Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Scott trails Marshall by 5% in a internal poll released by the Scott Campaign

A new poll out by the the Scott Campaign shows Austin Scott with 39% to Jim Marshall 44% in a internal poll conducted by the American Viewpoint,a republican oriented poll who also conducts polls for Senator Johnny Isakson as well.

I'll say this again, unless Jim Marshall does something idiotic from now until Election Day, he will will re-election. In a district that was gerrymandered to favor a republican, he continues to lead against Longtime State Rep. Austin Scott of Tifton, one of the few republicans I actually like because he doesn't comes off as some extreme right-wing hack who talks about common-sense issues.

These findings made the Cook Report move the race from a "lean" democratic seat to now a "toss-up". I still consider the seat a slight democratic lean.

But having said all of that, Marshall hasn't done anything unfavorable to give voters a reason to turn him out of office. As long as he keep the coalition he has built together, he'll win another term to the 8th District. Im still sticking with my prediction of Marshall 54% - Scott 46% unless something dramatic happens.

6 comments:

bdh said...

If Jim Marshall hasn't done anything unfavorable to give voters a reason to turn him out of office, then why is it that only 35% of those polled said he absolutely deserved re-election? It's funny that you failed to mention that. The natural response to this observation is that Marshall is still leading in the poll. He's a four-term incumbent running against a state representative who's only well-known in the least populous portion of the district and voters tend to lean towards names they know. Plain and simple, the only reason Scott's not leading already is because of name recognition. Oh, and you also forgot to mention that the margin of error in the poll is 5.7%. So, statistically, Scott's already within the margin of error and 17% of voters are undeciided. Any incumbent in office as long as Marshall should be shaking at numbers such as these this early.

So, what has Marshall done that would cause him to be voted out? He's voted for Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker, voted with Barney Frank 86% of the time, voted for bailouts and to raise the debt ceiling. I know you consider yourself a Democrat, but as a conservative rural Georgian, if those facts don't outrage you, I don't know what will. Some things are a matter of principle, and if Jim Marshall was truly willing to put principle before politics, then he would have voted differently when the spotlight wasn't on him. Plain and simple, this is a Republican year in a district that gave 56% of the vote to John McCain. I would dare say that Marshall has never been this vulnerable, at least not since his first election in 2002.

I'm not an extreme right-wing hack. I'm a rural Georgian just like you and as a matter of fact, I voted for Marshall in 2008. The plain and simple fact of the matter is that he's incredibly vulnerable, and Austin Scott would be a better representative of rural Georgia and the district in general. These early poll numbers clearly show that people are starting to realize that.

Keith said...

Scott could be a "Better" Representative for the district, but he won't because he'll be just another party line republican afradi to break with his party when they are wrong on a certain issue.

I said this earlier to one of my republican friends, voting against Marshall for voting for Pelosi as speaker won't be enough to get Marshall out of office. If you are upset about Marshall voting for Frank 86% of the time, then you should look at my congressman Sanford Bishop who has voted more liberal than Barney Frank on just about every issue since 2008, about 96% of the time, (I have to re-check that to see if that's correct).

I for one don't see Marshall that vulnerable, but who knows. And Just like Marshall, Scott will have to answer for his voting record like eliminating Income Tax Cuts for Georgians making less than $20,000 yr, not renewing the homestead property Tax Cut that increase property Taxes as much as $300 or more, & not to mentioed his votes when it came to education, etc.

The facts you mentined about the debt ceiling, Pelosi, & Frank does give me concern, but not enough to say GET HIM OUT!

Im sticking with my prediction that Marshall wins re-election.

Scott has to give voters a reason & a compelling one at that in asking voters to elect him & not re-elect Marshall to another term to congress & so far I haven't heard that argument. YET!

Ken Carroll said...

"So, what has Marshall done that would cause him to be voted out?"

Good grief! What has he done to justify re-election? This nation deserves our best and Jim Marshall is not it.

Name just TWO pieces of legislation Marshall has had authored in his 8 years in Congress. Just two. Give up? Don't bother looking, there is only one: He added the word "mounds" to the title of the Ocmulgee National Monument. That is it.

Marshall holds ZERO leadership positions in The US House, ZERO leadership positions on any committee or subcommittee and ZERO leadership positions with his party.

The real question is, "What has Jim Marshall done to deserve re-election?"

Keith said...

Legislation hes authored:


H.R.5881 : To amend title 10, United States Code, to eliminate the offset between military retired pay and veterans service-connected disability compensation for certain retired members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability, and for other purposes

H.R. 333 The disabled Veteran Tax Termination Act.

No he doesn't hold any leadership positions in the house, so what? Those Liberals aren't going to give a southern democrat like Jim Marshall any leadership spots because he doesn't agree with their views.

As long as he stays on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture, that district will be fine.

He takes care of the Agri-business sector of the district, has secured much needed funds for small, rural hospitals in the district & most importantly he takes of the veterans which are a crucial voting bloc over there.

So my question is: What has he DONE that is so wrong in terms of hurting the 8th district that he needs to be voted out of office? The Pelosi argument isn't gonna cut it! In terms of the 8th District, what has he done to harm the constituents over there?

Ken Carroll said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ken Carroll said...

My apologies, I should have said "Bills that have become law." Marshall has authored (I believe) 29 bills, all within the past four years, and only one has ever made it out of committee to be debated. The one you reference is also still in committee where it will doubtless die as did 28 of the other 29 bills. And no, I'm not counting resolutions honoring various individual and group accomplishments.

The goal of citizens should be to get the best possible representative in office. By your low-bar standards, a US Representative who does absolutely nothing would be perfect and you would always endorse that individual because they could never do anything that would be "so wrong in terms of hurting the 8th district that he needs to be voted out of office."

My argument is that rather than not even telling his staff how he will vote 2 hours before a bill comes on the floor (and I know because I called his office multiple times), he should have enough courage to speak out for what is right. Jim Marshall does not represent the people of this district, he does not lift his voice in support of our concerns and so we are voiceless in the US House of Representatives.

As for Marshall not holding any leadership positions because of the liberal Democrats, then as long as he is in office this district will NEVER have a representative holding a leadership position of any type - and that is yet another reason to vote him out of office.

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