The Landscape for the General Election

The best game in town for the general election will be the Hall County Commission races. With the runoff results in, there is much at stake. If you live too far out to be a suburb, then your county is called an exurb. In the exurbs on Tuesday, the growth versus no-growth war had mixed results. Henry, Clayton and Cobb County are clearly leaning to rein in growth. Cherokee thinks they may have gone too far and sent Emily Lemke on her way.

Then there is Hall County, where slow growth has taken hold, for now. Brenda Branch was unseated by a newcomer by the name of Deborah Lynn. Lynn has been active in neighborhood groups for about six years and has been in the developing subdivisions business with her husband for about 20 years. One point Branch made at the Flowery Branch forum early in the election cycle is that when you campaign, you can promise things, but when you are elected, the law may not allow you to do all the things you promised.

The sad thing about the Branch/Lynn race is that is was reduced to a childish, "she started it first" kind of rhetoric. As women become more powerful in races throughout this country, they need to learn to run on ideas and when attacked, not to take it personally. It's politics, that's all.

As far as supporters go, there is little the candidates can do to rein them in. We must remember that we all have to live and work in this community after all the accusations are thrown around. On a personal note, I was disappointed because I thought we were better than what I observed.

Political consultants representing candidates on both sides of these issues will tell you this. The pro-growth folks have more of the law on their side. Many of the proposals that the no-growth folks make tread on individual property rights and do not pass muster in the law. The biggest battle of the next 20 years will be the fight between landowners that want to develop and those who do not. Impact Fees are a part of the solution, but the real answer will lie in a top to bottom reform of revenue sources. We need tax reform.

So what does the landscape look like for the Hall County Commission during the lame duck session? The role of Lanier Wastewater and Technology will be solidified. Impact Fees will go forward and there will be campaigning. Barring a voter revolt to the other side, Deborah Lynn will easily win Post 1. For North Hall, there will be a real horse race between Steve Gailey and Ken Barrett. In the perception is reality realm, if Deborah Lynn is elected in November, she needs to address immediately the perception that she is the guaranteed third vote.

The statewide landscape is a little different. Mike Beatty redefined class by conceding to Steve Stancil. Mike is a man of his word and I know that he will work for Steve and Stancil will need the kind of organizational skills Beatty used in his grassroots campaign. Stancil has the best chance of the two top races to win over the incumbent. Mark Taylor is vulnerable in this race.

Sonny Perdue needs to have a "come to Jesus" meeting with everyone including himself to be sure there are no more revelations to come like the property tax issue. It will be hard for people to look the other way on another oversight. The Governor has money and he has the media to undermine Perdue's message. If he is distracted on personal problems, Perdue cannot win.

Max Cleland is vulnerable, also. If he continues to say one thing and do the other regarding supporting the President it will come back to haunt him. He talks the Zell Miller line and then votes with the Democrat leadership in the Senate. That will not pass muster for long. It will be difficult for Saxby Chambliss to beat Max Cleland with a Libertarian in the race. Chambliss says he likes being the underdog and Cleland has not ever had the kind of scrutiny that he will have of his record in this race. Right now it is too close to call.

The real factor here is voter turn out. Will there be issues that will get them out to the polls? Turnout was high in South Hall because of issues and in the 4th Congressional District because of issues, too. People do not care if the ballot or machine is easy or not. Something has got to spark them to get them out to vote. It is candidates, issues, ideas and presentation that will get them out.

We will keep looking at the races between now and the election. Let me know what you think of the opinions posted here. Join me each weekday for The Martha Zoller Show just after 9 am on WDUN Newstalk 550. Check out www.marthazoller.com for other places to see and hear me.