Bill Clinton coming to Atlanta to help Martin

Consultant Donna Brazile will advise Democratic Senate candidate's campaign

Jim Martin could only watch last week as top national Republicans descended on Georgia to campaign for his opponent in the Dec. 2 U.S. Senate runoff.

Martin is getting some big-name assistance of his own this week.

Former President Bill Clinton will return to Atlanta on Wednesday to campaign for Martin, who seeks to upset incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Clinton, who helped Martin raise money in the general election, will rally supporters at Clark Atlanta University. And Martin's bid will get a further boost from veteran Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's 2000 bid for the White House and has become a regular on CNN and ABC. Brazile will be advising Martin's campaign.

Chambliss was boosted from visits by former GOP presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mike Huckabee on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.

It all points to the importance of the race, not just to Georgia, but to the balance of power in the country. A Martin victory could give Democrats 60 seats in the Senate, enough to keep Republicans from blocking legislation and presidential appointments.

"When I heard Jim Martin was in a runoff, I cleared my calendar because I knew I needed to do whatever I could to ensure a big win for Jim," Brazile wrote to supporters.

In an e-mail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Brazile said final details of her trip here were still being worked out.

All of this is aimed at one end result: Persuading election-weary voters to return to the polls and elect a U.S. senator. Early voting started this week.

Both sides are doing the same thing: Rebuilding the campaign infrastructure in a hurry.

From increasingly negative television advertisements, the help of friendly organizations, and aid and comfort of like-minded surrogates, Martin and Chambliss are angling for every advantage they can find.

Martin's campaign has taken over 25 Obama field offices around the state. Chambliss is getting help from 10 Republican "victory" offices in key counties.

Chambliss' efforts have been boosted by friends at the Republican National Committee, who have worked with the state GOP to establish central staging locations in 10 counties. Each office, located inside a county party headquarters, will serve as regional operations centers for the state's 159 counties. Both parties' Senate campaign arms - the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee - have also spent thousands on television commercials.

"It's a statewide campaign, and we're going to treat it as a statewide campaign," said Clint Reed, political director for the RNC. "But ultimately, this race is going to be about mobilizing voters and turning them to the polls."

Republicans will focus on door-to-door campaigning and are aggressively encouraging voters to take advantage of the state's absentee voting system. Voters can request absentee ballots by mail and return them by mail, and avoid a trip to the polls. Giving voters the chance to cast a ballot from their couch is one way to beat runoff apathy, Reed said.

The campaign has sent many GOP voters applications for absentee ballots in the mail, and the forms were handed out at McCain's rally for Chambliss last week. Those absentee ballots are a vital component of the campaign, Chambliss spokeswoman Michelle Grasso said, especially since advance voting next week will be limited to three days because of the Thanksgiving holidays.

"With the holidays coming, you just don't want to lose any of your voters," she said.

"Everything is get out the vote, get out the vote."

Meanwhile, it appears less and less likely that President-elect Barack Obama will visit Georgia on Martin's behalf. A spokesman for Obama's transition team said no decision has been made about trips to the state. But Obama is making his presence felt in the campaign.

Even though Obama lost Georgia by about 5 percentage points, his campaign infrastructure was lauded as the best of any Democrat in Georgia in at least a decade. Much of that infrastructure is being left in place for Martin.

Obama's "campaign team is contributing to Jim Martin's efforts every single way between now and the runoff," said Martin spokesman Matt Canter.

"If the presidential election was a marathon, this is a 50-yard dash. It really is all about getting Jim Martin's message out to voters and making sure voters get to the polls."