Republican Congressional Delegation on the Defensive in Georgia?

The Republican Congressional Delegation from Georgia

United States Senator Saxby Chambliss
John H. "Jack" Kingston, 1st District
Lynn Westmoreland, 3rd District
Dr. Thomas E. "Tom" Price, 6th District
John E. Linder, 7th District
John Nathan Deal, 9th District
Paul C. Broun, Jr., 10th District
Dr. John Phillip "Phil" Gingrey, 11th District














United States Senator Saxby Chambliss















John H. "Jack" Kingston 1st District














Lynn Westmoreland 3rd District














Dr. Thomas E. "Tom" Price 6th District














John E. Linder, 7th District














John Nathan Deal, 9th District












Paul C. Broun, Jr., 10th District














Dr. John Phillip "Phil" Gingrey, 11th District

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it appears the Republican Party is on the defensive in Georgia based on overall fundraising results for the 2008 elections, despite prognostications by numerous experts in Washington who insist against the evidence that Georgia is impervious to the incipient change-the-course, anti-Bush, progressive wave emerging across the South. Georgia is a more progressive state than North Carolina, but it is regarded as a stronger base for the Republican Party than North Carolina by many of the expert political analysts.


On the transformation since 2004.

Four years ago, nearly three of every four Georgia dollars in the presidential campaign — 73 percent — was headed in Bush's direction. In 1999, 78
percent of the early cash from Georgia went to Republicans.

This year, just over 50 percent of presidential money has gone to Democratic candidates — a dramatic shift that may not bode well for Republicans next year.

"If Georgia is competitive for Democrats, Republicans don't have a chance of winning the White House," said Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political
scientist.

On trends across the South:

Georgia isn't alone in the South in providing Democrats with financial
sustenance. Of 11 Southern states that have formed the geographic base of the
GOP, Democrats have raised more money than Republicans in seven.

On the 2008 Senate race:

Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss has outraised his Democratic opponents in
next year's U.S. Senate race by 12-to-1.

On the Obama effect in the Old South:

But the man most responsible for the Democratic financial surge is Obama. Take
out the $1.1 million the Illinois senator has raised in Georgia, much of it from
virgin donors among metro Atlanta's black middle class, and GOP presidential
candidates return to their normal dollar dominance in Georgia.

And finally, the numbers raised at the end of the last reporting term:

• Democrats: $2,734,323

• Republicans: $2,666,066

• All candidates: $5,400,388

• Barack Obama (D): $1,146,196

• Mitt Romney (R): $958,209

• Rudy Giuliani (R): $790,560


AR's preferred candidate for the Republican nomination, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani may be experiencing some short term disadvantage against the competition due to Georgians' famous love for the Big Apple. AR readers can donate here to the Giuliana campaign to help reverse former Massachusetts Governor Willard Mitt Romney's slight lead in Georgia.