Red Room Where the Writers Are

The last time I sat down to write about politics, The United States was still two days from electing Barack Obama the 44^th President. Almost a month later things have begun to settle down and the excitement has shifted to the selection of Cabinet posts and White House staff.  While it is a relief that the election is over, that the grandstanding and campaigning has quieted down, there are still two very important races happening right now.  One of them votes tomorrow.

            In Georgia, Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin are in a run-off for Chambliss’ Georgia Senate seat.  The seat is important, as it could give the Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 if Al Franken can also pull out a win in Minnesota. It is also relatively unimportant, the Democratic margin is so wide that filibusters will be hard to accomplish with moderate Republicans like George Voinovich and Olympia Snowe wanting to maintain their popularity in states that have shifted Democratic.

            The real reason the Senate race is important is because of what kind of man Jim Martin is and Saxby Chambliss is not. In 2002, on the heels of September 11, Saxby Chambliss ran for Senate against the incumbent, Max Cleland.  Senator Cleland is a former Army officer who fought in Vietnam and lost both his legs and one of his arms there. He was awarded the Silver and Bronze stars for valor and then was horribly wounded when another soldier accidentally dropped a grenade in his helicopter.  He had unimpeachable credentials as both a war hero and a true American patriot.  A man who had come home from an unpopular war without three of his limbs and still rose to be a United States Senator.

            In 2002, Saxby Chambliss ran a series of ads attacking Senator Cleland’s patriotism.  The most disgusting of these featured the superimposed pictures of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and then questioned Senator Cleland’s patriotism and his “courage to lead.”  Citing his votes against the Bush Administration’s curtailing of civil liberties, Saxby Chambliss was saying, in essence, that Senator Cleland was soft on terrorists.  This, just a year after September 11 and Saxby Chambliss a man who received six deferments to keep him from having to serve in the United States military during the Vietnam War.  A true chickenhawk.

            This alone should be enough for the people of Georgia to feel ashamed and vote for Jim Martin but after the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion in February 2008, which killed 14 people, Saxby Chambliss was accused of intimidating the victims not to sue and then refused to comply with a subpoena to testify on the matter.  He is rabidly pro-life and anti-gay.  He voted for George W. Bush 92% of the time and was a vocal and obstinate cheerleader of the war in Iraq.  He is exactly who this country turned to Barack Obama to save us from.

            Jim Martin is a long-serving Georgia legislator.  He is a Vietnam Veteran, a leader in fighting for a returning soldiers that the Bush Adminstration and the Right have ignored. He helped create PeachCare, the public insurance program for underprivileged children in Georgia and is a leader in the fight for health care reform.  Above all, he is a good man, someone that the people of Georgia can feel proud of.

            Likely, no one voting tomorrow will read this before casting their ballots.  The race is still very close but Saxby Chambliss has held a lead throughout.  If the people of Georgia re-elect Saxby Chambliss tomorrow, they will be voting to keep alive the tradition of self-serving failure of the last eight years.  I’ve said many times that I just don’t understand how anyone could be a Republican these days.  From Saxby Chambliss to Sarah Palin to George Bush, who are these people that buy into an agenda that is motivated solely by greed and fear-mongering? 

Regardless of the outcome tomorrow, I know that the Republican Party is on its last legs in this country.  For too long we have been divided by fear and insignificant cultural wars that served to distract us while our country’s leaders looted the Treasury and waged war on the world.  Saxby Chambliss will probably win tomorrow but I am confident that we are moving in the right direction in this country.  I just wish we could come to our senses sooner, so that men like Chambliss could more quickly exit the national stage.