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Politics | 12/03/2008 5:10 am

Chambliss Wins Georgia Senate Race. Was it the Palin Factor?

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Wikipedia

Sen. Saxby Chambliss denied Democrats a supermajority in the Senate Tuesday when he won the Georgia runoff election.

Chambliss’s victory means that there’s no way Democrats can win a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The incumbent senator was locked in a fierce battle with Democrat Jim Martin – who had Democratic stars like Al Gore and Hillary Clinton campaigning for him.

The Minnesota Senate recount is still underway after the race between incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent, satirist Al Franken. But even if Franken ends up winning that, Democrats would still only have 59 seats.

Republicans had painted Chambliss as a “firewall,” the “last man standing” to prevent what they argue will be Democratic excesses if that party controls too many branches of government.

We can’t help wondering if Sarah Palin helped push Chambliss over that last hurdle. The Alaska governor was brought out to campaign for Chambliss just one day before the election. She headlined four rallies across the Peach State Monday that drew thousands of party faithful. She was like a rock star on the campaign trail with John McCain during the presidenial race — attracting thousands more supporters to each event than ever anticipated of a vice-presidential nominee.

Atlanta rapper Ludacris — who was trotted out by Martin to rally his supporters — has got nothin’ on that Wasilla hockey mom.

28 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

f p
No it wasn’t the Palin factor—it was the drop in the percentage of black voters and the mainstay southern ultra-conservatives that re-elected this person. His dissing of Max Cleland was beyond the bounds of propriety and an insult to all the men and women who served in the armed services which btw he didn’t.
By f p on 12/03/2008 6:45 am
Diana T
You are so correct, Frank. Palin and all the other celebs that campaigned for this guy really don’t have much to do with it. The South is the South, and this is right smack dab in the bible belt. Never changes deep, deep down. Oh, and about the military, this guy did all he could to stay out of it. Speaking of the south, I will just interject old Phil Harris in just for the helluvit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGsz7kJR9U0
By Diana T on 12/03/2008 11:27 am
gulliver fourmyle
once, The Dutch were voracious colonialist, as the French—-hell, just about every Euro state—-quite a bit of ‘dirty-laundry’ history ”cross-the-pond’—-to blanket ‘The South’ is a bit simplistic—-things are changing—-a key consideration is the residual ‘fall-out’ of mr. lincoln’s war—- the majority of ‘Southern-Intelligentsia’ was simply ‘wasted’—-leaving much of the worst—-and ‘Reconstruction’ was an immense disaster, due, in great part to such—-and its heritage is what lives on—- yet, oddly, who would guess such ‘mongoloids’ as The KKK would migrate to Cal, Oregon? but they did—-and have even West-Coast influence rivaling ‘The South’—-you must remember our Civil War decimated the best, left the ‘dumb & dumber’—-and this lingers. i feel it’s important to recall the Reep Party was essentially formed to crush ‘The South’s’ emergence as an industrial power, rivaling the North, and no-doubt, what you see is a result of same—- if ‘The South’ had been allowed to break-away? slavery was on its way out—-who may imagine such by 1900? so, this Giant Nation became a totalitarian state—-the main result—-as a Euro, would you wish your ‘land-mass’ under such rule? rather doubt it—-i’m not ‘Johnny Reb’, i simply feel the USA should be 6 nations, not 1—- why should liberal northern cal be ruled by a Reep southern cal? absurd—-too bad ‘Bobbie Lee’ was a brilliant, but bipolar military genius—-he should have slept late at Gettysburg—-now, the world pays—-
By gulliver fourmyle on 12/03/2008 8:35 pm
Cheryl Mitchell
Let’s not start blaming blacks for everything that goes wrong from now on. The blame game started with the California vote to band same sex marriage, now this. Blacks are not the majority in this country.
By Cheryl Mitchell on 12/03/2008 8:54 am
Mary NSB-Florida
No… but she didn’t hurt him as much as she did as a VP candidate. It’s a Republican, bible belt , and historically a racially driven state. The run-off was two party only… so the Republican party needs to study why they are losing voters over-all and couldn’t get 50% with more candidates originally in the running.
By Mary NSB-Florida on 12/03/2008 9:14 am
