The Georgia netroots kicked it up a notch today in the GA-10 special election to replace deceased Rep. Charlie Norwood. Follow me below the fold for the smack down.
The Netroots community has been drifting. In many ways the unity of purpose and mission that comes from an election cycle has been lost in the ruckus surrounding both the Presidential Primaries and the duels over contrasting strategies on how to best end the War in Iraq. However there is clearly no better way to force the President to change course than to override his veto. Already the Republican Minority Leader John Boehner is discussing the possibility of re-evaluating the issue come September. He should not be allowed to wait. But how can we tie Republican hands.. We can force them by electing Jim Marlow to Congress on June 19th or in the subsequent runoff election.
Another Democratic candidate has stepped up to compete in the June 19th special election to fill the vacant seat of the late Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood: James Marlow. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Political Insider:
Just before 10 a.m., we got a call from James Marlow, the new Democratic candidate for the 10th District congressional race in east Georgia.
He'd just finished breaking the news of his candidacy to the hometowners in Lincolton at the steps of the county courthouse. He counted nearly 60 witnesses, which in a town with four stoplights constitutes a throng.
"I just feel a calling to serve. I know that sounds a little corny," Marlow said.
He's a 46-year-old native, whose father served as mayor of Lincolnton. The son rode the Internet. You might remember the younger Marlow as the founder of AnythingSouthern.com, which was to be a way to get information on, well, anything Southern - food, religion, entertainment, the works.
The site was one of the many dot-com bubbles that popped.
Most recently, Marlow was a sales director for Yahoo Inc. He's now a full-time candidate.
While four other Democrats are currently in the special election pool, Marlow has attracted the backing of local and state Democratic leaders, according to CQ Politics:
Marlow obtained the backing of 13 Democratic county chairmen at a meeting held March 31 in the 10th District city of Clarksville, according to Marlow spokesman Emil Runge.
Although this is the candidate's first foray into politics, his name is not unknown in local Democratic circles. His father, Buddy Marlow, served as mayor of Lincolnton. The campaign staff Marlow has assembled, including Jeff DiSantis, former executive director of the state Democratic Party, and Runge, former state Democratic Party communications director, likely will bolster his rookie political effort.
As for campaign issues, Marlow told the AJC that he won't shy away from Iraq on the campaign trail:
He's eager to talk about health care, education, and the creation of good jobs. "Iraq is obviously an issue," he said.
As we said yesterday, it's clear that Democrats think it's to their advantage to talk about the Middle East in this race.
Marlow says he's an eager defender of America, but is also a defender of American troops. In the latter category, he places decent treatment for wounded soldiers and armor for those in battle.
It also means - and this may become his catch phrase - "not putting troops in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in the wrong numbers." Competency, in other words.
While Bush won this district twice by hefty margins (63% and 65%, in that order), but Clinton was able to win it twice in the '90s. And, according to the Marlow, the district has had no trouble voting for Democrats on the state level:
As for those who think the Tenth too Republican to elect him, Marlow points out that Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, Attorney General Thurbert Baker, and Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond all carried the district. All, of course, were Democrats.
Georgia hasn't been a bright spot for Democrats recently, but special elections have the habit of producing unpredictable outcomes. The upcoming race to fill Georgia's 10th could be worth keeping an eye on.
We still don't know the date of the special election to fill GA-10, but the field is already taking shape. From CQ Politics, the GOP side:
Republican state Sen. Jim Whitehead announced Monday that he is a candidate for the not-yet-scheduled special election in Georgia's 10th District, ensuring that there will be competition between politically experienced candidates for the seat left vacant by the death of veteran Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood. ...
Whitehead was preceded into the race by a fellow Republican state senator, Ralph T. Hudgens, who lost to Norwood in the 1994 Republican House primary. ...
Republican Bob Young, a former mayor of Augusta, is considered a potential candidate. The Athens-Banner Herald reported Monday that Willie Green, a former National Football League player who was born in the district, is interested in running either as a Republican or an independent.
Former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Doc Eldridge is also considering entering the race. Eldridge, who ran for mayor as a Democrat, told local news outlets that he will run as a Republican if he does indeed enter the election.
And the Dem half:
One Democrat moved swiftly to establish a place in the special election contest: Terry Holley, a small-business owner who took 33 percent of the vote in a lopsided loss to Norwood last November. ...
Former Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Tom Chasteen is rumored to be weighing a bid, as well as state Rep. Alan Powell and lawyer David Bell, who as the 1996 Democratic challenger gave Norwood the closest race of his House career, holding him to 52 percent.
It's worth noting that Norwood was a member of the GOP class of 1994 (knocking off one-term incumbent Don Johnson, Jr.). So his relatively weak performance against Bell in 1996 came when he was at his most vulnerable. However, Norwood outspent Bell nearly 3-1 that year (scroll to bottom). On the flipside, this district was a lot more Dem back then - Bill Clinton won it both times, in fact. (It had a PVI of R+1.7 then, but it's R+12.7 now.) So I don't know how strongly one can rate Bell's performance.
Anyhow, got any opinions on any of these candidates?
UPDATE (James): According to CQPolitics, June 19 is the likely date for this election.
Folling the tragic news of Charlie Norwood's death, the Republican vultures took little time to circle the sky above his still-warm body. Two Democrats were also mentioned, but none yet have announced
