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RACES AT LEAST ENTERTAINING
We won't be choosing a governor, and nei
ther of the incumbent U.S. senators will be
on the ballot, so there aren't any compelling
statewide races to get excited about. If you're
looking for the entertainment a good political
campaign supplies, I see two congressional
races with a lot of potential: the Republican
primary in the 9th Congressional District and
the general election for the 12th District. In
Northeast Georgia's 9th District, which will
be an open seat, a rollicking race is already-
developing between state Rep. Doug Collins
(R-Gainesville) and talk radio host Martha
Zoller. Collins is the candidate of the
Republican Party establishment. One
of his recent fundraisers involved
such legislative heavyweights as
Speaker David Ralston, House
Majority Leader Larry O'Neal,
Majority Whip Edward Lindsey
and Rep. Matt Ramsey, the
author of Georgia's immigration
control law.
Gov. Nathan Deal helped clear
the field for Collins by appoint
ing another potential candidate, Jim
Butterworth, as the state's adjutant general.
Collins' fundraisers have been put together by
Robyn Lynch, who's a business partner of the
governor's daughter-in-law.
Zoller has never held elective office but
is a polished media personality who will play
to the Tea Party segment of the GOP base.
She could be Georgia's version of Michele
Bachmann or Christine O'Donnell, the colorful
witchcraft dabbler who won the GOP nomina
tion in Delaware's U.S. Senate race last year.
I'll predict right now that one of Zoller's
campaign messages will be that she is not
"part of the good ol' boy network that's been
running the state for all these years." That's
the approach used by Linda Schrenko in 2002
and Karen Handel in 2010 when they ran for
governor. The strategy did not work for either
Schrenko or Handel; perhaps it will be a win
ner for Zoller, who I'm sure is going to stay in
constant attack mode against Collins.
Over in eastern Georgia's 12th District, the
Republicans have once again radically redrawn
the district boundaries in their ongoing efforts
to get rid of Democratic Rep. John Barrow,
formerly of Athens and Savannah and soon to
be moving to another city within the district.
Republicans similarly tried to draw out
Barrow in 2006, but Barrow messed up those
plans by defeating Republican Max Burns. In
the redesigned 12th District that's a bit more
Republican, Barrow could face Burns again,
although Burns may stay out of the race
because he is also one of the candidates to
become president of Gordon College.
The Republicans who want to take
on Barrow in the general election
include state Rep. Lee Anderson
(R-Grovetown) and Rick Allen, the
owner of an Augusta construction
business. State Rep. Ben Harbin
(R-Evans) is another Columbia
County figure who could end up
running in the GOP primary.
Even with the odds stacked
against him, Barrow is a potent
fundraiser and an experienced cam
paigner. Although he's technically a Democrat,
Barrow has co-sponsored bills to require a
balanced federal budget, voted against the
healthcare reform act, and keeps trying to gut
the healthcare law by removing the insurance
coverage mandate for employers. As with Zell
Miller, Barrow is often asked why he doesn't
just go ahead and switch parties, since he
already votes with the Republicans on all of
the major issues.
"I think we need two parties that are as
good as they can be, not just ins and outs,"
Barrow said. "We need two parties to serve as
a check on each other."
Barrow is the last white Democrat left in
Georgia's congressional delegation. It will be
fascinating to see if he hangs for another term
in the U.S. House, or if the Republican Party
finally hits that bullseye on his back.
Tom Crawford lcravi<Jord@gareport com
THIS MiDliy W«KLB
so WHAT DO THESE wall STREET
PROTESTERS WANT, ANYWAY?
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ANSWERS fROM OUR NEXT
6U6ST--
--AN ACTUAL WALL STREET
DEMONSTRATOR.' tell ME,
SIR--WHAT EXACTLY, ARE YOU
PROTESTING'!
ECONOMIC INJUSTICE.
by TOM TOMORROW
SORRY, WHAT WAS THAT?
[economic injustice!
STILL NOT GETTING >tT|
\ ECONOMIC INJUSTICE!
I WE ARE PROTESTING ECO-
\ NO MIC INJUSTICE'.
HIS LIPS ARE MOVING. WANDA--
BUT I CANT UNDERSTAND A WORD
HES SAYING!
IS THAT
EVEN
ENGLISH~
OR JUST
RANDOM
GIBBERISH!
—7.
ECONOMIC
INJUSTICE!
C
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MIC—IN-
JUS-TICE--
WELL, HE CERTAINLY SEEMED TO
BE WORKED UP ABOUT SOMETHING!
OKAY THEN.' COMING UP NEXT--
ARE THE PROTESTERS FRIVOLOUS
NINNIES WHO JUST WANT TO
PLAY BON60 DRUMS AND smoke
MARIJUANA?*
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IN WHICH CASE,
WHY DON'T THEY
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IN
PARTY
6 FLAGPOLE COM OCTOBER 12,2011
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