I Don't Know How To Love Nathan Or Roy

This is how bad it is for Democrats right now: in the race to be the next governor of my beloved state of Georgia (state motto: “Yumus Boilum Peanuti”), former governor Roy (Boy) Barnes, a Democrat, is losing by six percentage points to the Republican Nathan (Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime?) Deal. (Rasmussen,9/23/10)

Let that sink in for a second. Nathan Deal, the least of the Republicans that ran in the primary this summer, managed to slink his way into the nomination by pointing out that his primary opponent, Karen Handle, has these things on her midsection and that, horror upon horrors, did not go to college.

Ms Handle, who was chairman of the Fulton County Commission, which runs the largest and most diverse county in the state and was the Secretary of State somehow lost to Deal who looks like the interim pastor of the local Baptist church.

That is not all. Deal has some kind of/sort of/maybe serious/maybe not ethics issues that revolve around an auto salvage company that earned $1.5 million dollars from the state in a four year period of time. Additionally, Deal borrowed 2.3 million dollars to give to one of children for an “upscale” sporting goods store for hunters. It sold the finest of tree stands (complete with flat screen TVs) and the best in red fox urine. This loan is due in February of 2011. To quote my grandmother, it was as if Georgia Republicans walked through the forest and picked up a stick

Barnes should be leading by about ten points. But Barnes redux is not going so well for various reasons.

One, Barnes is a Democrat. That’s means Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Clinton, and a host of other nannies who are always shaking their finger at you trying to lecture you about something. It is just not a great brand right now. Barnes says he is going to bring jobs to Georgia. How are you going to do that, Roy? His answer: by not acting stupid. Barnes believes that you can create jobs by telling people you do not believe in succession.

Another reason Barnes is not doing so well is that we have seen this movie before. Roy Barnes running for governor again is kind of like making a sequel to a mediocre movie. Nobody in Georgia was thinking: if only Roy Barnes were in charge, we wouldn’t have this problem.

I take that back. One person was thinking that-Roy Barnes. This leads to his third problem, his personality.

Roy Barnes is just one of those people who thinks he is better than you. He doesn’t mean to be ugly about, he is just better than you. We can never love Roy as much as Roy loves Roy.

Barnes is running better commercials than Deal. Lots of graphics and funny sounds. Deal’s show him standing next to an old person, then a young person, then another old person, and then a picture of him smiling at you like he is about to describe the pledge you need to give to the church’s building fund.

I’m not saying Deal is going to win. I will say that the fact that he is this far ahead of Barnes shows how bad off the Democratic Party is in Georgia. And that’s the real deal.