It’s been nearly a year since Saxby Chambliss, the senior U.S. Senator from Georgia, announced that he won’t seek another six-year term in 2014.
Although The Republicans will be favored to keep Chambliss’s seat, things could get interesting before it’s over. The best thing the GOP has going for it is something done by the Democrats — Obamacare. Polls show that the Affordable Care Act has been so unpopular that Democrats could suffer at the polls, and not just in the South.
In Georgia, however, the Republicans should worry about one thing above the rest — unity among the Democrats and a lack of it in the GOP.
Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, is attracting near universal support within the Democratic Party, and will almost certainly be its nominee. Already she has attracted notice from Democrats outside the state and from national media.
Perhaps more unnerving for the Republicans is that there looks to be a rough-and-tumble primary race looming that could divide the party and weaken whoever emerges as the nominee. Prominent candidates like Congressmen Jack Kingston and Phil Gingrey are showing hints that the primary fight may consist of an effort among these two and other candidates to outflank one another to the right in order to draw the support of conservative voters in the spring. (Look for the “Tea Party” label to get tossed around a lot.)
And things could get uncomfortable for incumbent U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson during the Republican primary fight for Chambliss’s seat, as they could for Chambliss himself. Staying on the sidelines may prove difficult.
When InsiderAdvantage gets around to reviewing the top stories of 2014 about a year from now, the top story of the year may be the same one as now, in 2013 — Sen. Chambliss’s surprising decision to step aside, and the feverish race to replace him.
