As many of you know, John Barrow of Georgia's 12th District is considered one of the most vulnerable Dem members of Congress. While I personally loathe his tendency to vote with Republicans on almost all foreign policy and surveillance issues, obviously I prefer to be represented by a Dem rather than one of our particularly insipid and out-of-touch Republicans we have down here.
Much talk in the Savannah area has centered on a current Republican state representative, Buddy Carter, challenging Barrow for the seat in '08 (yes, we have a lot of guys named Buddy down here, just deal with it).
Carter would indeed have been a formidable challenger -- a strong campaigner who avoids most overtly partisan posturing. But it's not to be. More on the jump.
I just received an e-mail in which Carter says he'll seek reelection to the state House rather than challenge Barrow for the congressional seat. Reading between the lines you can easily see he's just plain afraid of losing.
Read the entire release for yourself and see what I mean:
State Representative Buddy Carter (R) Pooler, announced today that he will not be a candidate for the 2008 12th District Congressional race.
In making the announcement, Carter said that he will seek re-election to the District 159 state house seat that he has held since 2004.
"While I have truly been humbled by the overwhelming encouragement and support of voters in the 12th District to run for Congress, my focus at this time is to continue to serve the people of West Chatham and South Effingham counties in the state legislature," Carter said.
In making the announcement, Carter cited numerous issues facing the state as priorities in House District 159. "Currently taxes, transportation, health care and water are issues that are taking precedent at the state level and are issues that will have a huge impact on West Chatham and South Effingham counties," the second term legislator said. "We must continue to work for solutions to our traffic concerns in West Chatham and for tax relief in South Effingham. Water has been a major issue in our district for over a decade and health care affects everyone- I simply can’t leave now with all these issues unresolved."
Carter went on to say that while he has not ruled out a run for higher office in the future, he feels that his current position is where he belongs now. "This district is where I was born and raised and the people have honored me by sending me to our states capitol as their representative. We have serious issues facing us in our district as well as state-wide and I want to continue to work to resolve them."
Me again: I think this is fairly typical of where the smarter Republicans are at today. They seem to know full well the whirlwind their party is going to reap in '08 and possibly into the future.
I offer this as an encouraging sign, that one of the most embattled Dems in Congress is able to stave off even strong competitors due to the toxic environment for Republicans.