McCain to fight for Chambliss

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will come to Georgia to campaign for incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the Moultrie lawmaker’s campaign confirmed Friday.

“We just have to work out the dates,” said Chambliss’ spokeswoman, Michelle Grasso.

Grasso said the campaign is also in touch with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s office about a possible Georgia appearance.

“She wants to come down, but right now we are working with her schedulers to see if that’s possible,” Grasso said.

Chambliss is headed for a Dec. 2 runoff with Democratic challenger Jim Martin of Atlanta. Neither candidate got a majority of the vote in their Nov. 4 contest with Libertarian Allen Buckley.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office will not certify the votes until next week, but both campaigns were operating in full campaign mode by Friday. Some provisional and absentee ballots still were being counted, but there did not appear to be enough to prevent a runoff.

A high-profile, extended election contest between Chambliss and Martin will likely attract political bigwigs from both political parties.

Martin’s campaign has already been in touch with President-elect Barack Obama about a possible Georgia appearance, but Obama had not confirmed an appearance as of Friday.

Even though Obama won the presidency, McCain led the vote tally in Georgia.

Georgia’s Senate race is one of only three nationwide that have not been resolved. The other two are in Alaska and Minnesota.

Democrats would like to oust Chambliss and gain a 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber. They would have to win all three contested Senate seats to get that number.

Republicans want to hold the Georgia seat at all costs to prevent Democrats from having total control over the presidency and both congressional chambers.