Obama sinks Roy Barnes, political experts say

The August Chronicle:

ATLANTA -- The consensus among a panel of political experts assembled Tuesday night by the University of Georgia is that Roy Barnes will have a difficult time overcoming the anti-Obama tide in his quest to be elected governor this fall.

The panel of veteran political operatives and scholars spoke to an Atlanta alumni group on behalf of UGA's School of Public and International Affairs. It was an outreach event as well as a chance to ask the alumni for financial support.

Other issues like transportation, water and education have taken a backseat to the economy and President Barack Obama's handling of it, said Charles Bullock, UGA political science professor.

"All those issues have been obliterated by the concern about jobs, especially in a state with more than 10 percent unemployment," he said.

Barnes has a tough situation as the Democratic nominee, according to Matt Towery, a UGA graduate and one-time politician who now does polling as president of InsiderAdvantage.

"Roy Barnes has got to repudiate Barack Obama without repudiating Barack Obama," Towery said.

Barnes fumbled in a recent debate when Republican nominee Nathan Deal asked him whether he would vote for Obama's re-election. Barnes responded that it depended on who else was running. Towery said that answer could cost Barnes the white male vote.

Asked whether questions about Deal's ethics and personal finances would harm him, former Democratic Congressman Buddy Darden said they could shake confidence in Deal's abilities as the state's CEO, even among GOP voters.

"In my view, the intensity is not there for their gubernatorial candidate," Darden said. "I know the (primary runoff opponent Karen) Handel people are furious."

But Towery said Barnes mishandled it the same way Handel did by beating it into the ground beyond the point where voters cared or understood the issue.