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

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (584896)	6/23/2004 5:42:54 PM
From: DizzyG	Respond to of 769670

You are wrong again, Kenneth... It looks like the people of Georgia do care what Zell Mill thinks and says. Democrats and Republicans need to pay attention to Zell Miller Michael Bowers At a recent Democratic candidate training school, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and political consultant James Carville implied that the HOPE Scholarship was Carville's idea, not Sen. Zell Miller's. When in Atlanta, Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe dismissed Miller as a "nonentity." [EDIT] Kenneth, this sounds like you. Are you really a seasoned attorney or a DNC operative? One would think that Miller's poll numbers must rival those of Gray Davis during the California recall to result in such treatment. Yet if polls are accurate, Miller is the most popular and beloved politician in the state today. Why then this conduct? The reason is simple: Miller's no-nonsense approach about the problems national and Georgia Democrats face and his endorsement of President George W. Bush's re-election. Miller is the last of a dying breed of Democrat. He was a New Democrat before there was such a term. He hails from a tradition of Democratic leader such as the late Henry "Scoop" Jackson or closer to home, Sam Nunn, Carl Vinson and Richard Russell, all leaders more moderate in their outlook then the national Democratic Party and more willing to find bipartisan solutions for national issues. On a state level, Miller is the last icon of the solid Democratic Georgia that most Georgians remember affectionately. The most recent leaders of that era (Roy Barnes and Max Cleland) were soundly rejected by voters. Previous leaders such as George Busbee and Joe Frank Harris are unknown to the many new voters who moved to the state since their administrations. The future leadership of the Georgia Democratic Party is uncertain with several would-be leaders (Taylor, Secretary of State Cathy Cox and House Speaker Terry Coleman). Miller's unforgivable sin to Democrats is that he points out what is wrong with the party and offers a blunt solution to correct the problem. For his troubles, Miller is ridiculed and rejected by the party he fought for and led over the years. Yet Democrats would be wise to heed him and Republicans need to pay sharp attention to his words. In Georgia, for years, Republicans were relegated to minority status because they committed suicide in the primaries by nominating candidates who were too extreme to win in the general election. Democrats were able to run as relative moderates. 2002 changed that. Gov. Sonny Perdue and Sen. Saxby Chambliss were able to win their primaries and present themselves as what they were, moderate conservatives in tune with the values of most Georgians. More importantly, they were able to point out that Barnes and Cleland had deviated from the moderate course set by Miller and his predecessors. The result was a decisive Republican victory. Following the election, one would have expected Democrats to rally around Miller as the senior leader and heed his advice on the course the party should follow, especially as many of the emerging leaders owed their careers to him. Instead, they cried foul over the Republican victory and rather then working on an alternative to the governor and the Republicans, developed a strategy of oppose and obstruct. Failing to realize that voters were rejecting the left turn taken by Barnes and Cleland, Georgia Democrats continued the trek -- in many ways making the Georgia Democratic Party resemble more closely the national party. Miller watched this all with disgust. No doubt Miller was hoping that the Georgia Democrats would follow the example of Louisiana, where Sen. John Breaux saw to it that Democrats remained moderate. As a result, Louisiana is the one state in the South where Republicans have failed to make real inroads at the state level. Now Miller is leaving the field. Unhonored in his own party, he is endorsing Bush for re-election but remains a Democrat in name, claiming he is too old to switch parties. Thus entering 2004, Georgia Democrats are without their most popular member. He has become a nonperson to Democrats in much the manner that purge victims of Stalin became nonpersons. Yet among voters, Miller and his common-sense approach have great appeal. The question is how many will follow his example and vote Republican. If enough do, Miller may soon become a Republican icon. For Republicans, Miller also is a cautionary note. Some Republicans want to push an extreme agenda, while others like the governor want to pursue a pragmatic conservative agenda. If Republicans cater to the extremists rather than to Perdue, they too could be punished at the polls. Bowers, a former Georgia attorney general, is a partner at Balch & Bingham LLP bizjournals.com