Saxby Chambliss Wins Ga. Senate Runoff

Republican's Victory Ends Democratic Hopes Of Achieving Filibuster-Proof Majority In Senate

(CBS/AP)  Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss handed the GOP a firewall against Democrats eager to flex their newfound political muscle in Washington, winning a bruising runoff battle Tuesday night that had captured the national limelight.

Chambliss' victory thwarted Democrats' hopes of winning a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. It came after a bitter monthlong runoff against Democrat Jim Martin that drew political luminaries from both parties to the state and flooded the airwaves with fresh attack ads weeks after campaigns elsewhere had ended.

Minnesota - where a recount is under way - now remains the only unresolved Senate contest in the country. But the stakes there are significantly lower now that Georgia has put a supermajority out of reach of Democrats.

With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, Chambliss captured 57 percent to Martin's 43 percent. Chambliss' win is a rare bright spot for Republicans in a year where they lost the White House as well as seats in the House and the Senate.

"This is a rare tidbit of good news for a Republican Party reeling from November's losses," said CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "While it may seem to have stopped the bleeding, the party remains in the kind of minority status it has not seen since the early 1990s. A runoff victory in a strong Southern state is thin thread upon which to build a political comeback. At the same time, the result is a caution signal to President-elect Obama that his election mandate has its limits."

Martin called Chambliss to concede before 10 p.m., then emerged to tell supporters as his voice cracked: "For me and my family and campaign team and all of you this is a sad moment."

Chambliss declared victory before about 500 cheering Republicans in Cobb County saying he'd hoped to win the race outright on Nov. 4. During the general election, it was a three-way race for the seat and neither Martin nor Chambliss was able to secure the necessary 50 percent to avoid the runoff.

"But you know, God works in strange ways," Chambliss said. "What we have seen over the last four weeks has truly been remarkable."

Chambliss' mantra on the campaign trail was simple: His re-election was critical to prevent Democrats in Washington from having a blank check. Chambliss, 65, had angered some conservatives with his vote for the $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry and his early support in 2007 for the guest worker provision in President George W. Bush's immigration bill. But fearful of unchecked Democratic dominance, some came back into the GOP fold Tuesday.

Martin made the economy the centerpiece of his bid, casting himself as a champion for the neglected middle class. He also linked himself at every opportunity to Barack Obama and his message of change. The Democratic president-elect was a no show on the campaign trail in Georgia but did record a radio ad and automated phone calls for Martin.

In the end, Martin, a 63-year-old former state lawmaker from Atlanta, wasn't able to get Obama voters back to the polls in large enough numbers to overcome the Republican advantage in Georgia, which has become an increasingly a reliable red state since 2002.

With most precincts reporting, turnout stood at about 35 percent. That's higher than the 20 percent predicted by a spokesman for Secretary of State Karen Handel but far less than the 65 percent who voted in last month's general election.

The runoff between the former University of Georgia fraternity brothers was necessary after a three-way general election prevented any of the candidates from getting the necessary 50 percent.

Chambliss came to the Senate in 2002 after defeating Democratic Sen. Max Cleland in a campaign that infuriated Democrats. Chambliss ran a TV ad that questioned Cleland's commitment to national security and flashed a photo of Osama bin Laden. Cleland is a triple amputee wounded in the Vietnam War.

He was a loyal Bush supporter and, as a freshman, rose to become chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. the former agriculture lawyer from Moultrie has been the ranking Republican on the panel since Democrats won control of the Senate.

Some 3.7 million people cast ballots in this year's general election, and both sides have since tried to keep voters' attention with a barrage of ads and visits by political heavy-hitters.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore both stumped for Martin.

Several ex-Republican presidential candidates made appearances for Chambliss, including GOP nominee John McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Chambliss brought in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's vice presidential pick, as his closer. She headlined four rallies for Chambliss across the state Monday that drew thousands of party faithful.

