As for the current list of wannabees, Handel is the least offensive, just because she’s also the least doctrinaire and her tenure as Fulton Commissioner showed me that she is capable of getting stuff done without a lot of drama.

But the reality is that the governor is often at the mercy of the legislature and our current legislative leaders are something less than worthless.

With Handel’s June 30 disclosure, that doesn’t appear to be that much of a challenge for Eric, does it?

And, “good” is not defined by how much you liked the person, or how much money your company was able to secure in contracts from the connections you had in the governor’s office.

“Good” as in good for Georgia.

When I stated “I don’t believe Icarus, myself, and others here on Peach Pundit have come out as supporters of any of the gubernatorial candidates”, I didn’t mean everyone. I knew Erick had endorsed Handel; so did his blog Redstate.com.

If memory serves, there is another step after the primaries. Even assuming Oxendine can win the Republican nomination, he is the Republican candidate most likely to drive the undecideds (especially transplants) into The Rat’s camp. The Ox’s campaign seems to be based on the idea of openly alienating all the right people. Vote for me! Gay people hate me! Vote for me! Atlantans hate me! Vote for me! Smarty smart types in my own party think I’m a joke! Do you hate elitists as much as I do? Vote for me!

Yeah, there’s an audience for that when times are fat, but I don’t see a “Bubba” strategy resonating in 2010. These are difficult times, and therefore sober, serious, competent and Flash animation-averse may well turn out to be the more sought after qualities for the successful gubernatorial candidate in 2010.

As for Peach Pundit endorsing candidates, I’m not aware of it happening in my roughly two years here. Each of us has the freedom to endorse who we choose, when we choose. On many of the races, we may end up with the same candidate. When I need info about someone, Buzz and Farris are among the first I go to, as I respect their opinions. When I need info on a specific bill, Pye gets the call. Call it group-think if you want, but I respect the opinions of the folks we have around here, and I’m not afraid to let them occasionally shape mine.

As far as claiming there’s no movement in the polls for Ox or Handel, you clearly don’t seem to understand the premise of the post. You’re otherwise occupied right now, so I’ll let it slide.

And I’m still looking forward to buying you a beer in a few weeks, no matter how misguided you may be…

Karen Handel has always been a Peach Pundit darling. It’s evident in the group-speak and in the front-page postings that she is the Peach Pundit favorite.

And Icarus, Peach Pundit does have a history of endorsing candidates. A couple cycles ago, the website went as far as to officially endorse candidates. My memory isn’t what it once was…but who did PP endorse for SOS back then?

I could care less who either of you support. It’s your business, even if you support Oxendine. I don’t lose sleep over it either way.

But for some on this site to claim any type of objectivity on the matter whatsoever is bogus. The front-page, and most of the commenters hate Oxendine. We get it. Move on. Nothing to see here.

It just irks me to no end that they keep saying that “Oxendine isn’t moving up” in the polls, when CLEARLY neither is Peach-Pundit darling Handel or Deal or Johnson…whom, when you combine their votes, still can’t match Oxendine.

Kind of hypocritical.

IMO the “ceiling” is a legitimate issue, especially if you’re an Ox supporter. Ox must find a way to reach out to the Undecideds in the election or he’s bound to lose in a runoff.

Also, I don’t believe Icarus, myself, and others here on Peach Pundit have come out as supporters of any of the gubernatorial candidates.

And d@mn, you really have to stretch to promote Handel, even using her own internal poll.

The process involves reading a description of each candidate (or in this case, the top 4), and then re-asking the support question again

And you consider this method of polling legitimate? ROFLMAO!!!! Tell me, since it was Handel’s internal poll, who came up with the “description of each candidate”. If Oxendine had pulled a stunt like this and tried to peddle it as legitimate, there would wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Handel cheering section on this blog.

I think I have made it clear that I will in no way, shape or form vote for Oxendine. But you’re stretching, and you know it. You’re also severely underestimating the propensity of the Georgia electorate to vote for the wrong candidate. Even with Oxendine’s “lead” “shrinking”, he still gets a higher percentage than Handel, Deal, and Johnson…COMBINED. A fact that the Handel cheering section on Peach Pundit continues to ignore.

Ox may be a shameless panderer, but he is creating press for himself. And he is keeping himself in the mind of voters. If Handel and her supporters don’t do more than whine about Oxendine’s “ceiling” that he won’t rise above, then her and her campaign are going to end up in the basement under Governor Oxendine.

For Eric Johnson to be even remotely competitive, he will have to raise 4 times the money of everyone else and that’s just to get his name ID even close to where Oxendine, Handel, Deal are presently.

John’s problem is the more somebody knows him, the more likely they are to support one of his opponents.

seriously, one of the best quotes about Ox I’ve ever heard.

We could do worse and often have.

Ox is already sliding in the Rasmussen polls, showing he has no room to move up.

Of course since none of them are yet Erick’s preferred candidate, don’t expect to find news of that here.

As long as the nominee isn’t Oxendine, I feel pretty good about the GOP’s chances against Barnes.

Most of the people on the message board are politically active and, therefore, have gotten to know John over the years. They have seen how he conducts himself.

First thing, a pet peave: “Peach Pundit” can’t be right. With the exception of SB 31, we have never tried to speak with one voice.

There’s a bit more groupthink on Peach Pundit than you acknowledge. To be fair though, “Peach Pundit (minus Jason Shepard and the front-pagers who only post once in a blue moon anyway)” is pretty rabidly anti-Oxendine.

Polls sample a cross section of “retail” voters, many of which have yet to engage.

Straw polls sample the hardcore crowd, for whom partisan political activity at the core of their lives. Nothing retail about it. I “would need to check” myself, but I haven’t heard of Oxendine losing many of those.

I don’t think you’ll see any of the front pagers claim we mirror the general public or even the average Republican primary voter’s views

I think this is probably the answer to my question. Whether it’s groupthink or coincidence, I think “Peach Pundit (minus Jason Shepard and the front-pagers who only post once in a blue moon anyway)” is simply an outlier on the governor’s race chart.

I was already organizing this post when you and Jace asked the questions on the other thread, and then I significantly revised and extended my thoughts based on the Handel internal poll. So while I thought it would answer your question(s), apparently it did not.

1) I think I did answer why Peach Pundit differs from the polls. Polls sample a cross section of “retail” voters, many of which have yet to engage. And why we do try for a balance of views, I don’t think you’ll see any of the front pagers claim we mirror the general public or even the average Republican primary voter’s views, either individually or collectively.

As for the straw polls, Ox has won a few, but I think he’s not had the best luck recently. Would need to check. I’m pretty sure I have given Ox credit for early organizing in some key Republican strongholds. I attribute that to his victory in most of these. Party activists like to be stroked, and Ox has been stroking for years.

I think we’ve covered why Ox is loathed by most of us here. Hopefully that answers your question. If not, oh well.