Several Georgia Republicans say first-time candidate Herman Cain has little chance of beating two veteran rivals for the Republican Senate nomination.
Yet his primary campaign against Reps. Mac Collins and Johnny Isakson has forced state Republicans to pay attention.
A wealthy businessman, Mr. Cain “has enough money to make it interesting,” one Georgia Republican said.
He also is black, and if elected, would become Georgia’s first black U.S. senator.
“When I first heard from him, I said, ’A black man can’t win in Georgia,’” said Kay Godwin, a Republican official and Christian conservative activist in southern Georgia. “But he energizes you. There’s something different about him.”
Mr. Cain, who calls himself a “Reagan Republican,” has been energizing lots of Georgia’s grass-roots activists with TV ads, direct mail and a steady schedule of public appearances.
Many party veterans, however, share the view of former Republican state Sen. Rusty Paul: “It’s still long-shot category for Cain.”
Mr. Isakson, backed by Atlanta’s powerful business community, remains the favorite in the July 20 primary. His campaign says its polling shows Mr. Isakson with 50 percent of the Republican vote, while Mr. Cain has moved into a tie with Mr. Collins.
The Cain strategy is to finish ahead of Mr. Collins in the primary, keep Mr. Isakson from winning a majority of the votes, and force a runoff vote Aug. 10 for the Republican nomination.
Mr. Cain, 58, entered the contest late, with a near-zero name recognition. Cain spokeswoman Nicole Barry said that since February, he has had TV ads running in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Columbus and Macon.
Mr. Cain is running as the true-blue conservative: He supports Mr. Bush on the war in Iraq, opposes abortion and same-sex “marriage,” and wants to keep “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
He has strong support from the state’s Christian Coalition leaders.
Some conservatives are suspicious of Mr. Isakson, who has a lifetime American Conservative Union voting record of 83, three points over the bare minimum to be considered a conservative. He once was pro-choice on abortion in a state where most Republicans are pro-life.
“But the business community — the bankers, the lawyers — loves Johnny,” a friend said privately.
Mr. Collins has a proven conservative record, with a lifetime rating of 95 from the ACU.
“Mac has a proven voting record,” said Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Coalition. “But I just think at this point, with Herman coming out from nowhere and doing TV ads, we have people who were Mac Collins supporters switching to Herman.”
The Christian Coalition has shown itself to be a powerful force in Georgia. They led a successful drive last week to get the state legislature to put on the ballot a state constitutional amendment ban on same-sex “marriages.”
Mr. Cain is chairman of the Godfather’s Pizza chain.
“Herman has the money, good young people running his campaign and is more personable than the two guys he’s running against,” said a well-known Republican who requested anonymity. “Herman has enough money to make it interesting.”
Mr. Cain is not the only black Georgia Republican running this year. Dylan Glenn, 34, a former White House adviser to both the current and the elder President Bush, is going after a U.S. House seat, with the backing of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas of California, former National Economic Council Chairman Larry Lindsey and former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr.
Both Mr. Cain and Mr. Glenn face the reality that black Republican lawmakers from Georgia have been a rarity.
“I’m not going to tell you racism isn’t still alive here,” Mr. Paul said, “but conservatives in this case are more concerned with principles, and they have a lot of concern about Johnny Isakson’s conservative credentials.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.