I have a new theory about campaigns and elections. Of course, my new theory could be fact that everyone other than me already knows. My theory is that for some people the business of campaigning is more important than actually governing ( i.e. Sarah Palin). Could prepping for campaigns and campaigning be where the money is?
Roy Barnes raised and spent over $28 million dollars running for governor of Georgia but didn’t win. Much of that money went to media buys like T.V. and radio ads. Old school people like me just assumed a sizable old fashion Get Out the Vote effort was coming and that rallies with sweet smelling Georgia barbecue would be held from one end of the state to the other end. It never really happened because the fancy Buckhead type consultants (who aren’t cheap themselves) pushed ads, ads and more ads. I have never been so tired of political ads and many of the spots were negative against Nathan Deal which was nonsense because everyone knew that Barnes and Deal basically liked each other.
Few noticed that former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones was in Nathan Deal’s corner and was standing right there during the victory party. Good for Jones because the same fancy Democrat Buckhead crowd didn’t want him running for U.S. Senate against Saxby Chambliss. Sure, Vernon has some history but hey cast the first stone and he would have done better than Jim Martin (I voted for Saxby for regional reasons.) But, the real winners of that election were the fancy fundraisers and political operatives who got candidates who could raise money and pay them.
We remember when Austin Scott was running for governor with the idea of raising smaller amounts of money and keeping it a people’s campaign based on his ideas and policy facts. On the other side of the fancy streets in Buckhead, the GOP types have even fancier offices that require much money to maintain. I think they look past the bright young man with good ideas and toward the four or five candidates who could put big money on the barrel head. Nathan Deal is the new governor and Scott is heading to congress.
Fairness requires that I acknowledge the effort put forward by Rep. Sanford Bishop’s opponent’s team. They hustled hard and made that thing too close—they were a well-oiled machine. I was ticked with the Barnes campaign and the state Democrat party because they were spending money on those freaking ads when people weren’t rallying in person, face to face like the other side was. When we did get together, it was so cool.
The first rule of politics is save yourself and Bishop got old school with his last Get Out The Vote push. He won that election with little help from the top of the ticket and because the people woke up at the eleventh hour.
Looming on the horizon is the 2012 presidential election year. While the presidential race outcome is unclear, you can bet that my community will be there for President Obama in huge numbers. An old theory of mine is that conservative candidates could fair well during that Obama wave if they could swim. My old friend Karen Bogans in Savannah is the only hope the GOP has in winning the 12th District race; she is smart, direct and has the political and professional credentials. Could an African American conservative get out of the GOP primary is the question but her campaign would be hard on the Obama White House yet surprisingly usefully to the Obama presidency at the same time. Hey, she criticizes me all the time and I would be upset if her comments weren’t true and didn’t need to be said.
I told Bogans that she could get a sizeable amount of the Black vote and win a congressional seat without raising and spending much money. She said those fancy folks in Buckhead must get their business/coin or they will push someone else up. I have concluded that the process of campaigning and prepping are likely more lucrative than actually serving in office. Sarah Palin gets $800K for one speech while President Obama gets half that amount as an annual salary. If you are going to be in the game, you must know the rules and the new golden rule is “he who has the gold..rules.”
Project Logic Ga 
Slyram – I am interested in how Bishop got so many people out to vote in a midterm election. You said he got “old school with his last Get out to Vote Push”. What did he do? Did he put all his focus on Muscogee County? It seems that he gave up on the rural counties. I would like to know what you think.
Jeff: by old school, I mean he went back to plain old seeking the vote of the people in a year when Gov. Barnes and so many others were using too many T.V. and radio ads. Even Bishop’s campaign was too ad based before the last month when people who liked his service over the years started rally—rallying similar to the massive grassroots effort of Keown’s campaign.
I can’t believe people think the 2nd race was won in two counties by people who live on public assistance. That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard and it is insulting. From coast to coast, it’s obvious that those living public assistance vote infrequently. Hardworking voters won that race.
When Obama decided to run for president, I knew that if he won the midterm voter turnout in the Black community would be huge. But, we shouldn’t take anything away from Rep. Bishop who has a long history of serving a variety of people. The margin of victory could have been people like me who would have been content to simple vote but grew up set with the notation that Bishop does listen to people. While that statement rallied one side, it also really got Democrats into the game. There also people who came out to vote against a candidate who they didn’t see connecting with big segments of the district. Of course, Keown supporters don’t understand it but it would be hard seeing him networking with the two Black colleges. Isakson and Kingston connect with my community while being traditional conservatives but Keown…I don’t see it.
Gloating….oh my goodness..when the Keown supporters (not the candidate himself) thought the election was won, they started gloating. I think Minority Leader John Boenher basically told them to chill and get the win but giddyness from their side made some people get energized on the other side. When Obama had McCain on the ropes, he stayed cool because gloating could have changed the game.
It the GOP listened to Michael Steele they would have put a somewhat moderate, less bitter candidate against a moderate and the outcome might have been different. But, going from moderate Dem to far Right conservative wasn’t going to happen in the 2nd or the 12th—and the 2nd is a lock for 2012. I know you don’t thing Keown is far right but anyone chilling that hard with the Tea Party would be far right.
Good analysis, but I still think you have Keown pegged wrong. I understand that Bishop was trying to tie Keown to the Tea Party but the truth is Keown wasn’t a “tea party” candidate. He had some support from tea party groups but his his candidacy wasn’t born from the tea party. He really isn’t that far right and I guarantee you that he would have been able to network with any community, organization, or college in the district. The GOP nor Michael Steele had anything to do with Keown’s candidacy either. No one put him in the race. In fact, he received little or no support until the last few weeks of the election. I told you before that Keown wasn’t running as some sort of personal goal or just to get power, he was running to truly represent all people of the district. He wasn’t running because of the tea party or the GOP and had no ambitions of being a “politician”. He just felt the 2nd district needed a voice for all people. I don’t understand why you would think he was bitter. I understand that is how alot of people see the tea party but like I said, Keown wasn’t involved in the tea party. Was he unhappy with the way Bishop had represented the district over the last few years. Sure, but alot of people in the district were really questioning Bishop’s representation. Really, I value your opinion and you seem to have a good grasp on politics in South Georgia but I can honestly tell you that you have Keown pegged wrong and I know that alot of people do because that is how the Bishop campaign was trying to portray him. Does he have some crazy supporters? Sure but so does everyone.
I replied to your post on PeachPundit about Rick Allen and I don’t know if you saw it but I think you thought Allen was more like a moderate candidate you are referring to. Allen is a “tea party” candidate. His candidacy was born from the tea party and he even made two trips to DC to protest health reform. He was much further right than Keown and even had some of crazy beliefs and stances as the tea party. He has a blog up now and I wanted you to read one of his entries. http://ricksfreedomblog.com/2010/09/27/is-obama-influenced-by-his-father/
This type of thinking is what it seems you are trying to tie Keown to. It simply isn’t true. He was able to pull many moderate/conservative democrats from Bishop and most if not all republicans who previously supported Bishop. Look at results in counties like Sumter, Peach, Mitchell, and Brooks where Keown won. These are counties that overwhelmingly voted for Dems in statewide races this year and in years past have overwhelmingly voted for Bishop. In the end Bishop did what he had to do to get the vote out, especially in Muscogee. I never said people on public assistance elected him. I understand some people are saying that but again, everyone has their crazy supporters. I agree that Bishop is ok for 2012.