Can someone explain Georgia to me?

Ok, Carter won this state by a huge margin both times. I know he was governor there so there must have been the favorite son thing.

However, Clinton won the state but just barely. It's safe to say that Perot helped him a lot. Dole won the state in '96 by less than 2%.

Then of course, Bush won the state by a huge margin in '00. I understand the state has been treading republican for a while now, and after all Zell Miller is one their senators...and I have no real expectation of taking back the senate seat.

However, I've also heard that many African Americans are moving to Atlanta and the suburbs there. Could this state be in play (atleast enough to force Bush to spend money here), if some time or money put in there? Granted, I'm not even sure if it's worth it...Money may be better spent elsewhere.

I don't see Kerry carrying it (very unlikely), but we've seen that VA and NC are very close and Bush has been forced to spend money in NC atleast.

Other than that, I can't vouch for the place.

hell yes!

I don't get it. Athens is a lot like Tuscaloosa, small Southern college town on the river. But the last nationally-known band to come out of here, that I can recall, was the Sandford-Townsend Band.

Thanks for enlightening me!

Ultimate photoshop or willing accomplice?

I would have to have caught el shrubber in a Jimmy Buffet shirt, looking 3 tequila bottles past plastered?

Ahhh, would that were the case.

Nope, just photoshop. If you can't tell, I suppose I done good.

They were great!

Personally, I can't wait.

:yourock:


http://www.jucifer.com

so it's really pointless to try to even force * to spend there. And let's face it, is Kerry the type of Democrat to run in Georgia?

Even as I was typing it I thought turnout before the election didn't make too much sense.

VA has been trending Democratic for awhile because of the growth in NOVA.

NC has also been trending Dem because of people from the Northeast moving in, and of course Edwards is on the ticket.

But the trend in Georgia has been AWAY from the Democrats. I'd be very suprised if Kerry even gets close there.

It hasn't voted Dem in a Presidential election since 1964. Republican hold huge majorities of both houses of the legislature. Northern Virginia is Dem, but the rest of the state isn't. And even NOVA is more conservative than suburban Maryland.

We only went dem for governor because Mark Warner reached out to rural voters on guns and wasnt hammering the abortion issue away.

the margin of Repuke victory has been steadily decreasing. and past performance isn't always the best indicator. In 1992, Vermont had only vote Democratic ONCE in its entire statehood, the 1964 landslide. Going by that indicator, Clinton had no chance.

the republicans are kings in richmond, they have 8 cong people, we have 3, two repub senators but we are making progress. Yes, it is going down slightly, Clinton nearly won here as did Carter but Gore well Gore didnt.

I can make it real simple for you. you won't believe it because I actually don't either, but the truth is:
redneck = white = repuke
black and a few of us with a brain = democrat

You can go to Forsyth County and the Klan has signs in their front yards. Up by Rome same thing.

The old democrats all switched parties so the repukes are the old dems. If you try to run as a dem they will run you out of town. Where I live the election was the primary because at the local AND state level not one democrat is on the ballot.

It is all about God and anti-gay and God and anti-black.

Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama all have that old South racial mentality still brewing just beneath the surface. They can never forgive the Democratic party for giving the African Americans basic rights. They also have some of the poorest education systems in the country which breeds Fundies.

I would agree. I met folks in GA that were still pissed about the burning of Atlanta, and seemed to have taken it personally that Dr. King was born there as well.

who can understand the reasons that people hang on to hate?

We have to rely on the black vote if we have a prayer of getting a Democrat elected to any office at all.

If you factor out southern whites, Kerry would easily win the election in November. In fact, without southern white votes, Kerry would win the US white vote and Democrats would control congress.

Maybe you're thinking, well that's dumb, how can you just up and discount all the southern white votes since they're part of the overall equation of how the country votes. And you're right. But then again, so are black voters part of the overall electorate. There's no reason to disparage the votes of African Americans any more than the votes of any other constituency.

they should have carved MS, AL and GA out and made them a separate country (the United Neo-cons, wing-nut, fundie all white states of the Confederacy). Then we never would have had Nixon, or Reagan, or Bush I and definitely not Bush II. No Haley Barber, no Zell Miller, etc.

It's going to take a hell of a lot more than money for education to fix the ignorance in these three southern states. Oh, ...and I'm not sorry if that pisses off the 10-15% of the progressives in those states. You want to help? Move to Florida or Ohio and vote where you've got a chance to make a difference. If only the fundies would follow through on their threats and move to SC, then maybe, democrats would have a chance in AL, MS, or GA. I for one prefer to stand on principle. Until the south catches up to the rest of the civilized world on equality and tolerance, I will not pander for southern votes. Cheney 'em.

I have no problem with * being president of these three states. It's the rest of the country being "dumbed down" to their level that I can't stand.

FYI, Alabama has the highest per-capita number of black elected officials in the entire country.

of winning a state-wide election? Hope you're proud of ole' Haley Barber. How many of these black elected officials are representing majority white districts?

That is the problem with statistics. Like *, you can twist the numbers to try to make anything appear "rosey". Still does not change the fact that these states are so far behind the rest of the country that you either need to lift them up, or drag everyone else down.

I'll give you a perfect example. In Pascagoula, MS stationed with the Navy, we were told that there were a lot of places that you should not go to if you were black, asian, hispanic, or anything but "lilly white". Had a barber shop in town that was off limits because they refused to cut the hair of blacks. Was this in 1962? Hell no! This was in 1996! I would like to stress to you that the folks that were being told to "stay out of certain areas", "look around in the parking lot before you decide to go into a bar or restaurant", "look for signs of racism in pictures, and signs around the bar" (yes, their were several places where you could see a black with giant lips prominently displayed over the bar)....these folks were young men and women that WERE FIGHTING AND READY TO DIE FOR THEIR COUNTRY! These were our TROOPS, and they were told that in some places....your not welcome.

