Gingrich: no regrets over quitting race

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday he could have been a contender, but has no regrets about skipping the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Gingrich said he'd had a Web site ready to launch this week and already had received several million dollars in pledges.

"I think we would clearly have been competitive financially within three weeks, and we literally had not even set up the Web site yet," he said. "But what hit me was it would have been an underdog campaign. I mean, clearly, if you were going to come from behind, I think it would have been a real campaign. I think we would have had a chance to win."

Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler said Saturday that Gingrich opted out of the race, a crowded one with nine candidates, after determining he could not legally explore a bid and stay as head of his tax-exempt political organization.

Besides the potential legal difficulties, Gingrich said running would have wasted the effort spent building up American Solutions for Winning the Future, the tax-exempt political arm of his lucrative empire as an author, pundit and consultant.

Just last week, Gingrich said he had set an Oct. 21 deadline to raise $30 million in pledges for a possible run, acknowledging that the task was difficult but not impossible.

He said Sunday that the deciding factor was learning he risked violating the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.

"I thought there was a way that you could continue the momentum of those ideas while I began to prepare a presidential campaign," Gingrich said. "What we learned yesterday morning was, I mean, it's literally a go to jail, criminal activity."

Click here for more GPB coverage about Gingrich and the '08 presidential race.

(AP)

Polls close as Georgia chooses

Polls closed across Georgia Tuesday as voters selected which Democrat will take on Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in November.

DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones is facing off against former state lawmaker Jim Martin in what has been bitter three-week runoff race.

Both candidates predict the contest will hinge on turnout, which was sparse across the state.

Just 18 percent of registered voters made it to the polls in July's primary and elections officials say fewer than half of those voters were expected to return to the ballot box for the runoff.

The last U.S. Senate Democratic primary runoff, in 2004, posted 6 percent turnout.

Jones and Martin were the top vote getters in the five-man Democratic primary three weeks ago. Jones won 40 percent of the vote in that contest and Martin earned 34 percent.

The runoff race has featured a duel over voting histories.

Jones accused Martin of voting against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Martin voted for John Edwards in Georgia's Feb. 5 presidential primary even though the North Carolina Democrat had already withdrawn from the presidential race.

Martin has hammered Jones for voting twice for Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Tuesday's winner will face an uphill climb against Chambliss, who has $4 million in his campaign warchest even after a massive media buy to blanket television airwaves statewide with his first re-election ad. The ad will debut after Tuesday's runoff.

Chambliss on Tuesday sent letters to both Jones and Martin saying he looks forward to debating whoever emerges as his opponent.

"After today's vote, the people of Georgia have a right to know what distinguishes their United States senator from the other candidates," Chambliss wrote. "A crucial part of that process for Georgians will be public debates."

He did not commit to specific debates.

Chambliss sent a similar letter to Libertarian Senate candidate Allen Buckley, also on the ballot in November.

Runoffs are also being held Tuesday night in six legislative races. Three of them are incumbents facing challengers.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

(The Associated Press)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Endorses Obama

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia's largest newspaper, is endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic race for the White House.

The newspaper said in an editorial published on its Web site Saturday and to be printed Sunday that it believes Obama has demonstrated an appeal across many of the lines that have divided America.

"That is a critically important attribute, because the scale of changes that must be made to correct America's course cannot be accomplished with majorities of 50 percent plus one," the newspaper said.

Of Obama's chief rival in the Democratic race, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the newspaper said she has too often chosen to play within the Washington system rather than dare to challenge its assumptions.

"Different moments in history require different types of leaders, and part of the art of picking a president is matching the person to the challenge and to the time," the newspaper said. "So while both Clinton and Obama would make very good presidents, Obama is the person; this is his time."

The newspaper plans to endorse a candidate in the Republican presidential race next Sunday.

Georgia's presidential primary is Feb. 5.

Click here to read more GPB News coverage of the presidential primaries.

