GOP Senator In Georgia Race Launches New Attack Ad -- Against Obama
GOP Senator Saxby Chambliss, who's fighting a high-stakes runoff in Georgia against Democratic candidate Jim Martin, has unveiled a tough new ad strategy -- he's attacking Barack Obama in his latest spot:
"Barack Obama's new taxes would be a disaster, yet Jim Martin supports them," the announcer says.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attack ad out there that has gone after Barack Obama since he won the election (not counting Fox News promos).
The thing to remember is that this runoff will be all about driving up turnout among the party base for each side. For his part, Martin has tied himself to Obama in order to gin up enthusiasm among Dem voters who are still celebrating the presidential result, so Chambliss has his own response -- attacking Obama in order to rile up Republican voters who are still angry that Obama won the race.
Begich lead increases to 2300 votes in Alaska.
http://www.elect.alaska.net/data/results.htm
November 18, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
yep. thx for the tip
November 18, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, even after the Repubs lost badly on Election Day, they are still using the same lie re: taxes! They really never learn. Pure ignorance.
November 18, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, but it'll work down here, unfortunately. The rabid right-wingers that populate this area just can't get enough.
November 18, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. it most certainly will. I don't live in GA, but that remark about raising sales tax 32% was a shocker. Being a democrat, Martin, needs to give reason to vote for him and not just to vote against Chamblis. I can't stand Chamblis but this is a very effective ad...especially with the current fiscal crisis...32%?....wow.
November 19, 2008 8:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Martin loses the support of many, many Democrats who are outraged at the pass given to Lieberman by the Senate Democratic Caucus.
November 18, 2008 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not as concerned about the number of votes it will cost him, so much as the money that is going to be withheld from him now. The commercials that are running are almost non-stop. There's no way he'll stay competitive with Chambliss without the financial support to keep up ad for ad.
November 18, 2008 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't get it, why would funding the Martin race in Georgia be now withheld because of anything pertaining to Joe Lie keeping his chair?
Non sequiter?
November 19, 2008 12:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
HA! Yeah Right! You Faux-Activists kill me. You are willing to let a shameless racist get elected in order to spite the Dems? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Anyways, Gore and Clinton are going down there and they will hopefully help mobilize the base.
November 18, 2008 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Begich's lead of 2,374 votes in Alaska puts him beyond the 0.5% margin (1,487) required to avoid an automatic recount.
November 18, 2008 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: Eagleburger praises Hillary as SoS.
If it wasn't clear to Obama up until now that Hillary at State would be a continuation of the neo-con policies of the last 8 years, this should be the tip off.
While Hillary would no doubt be better on some issues such as third world birth control, so would a lot of Dems out there.
Even though Holbrook is a leftover, he at least has the expertise to do the job competently and seems to be respected by most if not all in the FP community.
November 18, 2008 5:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
PS. It seems like a bad idea to have someone with political ambitions as SoS. Another reason why Holbrook or someone like him, would be better than Hillary.
November 18, 2008 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I just don't see the paranoia that your mirroring that Clinton is not he right SoS choice.
If she accepts, it goes with the job description that she is a subordinate in HIS cabinet and will be pushing HIS agenda, not hers. You seem to be forgetting that Obama holds all the cards and is dealing from a position of strength, which is why he didn't hesitate for a second asking her, as she is extremely qualified, and he's confident enough in his own leadership not to second guess himself.
Again, Obama holds ALL the cards. Should she attempt to undermine him by going rogue, he could instantly marginalize her relevance with word getting out that she no longer has his ear since she lost his confidence. This would only hurt her clout on the job, and he could use Biden for the important foreign policy stuff while she's relegated by default to the lowest level diplomatic missions. She's smart enough to realize who she serves for should she accept.
Resigning out of frustration or marginalization would by a one way ticket to nowhere since her Senate seat would be filled, so if she wants to stay in public office her only course is staying loyal. It also positions her nicely for 2016 if she is able play nice and gain Obama's full confidence. She knows she'll need his full hearted endorsement and his supporters for her to mount any successful challenge.
