Saxby Chambliss win keeps GOP's Senate filibuster power against 'liberal' Obama

December 3, 10:56 AMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., at victory party in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Senator Saxby Chambliss won re-election over Democratic challenger Jim Martin yesterday through a largely negative campaign based on scare tactics that misrepresented President-elect Barack Obama as a dangerous liberal who must be blocked whenever possible.

In a victory discribed by Martin supporters as "norrow," Chambliss won a second senate term in the runoff election by telling Georgia voters they must elect a Republican to prevent Democrats from gaining a filibuster-proof super-majority in the Senate. He said to the press and in speeches that Democrats must be stopped from enacting Barack Obama's liberal agenda of higher taxes, gun control, and free abortions.

Chambliss won in Georgia by running against a phantom of Obama rather than running against the actual president-elect.

In reality, as, any objective observer can readily see, Obama is a centrist, not a liberal. For proof, study Obama's campaign platform and his post-election nominations for cabinet officers and advisers.

To be specific, the president-elect wants Congress to lower taxes for the 95 percent of all Americans who earn less than $250,000 a year. He intends to honor the recent Supreme Court decisions on the 2nd Amendment rights of individuals to own guns. He wants to reduce the number of legal abortions through better education backed up by support for alternatives to abortion.

Obama's nomination for his administration shows a marked preference for members of the Washington establishment. In fact, progressives have voiced open dismay since the election at Obama's nominees for homeland security secretary, defence department secretary and national security advisor. 

At best, the human rights and civil liberties abuses of George W. Bush will be moderated by Obama's policies, not eliminated, as many on the left had hoped. To lead the Homeland Security Department, for example, Obama picked Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who's gained a reputation as an immigration hardliner for her support of secret raids by ICE, detention camps, and the Wall facing Mexico.

In essence, therefore, Chambliss retained his Senate seat in conservative Georgia through a largely negative campaign based on scare tactics that misrepresented Obama as a dangerous liberal.

The Chambiss victory is being hailed by Republicans as a foretaste of GOP success in 2010 and 2012. Long before the mid-term election in two years, however, every thinking American will know that the new president is a moderate centrist not a liberal.

If the GOP strategy for regaining national power is to attack the Obama administration for liberal policies, the Republicans better go back to the drawing board.

Related Examiner Postings:
• Georgia says no to Democrat 'super majority'
• With Georgia lost, Dem eyes turn to Minnesota
• Chambliss' win in Georgia means Republicans are down, but not out
• In Athens, Georgia voting in run-off election goes smoothly

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