Georgia Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn’s campaign has been strongly touting a new, major endorsement: former Georgia governor and Sen. Zell Miller (D).
Miller supported segregationist candidates early in his career and then became a mainstream post-civil rights southern Democrat — before veering right during the Bush era, going on to serve as a co-chairman of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign.
The endorsement is something of a coup for the Nunn campaign and meant to hype up her bipartisan credentials (and, more urgently, repel attacks from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that she would be President Barack “Obama’s senator”).
The last time Miller ventured into racial politics was in 1992, when he said he would introduce legislation to remove aspects of the Georgia flag that resembled the Confederate flag.
Democrats, in announcing Miller’s endorsement, are eager to call attention to the fact that the former senator endorsed three Republican presidential nominees.
The video where Miller (pictured) endorses Nunn is all about bipartisanship. Miller first recalls the bipartisan effort to pass “the HOPE scholarship” and then goes into a small criticism of partisanship in Washington D.C.
“But I’m so angry about what’s going on in Washington, partisanship over patriotism. They can’t stop themselves,” Miller continues in the video. “But we can stop them! Let’s send Michelle Nunn to the Senate. She’s a bridge builder, not a bridge burner.”
The question though is how Nunn will handle carrying the endorsement while also trying to get a constituency she needs to win the Senate seat: African-Americans.
In July, leaked documents from the early days of Nunn’s campaign laid out her strategy for prioritizing key constituencies in Georgia. The documents stressed that she wanted to avoid coming off as “too liberal” and that it would be important to increase turnout among Latinos and African-Americans in Georgia while also looking to win a chunk (but not an overwhelming amount) of white voters in the race. The documents said that African-Americans are a “critical” constituency for Nunn in the race.
The current TPM Polltracker average has Nunn trailing Perdue in the Republican-leaning Georgia by 9.4 percentage points. Nunn needs to attract not just staunch Democrats in the state but also some Republicans and crossover voters.
So far, at least, Nunn seemed unfazed by these potentially conflicting goals.
“I am so honored to have Governor Miller’s support, counsel, and endorsement,” Nunn said in a statement in response to the endorsement. “As I have travelled the state, I have met so many who praise the governor for the HOPE Scholarship and his independent spirit. It means so much to me, personally, that this Georgia icon recognizes my commitment to be a bridge-builder and a problem-solver in Washington.”
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Seriously? That’s how you want to present this story? A two term Dem governor of Georgia that got the HOPE scholarship passed and implemented, and one term senator, and you want to reach back 40 years and use that paint brush?
Zell is nuts. That should come as no surprise to anyone that caught him offering to duel Tweety. He is also very old. There is plenty of history between him and her father, so getting his endorsement is not all that surprising. And,in his neck of the woods (quite literally) he still carries quite a bit of political weight.
Miller also endorsed Deal over Carter in the governor’s race, (that’s an example of why he is known as Zig Zag Zell), who was also once upon a time a Democrat (that time being while Zell was governor).
The bottom line is, she is trying to run a bi partisan campaign (yes you can read that Blue Dog). Zell doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight state wide anymore, but why shouldn’t she take it? A well known ex state pol known for zig zagging all over the political spectrum is sort of exactly the person she wants endorsing her campaign.
“Why Is Dem Nunn Touting Endorsement From An Erstwhile Segregationist?”
Uh…cause it’s the South?
Same reason Cochran went after African Americans. Because she wants to win.
She’s really down 10 points??? wow
TPM hire a headline writer away from Buzzfeed?
What’s next, referring to Nunn as the candidate of the Democrat Party?