Martin slams Chambliss over veterans benefits

Martin shaking hands with supporters at Democratic Party headquarters in Columbus, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. (Dave Bender)

The Senate candidates used the weekend to emphasize their messages and try to get out the vote for Tuesday’s runoff.

Democrat Jim Martin spent time in Macon and Savannah on Saturday, and met with about 50 people on Sunday in Columbus.

Martin tailored his Columbus appearance on what he said were Chambliss’ failings to improve benefits for veterans and military personnel:

“It troubles me that he voted 23 times not to increase health care benefits for veterans. “Well, we’re trying to balance our budget,” well, if you’re going to balance your budget, don’t give 700 billion dollars to Wall Street and refuse to give money to the veterans – don’t do it.”

Columbus has a large veteran population, due to the Army’s nearby Fort Benning infantry post.

On the Republican side, Saxby Chambliss attended the Georgia - Georgia Tech game on Saturday, and on Fox News Sunday that the race would not be a referendum on President-Elect Barack Obama.

Georgia is one of only two Senate races still to be decided in this election cycle. Results of the Minnesota race are still in dispute.

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Chambliss vying for voters as runoff deadline nears

Chambliss speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Republican Saxby Chambliss likes to say he never expected to be at the "epicenter of the political world," but that's exactly where he finds himself as he battles for his political survival in the last big election of 2008.

Standing between Democrats and their long-sought 60-seat supermajority in the Senate, Mr. Chambliss heads into Tuesday's runoff against Democrat Jim Martin carrying the weight of the GOP establishment on his shoulders.

"Let's face it, the world is watching Georgia," the 65-year-old freshman senator said Wednesday at a rally in north Georgia. "We have the opportunity to make sure (President-elect) Obama doesn't move us far, far to the left."

His political career began when he won a seat in the U.S. House in 1994. In 2001, he launched what many thought was a hopeless bid to oust Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee wounded in the Vietnam War. A bad knee kept Mr. Chambliss out of the Vietnam conflict.

Mr. Chambliss -- a virtual unknown statewide -- ran a tough campaign against Mr. Cleland, unleashing a TV ad that questioned the veteran's commitment to national security and flashed a photo of Osama bin Laden.

The ad infuriated Democrats, but Mr. Chambliss won the 2002 contest with 53 percent of the votes, helped along by shifting political winds in Georgia. After generations of Democratic control, the state began its swing Republican that year.

In the Senate, Mr. Chambliss emerged as a strong opponent of abortion and supporter of gun rights. He is also known as a reliably pro-business vote and was largely in lockstep with the Bush administration.

As a freshman senator, he rose quickly to become the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He has been the ranking Republican on the panel since the Democrats won control of the Senate in 2006.

Mr. Chambliss also was handed the reins of the influential Republican Majority Fund, a political action committee that raises money for GOP candidates. Fundraising trips for the PAC have allowed him to indulge his love for golf. In Golf Digest's April ranking of Washington's top 200 golfers, he tied for No. 41.

Still, Mr. Chambliss has not always endeared himself to conservatives. He drew boos at a 2007 gathering of Georgia Republicans for supporting a compromise immigration package, which critics likened to amnesty. He later withdrew his support for the plan.

His work championing a bipartisan energy measure was lambasted by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators.

This year, he co-authored the five-year, $300 billion Farm Bill derided by some for being loaded with giveaways and rich subsidies for wealthy farmers.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will join Chambliss on Monday at several rallies across the state.

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(AP)

Martin in 11th-hour, cross-state voter race

Martin, speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

Democratic Senate challenger Jim Martin made an appearance in Macon and Savannah Saturday in his hotly fought Senate bid against incumbent Saxby Chambliss.

Martin, speaking in front of a now-closed tobacco plant in east Bibb County, told reporters:

“Economic prosperity is based on capital investment. We’ve had a financial situation where the financial sector has been virtually unregulated and it’s resulted in a disaster for American industry,” he said.

“We need to make sure that whatever stimulus package is passed will focus on creating jobs for Americans and stimulating the economy.”

The press conference was Martin's second of the day: he'd appeared at a veterans rally in Savannah that morning, Macon.com reports.

Martin's 72-hour rally continues Sunday afternoon in Columbus.

The candidate and House Chief Deputy Whip G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina will host a veterans and military benefits roundtable at the Muscogee County Democratic Office. The two will hold a rally for supporters later in the evening, according to a statement released by Martin's office.


Chambliss speaking with reporters at a recent press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Rival Chambliss will be joined by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Monday at several rally around the state.

Both candidates have buffed the closing days of their campaigns with national political heavyweights in an effort to swing more voters, and convince the party faithful to actually get to the polls and vote on Tuesday.

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Voters flock to polls in Muscogee Co.

Muscogee Co. residents waiting to vote at the Columbus Public Library, September, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Columbus and Muscogee County voting officials report a high turnout in absentee ballots and early voting for Tuesday’s Senate runoff. Dave Bender reports.

Nancy Boren, director of Elections and Registration says the over 9,000 ballots her Columbus office has received since Monday is, in her words, “exceptional:”

"I think the biggest portion of it is you have all of the automatic ballots that we have to mail out anyway: all of the military, the elderly, and those that are disabled. The other reason is the mailer that was sent by the governor that enabled people to fill out the application for the absent ballot and receive it in their home with the holiday approaching – it just makes it an easy way to vote.”

Boren said 48 polling stations will be open from 7 am to 7 pm in Muscogee County for Tuesday’s race between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

Both parties have brought a bevy of national political heavyweights to Georgia to stump in the closely held race.

Voter turnout in runoff races is usually poor, but Boren says she expects to see higher than usual numbers this time.

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Giuliani's turn to stump for Chambliss

Giuliani and Chambliss. (Carl Zornes)

Incumbent Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss today welcomed the support of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani is just the latest in a series of national political figures coming to Georgia to support their party this run-off season.

Flanked by police officers and other first responders, Giuliani said Chambliss’ experience is needed back in the Senate:

"His understanding of our intelligence services, his understanding of terrorism, is really surpassed by no one in Washington. And we need people like Saxby Chambliss who has that experience. Having been a first responder himself, having been someone who, from the beginning of his career in Washington, took a great interest in intelligence and improving it."

For his part, Democrat Jim Martin began sending out robo-calls featuring president-elect Barack Obama.

A new poll released by Insider Advantage puts Chambliss ahead of Martin by three percentage points – still within the margin of error.

Sarah Palin is expected to come to Georgia next week to stump for Chambliss. The former vice presidential candidate will travel across Georgia with Chambliss just one day before the election.