Editor’s Note - Dewey beats Perdue
Is there a true winner?
I’m gonna risk writing a “Dewey defeats Truman” column with the following question: In an election year when Democrats did well nationally, why are Georgia Dems competing to get onto CL’s list of “least influential” Atlantans?
I’m writing Tuesday before the polls close. So, if I’m wrong, make fun of me. In 1948, they made fun of the Chicago Tribune.
There’s a famous photo of President Harry S. Truman holding up the Trib with a “Dewey defeats Truman” headline the day after he won re-election. If Mark Taylor kicks butt, he can get somebody to take a picture of him holding up a Creative Loafing.
But, if I’m right, Georgia Democrats should be doing a lot of soul-searching. They could have done better this year. The state still has pretty close to the same number of Democrats as Republicans. Republican U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey was running in a district that a Democrat could have won. Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine should be vulnerable because he’s been getting into petty scandals for years (plus, he’s a doofus). Couldn’t the Dems have recruited stronger candidates against those guys?
And how did the party manage to nominate an uncharismatic, ethically challenged good ol’ boy to try to unseat an uncharismatic, ethically challenged good ol’ boy governor?
Georgia Democrats’ problems actually lie in their successes. Until four years ago, the state party was among the nation’s most dominant. Democrats held the governor’s office for 134 years and controlled the General Assembly since before Strom Thurmond was born. I hope it won’t take them that long to figure out how to be an effective opposition.
However you vote, you should be concerned that Democrats are going for the “least influential” label. Democracies don’t work well without a vibrant opposition.
At least, it’s easier to rebuild when you’ve got little (or nothing — depending on how Tuesday’s election turned out) to lose. Check out Fred’s story in the sidebar to this week’s cover story: Last year, he was a “least influential” pound dog; this year, he’s king of his newfound household.