Georgia Democrat to stump for Bush

Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, plans to introduce President Bush at a Bush-Cheney fund-raiser in Atlanta tomorrow and actively campaign for the Republican president.

“Senator Miller is going to serve as a top surrogate this year and help spread the message of President Bush’s leadership,” said Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Mr. Stanzel added that other Georgia Democrats would also announce their support for Mr. Bush tomorrow, although he would not say who or how many.

Although Mr. Miller is a conservative Democrat who has long supported much of Mr. Bush’s agenda, he has refused overtures to switch parties. His decision to actively campaign for the president is a coup for Mr. Bush as he reaches out to centrist voters.

“Zell Miller’s willingness to campaign for this president actively in 2004 will have an impact not only regionally, but nationally,” said Ralph Reed, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.

“Senator Miller has become a symbol of Democrats at the grass roots who feel disaffected and disconnected from a party and a stable of presidential candidates that do not represent them or speak for them,” he added.

Jay Carson, spokesman for Democratic front-runner Howard Dean, said the former Vermont governor was making his own bid for Southern centrists.

“All I know is Governor Dean’s grass-roots network in the South is growing stronger and stronger every day,” Mr. Carson said. “As Governor Dean campaigns across the country, he’s reaching out to Democrats, independents — even Republicans, and he’s doing it with great success.”

Mr. Bush won Georgia handily (55 percent to 43 percent) in 2000 and the state has become even more Republican since then, electing a Republican governor and senator in 2002, the former a post-Reconstruction first. Bush strategists hope Mr. Miller’s support transcends Georgia’s state line.

Mr. Miller’s support comes on the heels of another Bush overture to centrist voters — a proposal to grant amnesty to illegal aliens.

“You’ve got nontraditional Republican constituencies like Hispanics gravitating toward a new and different kind of Republican,” Mr. Reed said.

“You take that combination — disaffected Democrats and nontraditional voters — moving towards George W. Bush and the Republican Party,” he added, “and it has the potential — it’s early in the cycle, so I don’t want to overstate it — but it has the potential to not only re-elect this president, but forge a permanent governing majority that will be Republican, but a different kind of Republican Party. That’s a huge historical shift if all that comes together.”

Mr. Miller, who is retiring in January, previously served eight years as governor and 16 years as lieutenant governor of Georgia.

He played a crucial role in Bill Clinton’s 1992 election by moving up the Georgia primary to follow closely on the heels of the New Hampshire primary.

Mr. Miller, who last year wrote a book critical of the Democratic Party, “A National Party No More,” announced in October that he would vote for Mr. Bush this year. Until this week, though, it was not known whether Mr. Miller would actively campaign for the president.

“Senator Miller and President Bush share a warm personal relationship,” Mr. Stanzel said. “But the senator’s support is based on the president’s leadership in the war against terror, his efforts to lower taxes for all Americans, and to create a culture of responsibility.”

The campaign hinted that other Democrats would follow suit.

“We are carrying out an effort to reach out to Democrats at the grass-roots level in every state,” Mr. Stanzel said. “We believe President Bush’s agenda appeals to many Democrats who share his vision of a safer and more prosperous nation.”