Georgia's Two-Party System: Alive and Well?

I had lunch in Atlanta the other day with some business friends. It was not a political gathering, but since all of us are Republicans the discussion drifted to politics, and the question was posed: when will the Republican primary be held next year? The reason that came up was the feeling that, here in Georgia, unless the Democrats get going and get some viable candidates, the next election to decide Georgia officeholders will be the Republican primary. We agreed that puts Georgia right back in one-party politics, and although we all lean to the right, all but one agreed we would be better off with a healthy, two-party political debate. We wondered who is actively standing up for Democrats nowadays.

I was driving up 400 thinking about that when a car zipped past on my left and cut right in front of me ... driven by a young lady talking with animation on her cell phone. The back bumper of her car was totally plastered with bumper stickers, and at that moment I discovered at least one vocal Democrat in North Atlanta. I may not remember them all, but there was one for Cathy Cox, another for John Lewis. Kathy Ashe (whoever she is). There was a big one that said "I Vote Pro-Choice" and another smaller one that stated: "I Vote To Protect The Environment". There was one I had seen before that says "Democrats: Best for Georgia", and one I had not seen before that says: "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Barnes." There was one bumper sticker I did not understand, sort of by itself up on the trunk: 1-800-Got Junk. I'm not sure what that was about and I haven't tried to find out.

Anyway, after that episode I decided there are some outspoken Democrats out there after all. The competitive two-party system may be more alive and well than I had thought.

This is Gordon Sawyer, from a window on historic Green Street.