I just don't understand the Hillary paranoia. Accepting SoS, he would have all the leverage and she would have none.
November 19, 2008 1:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just to let you know, Obama won the tax argument 51-42. Just saying....
November 18, 2008 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not in GA.
November 18, 2008 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chambliss will have a macaca style gaffe before this runoff is over...all while attempting to appeal to his base...that will be the opening.
November 18, 2008 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Obama doesn't jump into this race, the Dems won't bother showing up. So far, he's remained very, very quiet.
And by the way, I'd bet that most of us who donated to get Obama elected would not mind if he funnelled some of that money to Martin.
Sixty in the Senate would be sweet. Isn't it worth a bit of time and money, Mr. President-elect?
PEACE
November 18, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has his hands more than full with his transition and need to hit the ground running. But like you mentioned, why would he need to jump in if his race might only serve to hurt Martin? Why should he not remain quiet, as talking about Georgia with the press would only draw more attention to it. As shrewd as he's revealed himself the past almost two years, I'm sure he's very aware of the significance of what Martin's representation in the senate would be. What makes you think he hasn't jumped in behind the scenes? There seems to be plenty of 'Dems showing up' with Clinton, then Gore visiting the state. And I'm pretty sure the DNC and Howard Dean are watching this one very closely to see what they can do. Martin TV ads are linked on the right side of the main TPM page.
November 19, 2008 1:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Reply to Agrippa:
Eagleberger isn't a neo-con. He's from the Scowcroft "pragmatist" school. He has little in common with fanatics like Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Kristol, Kagan, and that bunch.
You really should be more precise, and not simply tar all Republicans as neo-cons. There are many sub-species.
November 18, 2008 6:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eagleburger didn't endorse Obama though during the general election, he endorsed McCain. Hill and McCain are hawks & much moreso than pragmatists. The real pragmatist is Scowcroft. I do not get the sense that Eagleburger is a pragmatist, or he would have supported Obama.
November 19, 2008 8:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Incidentally, I agree with Agrippa that Holbrooke would be a better choice than Clinton.
November 18, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Holbrooke has been alienating Obama aids from the start, they didn't like that crap at all.
November 18, 2008 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
All the better for him then "Team of Rivals!!" "Team of Rivals!!"
Carville said something to the effect "you stab your enemies in the gut during the election and your friends in back during the transition".
November 18, 2008 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's an interesting saying. It's just that Obama didn't stab anyone in the gut durig the election. Had he done so, he would have won by a much greater margin.
November 18, 2008 11:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Uh ... ok. Maybe you don't like the metaphor. Instead of stabbing in the gut, he did beat his opponent silly with the Club of Thor with his huge money advantage that he used to saturate ALL the airwaves, even when McCain ran out of money Obama continued to pound away not just on TV, but radio AND Spanish radio ads.
November 19, 2008 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
I guess they won't be able to say that he 'can't close the deal' anymore after the way they yammered on & on about that when HRC was the opponent and won PA & W. Va.
November 19, 2008 8:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm so happy Bill Clinton is coming to town tomorrow and Gore this weekend. I'd love to have the Pres-Elect too of course but I think he might be wise to stay away. I really don't see Martin pulling this out. His bet shot was on election day. People not from Ga perhaps have a hard time understanding how conservative it is in most of the state. I certainly didn't understand until I moved here. So, in order to preserve his political capital, I half hope Obama stays away. If he lends his support and Martin does go down, then the P-E will come under merciless ridicule.
November 18, 2008 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you SDA
November 19, 2008 8:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thats true. They're still fightin the civil war in most parts of the state...
November 19, 2008 6:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta say: If Obama is holding all the cards, & he is... his choice for SOS should be based on.. wait for it... who he thinks will do the best job as SOS, and not where Hillary can best be kept in a lockbox til 2016.
November 19, 2008 8:10 AM | Reply | Permalink