(The Associated Press)

Final Presidential Preference Primary Results

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today certified the elections results for the February 5 Presidential Preference Primary. They are as follows:

Democratic Presidential Preference Primary (100% of precincts reporting):

	Votes	Percentage
Joe Biden	2,536	0.23%
Hillary Clinton	329,964	31.1%
Chris Dodd	904	0.08%
John Edwards	18,199	1.71%
Mike Gravel	952	0.08%
Dennis J. Kucinich	2,096	0.19%
Barack Obama	704,237	66.38%
Bill Richardson	1,879	0.17%
Total Votes	1,060,767

Republican Presidential Preference Primary (100% of precincts reporting):

	Votes	Percentage
Rudy Giuliani	7,157	0.74%
Mike Huckabee	326,845	33.92%
Duncan Hunter	755	0.07%
Alan Keyes	1,458	0.15%
John McCain	304,724	31.62%
Ron Paul	28,092	2.91%
Mitt Romney	290,681	30.17%
Tom Tancredo	324	0.03%
Fred Thompson	3,411	0.35%
Total Votes	963,447

2,024,214 voters cast ballots in the Georgia Presidential Preference Primary, bringing voter turn out to 45 percent, according to a statement released by Handel's office.

The results were forwarded to Governor Sonny Perdue. The Georgia Republican Party and the Democratic Party of Georgia will allocate delegates to their respective nominating conventions, based on these figures.

Click here, and here for more GPB News coverage of the 2008 presidential race.

State election roundup--UPDATED

U.S. Senate--

Georgia’s U.S. Senate race may indeed be headed for a runoff on December 3rd. The latest numbers as of 8am show Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss has fallen below the 50% plus-1 vote margin to avoid runoff. Chambliss has 49.8% percent of the vote, compared to Democratic challenger Jim Martin's 46.8%. Libertarian Allen Buckley has 3.4% percent. This is with 96% of precincts reporting.

Georgia presidential race--

The 15 electoral votes from Georgia are still in limbo, as absentee and early voting ballots from heavier populated counties are still being counted. John McCain holds the 52.4%, to 46.9% edge on Barack Obama. Meanwhile, across Georgia for state Democrats, there were celebrations into the early morning hours to mark the national victory of Obama as the next president.

U.S. House races--

Around the state yesterday in Georgia’s election, the U.S. House races of note included victories for Jim Marshall in the 8th--the Democrat returns to Washington for a fourth term by getting 57% of the vote over Rick Goddard. Republican Paul Broun keeps his seat in the 10th, with 61% of the vote to defeat Bobby Saxon. Democrat John Barrow won his race in the 12th--66% of the vote to turn away John Stone.

Other races--

The two Public Service Commission races that were contested Tuesday--one may be going to a runoff. The northern District-4 has Democrat Jim Powell with 47.9%, less than a percentage point ahead of Lauren McDonald. In PSC District-1, Republican Doug Everett has won with 67% of the vote to defeat Libertarian John Monds.

Dem presidential candidate Clinton in Georgia

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in Georgia today.

Clinton will be in Atlanta to speak at the National Baptist Convention. Following that event, she will attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.

It is unclear if Democratic Senator John Edwards, who dropped out of the Presidential race today, will also appear at the dinner.

Clinton is making the appearances in Georgia, ahead of next week's Super Tuesday primary for Georgia and several other states across the country.

Obama Calls For Unity at Atlanta Church

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during the Sunday morning church service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Barack Obama on Sunday called for unity to overcome the country's problems as he acknowledged that "none of our hands are clean" when it comes to healing divisions.

Heading into the most racially diverse contest yet in the presidential campaign, Obama took to the pulpit at Martin Luther King Jr.'s Ebenezer Baptist Church on the eve of the federal holiday celebrating the civil rights hero's birth 79 years ago. His speech was based on King's quote that "Unity is the great need of the hour."

"The divisions, the stereotypes, the scape-goating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice," Obama said. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down. We can no longer afford to traffic in lies or fear or hate. It is the poison that we must purge from our politics; the wall that we must tear down before the hour grows too late."

Obama has called for a new kind of politics that he says should appeal to people's hopes, not their fears.

