I don't think there's a very good chance that Obama's voters will turn out again for Martin, in greater numbers than the Repub base, who may be energized about the possibility of a small victory against "that one".

The fact that Giuliani would go shows how desperate for attention he is. What a pathetic fool.

And that's just the G-version.

http://www.thewholedelivery.com

Why the hell would Rudy go?

Noun, verb, 9/11.

The GOP *losers* don't have much else going on so their schedules are much more open these days. Obama? Not so much.

I think it's a lost cause - Obama absolutely should not go to campaign, he risks being cast as weak and ineffective if (when) Martin loses, before his administration has even begun

I think the run-off election is scheduled for Dec 2. I've seen lots of Repub/Chambliss ads over the last few days and none for Martin. This is a big switch from the last days of the regular campaign when Martin ads (some really good ones too) were outnumbering Chamblis about 5-1. It seems like the Dems have pretty well written it off.

I think it'd be a longshot for Martin but doable. Cynthia Tucker, editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution said pretty much the same thing on the Chris Mathews show last Sunday.

Still, Chambliss is so sleazy I'd love to see him go down hard.

Why not just show a continuous loop of John McCain's characterization of Chambliss' sleazeball attacks on Max Cleland as "reprehensible"?

Opportunities to flip Senate seats are incredibly rare. Chambliss has no redeeming qualities. I understand not staking Obama's full cred on this, but I don't see why the party and third party groups wouldn't be going all out on this one, even if it's uphill.

I thought the lesson of the 50 state strategy was to fight, fight, fight.

Just got an e-mail from Plouffe saying the DNC is in debt and asking for money to pay it off. So maybe there just isn't any money for a DNC or DNCC push in GA, as well deserved as it is.

I tend to agree that Obama does not want to stake anything on this race. Though I send Hart a little money directly.

I'm glad that we didn't just all sit around and say how hopeless it all was before the general election. If we had, we'd be listening to president elect McCain right now. Chambliss won by 3%--hardly a landslide. The big problem with run offs is always that people don't show up to vote. Well, that was Chambliss's problem in the general and it might be his problem this time too. If a few thousand of Obama's southern volunteers converged on Georgia, we could show them what a real ground game looks like. Ads are good, but they don't beat a one on one at the front door. That worked in Virgina, North Carolina and Florida and it can work in Georgia too. We don't deserve to win if all we do is lean back in our chairs and say we can't win so why bother trying!

I've been dying to say this:

I live in Atlanta and campaigned heavily for Obama - and tried my best to do what I could for Martin.

Facts:

If I wanted to attend an event for Martin, I had to go to midtown or Buckhead. Martin, as far as I know, never actively campaigned on the southside or in South Fulton (Note: If you know Atlanta metro area, you know the distinction between midtown, certain parts of DeKalb County/Decatur - and South Fulton. The distinction is not necessarily a social class one, there are affluent/middle-class African Americans everywhere in the metro area. But as in most metro areas, there exists a racialized geography that is complex (it covers a great deal of internal diversity), but works really well as a kind of short-hand.

What I am saying is that the Martin campaign has made NO effort to reach out to "Obama voters" who are not white and/(or?) relatively affluent.

The NYTimes did an article about the race, and suggested to Martin that AA voters would be very important to his chances. Martin responded politely, saying that he was "honored" to have Black support, BUT he had support from all quarters. That may have been true, but I just wonder if he had given 1/2 the effort to ALL of the metro Atlanta area that he gave to midtown and Buckhead...

What position would he be in now??

Frankly, I think Martin decided to use the strategy the guy used in Mississippi - holding Obama at a distance, which was really unnecessary in Georgia (lots of transplants/middle-class/educated voters/voting as a social change tool is in the city's DNA/Black elite political class w/great moblization power). But that's the way he decided to do it. No presence, no signs -nothing on this side of Atlanta.

Nothing...

No visits to the consortium of hbcus...

Nothing.

And I'm paying attention. Other people don't have time to play "where's Jim?"

Many of Obama's supporters were first-time or sporadic voters. It was truly beautiful how disengaged/alienated people found a reason to take a chance on the "system." Those voters, however, needed to be paid specific attention to and given a reason to vote for Martin.

He didn't bother.

I voted for him, of course, and really encouraged others to do the same. As I move through the south side of Atlanta (and more broadly, South Fulton or South or West of Atlanta), you hear the rallying cry: "They don't think we will come out again. But we know it's not over."

So people will come out again. Will it be enough? I kind of doubt it.

But that is Jim Martin's fault. I work with people who know him well, and they tell me he's a great progressive kind-of-guy.

Great. Why is he keeping it a secret?

BTW: AND I can't think of anything more insulting than him showing up in a couple of churches the Sunday before the 1st Tuesday in December.

I don't go to church.

A report from on the ground, if anyone cares...

AND>>>>

Who won the MS Senate race???

Just asking...

Also: His ads left much to be desired, leaving accusations in the Chambliss ads unaswered. AND he gave no one a REASON to vote for him.

Just sayin'...

Obama sent some of his guys to GA to help out. Lets see if they can work up support.

THE QUESTION IS:

Would you like your daughter to marry a man who
voted with George Bush 95% of the time???????????

Thinking about the choice in that light might cause you to vote for Martin.

BUT MOST PEOPLE DON'T THINK. . . they just look at the TV and, like robots, go vote for 6 more years of Republican Ass Kissing.

mphillip, good post. I think you're right on the money. I also live in Ga and I think Martin made a mistake by not more assidiously courting AA voters.

On the other hand, have you noticed that Chambliss' new ads don't mention or depict Obama at all? The ads say we should be scared of Pelosi and Reid and the "liberals." But no Obama. It seems that Chambliss and the Repubs recognize how potent Obama is -- something Martin hasn't seemed to grasp yet.