November 30, 2008
Posted: 10:49 AM ET
From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will campaign for Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
(CNN) — Sarah Palin is coming back to the campaign trail. The Alaska governor and former Republican vice presidential nominee is adding her name to the list of big name surrogates who are making campaign cameos in the last remaining Senate election this year. Palin teams up with Saxby Chambliss at a fundraiser Sunday night and at four campaign stops across Georgia on Monday, the last full day of campaigning before Tuesday's runoff election. iReport.com: Share your photos, video from Georgia campaign Chambliss is the freshman Republican senator from Georgia who is fighting to keep his seat. He's facing Jim Martin — a former state lawmaker in Georgia — in the runoff election. Chambliss won a plurality of the vote three weeks ago on Election Day, but Georgia state law calls for the winner to grab 50 percent plus one vote. Due to the inclusion of a third party candidate, Chambliss fell just shy of that threshold, forcing a runoff contest. Palin is the latest high profile surrogate to stump with Chambliss. Sen. John McCain returned to the trail to campaign with Chambliss just nine days after losing the presidential election to Obama. Two weeks ago, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — who ran for the Republican presidential nomination before dropping out in March and backing McCain — campaigned with Chambliss. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also teamed up with Chambliss. Like Huckabee, Romney also ran for the GOP presidential nomination before ending his bid in February and backing McCain.
Last week, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned with Chambliss. Giuliani also jumped into the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. He dropped out in late January and immediately endorsed McCain. Giuliani, Huckabee, and Romney could all make another stab at presidential politics in 2012. Palin could possibly join them. Martin is also getting some major league help. Both former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have separately teamed up with Martin. Do these big name surrogates make a difference? "Generally they can help boost turnout, because of all the media attention. Turnout in a runoff election is often very low compared to a presidential election and each side needs to get as many of their voters to the polls as possible," says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider. Democrats have so far picked up seven Senate seats in this year's election, with the Republican seats in Georgia and Minnesota still undecided. In Minnesota, freshman GOP Senator Norm Coleman topped his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, by just 215 votes, triggering an automatic recount, which will extend well into December. If the Democrats take both contests, they'll reach their pre-election goal of controlling 60 Senate seats, which would be a filibuster proof majority. A filibuster is a move by the minority party in the Senate that Filed under: Sarah Palin Saxby Chambliss
|
The latest political news from CNN's Best Political Team, with campaign coverage, 24-7. Sign up for our twice daily Ticker emails. Got a news tip or feedback? For complete political coverage, bookmark CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com Headlines
CNN=Politics Screensaver
New in the Ticker
Follow us on Twitter
Categories
Archive
Popular Posts
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CNN Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNN Privacy Statement.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||