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Sunday, July 30, 2006
Life without Ralph: The Democratic race for No. 2 searches for a voice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pity the two Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, now locked in a run-off campaign that’s down to its final eight days.
For more than a year, Jim Martin and Greg Hecht - both metro Atlanta attorneys, both former state lawmakers - have pitched themselves as the only man with the smarts and chutzpah to take on the legendary Ralph Reed.
Fund-raising and strategy were built around the presumption Reed would dispose of Republican rival Casey Cagle like a used Bic razor.
But in the end, it was Reed who was judged obsolete by voters. And now, in a final lap, Martin and Hecht have left to redefine themselves and their race in new terms. You could see some of their effort Sunday morning in a relatively tame 30-minute studio confrontation on WXIA-TV (Channel 11) - taped two days earlier.
Martin, of Atlanta, emphasized electability. He bragged of his service in Vietnam, his first-place finish on July 18, at 41 percent, his endorsements - most recently, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin - and his fund-raising success.
Hecht, a one-time assistant district attorney from Jonesboro, finished five points behind Martin - and was the aggressor on Sunday. Hecht made clear that he’ll rely on the issue that Democrats often dwelled on before their fall from power: Crime.
In the one exchange that contained any heat, Hecht said: “The last case that I didn’t win was the rape of a stepdaughter by a stepfather. The other side of the table had 12 jury strikes, and I had six. That’s what the victim had. We had a terrible jury. The jury let him off. I had to tell her that she had to go home with the fellow that raped her.”
Hecht claimed that Martin, while chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, blocked a bill to equalize strikes in rape cases.
Now, in the final days of the July primary, Hecht was accused of putting out a misleading flyer on legislation proposed by Martin that would have revamped the prosecution of sexual assault in Georgia.
On television, Hecht was careful not to cross any line. “It’s not to say Jim doesn’t have a good heart, he does. He’s a good man,” Hecht said. “But we have a different vantage point.”
Replied Martin: “I thought this was going to be an easy conversation today. Greg is continuing his negative campaign against me. The truth is I’m tough on crime. I’ve always been tough on crime. My personal story has been part of my advertisements - the fact that my daughter was kidnapped.
“The question is on one particular piece of legislation, a very narrow issue. It’s a very complicated part of criminal justice.
“But the point is that, over my time at the legislature, I voted for two-strikes-and-you’re-out, I voted for restitution for victims of crime, and I have a good record on the issues associated with criminal justice.”
They go at it again Monday evening, on GPTV.
