The gloves are off in GA Gubernatorial race, Oxendine attacks Barnes 2002-style

October 18, 6:21 PMAtlanta Political Buzz ExaminerEwa Kochanska

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Roy Barnes’ loss in the 2002 Gubernatorial race as an incumbent was a shock to many. Sonny Perdue, the current Governor, unseated Barnes after being outspent at least 6 to 1 and trailing in pretty much every poll and survey leading up to the election. Perdue won with 52% vote, a first win for a Republican in a Gubernatorial race in 130 years.

By some accounts a turning point in the 2002 race was a release of an ad (see below) portraying Roy Barnes as an enormous rat stomping through Georgia, implying the Governor has been dismissive on issues that matter to the state and its people, and that his agenda has been imperious and narcissistic. The ad never aired on television or radio, but its impact was quite significant thanks to World Wide Web and media coverage.

The leading 2010 Republican candidate, John Oxendine, Georgia’s current fire and insurance commissioner, is not as popular as his number one Democratic opponent, Roy Barnes. Barnes was even once considered a good possibility for a Presidential candidate as the rising star of the Democratic Party. He still enjoys big name recognition in the state as well as nationally. Although Perdue was a Republican in 2002, he only just switched parties in 1998, after being a Senate leader for the Democrats from 1994 to 1997. Because of that he was never seen as a hard-core conservative.

John Oxendine is definitely running on a truly conservative platform . He strongly supports FairTax, a tax system that would get rid of IRS, state and federal income tax and replace it with a progressive national retail tax, he is pro-life and pro-local, small government (read Oxendine’s contract with Georgia here).

Perhaps assuming that Perdue won his election in 2002 as an underdog largely because of the “rat ad”, Oxendine decided to capitalize on the concept in his campaign as well. On Thursday, he launched “The Ox vs. King Roy the Rat” ad once again comparing Barnes to a rat. The ad is animated and obviously low budget, much like the original from 2002. It alleges that Barnes “can’t let go of the power” and even though Georgians rejected him and his policies once before, he is back for more to fulfill his ego.

But the ad is not as much directed at Barnes as it is at Oxendine’s Republican challengers. It implies that only the “Ox” is strong enough to defeat “King Roy the Rat.” The ad shows the Ox going head to head with the unusually large Rat that’s sporting a gold chain around his neck with “King Roy” written on it.

The Ox proceeds to head bang the rat all the way to Hollywood, while the narrator says that the kind of liberal policies Barnes would like to impose on Georgia will only be acceptable in California; later the rat makes his way to New York and Washington D.C. and even France where, according to the narrator, the Rat would find himself comfortable among his liberal friends.

Not surprisingly, the Ox wins the fight with the rat, and the ad ends with comparisons of the Ox to Ronald Reagan and his “philosophy of faith, family and freedom.”

“Only the Ox is strong enough for Georgia” is the theme here, and it underlines Oxendine’s platform: “strong-conservative-values.”

Again not surprisingly, Roy Barnes is not amused: "We are all tired of petty politics, campaign gimmicks, and personal attacks," a statement from the Roy2010 campaign said. "If this is their solution to the serious issues that face Georgia - water, education, transportation and jobs - we now know where they stand."

Oxendine is leading among Republicans by a large margin – 18 points ahead of his closest challenger, according to the last Rasmussen Report. Roy Barnes is showing even a more commanding lead among Democrats – 33 points ahead of the pack.

Both politicians seem to be cautiously confident. After all the 2002 Gubernatorial contest showed in full that surprises are not uncommon in the Peach State, and the Rasmussen survey found about 30% voters still undecided on both sides, democratic and republican.