Glad to see

that the statewide position of "Some Dude" can still win you 2% in a Georgia GOP primary :P

---

by: mkpowers @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 06:09:55 AM UTC

I'll need to lobby my state legislators to lobby the federal government

to create a position of "Some Dude" so I can run for it.

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

---

by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 03:14:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You're certainly qualified for the office!

---

by: James L. @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 03:25:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Why thank you!

party: Democratic, ideology: moderate, district: CT-01

---

by: Glenn Magus Harvey @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 04:03:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Quoi

In a three-way race without Barnes, Baker leads Poythress and Barnes...

22, Democrat, AZ-01
Peace. Love. Gabby.

---

by: Nico @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 06:22:59 AM UTC

Oops

That is to say, Poythress and Porter.

---

by: James L. @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 06:29:03 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Go Oxendine (snark)

Oxendine would be a joy to run against as a Democrat in Georgia and would probably be the easiest to defeat of the bunch.

Expect some kind of decision by Barnes to come in the coming months from what I hear. The party insiders seem to say he's leaning pretty heavily towards getting into the race.  

---

by: fitchfan28 @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 06:24:27 AM UTC

he'd beat oxedine

Call no man happy until he is dead-Aeschylus

---

by: ArkDem the Ragin Cajin @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 15:15:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Some interesting notes

Not only is Westermoreland out, but State Senator Eric Johnson is in and U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal is rumored to be joining, both on the Republican side.

Follow the elections in Georgia at the 2010 Georgia Race Tracker.

---

by: TheUnknown285 @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 13:35:34 PM UTC

I'm stunned by the Dem numbers, would have guessed...

...Baker and Barnes would be reversed.

Baker is the only Democratic statewide elected officeholder, he's a popular Attorney General with a "law-and-order" profile that appeals outside the Democratic base, and he's a black guy who can monopolize black support and turn up black turnout without alienating whites.

Barnes, in contrast, was a one-term Governor who lost reelection earlier this same decade for the same office he now considers seeking.  And it was the same year Baker won reelection, making Baker a better general election vote-getter with the exact same voters!

I know Baker would have a tougher time next November running for Governor than he had in his reelection runs, but I have to think he's our best bet.  Attorney General is a high-profile and politically charged job, and for non-liberal white Southerners it can't be much easier to stomach a black man as A.G. than as Governor.  That so many accept him as A.G. suggests Baker has well-neutralized the race issue with white Georgians.

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10

---

by: DCCyclone @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 15:26:43 PM UTC

In Defense of Barnes

People usually pay a lot more attention to the gubenatorial race than they do down ballot races, and Baker wasn't running against Perdue.

I don't find this surprising. Most people couldn't name their state's AG. Governor is a different matter - and Barnes was governor only 6 years ago. Sure he lost in 2002 (a terrible year for Democrats in the South), but I don't think Baker is obviously a stronger candidate for 2010.

---

by: armand @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 21:44:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I asked my uncle and aunt

They've both lived in GA all their lives.  My uncle knew his last name was Baker but thought he was white.  My aunt had never heard of Baker at all.  I'll bet a lot of people in GA keep re-electing him because they think he's a white guy.  Too bad in a high profile Governor's race they'll realize he's black.

---

by: ChadInFL @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 01:49:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Olens for AG

Sam Olens is running for Attorney General, not Governor.  However, with his lack of a statewide profile and his very low standing in this poll, it would have been an uphill climb for him to win the GOP gubernatorial nomination.  Going from Cobb County Commission Chairman to running for Attorney General strikes me as surprising.  I think district attorneys, state legislators, and sometimes statewide officials (Roland Burris went from Comptroller to AG) usually have the most credible profiles to run for the AG post.

---

by: mdouglas @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 15:47:16 PM UTC