Darden, Kahn attempt political rebounds in congressional clash

WASHINGTON - Democrats Buddy Darden and Roger Kahn are close friends with a common enemy. But this time, it&#39;s not Republican Rep. Bob Barr they&#39;ve got to worry about. It&#39;s each other. <br> <br> Darden, a former congressman, and Kahn, a Bartow County businessman and farmer, aren&#39;t exactly cruising into this year&#39;s congressional primary. Each is trying to recover from an embarrassing defeat to Barr, considered public enemy No. 1 among many Georgia Democrats. <br> <br> Still, many political observers say whoever prevails in the primary will have the edge in the race for the 11th District because Democrats in the Legislature reconfigured the seat to their liking. <br> <br> ``If it were the same district Barr had before, I don&#39;t think you&#39;d see this scenario at all,&#39;&#39; said Merle Black, political science professor at Emory University. ``The district Barr had would be very hard for a Republican to lose.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The irony is, Barr is engaged in the fight of his political life, but not against Darden or Kahn. Rather, he is battling fellow GOP incumbent John Linder for the right to represent the 7th District, which also includes parts of suburban Atlanta. <br> <br> Darden spent a decade in Congress before Barr, coming off a narrow defeat to Paul Coverdell in the GOP primary for Senate, ousted him in 1994. <br> <br> But Darden is quick to point out that Kahn fared even worse against Barr in 2000, picking up only 45 percent of the vote despite spending $3 million of his own money. Two years earlier, Democrat Jim Williams registered the same percentage with a fraction of the cash. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s silly conversation,&#39;&#39; Kahn said. ``I lost to Barr in a better way than he lost to Barr. So what? That&#39;s history. Let&#39;s talk about the issues.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Kahn says policy differences compelled him to stay in the race even after Darden, who has been a friend since college and whose family often dines with his own, decided to run for Congress again. Kahn once even hired Darden as a lobbyist for his business. <br> <br> Yet Kahn lists Darden&#39;s votes in favor of free trade legislation and some gun control measures as major differences. During his last race, Darden tried to distance himself from key legislation touted by President Clinton, but Barr distributed T-shirts showing Darden and the president jogging together. <br> <br> Still, Darden rejects Kahn&#39;s attempts to cast him as a liberal. <br> <br> ``You won&#39;t see one of us running to the left,&#39;&#39; Darden said. ``In the primary, I don&#39;t think you&#39;ll see a lot of difference on the issues.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Darden figures if voters see little difference between voting records, they&#39;ll vote for the more familiar name, probably his. If he returns to Congress, he&#39;ll reacquire some but not all of his seniority privileges, and is hoping to join Republican Rep. Jack Kingston as the only other Georgian on the powerful Appropriations Committee. <br> <br> But Darden, who recently has been working at the Atlanta law firm of Long Aldrige & Norman, says he has also gained some insight being outside the political loop. <br> <br> ``I think it&#39;s good for your perspective to have been out,&#39;&#39; he said. ``While I&#39;m not a big supporter of term limits, it&#39;s good for our elected officials to be involved in private life, to work on both sides.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Although the district was drawn to favor Democrats, Black says Republicans have a chance. State Sen. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, and Bob Herriott, party chairman for the 7th District, are running as Republicans. <br> <br> Douglas County, formerly in the 7th District, is now in the 11th District, along with all or parts of Cobb, Coweta, Paulding, Bartow, Chattooga, Floyd, Polk, Haralson, Carroll, Heard, Troup, Meriwether, Harris, Muscogee, Talbot and Upson counties. <br> <br> During redistricting, the Georgia Legislature had hoped to swing an 8-3 Republican edge in Congress to a 7-6 Democratic advantage. For that to happen, a Democrat would almost certainly need the 11th District, but Kahn says he isn&#39;t feeling any outside pressure. <br> <br> ``My concern is just winning this seat, not part of any grand plan,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Darden figures he has an edge, if only a slight one. <br> <br> ``All things being equal, a Democrat has a better than even shot at winning,&#39;&#39; Darden said, ``but I think it&#39;ll be a tough seat.&#39;&#39;