Georgia's 2010 Democratic Senate Primary is a David-and-Goliath Story

McDonough, Georgia -- Red State Georgia currently seats two Republican senators in Washington. Johnny Isakson, the incumbent currently facing reelection, is without a challenger for the Republican nomination. The Democrats, however, have a David-and-Goliath contest running up to the July 20 primary.

Meet the David: R.J. Hadley, a newcomer to politics, started drumming up support nearly a year ago. Since then, the former Rockdale County Chief of Staff has crisscrossed the state, introducing himself to one group of voters at a time. It's not an untried tactic.

Back in 1970, Jimmy Carter ran a successful bid for the governorship through an underdog, populist campaign that eventually became a stepping stone to the White House.

But Carter's political career is more the exception than the rule, and it's questionable that in today's political climate of big money and big campaigns even Carter could recreate his past victories. So, why would a successful business man with no war chest, no name recognition and little support from his own party make the emotional, financial and physical commitment necessary to stage a political campaign?

"I am running to serve the public, not the corporations or my largest political donors," Hadley wrote me via email. "I am running because Georgia needs a new leader in Washington who will be in touch with the needs of the people and have a positive vision for our state."

His vision is a bold one. While acknowledging the need to tackle issues of immigration reform, the budget deficit and the environment, his emphasis seems to center on job creation, small business success and education. Those will be difficult targets to hit. Georgia's unemployment rate is in double digits, and it consistently ranks at near the bottom for educational achievement, as reported by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. In 2002, Georgia was 49^th in regards to public high school graduation ratings, according to the GBPI.

Hadley not only acknowledges his political greenness, he claims it as one reason voters should give him serious consideration.

"When you challenge my experience to take on roles at any level of government, you challenge the ability of all citizens to take an active role in government," Hadley wrote. "Who are these special, experienced leaders who are the only ones worthy of running for office and facing the difficult problems? If they are the same ones that have led our economy to the brink of collapse, then it's time for a new measure of experience. If they are the same ones that act as if they exist outside and above the lives of most hard working Americans, then it's time to look for new leaders."

Hadley said he firmly believes that even in Georgia, where the Grand Ol' Party has deep roots, he is the leader the public is seeking -- a man of integrity and commitment.

"R.J. Hadley is a real person who will spend every day as U.S. Senator working to help our state be the best it can be for all Georgians," he wrote. "I am not a career politician, but I am running to be a true public servant who will put people first above politics."

Despite Georgia's Republican leanings, Obama's run for the White House gave Democrats a glimmer of hope. Obama garnered 47 percent of the vote in Georgia in 2008 (as reported by various news outlets, including the BBC) and pushed incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss into a runoff with Democratic challenger Jim Martin. The popular Isakson's recent health issues seem to have turned that glimmer into a ray. The 65-year-old was hospitalized in early April for an irregular heartbeat and blood clot in his leg, according to a spokeswoman for his office.

So, enters now our Goliath: Widely considered an A-list Democrat, Mike Thurmond currently occupies the position of Georgia State Labor Commissioner. Thurmond threw his hat in on April 22, barely qualifying two hours before the April 30 noon deadline for Georgia's primaries.

The appearance was that Democrats did not want to squander the possibility of an Isakson upset and enlisted Thurmond for the ticket, an assumption Thurmond denied in an interview he gave to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

"That's a popular notion, but really, it didn't happen," Thurmond said. "I've talked to people in Washington, but they did not recruit me."

Two days after Thurmond entered the race, Rasmussen Reports conducted an automated telephone survey on the Georgia senate race. Isakson garnered a 51 percent to 35 percent lead over Thurmond. Hadley was relegated to the position of "some other candidate in the race" and claimed 6 percent of those polled. Interestingly, Thurmond's name only slightly bettered the 52 percent to 31 percent stance the Democrats had a month earlier when a similar poll was taken with an unnamed generic Democratic candidate.

Thurmond's campaign appears to be taking the primary outcome for granted. Despite his dramatic, tearful announcement speech, delivered under a portrait of Georgia founder James Oglethorpe at the State Capitol, he seems in no hurry to gear up his efforts.

With a months-long head start, Hadley has created a detailed campaign website, a Facebook page, and a Café Press storefront through which supporters can purchase (at wholesale prices) campaign merchandise. His appearances throughout the state have been many and frequent.

Thurmond, on the other hand, does not seem as well prepared. His campaign website is currently under construction, and an email sent to the contact address on the home page was returned as undeliverable. Information on Thurmond's Wikipedia page makes attribution to a campaign website biography, but clicking that link leads you to a notification that the web page expired on April 27, 2010, and is awaiting renewal.

Thurmond told the Savannah Morning News that he prefers "retail campaigning" over mass marketing.

"I like to go out, meet people, press the flesh, and discuss the issues like was done before television took over the election process," he said. "That plays to my strengths."

While both Hadley and Thurmond may prefer this face-to-face method of campaigning, Isakson's $7 million campaign fund will undoubtedly bring this race into the media spotlight at some point.

On July 20, it will be up to Georgia Democrats to decide which candidate will enter that spotlight to challenge Isakson on the road to November.

Thurmond did not immediately respond to a request for an interview. After making contact through the Georgia Democratic Party, I was informed that he was traveling, according to Quinn Hudson of the Hudson Group, Inc., a public relations firm.

Sources:

BBC, US Election Results Map, BBC News website

Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Georgia Rankings, GBPI

Jim Galloway, Michael Thurmond and the Gamble of a Cautious Man, Atlanta Journal Constitution

Rasmussen Reports, Election 2010: Georgia Senate, Rasmussen Reports website

Walter C. Jones, Candidate Qualifying Comes To an End, Savannahnow.com