Somewhat mellowed strategist keeps eye on 2010

Dan McLagan wants to make clear that he’s still undefeated in Georgia elections.

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s defeat in North Carolina this year gave McLagan a mark in the loss column.

But back home in Georgia, it’s a different story.

McLagan, 41, worked on Republican Paul Coverdell’s winning 1998 U.S. Senate race here and was spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue’s twin victories in 2002 and 2006. When he left the Perdue administration in 2007, it was with a reputation as a tough mouthpiece in a tough business. His wit was razor-sharp and would bite the backsides of those on either side of the political aisle who threatened his boss.

The 2008 election cycle over, McLagan is back home in Buckhead with an eye toward growing the corporate side of his public relations and political consulting firm —- Tactical Communications Solutions.

Even so, he also has an eye on 2010’s election cycle.

“After every political cycle, I tell myself I’m going to be all corporate, but every time a new cycle comes around, I’m back in it,” McLagan said. “I love the game, I love politics. I think it’s an honorable and important decision and I look forward to being involved.”

McLagan was part of a gaggle of young Republican political operatives who gained notoriety —- and business —- with the rise of the Georgia GOP. It began with Coverdell in 1998 and expanded with Perdue’s victory in 2002 and his subsequent re-election. McLagan was in the thick of it.

And even as he toiled in Dole’s close, but losing, re-election bid in North Carolina, McLagan said he kept up with what was happening in Georgia, where Republican John McCain won the state’s 15 electoral votes for president and incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss survived a runoff to win six more years in Washington.

“Georgia remains a solidly red state,” he said. “It’s unfortunate Saxby ended up in a runoff because I think that’s going to tempt Democrats to thinking they have a chance here.”

But then McLagan paused and thought again. “Maybe it’s not unfortunate,” he said. “It might make them siphon off some resources from somewhere else if they think they can win here.”

With several Republicans either already running for statewide office in 2010 or contemplating a bid, Mc-Lagan should have plenty of choices to get back in the game here. At this point, however, with the memories of the 2008 election still fresh, he is not ready to choose a side.

“There are a number of strong candidates,” he said. “We’ll see how everything shakes out. In Georgia, we have a deep bench and a lot of solid leaders who are coming up from the ranks.”

When the 2010 campaigns gear up, the candidates will have an undefeated —- in Georgia —- communications guru ready to work. While he said he had mellowed when he left Perdue’s team in 2007, old habits can be hard to shake. Still, while the North Carolina Senate race between Dole and Democrat Kay Hagan was often nasty, McLagan’s acid tongue seemed to have lost some of its burn. In that campaign’s most tense moments, after Dole released a television advertisement that essentially accused Hagan, a church elder and Sunday school teacher, of being an atheist, McLagan’s toughest comments were to defend the spot. He called the ad accurate. “If the truth hurts, that’s their problem,” he said at the time.

That pales when compared to some of McLagan’s Georgia classics:

When then-Gov. Roy Barnes, the Democrat Perdue defeated in 2002, was given high marks by the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute for cutting taxes, McLagan quipped: “It looks like the Cato Institute broke off early for cocktails today.”

When Barnes touted his education proposals, Mc-Lagan countered that Barnes’ plan “seems aimed at catapulting Albania ahead of Georgia in SAT test scores.”

As polls in 2002 started to show Barnes sliding, Mc-Lagan was ready: “More than 50 percent of Georgians wouldn’t vote for Roy Barnes if he gave them a free puppy.”

But he also had bipartisan fire. When Republicans in the Georgia House sought to overturn a Perdue veto of a tax cut bill, McLagan was brutal.

“It looks like a sixth-grade mock Legislature voting on fake laws,” he said. “While they’re at it, maybe they will vote to extend recess and eliminate homework.”

If McLagan joins a 2010 campaign in Georgia, his opponents ought to hope his mellowing is a permanent deal.

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