Free Republic

Seven years ago, some pundits were readying Johnny Isakson's political obituary. They should've waited. Isakson's disappointing loss to Guy Millner in the 1996 GOP primary for the U.S. Senate race only set the stage for one of Georgia's most impressive political comebacks. Three years later, Isakson won Newt Gingrich's old U.S. House seat. Today, the three-term congressman finds himself leading the pack in the 2004 race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) -- so far. A nearly 30-year veteran of state politics, Isakson has raised six times as much money as his nearest Republican opponent. He has a...

<p>Andrew Young, the former mayor and ambassador who told Georgia Democratic leaders he planned to run for U.S. Senate next year, is now telling close friends that he is leaning toward skipping the race, the Associated Press learned yesterday.</p> <p>"He is thinking of not running," said a Young associate who spoke on the condition of anonymity.</p>

Georgia's top political leaders used a rally Monday at the state Capitol to show their support for displaying the Ten Commandments on government property despite recent court rulings that have found such displays violate the U.S. Constitution."It is our duty as citizens to make our voices be heard and to ensure our rights to display the Ten Commandments in our public buildings," Gov. Sonny Perdue told several hundred people gathered outside the Capitol. "The Supreme Court may be the final judicial authority in our land, but they are not the ultimate authority."The crowd rallied around a lightweight replica of the...

Georgia's U.S. Senate campaign, which shifts into high gear starting this week, will play a pivotal role in Republicans' attempt to expand their majority in the nation's most powerful legislative chamber. The GOP thinks it can pick up seats in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and possibly Florida, increasing its one-vote advantage in the Senate and helping to advance President Bush's agenda. Democrats concede they face tough battles in the Republican-trending South -- especially Georgia -- but dismiss the idea they will lose four seats to the GOP. "We feel we'll be on equal footing in all of these races,"...

One of the most interesting aspects of the 2004 U.S. Senate race is something that hasn't happened --- so far. Throughout the '90s, Rep. Johnny Isakson's relationship with the religious right was frosty, and when he cut an ad staking out his position on abortion in the 1996 Senate campaign, it turned downright frigid. For a while, the rap on Isakson was that he could do well in a statewide general election campaign but would have a hard time ever winning a Republican primary, because of opposition from religious conservatives. That perception has changed. A number of religious conservatives are...

PEACHY KEENOne thing that you can say for former Rep. Bob Barr is that he's a party man through and through. With Sen. Zell Miller retiring, Georgia politicos and national Republicans figured Barr would immediately jump into the ring to scare off potential competition. Barr lost his House seat in the 2002 Republican primary against John Linder, after the Georgia legislature had reconfigured state districts and forced the two into a race against each other. Linder was re-elected. Barr joined up with colleague Dick Armey and signed on as a consultant to the American Civil Liberties Union. But Barr knows...

While the jockeying among potential candidates in Georgia’s 6th district has for the most part been behind the scenes so far, two Republicans — including former Rep. Bob Barr (Ga.) — are inching closer to announcing their candidacies.