South Carolina, which holds its Democratic primary Saturday, is the first state where a large number of black voters will participate, and Obama needs a win to remain a front-runner in the race for the party's presidential nomination.

He is counting on blacks to stick with him despite losing to Hillary Rodham Clinton in two consecutive contests. He lost Nevada despite winning 83 percent of blacks, who made up 15 percent of the total vote. In South Carolina, they are expected to make up at least half the turnout.

Obama's campaign has worked to overcome a concern among black voters that he wouldn't be able to win an election in white America. After his victory in practically all-white Iowa, his poll numbers leaped among blacks.

"I understand that many of you are still a little skeptical," Obama said Friday night at a King banquet in Las Vegas. "But not as skeptical as you were before Iowa. Sometimes it takes other folks before we believe ourselves."

At Ebenezer, where King launched the civil rights movement, Obama spoke in front of a tightly packed crowd; hundreds more who had lined up outside in subfreezing temperatures couldn't get in. It was unclear whether the crowd was for Obama, the King holiday or caused by the unusual blast of ice and snow that closed other area churches.

"We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote," the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock said in introducing Obama. "Now we can select presidents, and now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for president."

He teased worshippers who cheered at the sight of the most viable black presidential candidate in history. "I understand, but don't get it twisted," Warnock said.

Obama said blacks often have been the victims of injustice, but he said they also have perpetrated divisions with gays, Jews and immigrants.

"If we're honest with ourselves, we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community," he said to applause.

Obama suggested he's allowed divisions to creep into his campaign in recent days. "Last week, it crept into the campaign for president, with charges and countercharges that served to obscure the issues instead of illuminating the critical choices we face as a nation.
“None of our hands are clean," he said.

Obama's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns engaged in several days of back and forth after Clinton's comments about King that some interpreted as minimizing his role in the passage of landmark civil rights legislation. The two candidates called a truce on that issue last week.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential primaries.

Hillary Clinton to appear in Savannah area

Democrats in the Savannah area will get a chance to see one of their choices in the 2008 presidential race on Saturday.

Party officials in Beaufort County, South Carolina say, Hillary Clinton will become the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to appear in the area with a visit to Beaufort.

Details on the event format haven't been worked out yet, but event organizer Linda Tarr-Whelan says, it will be open to the public and she expects there to be a question-and-answer period.

"I'm a supporter of Hillary Clinton's," she says. "And I think there'll be a lot of people there who are supporters but also a number of people who would like to see all of the candidates and haven't made up their minds as yet."

Star candidate appearances in the Low Country tend to attract supporters from both Georgia and South Carolina.

Clinton is in the Palmetto State on the heals of this week's CNN-You Tube debate in Charleston. Her appearance is scheduled for 1-P-M on Saturday at the University of South Carolina Performing Arts Center.

Carter: either Obama or Clinton by June 3rd

Former President Jimmy Carter is calling for deciding the Democratic Party presidential nominee by June 3rd:

"I don’t see any reason at all to continue after June 3rd when we know who got the most [pledged] delegates, who got the most popular votes, who won the most states and so forth,” Carter said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

Carter has not endorsed either Illinois Senator Barak Obama, or New York Senator Hillary Clinton, but made his sentiments clear:

“overseas there is an intense infatuation with Obama, perhaps more than there ever has been in previous history with any candidate," adding, “A lot of them see Obama as kind of a diametrical opposite from George W. Bush and they think that he will bring to the presidency a brand new picture of what the White House and Washington and the United States ought to be.”

Carter pondered about the content of the inaugural address, were Obama to win the presidency:

"If the first statement he made was while I’m president of the United States we will never torture another prisoner and while I’m President of the United States we will never go to war unless our own security is directly threatened...it would transform the image of the United States in the minds of many people around the world."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race, and here for more on Carter.

Chambliss, Martin rev up for runoff

Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chamblis and Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin and at the GPBTV pre-election debate. (Dave Bender/file)

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin were in full campaign mode this weekend, trying to coax enough votes to prevail in a Dec. 2 runoff election.


Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chamblis talking with reporters at a press conference held at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. (Dave Bender/file)

Chambliss’ camp is preparing for a visit from former GOP presidential candidate John McCain. Martin is meeting with Cobb County Democrats and planned to visit a party phone bank operation in Decatur.

Democratic Senate race candidate Jim Martin, talking to reporters at a press conference in downtown Atlanta. (Dave Bender/file)

With less than four weeks until they face voters again, neither campaign was waiting for Secretary of State Karen Handel to make it official when she certifies election results next week.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting throughout Georgia, neither Chambliss nor Martin accumulated enough ballots to pull above the needed 50 percent plus one of the vote. The Moultrie Republican is just short, with 49.8 percent. Martin, a former state lawmaker from Atlanta, has 46.8 percent. The race also included Libertarian Allen Buckley, who drew 3.4 percent.

Military and overseas ballots were among the last to be tallied by county officials. To be counted, they had to arrive by Friday.

The state’s most populous county had been set to certify its results Saturday. But a spokesman for Fulton County’s Board of Elections said problems with a faulty memory card delayed the effort.

Voters register to cast their ballot in advance voting at the Fulton Co. Government Center polling station in downtown Atlanta. (Dave Bender)

Fulton County Board of Elections spokesman Mark Henderson said the problem had been resolved but officials decided to audit the process before making the elections results official. The certification is now expected to take place Sunday or Monday, Henderson said.

Handel’s office has criticized Fulton County for being slow to count thousands of absentee ballots and her office is investigating. Henderson said county workers were exhausted after a marathon Election Day and were sent home for a few hours to rest.

The expected Chambliss-Martin contest is already drawing a national spotlight to Georgia.

The race is one of three unresolved Senate contests nationwide, along with Minnesota and Alaska. All involve Republican incumbents. If Democrats capture all three, it would give them a 60-seat majority in the Senate, a margin needed to block Republican filibusters.

Chambliss’ campaign said they’ve also been in touch with McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, about a possible Georgia visit.

McCain carried Georgia on Election Day by 52 percent to President-elect Barack Obama’s 47 percent.

Nonetheless, Martin has asked Obama to help out, but no word yet on whether he’ll stump for Martin.

Then President-elect Bill Clinton came to Georgia to campaign for Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler in his 1992 runoff race. But even with the high-profile help, Fowler went on to lose to Republican Paul Coverdell in what was the last U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia.

Martin and Chambliss arguing a point during the GPBTV pre-election debate. At bottom is Libertarian candidate Allan Buckley. (Dave Bender/file)

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

Obama camp asks state attorney general for investigation

The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wants Georgia's attorney general to look into anonymous "robocalls" made to Atlanta-area residents that take aim at Congressman John Lewis.

The automatically-made phone calls urge listeners to call Lewis, and tell him to support a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. The Atlanta-congressman is supporting an Obama rival, Hillary Clinton, in the presidential race.

Lewis says he doesn't believe the Obama campaign is behind the calls, and implied a motive might be to divide the black vote.

Gramm stumps for McCain in hometown

Former Senator Phil Gramm.

Columbus native and former Texas Senator Phil Gramm briefly visited his hometown on Saturday, in support of Senator John McCain's presidential bid.

Gramm, who spoke at the Green Island Country Club, told reporters that he wouldn’t rule out a spot in a McCain Administration.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race.

Nunn, former SecDef in Atlanta

Former Georgia Democratic Senator Sam Nunn and former Defense Secretary William Cohen are to appear in Atlanta on Tuesday, as part of a series of political dialogues they have held around the country.

Nunn's name is being bandied about as a possible running mate for presidential hopeful, Illinois Democratic Senator Barak Obama, according to some reports.

Commentators note that Nunn's national security experience, and relatively conservative reputation could be useful to Obama in impressing the state's Republican base.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race.

(With The Associated Press)

Presidential race in Georgia tight

A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain with only a 44 to 43 percent lead over presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama here in Georgia. Libertarian candidate Bob Barr draws 6 percent. Those numbers come from Atlanta-based Insider Advantage. Obama’s campaign announced it will start running a new 60-second TV ad in Georgia and 17 other states today.

