Tuesday 7.06.04
A political consultant's dream: With two weeks left, Isakson's sitting behind his large stack of chips, with all his bills paid.

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Now is the time that the paperwork starts fluttering in, and we find out which candidates will have the financial wherewithal to get their message out for the primaries only two weeks away.

U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson on Friday let it be known that, at the poker table that is the Republican race for the U.S. Senate, he's the guy with most of the chips. A total of 5.4 million of them.

Isakson's raised more than $900,000 in the last three months, has paid for all his TV spots, his direct mail, his staff -- and still has $980,000 in the bank.

You can sense a significant uptick in the confidence level of the Isakson campaign. Three months ago, Isakson campaign manager Chris Carr spoke of a runoff as a certainty. He now openly downgrades a three-week extension of the race to a "possibility."

Cain has the money to make it interesting, and hints at something rash

Within hours of Isakson's announcement, the Herman Cain campaign declared it had raised $750,000 this quarter ($2.7 million total) and has $600,000 on hand to finish off the GOP sprint to the July 20 vote.

There remains the possibility that Cain, a millionaire entrepreneur, could toss more of his own money into the race.

"We're exactly where we want to be going into the final homestretch. Our cash-on-hand is similar to Isakson's and you never know what Herman is going to do toward the end of this race," said Cain campaign manager Matt Wylie.

Cain continues to position himself as the sole viable challenger to Isakson for the hard-core Republican vote. U.S. Rep. Mac Collins has a message, but so far hasn't shown he's got the money to get it out -- and in the last few weeks, his staff has experienced significant turmoil, including the loss of a press secretary.

Says Barnes: Excessive loyalty is an affliction that he shares with George W. Bush

Last month, Democrats across the state were puzzled by the appearance of former Gov. Roy Barnes at an Augusta fund-raiser for Charles Walker, one day after the former state senator was indicted on 142 counts of corruption-related charges.

Walker is trying to reclaim the legislative seat he lost two years ago. The former Senate majority leader was once the most influential African-American politician in the state, and was crucial to Barnes' election in 1998.

That said, countless Democrats told us Barnes' presence at the Walker bash has finally convinced them that the former governor has no further political ambitions.

We stopped by Barnes' new digs in Marietta the other day. The cushy law office even has a nursery for his law partner /daughter Allison. Perhaps fearful that a grandbaby due this summer might follow in his liability footsteps, Barnes has also given up cigars.

But what about Walker?

It's Barnes' contention that the indictment was purposely moved up a week, to capitalize on the ex-gov's presence at the Augusta fund-raiser.

Barnes also said that Walker called him the day of the indictments and offered him an out. Obviously, he didn't take it.

"Charles Walker was very helpful to my administration," Barnes said. "I hope the charges aren't true. Some of them seem kind of petty.

"I stick with people who stick with me. I know it's one of my faults, but I don't run from folks who support me," Barnes said.

How much is a seat in the 180-member House worth? About an arm and a leg. Really.

If state Rep. Tom Bordeaux (D-Savannah) wants confirmation that doctors are still mad at him for helping to crush their version of tort reform, he only need look at the latest campaign disclosure from his primary opponent, Pearl Persad.

She's raised an astounding $237,698 since last summer, 95 percent of it from physicians.

By the time Bordeaux, a 14-year veteran of the Legislature, was booted out as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee this spring -- for putting the brakes on reform legislation -- Persad had already collected $161,000 from physicians, hospitals and the like.

Since then, she's taken in an additional $69,000, including more than $60,000 from doctors, hospitals and MAG Mutual, the company that provides malpractice insurance to most of the state's doctors.

A cheaper suggestion: Discount coupons to patients who promise not to sue

A national physicians organization is also weighing in on the U.S. Senate race.

Doctors for Medical Liability Reform, which represents 230,000 physicians in specialty practices, has begun airing 30-minute "news magazines" on broadcast and cable outlets around the state.

The programs, filmed in Georgia, promote legislation like the liability reform bill which passed the U.S. House last year but failed to reach cloture in the Senate.

The group hopes to affect Senate races in Georgia, the Carolinas and Washington state. They're asking candidates to sign a pledge they will support "medical liability reform" and caps on nonÂeconomic damages. So far, the group reports, only U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson has signed in Georgia.

In order to pry Isakson's support away, Georgia Right to Life had to acknowledge its breadth

Georgia Right to Life may have done Johnny Isakson a backhanded favor last week.

The group, which has given its stamp of approval to both his rivals in the GOP primary, is attempting to undercut the U.S. Senate front-runner by putting pressure on the people behind him.

PAC director Dan Becker put out an e-mail asking its supporters to contact elected officials in Isakson's camp, and ask them, "Why are you silent when it comes to Isakson's recent pro-abortion vote?" This is a reference to Isakson's endorsement of making abortions available at overseas military bases.

Trouble is, the impressive list of officials Becker asked his people to squeeze included just about every Republican of note in the state Legislature.

It could have been the Rev. Sonny

Gov. Sonny Perdue spent his July 4 Sunday morning in the pulpit, preaching two services for "God and Country Day" at First Redeemer Church in Cumming.

This was a special occasion -- Oliver North was last year's speaker -- and not a normal Sunday service. But preaching still seems like the right verb for Perdue's talk, which explored the Biblical foundations for the phrase "with liberty and justice for all."

We were told nine people joined the church during the first service, which supports the point. We didn't get a good count for the second.

There was fair sprinkling of Republican candidates on hand at the Rev. Richard Lee's church as well, including state Senate rivals Bill Stephens and Bubba McDonald.

Quotes from the campaign trail