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Black Vote Puts Heat on Georgia Republican

Newly registered force Sen. Chambliss into unexpected dogfight

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 30, 2008 1:50 PM CDT

(Newser) – With Barack Obama’s candidacy driving record early-voter turnout in Georgia among African-Americans, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss is in an unexpected dogfight with Democrat Jim Martin, the New York Times reports. Though the Obama campaign stopped short of a full-court press for Georgia, it has spent months registering tens of thousands of new voters, many of them African-American.

Martin, like Obama, has been able to use the financial crisis to hurt his Republican rival: His attack ads link “Saxby economics” to the excesses in the mortgage-securities market. The race has taken on increased national significance with Democrats hoping long-shot candidacies like Martin’s bring them a 60-vote, filibuster-proof majority.

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Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss is unpopular with many in his native Georgia after voting for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. (AP Photo)

"There has always been a rush to the polls by African-Americans early," said Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss. "It has also got our side energized, they see what is happening." (AP Photo)

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A Jim Martin campaign ad links the economic view of Saxby Chambliss to the financial crisis. (martinforsenate)

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Black Vote Puts Heat on Georgia Republican