Better Than Bobblehead

originally published June 13, 2007

The June 6 Athens Press Club Congressional campaign debate at The Melting Point drew a standing-room-only crowd and nine of the 10 candidates in the race. The two-hour format with journalists asking questions of specific candidates allowed us to get some sense of who these people are. There was also time to mingle before and after the show, although we had to be out quickly, because The Melting Point was generous enough to delay the night’s music in order to accommodate the debate.

No matter how much you may disagree with various candidates, it’s hard to hate them when you meet them in person and realize they’re human beings putting a lot of time, energy and money into something they believe in. For instance, I talked a while with Lt. Col. Nate Pulliam, a retired Army officer from Conyers, who volunteered for a year in Iraq. I don’t think he has a prayer to win this race, but he’s out there by himself driving around the district, meeting people and showing up for events like our debate. He’s tall and trim like an Army officer should be, and he’s soft-spoken and thoughtful. He makes you proud to be an American. He didn’t have to go to Iraq, and he didn’t have to run for Congress, but he obviously believes that what you do is even more important than what you say.

All these candidates in their own various ways are putting themselves on the line and offering to represent us in Washington. Just to call the roll again, we’ve got Dr. Jim Sendelbach, the Libertarian candidate, who is a psychological therapist in Conyers; Denise Freeman, Democrat, a Baptist minister from Lincolnton; Evita Paschall, Democrat, a lawyer from the Augusta area; and James Marlow, Democrat, a high-tech salesman from Atlanta, who grew up in Lincolnton. Among the six Republican candidates, in addition to Nate Pulliam we’ve got Dr. Paul Broun, an Athens physician; Bill Greene, a Braselton conservative activist; Mark Myers, a Loganville Realtor; Erik Underwood, an Atlanta education administrator; and Jim Whitehead, an Augusta-area tire dealer, who has served as a county commissioner and as a state senator.

I think I could live with any of these folks as our representative in Congress. All the Republicans are so conservative they scare me, but so was Charlie Norwood, whom they seek to succeed. Since Jim Whitehead declined to show up for the debate, I can only assess him at second-hand and by one telephone conversation, but he seems to be as conservative as the rest of the Republicans.

Whitehead is apparently a big old dumb guy who is probably most effective sitting around the tire store drinking Cokes and swapping stories—the kind of fellow who’d make a great suburban county commissioner. He is said to be the frontrunner in this race, because the Republican establishment is behind him, but they don’t want to put him in front of an audience that’s not full of hometown folks or Republicans.

When Whitehead backed out of the Athens Press Club debate, we placed a “bobblehead” UGA bulldog at his place in honor of his having been on the UGA football team, and it seemed appropriate. It was the least we could do for a candidate who either did not care enough about Athens to show up or is afraid of discussing the issues in front of an audience that might harbor liberals. The odds right now are on Whitehead representing us in Congress, though if he does, it is clear that he won’t be representing Athens.

I have been for James Marlow ever since he got into the race, and he showed at the debate that he is knowledgeable, articulate and bright, but still sort of down to earth: a city slicker with strong hometown roots, with a longstanding, demonstrated commitment to the environment. James Marlow would indeed represent Athens in Congress, and he would represent the whole 10th District, because he is no doctrinaire ideologue. He calls himself a common-sense Democrat, and he appears to be the kind of level-headed candidate who won’t veer toward extreme positions. The 10th District is predominantly rural, but Washington, DC, is not, regardless of how it smells. Marlow has the cool and the smarts to negotiate in Washington without forgetting that he grew up in Lincolnton.

Jim Whitehead, by contrast, would be an embarrassment in Washington and would be ineffective in trying to represent even those constituents he acknowledges.

If we in Athens-Clarke County will turn out this week and on Tuesday, June 19 to vote for James Marlow, our votes can make a difference in this race. Athens is the second-largest population center in this district. Go vote for Marlow, so that we can influence this election and future elections with a demonstration of our voting strength. The level head or the bobblehead.

Pete McCommons, Editor & Publisher

editor@flagpole.com