Red State Blues

originally published April 4, 2007

Well, not much to report from Mama’s Boy. Doc’s still not running. The denizens of Cobbham were well represented at their regular booth in the corner, where Steve Elliott-Gower lent star power. If you skipped his performance in Rex Totty’s Arrogant Coyotes down at Jittery Joe’s coffee roasting emporium the last two weekends, you missed a humorously sinister performance exuding menace, carnality and mayhem.

The main Republican standard bearer in the 10th District Congressional race, State Senator Jim Whitehead from the Augusta suburbs, continues to underwhelm. In a message to supporters, Whitehead defends his support of the Voter ID law and an audit of the Medicaid system, observing: “Only the most radical liberals would defend such things. Now they’re on the attack. Nancy Pelosi and the liberal Democrats in DC and Atlanta are conspiring to sneak a Democrat candidate into this seat. The last thing they want is a solid conservative continuing Charlie Norwood’s leadership in Congress.” Don’t you just love political rhetoric? Running in the election is “conspiring to sneak a Democrat (sic) candidate into this seat.” By the same token, are Gov. Perdue ‘n them conspiring to sneak a Republic candidate into this seat?

Whitehead still hasn’t shown up here to reassure us liberals that he didn’t really mean the remark reported on Jim Thompson’s Athens Banner-Herald blog about the football team being the only thing that keeps Whitehead from wanting somebody to bomb the University of Georgia because it’s just a bunch of liberals.

In short, it will come as no surprise to you that the Augusta Republicans obviously aren’t losing any sleep over Athens-Clarke County and have written us off as a liberal enclave that’s not worth their time.

Among the Democrats, five candidates have announced their intention to join the melee. Terry Holley, the jeweler from the Augusta suburbs, ran in the last election against the late incumbent Congressman, Republican Charlie Norwood, whose recent death made this election necessary. Also in the race are Denise Freeman, a Lincolnton woman who has also run for Congress before; Evita Paschall, an Augusta lawyer; Jeff Reynolds, Chaplain of the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, and a former moderator of the 10th District Presbytery (I called it a synod in an earlier column); and James Marlow, a dot-com executive who, until he resigned to run for Congress, was with Yahoo.com.

Even to have a chance in a Congressional race, you’ve got to have a professional campaign staff to run things and raise money, lots of money. DIY doesn’t do it. James Marlow looks like the only one who’s going about it the right way, and he does seem to be an attractive candidate. He is bright and has a good grasp of the issues. He’s a Democrat, but a “common sense” Democrat. (If you think that’s an oxymoron, you’re not going to vote for him anyway—and you’re one, too.)

Marlow grew up in Lincolnton, which is in the 10th District. He owns a house there, but he lives in Atlanta. He is divorced, and his children live with their mother in Gwinnett County, which used to be in the 10th District. There is no residency requirement that candidates live in the district, but you can be sure the Republicans (and perhaps other Democrats?) will portray Marlow as a carpetbagger. Divorce? Doesn’t seem to be much of a factor against the party of Newt ‘n Rudi ‘n them.

In short, Marlow seems poised to give Whitehead a run. The Republicans appear to believe that it just doesn’t matter who they run because the district belongs to them. If Marlow can articulate the bread-and-butter issues and help people understand just how much the Bush Republican agenda is hurting them and their families, and if Whitehead continues to run on his football record and against Nancy Pelosi, this could be a brand-new ball game.

The 10th District Congressional election on June 19 is a political free-for-all: no primaries, just all the candidates—Democrats and Republicans—in there together, with a runoff between the top two if nobody gets a majority the first time. It will get ugly before it’s over. My money’s on Marlow to place.

And by the way, I picked up on the Cobbham prognosticators’ endorsement of Milton Leathers for Congress and floated a trial balloon; it turned out to be made of lead and created so little buzz that I didn’t even hear from the putative candidate himself.

On that Cobbham note, let’s close with a little music. Thanks to Flagpole Music Editor Chris Hassiotis for the tip. Here’s Vic Chesnutt performing two songs at a St. Patrick’s day party recently: “Cobbham Blues” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcgP3qBv6yY and “Cobbham Despair” at www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3wwHXEOHXY.

Pete McCommons, Editor & Publisher

editor@flagpole.com