Martin, Jones lag behind Chambliss in U.S. Senate race
July 23, 2008 at 3:17 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsU.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is holding a sizable lead over the pit bulls scratching at his office door. According to Rasmussen polls, the incumbent Republican senator has a 59-29 margin over soon-to-be-former DeKalb County CEO Jones. When matched against former state representative Jim Martin, it’s 51-40 — a bit closer, but still in Saxby Warbucks‘ favor. What’s interesting to note is that Jone’s pull in the Rasmussen polls has dropped from its high of 33 percent of the vote in early June. The gents are smitten with Chambliss over Martin, 62-32, but the ladies love them some Jim. He Who Speaketh Quietly leads 45-43 among the fairer sex.
When it comes to favorable ratings, Chambliss holds out at 61 percent. Martin is viewed favorably by 47 percent of those surveyed by the polling organization. Jones is way down the line at 30 percent.
But those are just numbers.
Let’s talk about how Jones and Martin are campaigning for the Aug. 5 runoff. Jones has unleashed a blitz of accusations against the former lawmaker who served 18 years in the Gold Dome, accusing him of incompetence when he headed up the DHR, blowing taxpayer dollars defending an accused killer and lying about his endorsements. The flamboyant CEO has another press conference scheduled for today and last night, I received this weird e-mail in my inbox from his campaign.
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Camille Kesler
Phone: [redacted]
Email: [redacted]Jim Martin: A Record of Failure
Failure #1: In Georgia’s February 2008 Presidential Primary, Jim Martin voted against Senator Barack Obama.
Well, OK. That was all the e-mail said. What exactly it means or proves I have no clue. That Martin isn’t psychic and couldn’t predict who the Presidential nominee was going to be? Maybe. That’s a weird angle to play, however, judging that the only reason Barack Obama says he recalls meeting Jones was because he told him he “voted twice for George W. Bush.” Way to make an impression there.
And keeping with the analysis I wrote for this week’s print edition of CL, Martin has kept quiet through all of these attacks. His spokesman disputed Jones’ allegations via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But where are his press conferences? Where are his bulletpoints of Jones’ tenure as CEO of Georgia’s most populous county? They haven’t crossed my inbox.
Martin’s got plenty of endorsements — all but one of his former opponents in the primary have rallied behind him, as well as several state lawmakers and most recently, Fulton County Commissioners John Eaves and Nancy Boxill. And like Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia told me last week, endorsements aren’t like delivering the mail. You can’t just pick ‘em up and toss ‘em somewhere else.
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