Looking at Georgia’s voting history, it would be impossible to predict the outcome of the election. Georgia on the average since the World War II has chosen the democratic presidential candidate (Almanac of American Politics 451). However, in the more recent elections a more divided Georgia emerged. In Clintons first election he won Georgia’s 13 electoral votes, but in his reelection he was unable to win Georgia. Then in the election of 2000 Al Gore missed out on Georgia’s 13 electors by a thin margin of 12% (Almanac of American Politics 459). As far as other elected offices Georgia has followed a very democratic trend. But that does not always mean that Georgia democrats are the liberal minded ones in Washington. Many of the past Georgia senators have been people like Sam Nunn who where

labeled as Democrats but in reality followed the Republicans once in office. The best example would be Sen. Zell Miller; he has supported Pres. Bush time and time again, when the Democratic leadership did not. A southern democrat still acts a lot like a conservative. Surprisingly this swing state has never had a Republican Governor since before the Civil War. In Gov. Barnes first election the democrats ran into their first real opposition in a long time. Even though Barnes won it was not by the same margin that Governors were wining by 20 years ago. (Almanac of American Politics 455)

As with any race in politics sometimes it’s not all about the issues. This year’s mid-term elections in Georgia are no exception. Both Saxby Chambliss and Max Cleland support the war against terror, and the use of force against Iraq. However, Saxby wants to paint Cleland as soft on the wars. Cleland who was once seen as untouchable on defense was being attacked. Saxby has used negative ads to show Max voting against the Homeland Security Bill 11 times. Cleland ran a counter ad that showed that he was only fighting for including one of Georgia’s military bases in the plan, along with a new bioterrorism division for the CDC. Saxby even ran an ad that put Cleland next Saddam Hussein, and paid the price of national criticism for doing so. It would be safe to say that both candidates support the same policy for the war against terror, but in a race this close Saxby is trying to show Cleland as against Security. The interesting thing about this election is that the issues do divide the candidates but only on very specific issues. Unlike other races where the attacks get personal this race is about attack a person’s record, and then that man defending it. The effects of both candidates negative ad focus, comes with benefits and set backs. Democrats say Chambliss's negative ads have taken a toll. Under fire for questioning the patriotism of Cleland, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, Chambliss eliminated pictures of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein from an ad criticizing his opponent. But he continued to run the ad without the pictures (Dewar 11). Cleland on the other hand has been running ads calling Saxby a antifamily man. They accuse Chambliss, a grandfather and Little League coach who has been married to the same woman for 26 years, of being anti-family. The ads also allege that Chambliss allegedly opposed raising the minimum wage, equal pay for women and school aid for disabled children (Tharpe E6). The set back that comes with these types of ads is avoiding the issues. Many likely voters get turned off from voting from the negative ad campaigns. People argue that it leaves them with more questions then answers (Tharpe E6). Outside of the negative ads the Georgia election outcome, are going to be based on endorsements. In a state that carried Bush to victory, the president coming to support candidates in the mid-term election gives republicans a decent boost. Bush has come multiple times to Georgia to support Saxby Chambliss for senate. Recently the president came to Savannah and spoke in favor of Calder Clay, who is running for congress. Another key endorser in the Senate race has been Sen. Zell Miller. Sen. Miller took office after Sen. Coverdell passed away. Publicly Miller endorses Cleland, but a major focus of the Saxby camp has been to wedge the two apart. In a recent television ad goes as far as saying that Georgia needs more people like Zell Miller in office, and Saxby Chambliss is that man. Sen. Miller does represent the more classic southern democrat, he has supported the President many times when Cleland has voted against him. How

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