Happy days, they be here... <img border="0" alt="[laugh]" title="" src="graemlins/laughing.gif" />
per WSBTV.com...
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Four-term Republican Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia was bounced out of Congress by Rep. John Linder on Tuesday after the two veteran conservatives were thrown together for a primary under Democrat-led redistricting. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, Linder had 38,328 votes, or 70 percent; Barr had 16,144 votes, or 30 percent. Barr, the fiery maverick who led the House impeachment of President Clinton, becomes the seventh House incumbent ousted in a primary this year. Linder is expected to win a sixth term this fall.
Another Georgia firebrand, Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, was locked in a primary fight against Denise Majette, a Yale-educated former judge. With 120 of 174 precincts reporting, Majette had 39,926 votes, or 61 percent, compared to 25,283 votes, or 39 percent for McKinney. It was unclear which precincts were reporting, which could skew the early returns. McKinney is strongest in south DeKalb County, and McKinney workers said those numbers often come in last. "If we turn the numbers out in south DeKalb, we win. If we don't, we lose," said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, a McKinney ally who said Majette "couldn't penetrate our base."
On a busy primary day, the races involving Barr and McKinney grabbed the most attention. Like Linder, the winner of the McKinney-Majette battle is expected to be elected this fall. Barr and Linder had offered voters in the 7th District a stark choice in style, if not substance. Both men back tax cuts, gun rights and a ban on abortion, but their approaches could not be more different. The blunt-spoken Barr, 53, was first elected in the GOP landslide of 1994. He was the first to call for Clinton's impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair and polished his maverick imaged by questioning the Bush administration's expanded law enforcement efforts to combat terrorism. Linder, 59, a former fund-raiser for Newt Gingrich, is a quiet policy wonk who told voters the most effective lawmakers don't show up on talk shows every night--a clear dig at his opponent.
The real fireworks were in the 4th District, where McKinney surprised even fellow Democrats by suggesting the Bush administration had ignored warnings about Sept. 11 and the president's big business allies have benefited from the war on terrorism. McKinney, a single mother and former college professor first elected to Congress in 1992, also said she would have accepted a Saudi prince's $10 million check for Sept. 11 victims. The check was rejected by New York officials after the prince suggested U.S. policies toward the Mideast were partly to blame for the attacks. Middle East politics played an unlikely role in the race. McKinney drew campaign financing from out of state, including money from pro-Arab groups, while Jewish groups helped fund Majette's campaign. The 47-year-old McKinney and the 46-year-old Majette are both black and the incumbent had expected to draw most of the black vote. But Majette attracted support from Republicans, who are allowed to vote in the Democratic race under the state's open primary. Congressmen already ousted this year include Democrats Hilliard, Gary Condit of California, Frank Mascara of Pennsylvania and Tom Sawyer of Ohio. Rep. Lynn Rivers, D-Mich., Mascara and GOP Rep. Brian Kerns of Indiana all lost to fellow incumbents in primary races forced by redistricting. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">
|