When at the wheel of a car, it is entirely possible that John Barrow doesn’t bother to use the rear-view mirror. The 57-year-old Augusta congressman certainly tried his best not to look backwards on Wednesday.
Twenty-four hours earlier, he’d shocked Georgia Democrats with his announcement that he would pass on next year’s U.S. Senate race. But in a telephone interview from Washington, Barrow barely acknowledged that he’d given any thought to the career move.
“I know it runs counter to everyone’s intuition, but I actually like the job that I’ve got,” he said. “I think I’m in a position to do some good, given the seniority and the reputation I’ve built in the House. And that’s what I want to do.”
Thus endeth several months of deliberation by Barrow that included days of intense meetings in Atlanta with Democratic supporters in late March.
We’re told that Democrats in Washington were pushing Barrow for a decision prior to President Barack Obama’s visit to Atlanta on May 19. We’re also told that the congressman was concerned that Michelle Nunn, the chief executive of a nonprofit and daughter of former U.S. senator Sam Nunn, wouldn’t rule out a primary challenge. Nunn so far hasn’t returned our phone calls.
In that scenario, Barrow’s vote against Obama’s health care reform would have become an issue. As would, perhaps, his good relations with the National Rifle Association.
But a contested primary played no role in his decision, Barrow said. He and Michelle Nunn never met. “I read about it. I even read about meetings that didn’t take place,” he said.
He played down the reports of D.C. pressure. “There’s a lot of people who just think that life is so much nicer on the Senate side that anybody would be crazy to pass up a chance to run for that job.”
Instead, the last white Democrat from the Deep South in Congress said he will embrace his House role as a fixer. With a divided Congress doing little legislating, acting as a go-between twixt the public and federal regulators has become rather important, he said.
“I’ve actually developed a reputation in the House as being one of the few places you can go to — where you can get a fair hearing, an honest broker – when the leadership on neither side is particularly interested in your problem,” he said. “There used to be quite a few folks in the House that could say that. There are very few folks who can say it today.”
In Washington, Barrow said, you are either a product of partisanship or its prisoner. And he has declined, at least for 2014, the chance to be either.
I asked Barrow if a Democrat could win next year’s Senate race. He said he didn’t know. But winning, the congressman theorized, would require running away from both Democratic and Republican trademarks. Each has been compromised.
“Voters know the brand is covering an awful lot of rotten goods,” he said.
Even as Barrow spoke, Democrats in Washington showed themselves just as eager to move past a failed courtship. A leaked Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee poll, conducted in March, showed that Michelle Nunn was a slightly stronger candidate than Rep. John Barrow against U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah.
Within the current GOP field, Democrats consider Kingston to be their strongest general election opponent — but would much prefer U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens, a self-described constitutionalist who has been endorsed by former Texas congressman and tea party hero Ron Paul.
In the DSCC survey, the performance difference between Nunn and Barrow among voters was statistically insignificant.
But consider release of the poll as proof that national Democrats still covet Saxby Chambliss’ seat – even if they have to go with a far less seasoned candidate. A rookie, in fact, whose famous father – while an informal adviser to Obama on nuclear weaponry and other defense issues — was last on the Georgia ballot in 1990.
Some Republicans are sure to pronounce themselves giddy over Barrow’s decision to skip the 2014 Senate race. But not all.
With his self-removal from the contest, Georgia Republicans hoping to guide their party toward a more centrist Senate candidate have lost one of their best arguments – the threat of a Democrat with a proven ability to snake Republican votes in a general election.
Only a few hours after Barrow’s announcement, former Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina resurrected his political career by winning a special election for his old U.S. House seat. Sanford beat a well-funded Democratic businesswoman, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, with little help from the Republican party infrastructure in South Carolina — but with the enthusiastic support of tea partyers and other independent, conservative organizations.
When you connect Barrow’s elimination in Georgia and Sanford’s victory across the Savannah River, Tuesday was a pretty good day for Paul Broun.
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