Could Bob Barr Put Georgia In Play?



Could the state of Georgia be in play in 2008? Georgia is volatile. In 2004, President Bush carried Georgia in the general election with 58.0% of the vote (or, 1,914,256 votes) over Senator Kerry's 41.4% of the vote (or, 1,366,155 votes). No surprises as Georgia is a pretty solid red state. More interestingly, Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik garnered 0.6% of the general election vote in Georgia, or 18,387 votes).

Add to the intrigue the fact that in the Georgia primary Obama beat Senator Clinton 66.4% (or, 704,247 votes) to 31.1% (or, 330,026 votes). Combining Senator Clinton's totals with Obama's almost totals those of George Bush's numbers in the general election in 2004. Almost. And adding the totals of John Edwards, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson -- all of whom support Obama -- the numbers get even closer, within a hair's breadth of Bush's total. From Newsweek:

"Last week, InsiderAdvantage unveiled a Peach State survey that--presuming Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee, and Barr as the Libertarian choice—showed John McCain at 45, Obama at 35 and Barr, who's been a known quantity in George for two decades, at a whopping eight percent of the vote. That might be enough to swing Georgia in Obama's direction. When Reform Party candidate Ross Perot won nearly 14 percent of Georgia's vote in 1992, Bill Clinton took the state, and even though Perot dropped to six percent four years later, it was still enough to keep Clinton within 1.2 percent of Republican rival Bob Dole. Of course, Clinton was a son of the South. But Obama has an advantage that his predecessor didn't--unprecedented excitement among African-American voters. In Georgia's Feb. 5 primary, black turnout rose to 536,000 from 289,000 in 2004. What's more, the Obama campaign already has eight full-time staffers in Atlanta targeting the state's 400,000 unregistered African-Americans--and they plan to keep the pressure on."

And there are some sexy statewide races in the state in November bound to energize the electorate. The outcome of the Presidential contest may depend on, 1) How many votes, if any, former Congressman Barr siphons from the McCain campaign and, 2) How many of the Georgia's 400,000 unregistered African-Americans sign up to vote.