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Thursday, October 16, 2008
In U.S. Senate race, Martin outraises Chambliss in 3rd quarter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The financial/political situation in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race boils down to this:
Would you rather be the Democrat with $92,339 in cash on hand, at the crest of a Barack Obama-driven wave, or the Republican incumbent, with $1.2 million left in the bank and dependent on enthusiasm for John McCain?
Both Jim Martin and Saxby Chambliss have released the top lines — i.e., not lists of individual contributors — from their Sept. 30 campaign disclosure reports.
The big news is that Martin actually outraised Chambliss, who had been a money machine, in the third quarter. Martin raised $1.3 million. Chambliss raised $1.13 million.
Now we know what Martin was doing when he disappeared after the Democratic run-off in August.
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Nunn, other Georgians make last-minute push for big Obama money
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia senator Sam Nunn is serving as a check-collector in an effort to raise big, last-minute money for Barack Obama.
A letter with the names of some of Georgia’s most prominent Democrats (and their spouses) is circulating, requesting contributions ranging between $5,000 and $30,000, all for the Obama Victory Fund.
Presumably, the fund operates outside the formal campaign, and so standard contribution limits don’t apply. Republicans have something similar —the August fund-raiser in Atlanta attended by Republican John McCain went toward a similar operation.
Names on the letter include Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank and his wife Stephanie. Unlike Bernie Marcus, Blank supports primarily Democratic causes. Then there’s former U.S. ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin and his wife Patti; Atlanta contracting great Herman Russell; Ann and Tom Cousins; Mary Ellen and John Imlay; Ted Turner; Mayor Shirley Franklin; Colleen and Sam Nunn; and Mary and Carl Ware.
The letter, which can be found here, asks that checks be sent to Nunn’s Atlanta office.
Given that the missive includes a set of Nunn talking points, the thinking here is that the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is the originator. The letter says:
Senator Obama, as evidenced by his words and his deeds, recognizes that:
— We have developed a habit of avoiding the tough decisions and seemingly lost our ability to build constituencies to tackle head-on our biggest challenges;
— Solving America’s problems will require difficult choices and sacrifices and leaders capable of considering new ideas from both political parties;
— On foreign policy and security policy, we must recognize that we are not limited to a choice between belligerency and isolationism and that we must listen to lead successfully on the key issues facing America and the world;
— The battle against violent terrorists, while requiring a prudent use of military power, is also a long-term contest of psychology and ideas.”
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Boortz takes up for Chambliss on the Fair Tax
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you read the post below, you know that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has jumped into Georgia’s U.S. Senate race on behalf of Jim Martin.
The DSCC on Wednesday launched a TV attack on Saxby Chambliss over the Republican incumbent’s support of the Fair Tax.
Which has sent Neal Boortz of WSB Radio, the high priest of this national sales tax, over the edge this morning. Martin is bearing the brunt of Boortz anger. The professional talker is hammering Martin with words like “liar” and “unethical” — you get the drift.
One word that Boortz hasn’t used — so far — is “Buckley.” As in Allen Buckley, the Senate candidate who — like Boortz — calls himself a Libertarian.
Buckley has called the Fair Tax a sham, in very detailed fashion. And in that debate in Perry last week, Buckley told Chambliss that anyone who supported it was either “incompetent” or “deceitful.” Then he asked Chambliss which word applied to him.
The Republican-friendly crowd didn’t like that one.
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