Palin to Georgia

Ask and ye shall receive. After many non-answers from the Saxby campaign on whether or not Gov. Sarah Palin would rally the base in Georgia we finally have an answer: she'll be here.

Monday, December 1^st – Times and Venues TBD

Augusta Rally

Savannah Rally

Middle Georgia Rally

Atlanta Rally

Vernon Jones Redux

The U.S. Senate race in Georgia would at least be more interesting if Vernon Jones was in it.

Need proof? See Vernon talking today to the AJC:

“He [Martin] could not come to grips with voting for an African-American for president,” Jones said. “And he couldn’t come to grips with voting for a woman [Hillary Clinton]. So he voted for a man who was not even running for president.

“He voted for a man who had an affair and not an African-American who is married with two beautiful children,” Jones said.

Vernon how I love you. And Andre, wheres your former love for Vernon? You've gone way too lovey dovey on Martin.

Big Guns to Georgia

Since the runoff campaign has begun we've seen the NRSC and DSCC get involved on television spots, more money being dumped in from outside groups like Freedom's Watch and other groups, and Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mike Huckabee make stops in the state.

Now we get word that former Gov. Mitt Romney will be stumping for Saxby this Friday in Atlanta and then Savannah. This will complete the trifecta of the last three remaining GOP contenders for the Presidential nomination.

Not to leave Jim Martin out, Bill Clinton will be returning to Georgia for the second time this cycle on this Wednesday at Clark University in Atlanta. And one of his former campaign managers Donna Brazille will also be lending her hand to the Martin campaign.

Before the runoff is done I'd expect to see several more big names come to Georgia, though Obama will most likely stay away. He won't want to pull a repeat of Bill Clinton in 1992 who came to stump for the Democrat in the runoff only to have pie on his face when he went down in flames.

UPDATE: The AFL-CIO is also poised to send out a large mailing in Georgia. Lets not forget though, this is the same group that endorsed Rand Knight in the primary. Great thinking of that move.

Huckabee Too!

Well most people have heard about how Sen. John McCain will be campaigning with Saxby Chambliss this Thursday in Cobb, but now there's news that former Governor Mike Huckabee will join the campaign this Sunday at 2:30pm over at the Gwinnett Center.

Sunday, November 16^th – FairTax Rally with Mike Huckabee – 2:30PM Gwinnett Center

Its an exciting time for Georgia politics.

Senate Exit Polls

Some interesting data from CNN's Georgia Senate exit polls:

White voters made up 68% of the vote and Chambliss won them 70-26%.
African Americans made up 28% and Martin won by a landslide 93-4%.

The Economy was said to be the most important issue by 61% of voters and Martin won thats section 49-47%. Chambliss won landslides among those who cited energy policy and terrorism.

Moderates made up the largest group at 47% and Martin won 57-40%.
Conservatives made up the next highest at 39%, but Chambliss only won them 77-19%. 4% went for Buckley. 5% of liberals also ended up going for Buckley strangely enough.

Finally Chambliss won 92% of Republicans and 54% of Independents. These two groups combined make up 64% of the electorate.

All of these signs point to Saxby winning the runoff comfortably in the runoff.

Whats Ahead

With 96% of precincts reporting, Senator Saxby Chambliss holds a 49.9% to 46.7% lead over Jim Martin. Strangely Georgia requires a statewide candidate to win at least 50% +1 of the vote to win their office.

What does this mean? Saxby is likely headed for a runoff versus Martin to be held on December 2.

National Republicans have already promised "hefty financial support." I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Obama make a swing through Georgia along with McCain, Palin, or other big name Republicans.

These next four weeks, if it does indeed go to a runoff, will be both exciting and bizarre. We will see a significant cut in the African American and youth vote, as well as an overall drop in turnout.

I see Chambliss winning a runoff comfortably.

Election Day

And so the long and tiresome road to election day has ended. Polls close at 7pm, and we'll see how long after that before we know our statewide officials, and then probably much longer when we know our next President.

This is going to be a long night.

Saxby Tells Him

Tonight was the last Senate debate of the 2008 cycle, and what a debate it was!

The most heated back and forth came when Jim Martin and Sen. Saxby Chambliss debated the recent Wall Street bailout. Key quote: "Jim, you need to get your facts straight, as usual.”

Even Jim Tharpe noted how Martin dodged questions including one about the role the national Democratic Party has taken in this race:

"A veteran former state lawmaker, Martin dodged a question about the avalanche of Democratic Party-funded attack ads that blast Chambliss for backing the $700 billion bail out. Most of the Democrats on the committee sponsoring the ads also voted for the financial package.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) “is dictating to Jim what he is to say and when he is to say it,” Chambliss said. Schumer chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has funded the anti-Chambliss ads."

Great debate, great smackdown. Check back tomorrow for the official Georgia Premium election predictions.