ajc.com | Metro | Political Insider

Coat-Tails:

Bush obviously has some pretty strong ones, judging from the Senate race down Georgia way. Both "Rock the Boat" Johnny and Mac Collins have been attacking candidate Herman Cain for not being sufficiently pro-Bush.

Their attacks are, well, a little on the edge of honest. What's interesting is that Cain is more conservative than either of them. The particular attacks they've chosen are not designed to run to the right of Cain, which isn't really possible: they're trying to make him appear more to the left than he really is.

Hat tip: Southern Appeal, which is working to help Cain's chances in the election. I have to admit a certain longstanding disdain for "Rock the Boat" Johnny. I think Collins is not a bad option. First of all, you should probably disregard the suggestion by the Atlanta Journal & Constitution that he's "playing the race card" in this election. The AJC is the boy who cried wolf on questions of racism. I read the paper every weekend growing up, and many weekdays also, and they never ceased to amaze me with the places they found "racism." I notice that they've promoted Cynthia Tucker (for this purpose, "the Lady who Cried Wolf") to the editorial page editor since I left the Atlanta area, which suggests that the trend has deepened.

If we set aside the AJC's attempt to hang that albatross around his neck, Collins comes across as an unexciting but solid candidate. His views are uncontroversial, for Republicans in Georgia. He has a seat on the House Subcommittee on Intelligence, which will be a positive for his image in the race.

What he doesn't have is money, which Johnny boy has in spades. He's only just begun TV ads, which he can't afford because he's been dead last in the fundrace.

We'll see how it sorts itself out. I think that one of these three fellows is going to be Georgia's next Senator--I can't imagine that Georgia will return a Democrat this year. The AJC has endorsed Isakson, holding that he's better on "policy," which is a sure sign of a loser in the general election. I'm going to bet that Southern Appeal has the right of it, and Cain is going to be the man.

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