I'm not saying that northern states do not have their own set of problems with racism and discrimination, but I've never seen such outright displays of racism, even "pride" of racism in more progressive areas.

I don't want to get into a battle with you about the south. The bottom line is that, once again, we will see a streak of red running from the Mason-Dixon line south in this election. Call it a hold-over from Nixon's "southern strategy", but ever since then, the Repukes have used little code words, innuendo, and in some cases, outright racism, to get and control that white southern vote that has sent them to the White House again, and again and again. That is why no northern Democrat has won the WH since 1962.

And Haley Barber isn't my governor, so I have no say in that. There are very few blacks that hold statewide office in the entire country, so you can't really single out the south in that regard. And there are areas of the country that are more solidly Republican than Alabama. Indiana, for example. By the way, say hello to my congressman. I voted for him.

which is where Rome is. Just wondering where you have seen them?

Democrats, the Klan, and even God have now been thrown out of Forsyth County!

Only those driven in BMWs are allowed into that gated community,

Polo Fields is always off limits for trash... :smoke:

Can someone post a picture of this. It sounds crazy!

there was nothing but Republicans on the ballot for county offices. Not even one Democrat. I didn't vote for any of them.

but, athens is nice, and i live near there

AND he advised Clinton to hire Carville and Begala! Zell was a good governor, too, before he went nuts in Washington. Zell is right that Democrats are driving some voters away by allowing the GOP to portray Dems as pro-abortion. You can call it pro-choice all you like but the fact is that if you support choice, you necessarily support allowing a woman to end a pregnancy for any reason. Lots of people believe that's wrong, though few would say the woman's life should be endangered. Dems should support programs for better education designed to reduce unplanned pregnancies and thus reduce the demand/ need for abortions.

Guns are another issue that hurts Dems in GA. The NRA is telling its members that Kerry wants to take their guns away (or some version of that meme.) Georgia has a lot of rural areas, lots of hunters. Kerry needs to make the most of being a hunter and fisherman -- why isn't he appearing on a fishing program like Bush* just did? Better yet, he hunts and Bush* doesn't -- the campaign should show him hunting and riding motorcycyles to appeal to the macho good old boys here and elsewhere.

No doubt race is still an issue but I believe -- and I've lived here more than thirty years -- that the few in the Klan are not the problem that the many yuppie racists in the Atlanta suburbs are. IMO, it's the people who move down here from the Midwest or the Northeast, get high-paying jobs, live in huge houses in Cobb County, and attend big conservative churches there, who behind electing the likes of Bob Barr, Newt Gingrich, and Larry McDonald (for those who remember that far back!)

There are one hell of a lot of rural votes in GA.
Zell ,unfortunalty , is not an extremeist in GA.
He is probably the most popular politician in GA.
We're not gonna win GA.
Waste no money....waste no time.

He could of cast better votes, and made a better fight in the Senate. Most importantly he could of encouraged a stronger opponent than Majette into this Senate race.

Best of all, he could of given Kerry a great speech at the convention. Both Max Cleland and Jimmy Carter spoke.

But who really needs a backstabbing shit like Zell Miller anyway? ;)

I don't want to see John Kerry blasting away innocent, unsuspecting life forms.

I realize he hunts...I realize he is using that to appeal to Bubba, but I am a solid Liberal who will support him through thick and thin ... if he comes off as a f***** Liberal version of Ted Nugent I'M STAYING HOME.

Case closed. I don't mind him appealing to people like this, but it damn well better not be to the expense of people like me or you can kiss my ass goodbye.

I have a feeling I wouldn't be the only one, which explains why people like the Greens pop up.

Ignorance can only be fought with knowledge.

The next generation will be better because they will have more access to outside information.

I live in Southwest Georgia- by far, the most Democratic part of the state. Besides parts of Atlanta, it's probably the only Democratic part of the state, though. I'm usually shocked anywhere else I go in the state at how prejudiced people are.

They could very much force Bush to spend money here, by simply visiting the state. Just for one day, send Edwards to Plains and southwest Georgia and Kerry to Atlanta, and we'll start seeing Bush ads.

The major reason Democrats should care about Georgia is Denise Majette, though. We have the potential for Zell Miller's seat to belong to a real Democrat, and to have two black Senators this year:

www.majetteforsenate.com

It won't be won unless we win nationally by a WIDE margin. The ONLY reason Carter won it was because of the favorite son factor and Clinton only won it due to Perot. I'm not sure that it is trending Republican because it is just staunchly conservative and always has been.

for over 6 years and am still trying to figure this state out. A major problem is that the state ranks 49th-50th for voter turnout. If the turnout was large, there would be a real chance. Living in Atlanta, you would think Georgia would be in play. The metro grew from 2.9 million to 4.1 in the 90s. That's a lot of transplant. However I am sure some are from rural or other Southern areas.

In general as with the rest of the South, I think the Democrats are doing a lousy job of marketing themselves. After all it is Democrats that have their interests in mind, but nope, the GOP rules with fear on security and "morals."

I wish that the DNC would recognize the potential to make GA a battlefield state.

Is the Georgia Democratic Party well organized? Are they under-funded? Is there an aggressive Democrat in charge of the state party?

http://www.georgiaparty.com/home/index.asp

My understanding is that the GA party has been a little disorganized (not to say flaccid) for a couple of years, but that's hearsay from a former DUer.