Okla-homey
12/3/2008, 08:04 AM
thus no blank check.
Chambliss wins second term in U.S. Senate
Defeats Jim Martin after arduous runoff campaign
By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss beat back a prolonged challenge from Democrat Jim Martin on Tuesday to win a second term in office after a bruising four-week runoff between the one-time University of Georgia fraternity brothers.
Chambliss’s double-digit victory dashed Democrats’ dreams of securing a filibuster-proof, 60-vote “super majority” in the Senate and buoyed a Republican Party battered by staggering losses in the Nov. 4 general election.
“Republicans still know how to win an election,” Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan told hundreds of Chambliss supporters at the Cobb Energy Centre.
Chambliss said GOP volunteers from 43 states came to Georgia to assist his runoff bid, licking envelopes, calling voters and knocking on doors to get voters back to the polls.
“You’re the reason this happened,” the 65-year-old Moultrie lawmaker told cheering supporters. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Martin, 63, called Chambliss to concede at 9:45 p.m. and addressed his supporters 15 minutes later at the Park Tavern.
“Tonight the voters of Georgia have spoken,” Martin, an Atlanta attorney, told his supporters. “I accept that decision.”
Anna Beck, 25, of Atlanta, who worked for the Martin campaign as deputy finance director seemed to sense the inevitable after major news organizations began to call the race at 9 p.m.
“I’m sorry for the turnout. I wish it could have been higher. [But] I don’t know what we could have done differently,” Beck said.
Chambliss and Martin — Sigma Chi frat brothers in the 1960s — faced off in a race that became the focus of U.S. politics in wake of the Nov. 4 general election.
Despite the gravity of the race and the media attention focused on the two candidates, turnout appeared to be just over half what it was in the general election.
Chambliss wins second term in U.S. Senate
Defeats Jim Martin after arduous runoff campaign
By JIM THARPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss beat back a prolonged challenge from Democrat Jim Martin on Tuesday to win a second term in office after a bruising four-week runoff between the one-time University of Georgia fraternity brothers.
Chambliss’s double-digit victory dashed Democrats’ dreams of securing a filibuster-proof, 60-vote “super majority” in the Senate and buoyed a Republican Party battered by staggering losses in the Nov. 4 general election.
“Republicans still know how to win an election,” Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan told hundreds of Chambliss supporters at the Cobb Energy Centre.
Chambliss said GOP volunteers from 43 states came to Georgia to assist his runoff bid, licking envelopes, calling voters and knocking on doors to get voters back to the polls.
“You’re the reason this happened,” the 65-year-old Moultrie lawmaker told cheering supporters. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Martin, 63, called Chambliss to concede at 9:45 p.m. and addressed his supporters 15 minutes later at the Park Tavern.
“Tonight the voters of Georgia have spoken,” Martin, an Atlanta attorney, told his supporters. “I accept that decision.”
Anna Beck, 25, of Atlanta, who worked for the Martin campaign as deputy finance director seemed to sense the inevitable after major news organizations began to call the race at 9 p.m.
“I’m sorry for the turnout. I wish it could have been higher. [But] I don’t know what we could have done differently,” Beck said.
Chambliss and Martin — Sigma Chi frat brothers in the 1960s — faced off in a race that became the focus of U.S. politics in wake of the Nov. 4 general election.
Despite the gravity of the race and the media attention focused on the two candidates, turnout appeared to be just over half what it was in the general election.