[carlyonsue]

No haikori and kansas1946! We''ll regroup alright but we won''t compromise our principals to do it and we''ll still come back stronger than ever!

[kansas1946]

So nothing. I merely pointed out that the republican party was not ''''always for the rich by the rich...''''.
That''''s all. Times change, partys change, & in 27 years the democrats may well be the one everybody calls fascist. Because after all, neither party is the only party that tries to tell you how to live your life.


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Posted by nojoy01 at 07:32 AM : Dec 04, 2008
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So, now, I agree with you totally on this post. When I vacated the Republican party I decided then to never join another political party. Neither party really represents my views. Both parties represent some of my views and neither party represents some of my views. I am basically supporting Democrats for now because the Republican party is representing nothing at the moment. That can, and I am sure, will change in the future.

[kansas1946]

kansas1946: CloverNYC is right! We are alive and well and we''''ll be back! We suffered a setback but that''''s all it was! We''''ll re-group and come back stronger than ever!


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Posted by carlyonsue at 03:39 AM : Dec 04, 2008
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Well, I certainly hope so. You are going to have to do it with some other issues besides abortion and bashing g a y s though. The current Republican party has no platform.

[kansas1946]

Does anyone but me think that the name "Saxby Chambliss" sounds a little g a y? ;o)

[nojoy01]

Posted by kansas1946 at 11:00 PM : Dec 03, 2008

So nothing. I merely pointed out that the republican party was not ''always for the rich by the rich...''.
That''s all. Times change, partys change, & in 27 years the democrats may well be the one everybody calls fascist. Because after all, neither party is the only party that tries to tell you how to live your life.

[carlyonsue]

kansas1946: CloverNYC is right! We are alive and well and we''ll be back! We suffered a setback but that''s all it was! We''ll re-group and come back stronger than ever!

[kansas1946]

The Republican Party rises again! Go Chambliss! With a little help from Sarah Palin (and lots of praying folks I reckon), he pulled off a major victory.

In spite of what the liberal/left-wingers say, the Republican Party is alive and well.


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Posted by CloverNYC at 01:42 PM : Dec 03, 2008
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LOL. Dream on.

[kansas1946]

I suppose, from the nature of the majority of posts here, that this would be the wrong place to point out that the republican party was the party of abolition, that prosecuted the Civil War, and finally, proclaimed (and enforced) emancipation. All of this while the democratic party was looking for ways to compromise with the slaveowners in order to avoid fighting a war or disrupting the union. By the way, this in not just my opinion, but factual, recorded history available in just about any High School history textbook. (Unless, of course, somebody took out those parts of our history because said history ''''offended'''' somebody)


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Posted by Nojoy01 at 03:04 PM : Dec 03, 2008
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So what. I joined the Republican party in 1968 and left the Republican party 27 years later because it had morphed in those 27 years into something that I didn''t even recognize as the Republican party that I joined. The Republican party used to be a pretty mixed bag of folks but they kept alienating anyone in the party that didn''t march lock-step to their increasingly hateful and devisive views, ''till all that is left if a bunch of bigoted, greedy, ignorant, fools, that think they are patriots because the kiss every Republican''s a** and tear down anyone else.
No, the grand party of Lincoln has fallen into the pit and their only response is to become more hateful and devisive.

[hatesthecolt]

The Republican party has never been for the working class..

Posted by jmarsha2008

Excellent point. My favorite bumper sticker is "The Republicans have a plan for this great country; it does not include YOU." I never know whether to be amused or bemused by the crackers that are manipulated by the Republcian leadership into voting what is essentially contrary to their interests based on cheap appeals to social (often nonexistent) national security issues.

[prohb]

Some victory - Only 20% of the eligible voters (mostly white men) voted for Chambliss and because of "FEAR" not a vision ..... a typical Republican ploy. And what did these white men vote him to do.....it was merely to be a obstructionist...not to be a problem solver or a worker to get things done. This is not the kind of person we need occuping a seat in the Senate right now. We need to get things done!