The December 2 runoff election for Georgia's U.S. Senate seat between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin is getting hotter by the day. Grassroots allies on both sides -- including the National Rifle Association for Chambliss and the AFL-CIO for Martin -- are pouring money and people into the state.
Chris Cox, the NRA's top lobbyist says that the pro-gun rights group is spending well over $200,000 on mail to 120,000 NRA members and roughly 250,000 other gun owners in the Peach State to get them to the polls. Cox spent much of Wednesday in Georgia, joined by NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, spreading the word that Chambliss is their man and that gun owners need to get to the polls in two weeks. "We're extremely concerned and engaged," Cox says. The stakes are huge -- Democrats now control 58 Senate seats in the next Congress, just shy of the 60 votes needed to shut down future GOP filibusters.
Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO is also spending in the six figures to rally support for Martin. Karen Ackerman, the union's political director, says about 100 staffers from the union and its affiliates are on the ground in Georgia. They're doing worksite leafleting, organizing phone calls from worker to worker, and doing other ground game work in five key cities: Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, McComb, and Savannah. "This race is very, very important," says Ackerman.
-- Peter H. Stone
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