Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (287850)	8/18/2002 12:45:18 PM
From: Mr. Palau	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Now is this is the type of story a guy likes to wake up to on a bright San Francisco Bay Area Sunday morning! Georgia Republican Primary Turns Into Uncivil War Sun Aug 18, 7:58 AM ET By Paul Simao ATLANTA (Reuters) - Two conservative Republican House veterans square off on Tuesday in a bitter Georgia primary duel, while Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney battles for her political life in a race embroiled in Middle East politics. The match-up of Rep. Bob Barr, a four-term congressman who helped lead the charge to impeach former President Bill Clinton, and five-term veteran Rep. John Linder in Georgia's newly drawn 7th District has become one of the most heated and closely watched political duels of the year. With polls showing the two hard-line conservatives in a dead heat ahead of Tuesday's primary, the race has turned into a feud marked by personal attacks and whispered innuendo. "It is a very competitive, no holds barred, nasty campaign," says Merle Black, who teaches Southern politics at Emory University in Atlanta. "These guys don't like each other." In Georgia's 4th District, McKinney is locked in a tight battle with former state judge Denise Majette marked by extensive campaign donations from outside Georgia. A large number of donations for McKinney, a vocal advocate of Arab causes, have come from backers of pro-Arab and Muslim causes and organizations. Majette has out-raised the incumbent largely on the basis of out-of-state pro-Israel contributors. The two House races highlight a Georgia primary that also will pick Republican challengers in November for Democratic Sen. Max Cleland and Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes. The survivor of Tuesday's battle between Barr and Linder is almost certain to win the general election in the Republican-heavy district outside Atlanta. Both congressmen are fiscal and social conservatives with almost indistinguishable voting records on taxes, gun rights and abortion, the core issues for Republican voters in the Deep South. CONTRAST IN STYLES The contest, consequently, has turned on style rather than substance. Barr, a brash 53-year-old former federal prosecutor who sits on the board of the National Rifle Association, burst onto the national stage in 1997 when he became the first in Congress to publicly call for Clinton's impeachment. Barr's dogged pursuit of Clinton and longtime support of gun rights and other conservative causes made the mustachioed Georgia Republican a rising star on America's right. NRA President Charlton Heston, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes ( news - web sites) and retired Lt. Col. Oliver North are among conservative celebrities who now support Barr. His success notwithstanding, Barr "remains humorless, pessimistic, sarcastic, to the point that his wife beeps him when he is on TV, 'Smile, honey,"' according to the authoritative Almanac of American Politics. Linder, 59, described by the Almanac as having a "calm, usually humorous demeanor," has eschewed the bright lights, focusing on issues such as replacing the income tax with a national sales tax and helping plot Republican strategy from his perch on the House Rules Committee. A former dentist and businessman who once served as adviser to fellow Georgia Republican and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Linder is considered more palatable to the blue bloods in the redrawn district in the Atlanta suburbs. REDISTRICTING LED TO TURF WAR The spectacle of two incumbents fighting for the same House seat came about when Georgia's Democratic-controlled legislature redrew the state's political map to incorporate additional seats. The Almanac of American Politics all but predicted that move, saying Barr's prominence during Clinton's impeachment had made him a top target of Democrats who oversee redistricting. In a televised debate earlier this month, Barr accused Linder of being "taken in by the homosexual movement" and called on him to disavow his signature on an agreement not to discriminate in hiring. An angry Linder launched his own broadside, insinuating that Barr's personal life revealed a poor character. "I will remind you I am the one who has been married for 39 years to the same woman," Linder remarked. Barr has been married three times. With district Republicans evenly split, analysts say the race will likely hinge on voter turnout and could be decided by the cross-over votes of Democrats. "Because of his showmanship and the kind of positions he has taken, Barr is an anathema to a lot of Democratic voters and they may turn out to vote against him," said Charles Bullock, a professor of Southern politics at the University of Georgia in Athens. McKinney's race is also too close to call, putting her at risk of becoming the second incumbent Democrat to be booted from office in a primary race in which Mideast politics played a role. Alabama Rep. Earl Hilliard lost in June to lawyer Artur Davis, who received heavy backing from pro-Israeli donors. The winner is almost assured of election in the heavily Democratic district. story.news.yahoo.com