Marshall offers support for Obama

Over the last several months of his campaign, 8th District Congressman, Jim Marshall has remained quiet on the Presidential race.
But in a recent debate he had kind words for Presidential candidate, Barack Obama.
Middle Georgia Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall has never publicly endorsed Barack Obama. In fact he did not attend the Democratic convention despite being a super delegate.
In a debate Sunday night against challenger Rick Goddard he stopped short of endorsing Obama, but did have kind words for him.

"I do think he is qualified to be President of the United States, and I think if he is elected he will be a very good President of the United States, and I intend to do everything I possibly can if he is President of the United States to help him be the best possible president."

Marshall went on to say that he felt McCain is qualified as well. The 8th District is considered to be conservative. Last time Marshall won by less than 2-thousand votes. This year he faces stiff opposition from Republican challenger Rick Goddard.

McCain: Lewis' remarks 'shocking, beyond the pale'

Lewis addressing the audience at a rally held at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville, on September 23, 2008. (file/Dave Bender)

Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and veteran of the civil rights movement, says the negative tone of the Republican presidential campaign reminds him of the hateful atmosphere that segregationist Gov. George Wallace fostered in Alabama in the 1960s.

Republican candidate John McCain on Saturday called Lewis' remarks "shocking and beyond the pale."

The Obama campaign said the Illinois senator doesn't believe McCain or his policy criticism is at all comparable to Wallace and his segregationist policies.

In a statement issued Saturday, Lewis said McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president.

"George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights," said Lewis, who is black. "Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

One of the seminal events of the civil rights movement was the bombing of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Four black girls died in the blast, which was linked to a Ku Klux Klan group.

Late Saturday, Lewis released another statement saying it was not his "intention or desire" to directly compare McCain or Palin to Wallace.

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," he said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

Lewis' comments follow widely reported examples of anger at McCain rallies that has been aimed at Obama, the first black man to be a major party's nominee for president. During some rallies featuring McCain and Palin, supporters have shouted "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar" and even "off with his head."

The outbursts came amid a harshly personal line of attack against Obama by the GOP campaign. McCain and Palin have said Obama failed to tell the truth about his ties to 1960s radical William Ayers, had a radical agenda on abortion, and wasn't really known to voters. Last weekend, Palin signaled the uptick in the criticism when she charged that Obama was "palling around with terrorists," a reference to Ayers, and that he didn't see the U.S. as others did.

McCain drew boos at a town-hall meeting Friday in Minnesota when he defended Obama after a supporter said he feared what would happen if Obama were elected president. He also cut short a woman who said Obama was an Arab, and he called his rival "a decent, family man."

On Saturday, McCain called on Obama to repudiate Lewis' remarks. While dismissing the comparison to Wallace, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said Lewis was on target in other ways.

"John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States 'pals around with terrorists,'" Burton said in a statement.

In his remarks, Lewis also said: "As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

McCain rejected any comparison to Wallace.

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track," McCain said.

In August, while appearing at a forum on faith, McCain was asked to name three "wise people" he would listen to. He cited Lewis as well as Gen. David Petreaus, head of U.S. troops in Iraq, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a top adviser to his campaign.

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the presidential race.

Libertarians nominate Bob Barr for president

Georgia Republican Bob Barr is the official pick for the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate.

Barr endorsed Wayne Allyn Root to be his vice presidential nominee.

Barr left the GOP in 2006 over what he called bloated spending and civil liberties intrusions by the Bush administration. He says he’s not in the race to be a spoiler, he’s in the race to win and expects to be on the ballot in at least 48 states.

Gingrich launches initiative amid rumors

Georgia Republican and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich kicked-off his new initiative last night in Cobb County. Called "American Solutions for Winning the Future", it plans to focus on problems such as healthcare, immigration and national security in workshops across the nation this weekend.

