The Beginning of the End of the Internet

With the entrance of this blog into cyberspace I can only warn of the impending doom of the internet. This blog will speak volumes about the political underbelly that is Georgia politics yet hopefully won't regurgitate the same old material that already exists.

So to begin, the upcoming July 15th election day looms so lets get right to the odds for the winners of the race to be the United States Senator from Georgia.

Drumroll please...


Saxby Chambliss :
1-to-1 odds to capture the GOP nomination
Well this one should be a no brainer since he's running unopposed but we'll have new odds once the Senator faces his democratic opponent.

Vernon Jones:
3-to-1 odds to capture the Democratic nomination
Yes there is plenty of hate on ole' Vernon on the blogosphere but one thing is for certain: he has a high degree of support especially from the African American community. Say what you will but Vernon has consistently polled at the top of the Democratic class since announcing last year. These polls could of course be unreliable because well, who really knows who will turn out for this non-presidential primary. But if he picks up any support from voters who are voting in a contentious race to pick his successor as DeKalb County CEO, then Vernon will make it to the runoff and squeak by whoever his opponent is there. Jones won't be able to capture the 50% needed in the first round, but come runoff time I think he will pull it off.

Dale Cardwell:
9-to-2 odds to capture the Democratic nomination
Again the blogosphere gets it wrong on this one. Sure Dale's campaign has been struck by snafu's worse than McCain's use of a green screen as a backdrop prompting The "John McCain Green Screen Challenge" courtesy of Steven Colbert. I mean, who really thought climbing a tower in Atlanta (and paying more than $10,000 to do it) would really attract anything more than skepticism. Dale is a showman but really has come across as very fake throughout his campaign, sounding like a reporter but not in a good way. His lines are rehearsed, his communication not appealing to the brunt of Georgians. Yet still he enjoys relatively good polling results. This is due to his name recognition and general trustworthiness. Dale isn't a real known commodity, but what people know they like. The blogs will point to his flip flops on immigration and use of his one issue campaign against PAC money as a reason not to take him seriously. But surely Jim Martin has taken notice after Dale's excellent use of online media and repeated hammering at Martin's and Jones' records. Dale will make the runoff before falling short for the nomination.

Jim Martin:
5-to-1 odds of capturing the Democratic nomination
This one will probably be my favorite to describe. What has become of Jim Martin, a man who's campaign really did give the Democrats a respectable shot at Saxby Chambliss' seat. The campaign has completely and utterly floundered. After a big opening salvo with the release of a huge first 2 week fundraising effort, the support of national bigwigs like the DSCC, the Mehlman Group pollsters, and fundraising guru Scott Gale (who incidentally first worked for Cardwell), the Martin campaign has failed on nearly every level.

Martin has failed to put together a good on the ground campaign. Hiring campaign manager Ellery Gould who's previous "experience" was in working as a press secretary, was probably at the urging of the national party who wanted to give a D.C. worker of theirs some field experience. Gould really hasn't done much except get himself mentioned in a recent profile of Martin for listening in on the interview phone call to make sure Martin "stayed on message." Martin's few public events have been poorly attended and publicized and his supporters seem as lacadaisical as Martin himself.

Its clear Martin joined the race only at the behest of party insiders who wanted a "respectable loss" to Chambliss and his effort thus far is at best disappointing and at worst shameful.

Franklin Randolph Knight Jr. (Rand Knight):
8-to-1 odds to capture the Democratic nomination
Waiting for the onslaught of Knight supporters...Still waiting...Ok I guess I'm safe
Rand Knight is a joke. A complete and utter caricature of himself. Now that he's lost the suspenders he's gained some undeserved view of self-worth. His inexperience at first was kind of cute. Theres the bumbling and youthful Knight speaking faster than he can think at a candidates forum focusing every answer (whether the question was related or not) to environmental policy and why he was the best qualified for that. Well maybe Knight does have a better understanding of ecological matters, but he certainly doesn't have a firm grip of government. Knight clearly is trying to appeal to the left most part of the party and his recent endorsements by unions should only be seen as his probably pandering to them in private meetings. This guy couldn't get anything done for them even if he is elected. He wouldn't know the first thing to do. I do like his "its Knight time" line, as silly as it was. Knight gives us nothing in ideas or action in this election, but he certainly gives us something (or someone) to laugh at.

Josh Lanier
10000000-to-1 odds
Do I really need to explain this?

Maggy Martinez
Oh right, she dropped out. Well she endorsed Martin so that should count against him.