Martin's Mid-State Strategy

What a difference three weeks makes! On July 18th, Bibb County voters bucked the statewide trend and handed Greg Hecht a substantial victory over Jim Martin. Both candidates are slated to be in Macon this weekend. Hecht's campaign sent out a notice that Greg will be at First Friday tonight and Martin will be in Macon tomorrow to canvass and for a press conference with local elected leaders who have endorsed him. Martin will meet supporters (you are invited) at 315 College Street at 4 PM, and then head out to canvass.

That Martin is coming to Macon at all at this point in the campaign, an area he lost overwhelmingly in the primary, is a testament to the strength of his campaign. Translate: he must think that he is doing very well in metro if he's coming down to Macon to stump for votes the weekend before the election!

On the contrary, this week has been a rough for for Hecht who suffered through the withdrawal of the Creative Loafing endorsement. Some say, "big deal." I say, go ahead and put a brave face on it. The Loafing switch in and of itself is not a huge problem for Greg, but I suspect that it reflects the climate of an electorate who became disenchanted with Hecht in the final week before the primary. If that disenchantment holds, his voters are at risk to (1) switch or (2) simply stay at home.

Middle Georgia could be crucial territory for both of these candidates. The backlash against Hecht that hit Atlanta just before the primary has just in the last week begun to be common knowledge down here in these parts. It will be very interesting to see whether Hecht weathers the storm and again leads Martin in this area of the state.

Martin's list of mid-state endorsements has grown considerably since the primary and includes the likes of Congressman Jim Marshall, City Councilman Mike Cranford, Rep. David Lucas, Tommy Olmstead and Councilman Rick Hutto. Some of the folks on this list, I didn't think ever agreed about anything, but on this they do agree: Jim Martin, a man of integrity, is the best choice for Democrats on Tuesday.

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