This however, comes as rumors swirl as to a possible presidential run by Gingrich. Some critics have suggested that his advocacy group is an indirect political campaign. Matt Towery heads the political website 'Insider Advantage'. He's a former Gingrich political aide.

"I think if he gets into the race he's going to be criticized for using this as a stepping stone, and it's something he's going to have to deal with. I don't think it would be fatal to him. I didn't think it was the smartest thing in the world, but yet at the same time it has created a lot of buzz".

Gingrich spoke to GPB last night about the charge put forth by critics.

"Nothing that we have done in American Solutions relates to campaigning. Any poll we give out we give out to both the Democrat and Republican party...all of our programs have been open to both the Democrat and Republican party...we've invited both Democrats and Republicans to participate. We've really tried to make this very open and available to anybody".

Gingrich has mentioned a number of 30-million dollars in pledges needed to fuel a jump into the presidential fray, and summed up his chances of getting into the race.

"I think the odds are probably 20-percent that we'll get pledges of 30-million dollars, and 80-percent that we won't. I'm pretty comfortable with that...I would have told you a month ago I thought it was 5-percent we would get it and 95-percent we wouldn't. So it has actually in my mind moved a fair distance in the last six weeks".

Gingrich said this is not about any ambition on his part, but about a citizen movement for change, and he’d be willing to be their candidate with enough support.

Romney ties Martin, Democrats to socialism

Senate candidate Jim Martin with former President Bill Clinton at Clark Atlanta University on Thursday; former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney with Republican incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss at a rally in Atlanta on Friday. (Photos: John Bazemore /AP)

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lent his support to Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Friday, warning that a victory by the Democratic challenger in next month’s hotly contested runoff could be the first step toward a European brand of socialism.

Romney is the latest in a parade of GOP bigwigs who have flocked to the state in the weeks before the Dec. 2 runoff between Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. Romney’s criticism is not unlike the line of attack Sen. John McCain used unsuccessfully against Democrat Barack Obama in the campaign for president.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, told a crowd of about 200 cheering supporters that the general election showed that people wanted change in Washington. But the Georgia runoff, he said, could alter the very nature of the country.

"This election is about whether we want to change America. And I want to keep America America," he said to applause.

"I think in this race you have two different men who have two different views. One would take America down the course of becoming like Europe, big taxes and big government," said Romney. Chambliss, he said, "fundamentally believes in keeping America strong and safe and free."

In a brief news conference after the speech, Romney added: "I want to make sure we don’t take a left turn toward Europe."

Martin, a former state legislator, dismissed the ideological labels and stressed his record of bipartisan cooperation.

"I was one of the most effective members of the state House. I worked across party lines, and I’m going to continue to do that in Washington," he said after appearing at a campaign office in Decatur. "I’ve been a person who has always worked to try to solve the problems people face."

The Georgia race, one of two unresolved Senate races, has taken on national significance. The other is in Minnesota, where a re-count will help determine whether Republican Sen. Norm Coleman or Democrat Al Franken is the winner.

Victories in both races would give Democrats the 60 seats needed to fend off Republican filibusters.

The stakes are high, and both parties have rolled out their political heavyweights. McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee both stumped for Chambliss last week, and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear next week.

Former President Bill Clinton led a rally for Martin on Thursday and Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, is set to appear Sunday. About 100 Obama field operatives have been helping boost turnout, and the president-elect recently recorded a radio ad supporting Martin’s campaign.

The national focus has helped the candidates fill their campaign coffers.

Chambliss raised about $1.9 million between Oct. 16 and Nov. 12, and has $1.4 million cash on hand remaining. Martin raised $2.4 million over the same time period, and has more than $600,000 left in the campaign bank.

Click here for more GPB News election coverage.

(AP)

High turnout for early voting

Early voting is off to a fast start this year. In the 16 days since early voting started, nearly seven percent of registered voters cast their ballots. That compares to eight-and-a-half percent in the time leading up to the 2004 election. But Georgians had only five days to cast their ballots early in the last presidential race. Georgians cast more than 380,000 votes statewide through Wednesday. October 31st is the last day for early voting.