Who'll Represent Athens?
originally published February 14, 2007
Congressman Charlie Norwood fought lung disease and cancer with every ounce of strength in his body, and finally his stamina ran out. Few of us can know the guts it took for him to keep on doing the job he loved: representing his constituents in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District.
Soon, the Governor will call a special election to replace Congressman Norwood, and anybody considering that race has already had to start figuring and planning. The rare open Congressional seat stirs intense interest, and this special election doesn’t allow much time for testing the waters and getting organized. There are no party primaries, just one free-for-all which doubtless will go into a runoff between the two top vote-getters. Those who run must have the ability to raise a lot of money quickly and organize supporters in 20 different counties. Such an election is a daunting, back-breaking sprint to the finish line, and the winner can’t break stride, but must keep on running toward the next election, which will be coming up fast.
Most people in Athens are probably surprised to learn they’re in the 10th District and that Charlie Norwood is their Congressman. Actually, until last year, we were in the 12th District, and John Barrow was our Congressman. A lot of us probably aren’t even sure what a Congressman or Congresswoman does, because there’s no way they can be familiar figures. Since they have to represent so many counties, and their day job is in Washington, DC, they can’t drop by your house very often, unless you own a bank or something.
Our U.S. Representative is one of 435 House members, and whoever replaces Congressman Norwood will be at the bottom of the totem pole in Washington. But the job pays well and has excellent benefits, and back in the district, the Representative is the most direct link to the power and munificence of the federal government. That’s why it’s such a plum, and that’s why everybody who thinks he or she has a chance at it is on the phone testing the waters—assessing possible opponents and lining up supporters. Nobody means any disrespect to Charlie Norwood, and he understands that this is how the game is played.
The 10th District is a conservative district, which means that until more voters wise up to what the Republican Party has been doing to them, the 10th is a Republican district. Moreover, the 10th is not heavily populated with African-Americans, especially the farther north you go in the district—all the way to the North Carolina line up in the mountains.
So, we liberal (progressive) Democrats who have a voting majority in Athens-Clarke County and a sizable African-American population better watch this special election with some shrewd calculations. It is entirely possible that a Democratic candidate may run who is so attractive that we’ll all fall in behind him or her regardless of the chance to win, but we Athenians may have to support an Athens candidate rather than a Democratic candidate. In other words, the best we can hope for may turn out to be the election of a candidate from Athens who understands what’s going on here and can represent our interests in Washington.
Somebody like, say, our former Mayor Doc Eldridge—now a certified Republican. If there ever were such a thing as a moderate Republican, that’s Doc. And Doc understands the liberal (progressive) Athens electorate’s strength probably better than any other Republican in the district, because it hit him upside the head and got his attention. And he has learned from that jolt.
If Doc gets into the race, we may need to put our partisanship aside and make a determination of who has a chance to win and will also represent the interests of Athens in an otherwise rural and suburban district where bicycles are for kids, the University of Georgia is for football and outdoor cafés are for the birds.
Our nemesis, State Senator Ralph Hudgens, will be running with the help of the Christian Coalition, and compared to him, somebody like Doc will look like Jack Kennedy. And Doc will no doubt look pretty good compared to most of the other candidates who come out of the woodwork for this election.
When his heart is in it, Doc is a good campaigner who enjoys the work. He has excellent ties to the African-American community, and he ought to play well all over the district. But if he is to have any chance at all, he will have to carry a solid base of Athens-Clarke County support into the race. If he does run, it will be very interesting to see whether we scrappy progressives who voted for him the first time he ran for mayor can find it in our hearts to do it again.
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