Beware the sideshows as candidates duke it out this fall

By Alan Abramowitz and Matt Caseman

What does famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer say before a big match? That’s right, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Democrats and Republicans have chosen their nominees for governor and the rest of Georgia’s top offices. For the next three months punches and counterpunches will be leveled by the state’s political heavyweights. You won’t be able to turn on the TV without seeing candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and other statewide offices making questionable promises and attacking their opponents.

Some candidates may try to use wedge issues like immigration and gay marriage to stir up voters. This year, though, that’s not likely to work. According to a recent AJC poll, even among conservative Republican primary voters the economy and the state budget are by far the biggest concerns. Issues like immigration and gay marriage trail far behind.

No doubt you’ll see lots of negative ads in the next few weeks as candidates try to exploit the perceived weaknesses of their opponents. And let’s face it — both sides have plenty of weaknesses to exploit. But this election is not primarily about choosing one set of personalities over another. It’s about choosing a party team to govern our state for the next four years.

Campaign rhetoric aside, this year’s election could be the most important for Georgia in many years. Our state is at a crossroads. Hanging over everything is the severe fiscal crisis gripping the state. Whoever wins the governorship will have to deal with continued revenue shortfalls caused by a combination of a deep recession and tax breaks enacted by the Legislature over the past six years. Now the state faces a choice between deeper cuts in education and other public services and finding new sources of revenue.

You might not know it from the political ads, but there are fundamental differences between the approaches that Democrats and Republicans would take in dealing with the core issues of taxation and spending. It boils down to priorities.

Republicans generally favor reducing taxes on businesses and individuals even if that requires further cuts in public services. Democrats generally favor an increased role for state government in addressing social problems even if that requires finding additional sources of revenue. These fundamental differences affect how Democrats and Republicans would deal with key issues such as education, transportation and jobs.

Take education. While both parties agree on its importance, each would take the state in a very different direction. Republicans favor a greater emphasis on local control and school choice, including providing parents with vouchers to help them send their children to private schools. Democrats want to invest in public schools, providing better pay and training for teachers. Both sides say they want to enforce accountability based on performance.

When it comes to transportation, again both parties agree there is a big problem. But the differences are stark. Republicans favor greater reliance on toll roads and privatization of public transportation wherever possible. Democrats want to expand investment in intercity rail, and make MARTA the centerpiece of a state-supported mass transit system serving all of metro Atlanta.

When it comes to job creation, the differences in approach are perhaps the most dramatic. To stimulate investment and job creation, Republicans want to shift the state’s tax burden away from individual and corporate income taxes onto the sales tax, including possibly reinstating the state sales tax on groceries. Democrats want to close tax exemptions that benefit corporations and use increased revenues to invest in infrastructure and renewable energy projects.

It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when the candidates for office devote so much of their time to wedge issues and personal attacks on their opponents. However, in 2010 there are fundamental differences in how Republicans and Democrats would approach the major issues facing our state. That is what the voters should focus on because which approach we choose in November could make a huge difference to our state’s future.

Alan Abramowitz teaches political science at Emory University.

Matt Caseman is a communications consultant from DeKalb County who has worked for Democratic candidates.