Belinda Joy
Palin didn’t help him or hurt him. It was a no brainer that he would win. Reporters and columnists were predicting his win right after it was announced that there would be a run off. For one, I am insulted at the mere implication that Blacks not turning out in high numbers cost the democratic candidate the seat. Obama did not win solely on the heels of Black voters. So to make the assumption that the democratic candidate didn’t win because a couple of Black rappers couldn’t persuade their folks to get out and vote is an awful thing to imply. And if he had won, would the headlines now read the only reason he won (surely not because he was the most qualified) was because the Blacks in Georgia got out and voted? How insulting. Shame on you wOw staffers.
By Belinda Joy on 12/03/2008 9:45 am
Brooklyn Gal
In a state like Georgia, Palin is a big star. But the fact that he won by a margin of 10 points shows that the Democratic voters (and I don’t care if they are Black or not) did not come out in force for this election And no matter what color, religion or sex they are—everyone should get out and vote because our votes do count—especially in a close race.
By Brooklyn Gal on 12/03/2008 9:56 am
Patti J
Sarah Palin was greeted like a Rock Star when she flew in to Atlanta. The voters were lazy when it came to the runoff. It happened because people (black, white, green and purple) did not do what they should have and they failed to vote. He did not win by a landslide. He didn’t think he’d have a problem winning the general election and had a condescending attitude at the beginning of the campaign. I just wish he had lost after his record of rubber stamping bills for GWB. I really don’t feel that he works for Georgia, just for Saxby. But, that’s just my opinion.
By Patti J on 12/03/2008 1:04 pm
Lady Gator
Saxby Chambliss won because voters didn’t want the Democrats to have the total control of Congress. I really believe that there are people, myself included, who feel there should be a balance in Washington. I hope Coleman wins in Minnesota for the same reason. I agree with Belinda —shame on you wow for, again, bringing up the racial issue. Can we please get away from all that grabage?
By Lady Gator on 12/03/2008 10:13 am
HA BIBI
Lady G, BINGO! :)
By HA BIBI on 12/03/2008 11:26 am
Marjorie C.
Lady Gator: Saxby Chambliss won because voters didn’t want the Democrats to have the total control of Congress. Exactly. If Governor Palin helped, then thank you Sarah. Nice to see that she had more sway than Hillary Clinton or Al Gore. If Palin didn’t make a difference, then my sincere thanks to the people of Georgia for doing the correct thing.
By Marjorie C. on 12/03/2008 7:14 pm
DeBúrca obj
Am I mixing you up with someone else, or didn’t you say you were a Democrat before Hillary lost the Primary. If I’m wrong, and you were always a Republican, then I apologize. But if you were a Democrat why in the world would you be happy about a Chambliss win? And are you aware of his reprehensible 2004 campaign tactics against Max Cleland, which McCain, btw, condemned?
By DeBúrca obj on 12/05/2008 11:07 am
DeBúrca obj
Saxby Chambliss won because in a state like Georgia, the typical GOP divisive, fear mongering, race baiting tactics worked: Chambliss: The rush of African-Americans to the polls has ‘got our side energized.’ “On Wednesday, the chairman of the Hillsborough County, Florida Republican party forwarded an e-mail to several hundred party members that warned of “‘the threat’ of ‘carloads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes.’” While the McCain campaign condemned the email, the sentiment does not appear to be isolated. As Tapped notes, earlier this week, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) proclaimed that the the “rush” of African-Americans to the polls has “got our side energized“: “There has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early,” he said at the square in Covington, a quick stop on a bus tour as the campaign entered its final week. He predicted the crowds of early voters would motivate Republicans to turn out. “It has also got our side energized, they see what is happening,” he said. Similarly, Chambliss has been warning his “predominantly white base” in North Georgia, “The other folks are voting.” “
By DeBúrca obj on 12/05/2008 4:07 pm
DeBúrca obj
No it wasn’t the “Palin factor”.
By DeBúrca obj on 12/03/2008 11:35 am
gulliver fourmyle
agreed—-but i’m old enough to recall no ‘Southerner’ Ever would vote Reep—-as much hinges on this guy—-and it was close? i’d do a recount/investigation—-
By gulliver fourmyle on 12/05/2008 2:02 am