A new poll conducted by the Mellman Group for the DSCC and Jim Martin campaign (600 LVs, Nov. 21-23, MOE +/- 4%) has Jim Martin trailing Saxby Chambliss by just 2 points in the Dec. 2nd run-off:

If the December 2008 run-off election for U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were Democrat Jim Martin and Republican Saxby Chambliss, for whom would you vote, or are you undecided?

Chambliss 48%
Martin 46%

You'll recall that on election day, Martin lost by 3%, with Chambliss getting just a hair under 50%. Here, Chambliss is performing worse vis a vis his election day vote share than Martin is, which is good news for Martin, although it's all within the MOE.

Martin has gotten a boost in recent days from a radio ad from Barack Obama and campaign appearances from Bill Clinton and Al Gore. At the heart of the Martin message is what worked so well for Obama and Democrats all over the country this cycle:

Gore cast Chambliss as the heir to the failed policies of the Bush administration. Gore memorably lost to Bush in 2000 in a bitter race that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The Bush-Cheney-Chambliss philosophy has been tried and not only found out to be wanting, it has been found out to be a catastrophe," Gore said.

"It's time for him to go," Gore said of Chambliss.

Gore ended his 10-minute speech with a cry of "change is coming to Georgia." He was drowned out by the enthusiastic crowd.

Hey, if it ain't broke.

It's also about casting Martin as President-elect Obama's partner in change. While Republicans argue that Chambliss is crucial to keeping Obama's Democratic majorities in check, the Democratic argument is that Martin will bolster those majorities and, essentially, obstruct the obstruction that has paralyzed Washington for the last 2 years.

From the DSCC press release:

"As every day brings more proof of just how badly Saxby Economics has failed, Georgians are showing they want a leader who will work with Barack Obama to fix the economy, not a politician who blocks change for the middle class."

Ultimately, of course, since this is a run-off, the question is who will show up on Dec. 2nd? Do Georgia's voters want change more than they want to keep the change Obama offers in check?

Let's help make sure it's the former by giving to Jim Martin's campaign at our Road To 60 ActBlue page.