GA Senate Candidates

by The lurking ecologist, Fri Jun 08, 2007 at 11:59:50 AM EDT

Georgia is a state we have heard very little about as far as the Senate contest. Apparently the Georgia GOP is very strong, but Saxby Chambliss only won his campaign in 2002 by a narrow margin and only after running one of the dirtiest campaigns in memory. There are apparently now three stated challengers: Vernon Jones, DeKalb Co CEO, Dale Cardwell, a reporter, and Rand Knight...

You can see commentary on the first two guys at the Swing State Project. I'd like to talk about a few things that Rand Knight has going for him. You can see more at his website,.

First, Chambliss has been the Chairman of the Agricultural, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in the Senate, and of course, he has been a disaster, ignoring forecasts of drought, global warming, etc. etc. Typical GOP SOP. Knight has a PhD in ecosystem analysis and from this standpoint, he would be one of the most qualified Senators in history to lead this committee if he were elected and then appointed the committee position. It also gives him a strong base from which to point out the failings of the current Senator. With his educational background, Knight believes in and understands the science behind the most important ecological and environmental issues of the day, and the future. Think that doesn't matter in Georgia? Think again, as water quality decreases, sea levels rise, and wild fires and crop losses increase with greater drought severity.

Knight's stands on issues are truly Democratic and Progressive, so he isn't a DINO like Zell Miller was. He does not have a long career in politics, which I suppose is a blessing and a curse, but he does come from a well known GA family. Frankly, I'm tired of old men being elected to Senate anyway.

By the way, I don't know Knight personally or even in passing. I am a professional ecologist though, and the thought of having a professional ecologist in the Senate during these times of impending environmental crisis is very appealing.

Tags: Ga Sen, Rand Knight, saxby chambliss, vernon jones (all tags)

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Re: GA Senate Candidates

I'm just pretending to be a political expert and I don't know the situation in Georgia, but if I were to offer a suggestion to Dale Cardwell and Rand Knight it would be that, unless they can become the candidate of the 'netroots' or some other group with a ready made organization, that they drop out.

Both of them strike me as very credible people and running a low funded campaign for the United States Senate against a well bankrolled incumbent senator is not something credible people do. I realize there is the occasional Paul Wellstone, but he was a political science professor who at least had some political connections to major establishment figures in the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party. I doubt either Cardwell or Knight have any such connections. Usually, running a no hope bid is just a way to get established as a fringe political figure very quickly.

In the case of Knight, he may be running to use his senate campaign as a way to promote environmental and other issues, which is fair enough and, if that is the case, he should probably stay in.

However, given their excellent credentials, I would like it to be suggested to both of them that they run for the State Legislature instead.

by Adam T 2007-06-08 04:15PM | 0 recs

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Re: GA Senate Candidates

Evidently Cardwell is awful

Cardwell would run to the right of Saxby on immigration reform, has come home to roost today. Outside of the minutemen crazies, not many people think his approach is even rational let alone workable...

Strike 1

Oy. Taxation. Does this dude not know I can go full on nerd on taxes? Don't worry, I won't...yet. But really, you have to be kidding me with the "abolish the IRS" business. I read by way of his statement that he is advocating the FairTax (Linder - Bortz), or the flat tax (Forbes)...

Strike 2

And finally, the big prize of supreme asshattery on Iraq. Why you ask? When he says:

...

If they fail, we'll redeploy our troops; but well never surrender a security perimeter, a beachhead, if you will, that we've earned with the blood of American lives. We'll maintain a base, make it safe from insurgents, and we'll use that base to launch attacks against Al Qaeda, preserve stability in the region, and fight terrorism anywhere we have to.

Sounds pretty damn terrible. Then there's Vernon Jones who it seems describes himself as a "Bush democrat" and has raised and given money to the GA republican party. Seems like Knight is the only good guy in the race at this point.

by Quinton 2007-06-08 05:59PM | 0 recs

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Re: GA Senate Candidates

Well, as the previous reply suggests, the Dem candidates aside from Knight aren't very exciting. Knight has an Act Blue page up and is outraising Jones 10 to 1, of course, each only has one donor, but Knight's gave $100. (It wasn't me.) But to be up on ActBlue already suggests that he is somewhat savvy to the web. Also, the science community in general is pretty tech savvy, so I think it is possible that he will make a move toward the netroots.

OTOH, your suggestion is that the Dems either not field a credible candidate, only field someone with a ton of cash, or not field anyone. It is certainly an uphill battle, but if we only field wackos instead of credible yet low-funded candidates, then we lose credibility with the electorate in general and we don't have a good alternative in case of implosions. If we had had a credible candidate in MI 07 last cycle, we could have won this seat when Joe Schwarz was defeated by a wingnut in the primary, but we had someone who had previously ran a campaign without doing any fundraising. If the GOP had someone credible to run against Leiberman, they could have taken that seat. Etc.

If you look at Knight's bio, you can see he was previously employed by a scientific program called NEON [www.neoninc.org], which is something I know a bit about, though I never met Knight. It is very likely that he has made some connections in DC by working with NEON. Also appears from his bio that he has a well connected family in Georgia.

Sure, there are only so many Wellstones, but then again, there are some.

by The lurking ecologist 2007-06-08 07:29PM | 0 recs

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Re: GA Senate Candidates

Not quite: I said if the netroots or some other ready made organization got behind him, then he could be turned into an instantly credible candidate.

Maybe it's just my perception, but I think there is a view that a person running for a big office (as in you need to meet a lot of people and cover a lot of geography) who has no money, no name recognition and no organization must either be a one issue candidate or a bit of a loon.

That's why a major group like the netroots getting behind a candidate would provide some instant organization, and therefore, some instant credibility. I realize the 'netroots' may not be all that popular in a more conservative place like Georgia.

I read that Jim Butler won't run and the only known name mentioned so far is the unliked Vernon Jones, but my hope would be that at least some so far unnamed state legislator would get in the race.

U.S House races are a little bit different, because they cover smaller territory. In fact, in the last election of the 30 seats the Democrats gained from the Republicans something like 17 of the new Democratic representatives didn't even hold a prior elected office. The only problem in Georgia is that all the Republicans are in safe seats.

by Adam T 2007-06-08 09:05PM | 0 recs

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Re: GA Senate Candidates

OK, I get your point and I hope the netroots do get behind him.

Since his press release announcing his candidacy only came out yesterday, I guess we'll have to see if he has any organization behind him and the other needs you refer to.

His website does not make him out to be a single issue or enviro only candidate. He certainly has the environmental training, and it may appear that he is more enviro heavy because that is the bias I come from and I wrote the diary. One nice thing about ecological training though is that we are trained to think holistically, rather than as reductionists, which is common in other hard sciences.

by The lurking ecologist 2007-06-08 09:34PM | 0 recs

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We've Found Our Candidate

This guy's the real thing. To say this guy is head and shoulders above Cardwell and Jones would be a gross understatement. The netroots should get behind him. BIG TIME!! I see the progressive south rising again in 2008 through a Senate triumverate.

Brad Miller of NC, Ron Sparks of AL, and now Rand Knight of GA

by pbcliberaldem 2007-06-08 07:40PM | 0 recs