Down here in Georgia, all of the focus right now is on the upcoming primaries in the governor's race. Roy Barnes is cruising to the Democratic nomination, but the Republicans are locked up in a mess – a run-off seems almost guaranteed on that side.
But in Today’s AJC, there is a very interesting polling nugget:
But if Barnes is the ultimate Democratic nominee, the poll found him beating or tied with any Republican in a hypothetical general election matchup.
The question of who wins in November was asked of 625 registered voters from July 8 through July 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll found Barnes and Oxendine are tied at 42 percent, with 16 percent undecided, while Barnes tops Handel 45 percent to 34 percent and beats Deal 46 percent to 28 percent. Johnson gets 29 percent to Barnes' 47 percent.
I realize that Barnes is a particular kind of Democrat, the kind that can win in the South. But what’s striking to me is the apparent lack of backlash against his party affiliation. If the nation is truly undergoing some sort of major shift toward Republicans (something the John Boehners of the world love to say), I would have guessed a Democrat might get clobbered running for statewide office here in Georga, of all places.
This seems to be evidence that although people are frustrated with Democrats, they don’t see anything better on the other side. And of course, this is proven out by all the polls out there indicating that the only thing less popular than a congressional Democrat right now is a congressional Republican.
So if you get a chance, send a dime or two Roy’s way for the general election. Let's pump some enthusiasm his way!