A Most Interesting Race

originally published May 2, 2007

With the qualifying period officially closed, the players are in place and the stage is set for the special election to replace the late Charlie Norwood in the 10th Congressional District. Under normal circumstances, the Republican-leaning district in Northeast Georgia would be a slam-dunk for whoever happened to be the strongest GOP candidate. In this case, that would be Jim Whitehead, a state senator who’s got the party establishment solidly behind him and who has raised more money than any of the others. When the votes are counted on June 19, Whitehead, more likely than not, will be the winner.

Still, the issue that makes this race worth looking at is the war in Iraq, which now has claimed the lives of more than 3,300 American service personnel. Nationally, voters are clearly fed up with the way President Bush has conducted the war. Republicans lost control of Congress last November because of unhappiness over Iraq, and poll after poll shows that large majorities would rather have a Democratic-controlled Congress setting the date for when our troops come home.

Even in a conservative state like Georgia, polls suggest that voters aren’t satisfied with what’s going on in the Middle East. The Republican polling firm Strategic Vision has been surveying the state on this question for several months and the numbers have been going down for Bush and the GOP. In its latest poll conducted in early April, 52 percent of Georgians disapproved of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq and only 33 percent approved. The upcoming election will be the ultimate field test of the validity of those poll numbers.

Even though 10 people officially qualified for the race, there are only four who should be considered serious candidates: Republicans Whitehead, Paul Broun of Athens, and Bill Greene of Braselton, and Democrat James Marlow of Atlanta and Lincolnton. Marlow, an Internet businessman who once worked for Yahoo, is the only major candidate raising the war in Iraq as a primary issue. “I will work every day to bring our involvement in Iraq to an honorable end as quickly as we can, while also protecting our national interests in the region and the world,” Marlow says. “I promise to support our troops. That means not putting them in the wrong place at the wrong time in the wrong numbers. It means taking care of them when they return home wounded.”

For the top Republican contenders, the big issue isn’t Iraq but the other I-word: immigration. “Iraq has not been a big thing in our district,” said Whitehead, a former University of Georgia offensive lineman. “Immigration is the number one issue, pure and simple.” Whitehead contends that “left-wing political activists [are] intentionally registering illegal aliens to vote, including known Al Qaeda terrorists…. This is a pivotal issue for the future of America. We have to have the intestinal fortitude to protect all Americans.”

Broun, a Clarke County physician, also rejects Democratic criticisms of Bush and the war and lists the need to “stop the invasion of illegal aliens” as a more pressing issue. “I believe that patriotism runs very deep in Georgia,” Broun said. “I believe our citizens understand the need for victory over our enemies and reject, as I do, the idea of retreat and defeat.”

Greene, a political consultant, believes so strongly in securing the borders to stop illegal immigration that he lists it not just as the top issue, but as the top two issues on his campaign website. “Illegal immigrants are a detriment to the American economy and their refusal to assimilate is an affront to American culture,” Greene said. “Amnesty is not an option; we cannot reward people for breaking the law and it will only encourage higher levels of illegal immigration.”

Whitehead, Broun and Greene obviously believe that halting the influx of immigrant Mexicans is a more potent issue with the 10th District’s voters than stopping a war that two-thirds of the country agrees has been a tragic mistake. The Republican contenders also appear to be competing to see which candidate can move the farthest to the right in this race. For a more moderate candidate like Marlow, that may leave some room to navigate in going after the district’s voters. Will the voters be more influenced by traditional issues like immigration, or will the blowback from Iraq have an impact even in a district as conservative as this one? That question makes this a most interesting congressional race.

Tom Crawford

Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.ciclt.net/garpt that covers government and politics in Georgia.