Zell Miller, He's Still The One

It was a surprising announcement but not an unexpected one. Zell Miller, the senior senator from Georgia, will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2004. He is clear that he is not retiring from public life, he will never do that. He will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2004.

Zell Miller came to the United States Senate because he was called to service by then Governor Roy Barnes after the death of Paul Coverdell. He learned quickly that "he wasn't in Kansas anymore" and that being a United State Senator is very different than being the Governor of Georgia.

There is a monthly meeting of US Senators who have been governors. It would be interesting to hear what goes on there. Probably a great deal of complaining about the inability to get anything done.

The Senator in cowboy boots from Georgia has been a trouble maker for the Democratic leadership ever since he got there. When asked about his relationship with the Democratic leadership in the Senatr after the 2002 elections, he said, "I thought I had trouble with them before, but now they are being more obstructionist than ever." You have the sense when he says this that he is not only saying they are obstructing the President's agenda, but also, his own.

After the hotly contested 2000 election was settled, he attended a summit in Texas with the President-Elect. He stood and said to Bush, "I'm with you 100 percent on education and I'll be with you on a lot of other things, too, like tax cuts."

After the meeting, Miller was surrounded by interested folks that wanted to know just what he meant by that. It was then that the President called Senator Phil Gramm and suggested that he get to know Miller better and get him to co-sponsor the President's tax cut plan.

In the last two years of his term as Senator, Miller will continue to be with the President on tax cuts and a prescription drug plan. He also is involved in many other issues but you won't see his name on many pieces of legislation in this session. He wants to leave his options open to move to the bills that work the best or to take the best parts of several bills and put them together.

This is a case where being called "Zig Zag Zell" will work in his favor and in the best interest of the people of Georgia. Maybe that how it has always been for Senator Miller, he Zig Zags in the best interest of the people of Georgia.

An interesting side note. When attending CPAC (Conservative Political Action Committee) in January, Terry McAulliffe surprised everyone by showing up there. He sat down next to Art Linkletter while I was interviewing him. McAulliffe was charming and asked Mr. Linkletter if he would do some ads for him. Mr. Linkletter replied that he was for any cause as long as it was conservative. I chimed in, "Mr. McAulliffe, there are good conservative Democrats like Senator Zell Miller of Georgia." Mr. McAulliffe looked at me with no reply. I wonder what he was thinking.


Martha Zoller is the host of "The Martha Zoller Show" on WDUN AM 550 in Gainesville, Georgia. She appears on Fox 5 Atlanta's "The Georgia Gang" and you've seen her on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. You can contact her at [email protected].