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Monday, September 18, 2006
Says Martin: New poll has him not in the lead, but a contender
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first step in conducting a genuine political campaign is showing people with fat wallets that you have a legitimate shot.
Jim Martin, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, does that today with an Alan Secrest-generated poll that shows him within reach of Republican rival Casey Cagle.
The bottom line: Cagle 38 percent; Martin 34 percent; Libertarian nominee Allen Buckley at 5 percent; and 23 percent undecided. The pertinent stats: 806 polled, 3.5 percent margin of error.
While it’s unusual for a campaign to release a poll that doesn’t have the candidate in the lead, the message from Martin’s side is pretty clear. The Atlanta lawyer and veteran of the Legislature, who served a year as head of the state Department of Human Resources in the Republican administration of Sonny Perdue, has a substantive base as the general election campaign begins.
Martin’s campaign also thinks it’s worth noting that among voters who recognized both candidates, the Democrat leads Cagle 44 percent to 39 percent. The poll puts Martin’s unfavorablity rating at 11 percent, and Cagle’s at 14 percent — which would seem to indicate that Cagle wasn’t much damaged by his harsh treatment of Republican icon Ralph Reed in the primary.
The poll raises the larger question of Martin’s role in the general election campaign. Other than getting himself elected.
We put that to several people at Saturday’s annual Democratic convention, held this year in College Park, and came away with two answers. First, Martin is probably the best tool available for bringing Cathy Cox supporters back into the fold. They shared many of the same core activists.
Secondly, Martin — who hasn’t yet missed the chance to reveal that he’s served as an elder in his Presbyterian church — may become the guy who tries to peel off a layer or so of the evangelical vote that has shifted to the Republican party. In his kick-off speech on Saturday, this was Martin’s money quote:
“No Republican is going to take the values of faith patriotism and family away from me.�
It wasn’t the first time he’d used that line, and it won’t be the last.
Says new blogger on block: Cox won’t make ‘08 run
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Speaking of Cathy Cox. She says she won’t run against U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in ’08. This according to Atlanta magazine columnist and two-time ex-Journal-Constitution colleague Doug Monroe.
Click here to look at his new political blog.
