US Senate Run-off in Georgia: Jones vs. Martin

On Sunday evening, the remaining Democratic candidates for US Senate squared off for debate to determine who'll take on Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) in November. DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones looks to replace Sen. Barack Obama as the only Black person in the 100 member US Senate. The former Georgia State Representative has been the CEO of DeKalb County for the past eight years. Jim Martin is a long time Georgia State Representative and former Human Resources Commissioner.

Unfortunately for Jones and Martin, Saxby Chambliss is nursing a double-digit lead over BOTH Democratic candidates (Georgia has been a red state for quite some time). The Rasmussen Reports poll from July 21, 2008 has shown that Sen. Saxby Chambliss leads Democratic challengers Vernon Jones 59 percent to 29 percent (30 point lead) and Jim Martin 51 percent to 40 percent (11 point lead).

The poll also shows that against Jones, Chambliss is supported by 96% of Republicans in Georgia and 19% of Democrats. When put against Martin, Chambliss earns support from 90% of Republicans and just 9% of Democrats. Chambliss tops Jones 66% to 18% among unaffiliated voters. Against Martin, he leads 56% to 33%. While the incumbent leads Jones by double-digits among both men and women, he trails Martin 45% to 43% among women. He leads Martin 62% to 32% among men.



It appears that statewide, Martin will perform a lot better against Chambliss than would Jones.

The debate brought to light some interesting facts: Jones relished his voting for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, Martin voted for John Edwards on Super Tuesday even though he'd already dropped out of the race, Jones has had a number of altercations with DeKalb County Commissioners (one of which involved a formal apology), and Martin isn't well known around the state. Jones opposes the windfall profits tax on big oil companies as proposed by Barack Obama, and Martin supports them. Jones also opposes Obama's proposed tax increase on those families making over $250,000 a year, and Martin supports it.

The run-off election will be held on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 here in Georgia.

Check out the debate using the links below... make an informed decision.

US Senate Run-off Debate in Georgia: Jones vs. Martin

US Senate Run-off Debate - Highlights

US Senate Run-off Debate - Part 1

US Senate Run-off Debate - Part 2

US Senate Run-off Debate - Part 3

plez sez: this is a tough call. i would love to support vernon jones in the us senate race against sen. saxby chambliss. Sen. Barack Obama looks to put georgia in play in november, but he will not be able to win the state with a weak statewide candidate for the democratic party. the poll results show that jones will not perform well against chabliss in the statewide election, and it is the fear of plezWorld that his poor performance will have an adverse affect on Obama's chances in the state.

his misleading campaign mailers (showing Obama and jones together), questionable activities while running DeKalb County (which has some of the state's worst public schools, an underfunded and understaffed police department, and increasing crime), the votes for bush, and near-slanderous mudslinging during the debate leads me to believe that vernon jones is not the best candidate for the democratic party. it is a longshot for martin to keep within 10 points of chambliss on election night, but his chances and those of Obama are much better than with those of jones.

it's strange that jones would fabricate a campaign mailer showing him and Obama together, when the only thing it appears that they have in common is their skin color! jones opposes a number of key initiatives that have been proposed by Obama while campaigning for president. HELL, he didn't even endorse Obama until late into the primary season (long after the Super Tuesday primary in georgia)!


...and i'm still having trouble reconciling vernon jones's support of george w. bush in 2000 and 2004! in the debate, it sounded as though he would vote for bush again if he had the chance... just keeping it real here, i don't trust the judgement of ANYONE who felt that george w. bush would be a better president (and history bears me out on this one) than Al Gore or John Kerry!