12 days until vote
Thursday marks 12 days until Americans vote in federal and state races on Nov. 8. All year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has brought you the key moments in those races, and it will continue to cover the campaign's main events, examine the issues and analyze candidates' finance reports until the last ballot is counted. You can follow the developments on the AJC's politics page at http://www.myajc.com/s/news/georgia-politics/ and in the Political Insider blog at http://www.myajc.com/s/news/political-insider/. You can also track our coverage on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GAPoliticsNews or Facebook at https://facebook.com/gapoliticsnewsnow.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has so far bypassed Georgia as part of her push into traditional Republican strongholds. And a major reason why may be Jim Barksdale, the Democrat challenging Johnny Isakson for his U.S. Senate seat.
With leads in national polls and battleground states, Clinton's campaign has begun diverting resources toward reliably conservative states, such as Arizona, Indiana and Missouri, where competitive U.S. Senate seats could tilt control of the chamber.
But that Republican-state push has yet to materialize in Georgia, where Barksdale is struggling to give Isakson a run for his money despite funneling $3.5 million of his own fortune into the race.
With a new campaign team and an aggressive traveling schedule, Barksdale is trying to close the gap by trying to tie Isakson to Donald Trump and voter frustration with Washington gridlock. But he trails Isakson by double digits in recent polling even as the race between Clinton and Trump tightens in Georgia.
The nonpartisan Real Clear Politics gives Isakson an edge of more than 11 percentage points in its polling average, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's most recent survey had Barksdale 15 points behind the two-term senator. The same AJC poll showed Clinton and Trump running neck-and-neck.
Clinton surrogates swinging through Georgia for fundraising or campaign stops have avoided appearing with Barksdale, and only now is the Democrat starting to receive endorsements from some — but not all — of the party elite.
Barksdale’s campaign declined to comment. A Clinton spokeswoman disputed the notion that the candidate’s bypass of Georgia was a reflection of Barksdale as a candidate. And some Democrats say the party is holding back because of the possibility the race could land in a January runoff, which would happen if neither candidate wins a majority of the vote.
Tharon Johnson, a veteran Democratic strategist who ran Barack Obama’s Southern re-election campaign in 2012, said the electoral calculus is trickier than it seems.
“Hillary’s campaign is looking closely at Jim Barksdale’s campaign. And I think they feel he’s running the best race he can run against a very well-respected and popular U.S. senator,” Johnson said. “But the fundamental decision for them is that every dollar they spend is a dollar they’re not spending in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.”
With none of Georgia's other congressional races competitive and television ad time growing significantly more expensive, a significant change of course before Election Day is becoming more unlikely by the day.
"I think the fact that the Democratic Party in general and Hillary Clinton in particular have not advocated for Mr. Barksdale is an indication that not even his own party is confident with him," said state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, an Isakson ally.
Presidential polling close
Clinton has not stopped in Georgia since February. And even as Trump's campaign is trying to shore up support in Georgia by sending three of his children to Georgia this week, top Clinton surrogates such as Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are spending the closing days of the race in neighboring North Carolina and Florida.
Clinton’s Georgia boosters have hinted that the campaign is open to the prospect of more investment in the state in the final stretch of the presidential race — or if the Senate race stretches into a runoff. While Clinton’s campaign has not invested big money in Georgia ads, a pro-Clinton super PAC is spending at least $1 million for TV and radio ads targeting mostly black voters.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, one of Clinton’s top supporters in Georgia, said he remains hopeful her campaign will put more resources in the state. When asked whether she would be more likely to invest in the state if Democrats had a stronger Senate candidate, he dodged.
“I think that there will be no better time for a Democrat running for office than the election on Nov. 8,” he said. “It’s certainly going to be the closest election on the presidential level since President Clinton was on the ballot.”
As the race tightens in Georgia, Clinton’s supporters here have stepped up their efforts for the presidential candidate.
Democratic U.S. Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson campaigned for the nominee in recent weeks, with Lewis hosting a march to the polls for millennial voters. Barksdale himself sent more than $33,000 Clinton’s way last quarter, according to federal campaign finance disclosures. And Usher and Tyra Banks are set to appear for her over the weekend.
At early-voting sites in heavily Democratic areas where Clinton is expected to win overwhelmingly, some voters were torn over whether to support Barksdale. Among the dozens of voters lined up to cast a ballot at South DeKalb Mall was S. Williams, a teacher who lives near Lithonia.
“I wanted to leave nothing to chance at all. I voted Democratic pretty much down the line, since the Republican nominee doesn’t represent my views,” she said.
“But I voted for Isakson,” she said. “I don’t know the other candidate.”
Cathy Webb, a professional speaker who also lives in the area, said she knows next to nothing about Barskdale. But she’s voting for him anyways.
“I had never heard of Barksdale before I saw one of his commercials,” Webb said. “But I’ve always voted Democrat. And I just hope he will be for the little people.”
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