Darden hopes new territory will lift him back to Congress

COLUMBUS - As former U.S. Rep. Buddy Darden made the breakfast rounds at Ruth Ann&#39;s restaurant, a chorus of ``good to see you again, congressman&#39;&#39; could be heard from nearly every table. <br> <br> However, the warm Columbus welcome wasn&#39;t for him. <br> <br> Darden spent 11 years in the House, representing suburban Atlanta and northwest Georgia. But now a sliver of Columbus entirely new terrain - has been drawn into the congressional district he hopes to ride back to Washington. That&#39;s why he accepted the help of Jack Brinkley, the area&#39;s beloved congressman for 16 years, to guide him at a meet-and-greet with the locals. <br> <br> Brinkley did the greeting. Darden did the meeting. <br> <br> ``We decided to do this family style,&#39;&#39; Brinkley said as his former constituents passed around plates of scrambled eggs, pancakes and grits at a private reception in the restaurant&#39;s back room. ``We&#39;re all family here.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Although Darden&#39;s name recognition is far higher elsewhere in the 11th District, he realizes his ticket back to Congress is wooing residents who never were his constituents. Better to have experience as someone else&#39;s congressman than no experience at all, Darden suggests. <br> <br> ``I took the attitude I was representing the whole state, whether or not somebody lived across the street, in this district or that district,&#39;&#39; Darden said. ``If Fort Benning had a problem, we all had a problem. It&#39;s not exactly foreign territory.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> His chief competitor for the Democratic nomination, millionaire businessman Roger Kahn, doesn&#39;t buy the argument. Two years ago, Kahn - the owner of a Bartow County cattle farm - was blown out by Republican Rep. Bob Barr, whose TV ads portrayed Kahn as a ``Great Pretender&#39;&#39; who moved to Georgia from Key West, Fla., and tried to pass himself off as a local farmer. <br> <br> Now the tables have turned, and Kahn is the one questioning Darden&#39;s loyalties to the territory. Darden&#39;s Marietta home actually falls outside the 11th District, but the line is literally just across the street. <br> <br> ``It may be legal to run, but I don&#39;t think it&#39;s moral or ethical to run outside your district,&#39;&#39; says Kahn, although he concedes the western Georgia district is ``uglier than that girl my mother wanted me to date in high school.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Nobody is questioning Kahn&#39;s 11th District connections this time around. He lives full-time on his 1,100 acres of farmland and has just finished building a state-of-the-art auction room at his office, where top-dollar Angus cows are sold to the highest bidder. <br> <br> Although the smell of manure is still prevalent, beautiful landscaping, a colossal reflecting lake, and a personalized office mural make Kahn Cattle Co. as luxurious as farms come. The owner says he is far happier than he was in Florida, and he still seems offended by Barr&#39;s campaign strategy to portray him as a bumbling farmer. <br> <br> ``I have no intention of trying to enter the gutter Bob Barr lives in,&#39;&#39; he snaps, when asked whether he will use a similar carpetbagging ad campaign against Darden. <br> <br> In addition to defeating Kahn&#39;s largely self-funded 2000 campaign, Barr ended Darden&#39;s congressional reign in 1994. However, the Republican incumbent opted to challenge fellow GOP congressman John Linder in suburban Atlanta&#39;s 7th District this time rather than compete in the more Democratic-friendly 11th. Darden and Kahn say they probably wouldn&#39;t have run against Barr again. <br> <br> Kahn, whose other commercial ventures have included a liquor distillery and a company responsible for radio broadcasts of the PGA tour, says he is willing to put another $3 million of his money into the race, as he did against Barr, but he predicts that won&#39;t be necessary. He claims he is a more conservative candidate and better suited for a district that narrowly supported George W. Bush over Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race. <br> <br> Kahn claims Darden&#39;s vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement funneled jobs out of the district, but Darden insists poultry exports to Canada and Mexico have almost doubled since. Kahn also criticizes Darden&#39;s vote for an assault weapons ban, which was packed into a sweeping crime measure approved in 1994. Until Barr, a darling of the National Rifle Association, came along, Darden usually got the organization&#39;s endorsement. <br> <br> ``This is a very conservative district,&#39;&#39; Kahn said. ``You can&#39;t vote to take away jobs, and you can&#39;t vote to take away guns.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Darden defends his voting record and argues that his greatest asset is having a voting record at all. He has mastered the art of congressional negotiation, he says, which is critical to get anything done in Washington. <br> <br> ``One person&#39;s principle is another person&#39;s politics,&#39;&#39; Darden said. ``You might all listen to what that other person has to say because you&#39;re going to need that other person to accomplish what you may want to accomplish.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Should he return to Congress, Darden hopes to regain the spot he once held on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which steers congressional check writing. He explains that desire with a customary one-liner: ``When they asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he said, &#39;That&#39;s where the money is.&#39;&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Kahn, however, is skeptical that Darden would be able to regain his seniority or committee assignments. <br> <br> ``There are going to be several new congressmen from Georgia,&#39;&#39; Kahn said. ``Buddy is talking like he&#39;s got the inside shot at all these things, and I can assure you he does not. These are pipe dreams.&#39;&#39;