With Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) announcing that he will not run for another term in the Senate, the race to replace him will be intense. The leading Democrat, at this point, appears to be former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who has not yet formally announced his intentions. I hate to say it, but I really hope he isn’t the Dem candidate.
Georgia historically was a Democratic stronghold. As recently as 2000, the state had two Democratic Senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic majorities in the state legislature. In 2002, the state finally joined its southern brethren in making the shift to the GOP — with Republicans winning the governorship, the legislature, and a Senate race.
With this in mind, when Miller said he would be retiring from public service in 2004, the national GOP saw his Senate seat as a likely-GOP pickup. I’m afraid they’re probably right.
But that doesn’t mean the Dems can’t make a strong showing and keep this race competitive. In fact, unlike some Senate races in the South, there is no shortage of high-profile Dems anxious to run. They include current Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Rep. Jim Marshall, Lieutenant Governor Mark Taylor, and my personal favorite, State attorney general Thurbert Baker.
Yet Andrew Young is the biggest name of the Dems. Young is, to be sure, something of a hero to a lot of people. He was a champion of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, he was a popular mayor of Georgia’s biggest city, he was a member of Congress, and a former ambassador to the United Nations. Sounds great, right?
The problem is I can’t see how Young can be competitive next year.
He’s 71-years-old and has been out of politics for many years. He’s never run successfully for statewide office, and though popular in Atlanta in the 1970s, the city’s younger citizens have little recollection of who Young is.
Worse, Young has suggested he’ll run an “old-school” campaign in which he’ll appeal to voters directly without polls or campaign ads.
In a state that’s been drifting Republican in recent years, the Dems need an aggressive candidate with broad appeal. The GOP appears likely to nominate Rep. Johnny Isakson, who will be a very formidable and well-funded candidate with strong backing from the Bush White House.
I appreciate all that Young has done in his illustrative career, but I’m hoping the Dems nominate someone who has actually won a statewide race and is prepared for the rigors of modern campaigning.
Yesterday, Young said that he’s made up his mind about whether to run for the Senate, but he won’t yet say what his decision is.
“I know what I’m going to do, but I just haven’t made it public yet,” Young said. He said he’d make an announcement “pretty soon.”
Everything I’m hearing suggests Young will run, I just wish he wouldn’t.