Max Cleland for Lieutenant Governor?

[Q]

The following article is by Bill Shipp, a political analyst who's been writing about Georgia politics for about 581 years.

I've posted the whole article because Shipp, who is rather conservative and often biased toward the GOP, has the guts to tell the story of Max Cleland like it really happened.

How delighted I would be for my political and personal hero to take on the dishonest scumbag that is Ralph Reed.


Is Max Ready for a Rerun?
Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Is Ralph Reed's bad dream about to come true? Have Democrats found a candidate to run against him, one with perhaps as much charisma, fund-raising power and political moxie? Is Max Cleland about to ride back into the Georgia political arena, this time as an aspirant for lieutenant governor?

Several Democrats are encouraging former Sen. Cleland to go for the office in next year's election.

If Max says yes, the Georgia contest for lieutenant governor could turn into one of the nation's most closely watched second-tier elections. Our state has never seen two more nationally famous figures vying for such a seemingly impotent post - but one that could open new doors for the victor in the future.

Reed's bid for lieutenant governor has already morphed into a magnet for national Republican campaign funds. Cleland could be expected to attract big sums from national Democrats, some of whom had written off the Georgia party - before they heard about overtures to Max.

Reed, 44, epitomizes the new face of the Georgia GOP, an urbane social conservative with solid national connections.

Cleland, 62, would be the Democrats' comeback kid, a fellow who lost the U.S. Senate seat in a 2002 election noted for a notoriously negative TV advertisement. The Republican video showed the Georgia senator alongside Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and suggested that the disabled veteran Cleland helped America's enemies.

Once Georgia's No. 1 vote getter, Cleland never recovered his balance and political presence after the 2002 debacle. The "Osama ad" campaign left him bitter and depressed. To some national Democrats, winner Saxby Chambliss' battle against Cleland typified the GOP's dirty tactics.

The truth is, Cleland ran a dumb campaign. He adopted the Democrats' national agenda and wouldn't drop it, even when polls showed his Georgia constituents preferred a much more conservative approach.

Nevertheless, the Osama ad gave Georgia a black eye nationally and left many voters, even some opposed to Cleland, with a bad taste after the election.

To suggest he was less than a patriot is an outrage. Cleland lost both legs and an arm in a battlefield explosion in the Vietnam War and endured years of rigorous and painful rehabilitation.

He returned home to be elected to the state Senate, and was then appointed director of the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter. He also served as Georgia's secretary of state before running successfully for the Senate in 1996, to succeed the retiring Sam Nunn.

Without Cleland in the race, Reed's main obstacles to election are: (1) State Sen. Casey Cagle, R-Canton, the only other GOP primary candidate for lieutenant governor, and (2) fallout from a congressional investigation into high-profile lobbyist Jack Abramoff's receipt of millions from Indian casino interests. Some of the Indian money apparently went to Reed to battle competitive gambling interests.

Cleland's candidacy would change Reed's strategy. Abramoff and Cagle would become secondary concerns. Cleland, a compelling motivational speaker, would quickly become the man - and the issue - to overcome.

The seasoned Democrat can match or exceed many of Reed's assets. If Reed calls on his evangelist-mentor Pat Robertson for help, Cleland can summon his minister-counselor Robert Shuler. If Reed brings in Christian Coalition forces, Cleland would undoubtedly mass his Vietnam veteran buddies.

A Cleland candidacy would force Reed to focus on his own political survival. The Republican strategist would have little time to dabble in other contests. A Cleland presence also shakes up the state Democratic Party's plans. Former state Sen. Greg Hecht would likely abandon his intention to run for lieutenant governor and announce instead for state school superintendent.

Also, former state Rep. Jim Martin, a liberal Democrat, would lose traction in the lieutenant governor's matchup. Martin is seen as the Democrat whom Reed would most like to run against. Whether Cleland could win another statewide election is yet to be determined. He has negative baggage left over from his Senate campaign and his later work in Sen. John Kerry's hopelessly inept presidential bid. Still, Cleland might inject vitality into a lethargic state Democratic Party.

There's just one problem: Cleland hasn't decided whether he's ready to dive back into the political pool. Without a lot of tugging from party regulars, he is not likely to make such a move. Strangely, some Democratic leaders are becoming much like old-time, complacent Republicans. Trying to win elections is too much hassle, especially if one has to actively recruit viable candidates.

Footnote: Cleland ran for lieutenant governor once before, in 1974, and was defeated by Zell Miller. Then Miller campaigned for Cleland against Chambliss in 2002. Now Miller is helping raise funds for Reed. Go figure.

[Q]

Barnes lost for three reasons.

Look at the map of the 1998 and 2002 races.  The big differences are all the sparsely-populated South GA counties, which switched to R for the first time in quite a while (perhaps forever) at the state level.  This was because of 1) the flag and 2) Sonny's hailing from Houston County in central GA.  Most previous (and always unsuccessful) GOP challengers for Gov were businessmen from the Atlanta suburbs and thus only preached to the choir.  Sonny is from an area that was increasingly vulnerable for the Dems.

The third reason was Barnes' perceived arrogance.  The vote totals were lower for Gov than for Senator and the other constitutional offices.  A lot of people simply abstained in the Gov race.  It wasn't just a Republican tide by any means that swept him out.  Lt Gov Mark Taylor, a Dem, managed to be reelected quite easily, as did all the other Dems - Sec of State, Atty General, Comm of Labor, and Comm of Agriculture.


I could see Barnes running for Congress some day, but I doubt he would challenge Sexby.  I can definitely see Rep. Jim Marshall of the 3rd district as a GA Senator some day.  And when John Lewis of the most urban Atlanta district retires, which could be as early as next year, someone powerful will win that one.  Perhaps Barnes or Cleland.

[Q]

does blowing  yourself up while playing with a grenade (in a drunken stupor, i might add) qualify as war hero material?

I don't know, but that's not what happened to Cleland.  Why did you just make that up?

[Q]

Timothy McVeigh was a war hero too.

I really don't understand why they let you come back.

[Q]

Segment of a great article from the Washington Post.  I'll have to find a link to an online copy:

"He graduated from Stetson with a history degree, earned a master's in history at Emory University, then returned to Washington in 1965 as a congressional intern. By then, war was raging in Vietnam, and Cleland, still fired with idealism, joined the Army.

"On April 8, 1968, during the siege of Khe Sanh, he stepped off a helicopter and saw a grenade at his feet. He thought he'd dropped it. He was wrong. When he reached down to pick it up, it exploded, ripping off both legs and his right hand. He was 25.

"He spent eight months recuperating at Walter Reed Army Hospital. On one of his first trips out of the hospital, an old girlfriend pushed him around Washington in his wheelchair. Outside the White House, the chair hit a curb and Cleland pitched forward and fell out. He remembers flopping around helplessly in the dirt and cigarette butts in the gutter.

"He returned home to Georgia in December 1969. 'I had no job, no girlfriend, no car, no hope,' he says. 'I figured this is a good time to run for the state Senate. And politics became my therapy, forcing me to get out of the house and be seen.'"



So I don't want to hear any more of this crap that has surfaced occasionally by rabid partisan hacks about what "really" happened to Max Cleland in Vietnam.  Go defame someone else.