Jim Marshall, Democrublican

My congressman, Jim Marshall, has always been a pretty bright guy. He realizes that the district he represents is extremely conservative. He managed to get elected to congress due to his popularity in Bibb County and Macon, where he also served as mayor, and has survived the republican ascendancy of the last decade mainly by distancing himself from his own party.

His last win, however, was by a very narrow margin, despite the GOP bloodbath of 2006. As Erick pointed out last week, his district has now been redrawn to pretty much mirror what it looked like when Saxby represented it. I believe Saxby, despite polls that show his current campaign relatively close, is still fairly popular in this district. Whether that will help Marshall's opponent, Rick Goddard, remains to be seen, but as I pointed out several months ago, it wouldn't take much to bring Marshall down.

Even in the 2006 election - a disaster for the GOP nationally- Collins [Marshall's 2006 opponent] only fell short by 1752 votes, or one percentage point, after running a fairly lackluster campaign. The problem is that Goddard, or any candidate for this seat, needs to make significant gains in Bibb county, where Marshall received nearly 60% of the vote, in order to win the seat. So far, Marshall has too much support from voters in this area who otherwise tend to support conservatives. Proof of this can be seen in the results for Governor in this same election. Sonny Perdue won over Democrat Mark Taylor by 1881 votes in Bibb County. Overall, 18,954 Bibb County voters chose Perdue, while only 13,893 voted for Collins.

Jim Marshall has been running ads all over television and radio - something he has not really done in the past. This suggests that he is at least somewhat concerned about his chances this year. His latest ad is, quite frankly, hilarious. It's been airing on the local radio station, which broadcasts conservative talk shows like Boortz, Limbaugh, and Hannity all day long. In the ad, Marshall brags about his endorsement from the NRA (a poor decision by the NRA, despite his support for gun rights), and even claims that "conservatives Gordon Liddy and Rush Limbaugh have praised" his record as a congressman.

The ad is basically claiming that Marshall is just as conservative as Rick Goddard, and is clearly aimed at the conservative talk radio market. The problem is that Jim Marshall is no conservative. His sponsorship of the biggest gift to union thugs in history alone proves that. The bottom line is that he knows he has to pretend to be conservative to keep his job, voting with the GOP on Democrat initiatives that he knows will pass anyway, and hiding behind the liberal leadership that HE helps put in place.

Wake up conservatives! He may vote with the GOP sometimes, but he puts people like Pelosi in charge of the House, and indirectly advances his party's liberal policy agenda no matter how he votes. I feel a letter to the editor coming on...