I saw this on the AJC–I have always said that Vernon Jones could sway this senate runoff.
Of Vernon Jones and his opinion of former opponent Jim Martin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You know that the transition of CEOs in DeKalb County has become a rather noisy thing.
But Vernon Jones, the outgoing head of DeKalb government, is also pulling a Dylan Thomas when it comes to the U.S. Senate race.
Jones, defeated by Jim Martin in the Democratic runoff in August, has declined to endorse his former opponent in a close contest against Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Jones has labeled Martin a hypocrite for inviting President-elect Barack Obama to come to Georgia to boost his Senate campaign — because Martin didn’t vote for Obama in the presidential primary. Martin opted instead for Democrat John Edwards, who had already dropped out of the race.
“Jim Martin did not want Obama to be president, but now wants he wants Obama to come down and help him get into the U.S. Senate,” Jones told my AJC colleague Jim Tharpe in an interview on Monday. “He wouldn’t vote for the man, and now he wants the man to come down and get him out of trouble.
“He [Martin] could not come to grips with voting for an African-American for president,” Jones said. “And he couldn’t come to grips with voting for a woman [Hillary Clinton]. So he voted for a man who was not even running for president.
“He voted for a man who had an affair and not an African-American who is married with two beautiful children,” Jones said.
The DeKalb County CEO himself got into hot water with the Obama campaign during the Democratic primary, with a campaign mailer bearing an altered image of himself standing next to Obama in front of a campaign crowd. Jones said no deception was intended.
But Obama called Jones out on the flyer during a visit to Atlanta, and declared that he only knew the DeKalb CEO as someone who voted twice for George W. Bush.
The Martin campaign refused to be drawn into any post-primary debate with Jones — not 14 days before a general election runoff.
“We wish Mr. Jones well,” Martin spokesman Matt Canter said Monday. “If he wants six more years of Georgia jobs getting shipped overseas, higher health care costs, and higher taxes for working families, that’s his prerogative. Jim Martin will work with President Obama to fix the economy for middle-class Georgia families, Saxby Chambliss has pledged to obstruct Obama’s economic recovery efforts.”
Jones said he has not endorsed anyone in the race and was evasive when asked who would get his vote.
“My vote will be cast when I get to the ballot box,” Jones said.
Martin’s other Democratic primary opponents have endorsed Martin’s candidacy with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Josh Lanier of Statesboro has hosted two campaign events for Martin. Rand Knight and Dale Cardwell have endorsed Martin, but have not been actively involved in his campaign
Project Logic Ga 