Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > November > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEarly, early poll: 2010 governor’s race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By JAMES SALZER jsalzer@ajc.com
Former Gov. Roy Barnes has said he’s not running for governor in 2010 when Gov. Sonny Perdue ends his second and final term, but pollsters apparently don’t believe him.
Public Policy Polling of North Carolina came out with a poll this week matching up the Democrat Barnes with two Republicans who have started raising money for the race, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine. It also matched the two with another Democrat who is occasionally mentioned as a potential candidate, U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall of Middle Georgia.
The poll put Cagle up on Barnes 44-43, and Oxendine up 43-42. Against Marshall, the margin was greater for the Republicans: Cagle 44-39, and Oxendine 44-38.
“It’s hard to decide whether this data provides good news for Barnes or not,” the polling firm’s analysis said. “On the one hand, any time a Democrat is polling close in this Republican state, it’s a good thing for that individual.
“At the same time, numbers at this stage are a function of name recognition more than anything else and you might expect Barnes to have the lead in these hypothetical match ups by virtue of his higher profile from his previous tenure in the governor’s office.
“The other preliminary conclusion you can make from this data is that there is no difference in general election viability between Cagle and Oxendine on the Republican side.”
Barnes doesn’t have the same name identification he had six years ago, when he lost to Perdue. Plus Cagle and Oxendine have been working double-time to boost their name recognition among voters. For instance, thousands of runners who ran the Atlanta marathon and half-marathon Thanksgiving morning ran by a new billboard featuring Cagle on Peachtree Street. And the lieutenant governor ran TV ads touting a web site he set up on wasteful spending in state government. Oxendine, meanwhile, has been showing up on local TV for years any time there is a major fire.
The poll also doesn’t include several Democrats and Republicans likely to make the race. Former Adjutant General David Poythress has already started raising money for the contest as a Democrat. Another Democrat, Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond is thinking about the race. Secretary of State Karen Handel, Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens and U.S. Reps. Lynn Westmoreland and Jack Kingston have also been mentioned as potential candidates on the Republican side.
—Jim Galloway will be back next week.
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
Comments
By JD
November 28, 2008 9:47 PM | Link to this
Fact is…a (Democrat) probably can not win GA.
There are too many trailer parks and politically embarrassed suburban GOPers to get a democrat elected governor in GA.
By inbred white trailer trash
November 29, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this
Who is going to run against Johnny the Socialist??
By Aaron Burr V. Mexico
November 29, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this
The Ignorant South Shall Rise Again.
And this time they might permanently ruin us.
By Buford Betty
November 29, 2008 2:39 PM | Link to this
bush is a socialist, saxby is a gourmand.
By NO SISSY SAXBY GREED LEFT BEHIND--DRAFT DODGER TRYS TO TALK TOUGH
November 29, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this
Snuffy Smith and Zell Miller are the same liberal from the hilltops, Sissy Saxby needs all the bail-out he can get.
By MOTHERS AGAINST SISSY SAXBY SOCIALISM
November 29, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this
REPUBLICANS FOR JIM MARTIN
By Aaron Burr V. Mexico
November 30, 2008 2:05 AM | Link to this
Let’s be fair…
The number of actual trailer parks in this state is small.
No, its the two or three generations of descendants of trailer park people who graduated and went to Georgia Tech and then though “The Southern Strategy” was a good idea.
Most of them drive SUV’s and probably work in rich corporate jobs.
They think the Civil War was about Economics.
They think that they don’t want MARTA in their county because of Economics.
They know that one black guy who’s like Clarence Thomas or Alan Keyes. It’s economics, not Racism.
Just like the Civil War was about Economics.
They believe that Democrats are socialists. They believe that socialists are communists. They believe whatever the Party tells them to believe.
So yeah, you can take the boy out of the trailer park, give him a college education and a fancy job, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the boy.
By independent dem
November 30, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
I don’t know why the Democratic Party continues to try and resurrect losers. Barnes LOST! THAT’S IT! POYTHRESS LOST! THAT’S IT! They have demonstrated they are not in touch with the electorate and we continue to poll them like they have a chance. It’s ridiculous. I won’t support anyone of these losers. And, if Jim Martin doesn’t pull this one out—you can add him to the list. I AM TIRED!
By Red Phillips
November 30, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this
Ray McBerry may be running. I hope he does. Then there will be a real conservative in the race.
http://thenma.org/blogs//index.php/Phillips/2008/11/30/ray-mcberry-for-georgia-governor-in-2010
By John
November 30, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this
A friend of mine put me on a guy named Alan Powell who is from North Georgia. Word is he is going to run for governor. He made quite a speech at UGA a while back. We need a democrat like Alan to lead the democratic party in Atlanta.
The link will take you to a report on his speech. http://blogs.onlineathens.com/node/488
By John
November 30, 2008 10:30 PM | Link to this
A friend of mine put me on a guy named Alan Powell who is from North Georgia. Word is he is going to run for governor. He made quite a speech at UGA a while back. We need a democrat like Alan to lead the democratic party in Atlanta.
The link will take you to a report on his speech. http://blogs.onlineathens.com/node/488