin and sent 100 field operatives, but he didn't campaign in the state despite a request from Martin to do so.
Several ex-Republican presidential candidates made appearances for Chambliss, including GOP nominee John McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Chambliss brought in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's vice presidential pick, as his closer. She headlined four rallies for Chambliss across the state Monday that drew thousands of party faithful.
Associated Press writers Greg Bluestein, Kate Brumback and Errin Haines contributed to this report.
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