Monday, September 25, 2006

There's A Disturbance In The Force

An interesting new poll regarding down ticket races in Georgia.

Attorney General:
Thurbert Baker: 39%
Perry McGuire: 34%
Don't Know/Undecided: 27%

Georgia Supreme Court:
Carol Hunstein: 20%
Mike Wiggins: 10%
Don't Know/Undecided: 70%

That's a lot of undecided voters. Even for races that don't generate a lot of interest. This new info combined with the fact that Libertarians in Georgia are pulling nearly 10% in some of the major races tells me the electorate are beyond restless. They appear to be moody. Possibly mean. An ill wind may blow many out of office in November.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think the high # of undecideds at this point in a judicial race is that surprising, since most Georgians don't even know the name of a single Supreme Court justice let alone which ones are facing challengers for reelection.

What should concern people is that Hunstein's opponent Wiggins is a former Bush administration attorney and Federalist Society member who at one point claimed the US could constitutionally and legally hold detainees at Gitmo "in perpetuity." He is a scary prospect for the state's high court.

MelGX said...

What worries me more is the smear campaign these guys will likely unleash against Hunstein. In a race where no one knows either candidate, those damn negative ads can move votes. If Hunstein doesn't go on offense, she's cooked.

griftdrift said...

Although I don't have the historical data, I would bet that 70% is abnormally high even for a judicial race. Nearly 30% in the AG race is bordering on absurd. Mel, you are right. There's a lot of bad signs out there and activists should not procrastinate.

And don't get me started on electing judges...

MelGX said...

Here's the crazy thing. In 2004, we started hearing about Leah Sears in Jan. or Feb. There was a huge effort by many grassroots groups to get her name out. She made appearances at meetings and events for months before the election. We made thousands of buttons and assembled hundreds of signs for her, and so on.

The first time I heard about Hunstein was somewhere around July of this year. Either I wasn't paying attention, or she's been running sort of a stealth campaign. Either way, there's not much time left to get her name out.

griftdrift said...

Well, on principle, I support incumbent judges unless they have been caught doing something along the lines of human sacrifice. So I will support Hunstein. I might even consider handing out some flyers or some such nonsense.

You can pick yourself up off the floor now, Mel.

MelGX said...

Whoa. That was way too easy.

Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone knew Hunstein would have a challenger before Wiggins qualified in July. I remember via the legal grapevine getting an email about judicial challenges generally and most of them seemed like they were surprises.