And his presence wasn’t felt outside Houston like it was inside; we’re talking delegating two counties worth of walk lists to two people. There was a severe lack of volunteer coordination in the campaign, and despite Goddard the candidate showing up to a few events here and there – Goddard the campaigner was absent from a large portion of the district.

That’s a big mistake. You can’t ignore all of the district except for one county. And that IS my point. It’s not rendered moot by the fact that everyone in Houston hated Goddard – that only shows part of the problem. The other part of the problem is that of compensation, Goddard had to spend more time in Houston to rehab his image than previous challengers.

You can’t have a campaign team that does not know the district, with a candidate who has a negative image in a Republican stronghold, against a politically savvy incumbent. It just doesn’t work.

If you want to see her speak, I hear that she will be speaking at the Middle Georgia Republican Women’s meeting on Dec 1.

I recall in May of ’06 when listening to Whit Ayers predict the bloodbath that was about to happen in November. He very explicitly said there wasn’t a darn thing anyone could do about it, short of some strange turn of events.

Not one of the Democrats, no matter how blue they want to paint themselves, will be able to run from the destruction this administration and these two houses of congress have placed on the American people. They’ve created history. They can no longer simply blame George Bush. They have to man up and take the consequences.

http://www.deloachforgeorgia.com

You analysis misses one point that renders it moot. Goddard was one of the first Republicans in a long time to lose Houston county. If he was relying soley on Houston and only Houston voted, he would have lost. Goddard was the problem.

Like I have said in the past. I supported him and gave him more money than any politician in my life, but I also know and work with a number of people who used to work at the base and every single one of them hated the man to the point that as life long Republicans they voted for Marshall.

His campaign was run smoothly yet ineffectively because of who he was. Not his message.

This size and shape also creates a diverse voting base – everything from modern thinkers to the old school yellow dog Democrats in the more rural areas.

Marshall is slick, and anyone here willing to argue otherwise does not have their facts straight. He ran one campaign from his basement, lined up one constituency and let the rest come to him. And it worked. Watch how he answers questions, Jim Marshall is a very effective politician and he knows his district. His moves are calculated, and he has the power of incumbency – he’s not a likely target to simply be knocked off.

Theres a big lesson to be learned from Goddard’s campaign – it’s not just being a General is a bad choice; more importantly it’s that you have to go for every county and not just hedge your bets on just Houston. Having a campaign staff that is familiar with the district is a big plus, and is something Goddard lacked. But you know who did well against Marshall? Mac Collins. Which counties did Mac visit? All of them. Republican voters do not flock to Congressional candidates in this district – because Marshall is perceived as a semi-conservative, keeps the base alive, and shows up on FoxNews. Try and tell them otherwise, it’s a fun conversation starter.

Hopefully the primary challengers will create enough of a stir to fully battle test the eventual winner, and create enough name recognition to carry through the general.

I urge all of you to consider casting your vote for Valerie Meyers in the GOP primary on July 20th, Valerie is a true conservative that will always vote on principal and will always answer for every vote that she casts.

Please visit her website and consider casting your vote for her on July 20th 2010.
http://valerieforcongress.com/

valerieforcongress.com

Looking at all who are running, I do think DeLoach is the best organized and is a well rounded candidate. He has an excellent grasp of the landscape and has been working all sides of it. It’s a long road on the campaign trail. Ken is working at his base and has won some huge victories. Time will tell.

For the record, I’m on board with Ken and working as hard as I can to get this good and highly capable person elected.

Heck, he obtained $8,500,000 for an extreme home make over for low income housing to the tune of nearly $300,000 per unit. This is just one such example. Reward unproductive people. Aint America great? Vote buying?

As far as being some base guru, that’s equally as bogus as the conservative misnomer. Any congressman from the 8th is going to be loyal to Robins. That’s insane to think otherwise.

I’m quite excited about the prospects of electing Ken DeLoach. He is one heck of a good man and a hard worker. Whoever wins this race is going to have to work for it.

Go DeLoach!

The House was the body that was supposed to be very responsive to the immediate whims of the people, it would be the more populist body. But with less than 20% of the districts being competitive, you end up with safe and secure positions.

The Senate was supposed to be insulated from the immediate, populist whims of the people. It served as an important check on mob-rule mentality.

The two Senators would be the state legislatures’ representatives in the Federal government. Insulated from the people, they reported to the legislatures; essentially serving as the guardians of states’ rights. Zell Miller got it right when he said the 17th Amendment (popular vote of Senators) was one of the major downfalls of states’ rights.

Although the Senate has 6 year terms, which gives them more insulation than a House Member, their Legislative appointments served as one more insulating measure that made the body unique from the House, and offered an important dynamic in the interaction of the two bodies.

This problem is no more apparent than in the recent calls, by the Feds, to expand Medicaid, which would be a hugh unfunded mandate to the states. If Senators were accountable to the state legislatures, I think they would serve as an important check on unfunded mandates. I could imagine a phone call from the Lt. Gov or Speaker basically saying, “Don’t even think about sticking us with that bill, or we’ll be finding ourselves a new Senator. If you think it’s such a good idea, then go ahead and raise federal taxes to pay for it.”

Herman would be an excellent fit. But you’re correct. Small potatoes.

Marshall won’t be switching anytime soon. I could possibly see him going Independent and pulling a Joe Lieberman, but not crossing the aisle unless he actually pulls off a 2010 win and sees that Obama will be a gigantic liability to him in the district outside of Macon, ie. Warner Robins.

He is in a no win situation. If he goes too far right, he alienates his base in Macon. If he goes too far left, he loses his fringe Republican supporters that got him in against Collins. (Throw out the Goddard race. Goddard was an extremely strong candidate. His problem was he was Rick Goddard and had way too many base ties.)

This is the year that Marshall is vulnerable. If one of these candidates steps up to the plate and starts to become well known and credible, they have a chance of knocking him off. Several months ago, the NRCC declared the 8th unwinnable by a Republican. I personally think any Democrat is on the chopping block, whether or not they voted for the Stimulus or the Health Care package.

Further, in your statement that you would like GOP leaders to “outline their opposition and concern in a positive way—then vote against the stuff”, with due respect, Obama hasn’t reached out with an olive branch at this point, especially when he basically has his chief of staff and the senate majority leader saying that they are going to shove legislation down the American people’s throats whether they like it or not. You can’t expect the minority party when treated in such a manner to react any differently that we have. This is not Tip O’Neill hashing out legislation over dirty Irish jokes with Reagan.

Here’s the scenario: an African American candidate with true GOP credentials and principles secures the GOP votes that the GOP governor candidate will receive then gets decent percentage of the AA voters who are moderate/conservative (pro-life, pro school choice). Those Macon AA voters understood Bishop’s moderate posture when he had Bibb County and Marshall’s conservative posture now. I want President Obama to have more GOP members of congress who will outline their opposition and concern in a positive way—then vote against the stuff. At this point, the voice of reason comes from the Blue Dogs…they are the scout team. Marshall could be a good under secretary at DOD or ambassador if the GOP picked him off.

Daniel: the LP could really make this race interesting. A strong LP candidate could force a runoff and maybe be in the runoff. Would Democrats come back to vote for an incumbent who is not an Obama supporter?

If Herman Cain or Michael Murphy seriously considered that race (too small for Cain), Marshall could be compel to switch; the best way to get the seat and Marshall would be more comfortable. If not, he is the quarterback of the scout team and his views are helpful.