Atlanta Journal- Constitution columnist Jay Bookman has an interesting commentary on the Senate race between incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss and challenger Jim Martin.
His commentary covers the possible impact of a Libertarian candidate on the race. Georgia law requires a Senator to get a majority of votes. A run off will be scheduled if the 3rd party candidate gets enough votes to keep both the Republican and Democrat under 50% plus one vote.
In such a case, the Libertarian could become a king maker. But Bookman's column also includes a bizarre story about a leaked memo for a lobbying/election firm that is listed on the National Senatorial Campaign Committee's web site.
According to the suspicious memo, faxed anonymously to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, McLaughlin & Associates conducted polling after debates in the Senate race.
"There is an alarming shift in key demographic segments that do not bode well for the senator," the memo states. "Our data indicates that support among the 35-50 and 50-65 white male segment is softening. It also appears that they [are] trending toward the Libertarian candidate."
Bookman called the lobbying firm to inquire about the fax.
When I mentioned I had the alleged memo in my hand, on McLaughlin letterhead with his name as its author, the phone went silent for a few moments. Larkin then asked for my phone number and promised to return the call.
Given its unknown source, we decided not to report on the memo unless we could tie down some loose ends. That decision changed when McLaughlin called Wednesday to say he had leaked "to some of my media friends that somebody is trying to do this as a dirty trick," and that other reporters may be calling us for information.
At that point, columnist Bookman decided to go public with the story, which includes the contents of the memo, suggesting that the Republican's campaign conduct "opposition research" on the Libertarian candidate and begin trashing him on AM talk radio and in the blogosphere.
Here's a link to the full story
For those on the blog who know more about dirty tricks than I, I am curious to hear your comments -
what was accomplished by this leak? I just don't believe is was a dirty trick. Sounds pretty clear to me that they were trying to float it, and were disappointed that the AJC didn't play along with their first attempt.
Martin's campaign ads include pounding Chambliss on his vote for the bail out. He says he wouldn't have voted for it. Sounds like an appeal to the Libertarian vote to me.