(GA-8) DuBose in 2012: Should or will he challenge Austin Scott?

With the 2012 elections on the horizon, its time to address the elephant in the room, the $100,000 question: Should DuBose Porter challenge Austin Scott for the 8th Congressional District?

There's no doubt in my mind that Porter will run for governor again in 2014. I'll be surprised if he doesn't, but what about congress?

I remember Porter stating awhile back that he had no interest in going to Washington.

You wonder what his answer would be if asked that question again?

Porter would be the ideal candidate to run for that Middle Georgia based seat formerly occupied by then Rep Jim Marshall. I think he'd run one of the best congressional campaigns in the country if he were to challenge Scott.

Porter has some experience dealing with Washington Politics, having interned for Iconic Georgia Senator, democrat Sam Nunn in the late 70s. He served as one of Zell Miller's floor lieutenants when Miller was governor of the state, & has the leading advocates for education here in the state.

He is a small business owner, operating the Courier Herald,as well as the Soperton News, the Montgomery Monitor, and the Wheeler County Eagle, the Johnson Journal, the Twiggs Times New Era and the Cochran Journal, the Wilkinson County Post and in 2006 they purchased The Baldwin Bulletin.

Although some will say he didn't perform that well in the primary for governor, Porter ran a very aggressive grassroots campaign for governor, visiting more that 100 counties in the state. If he were to implement that same strategy in a race for the 8th, he'll have a good chance against Scott, (that is if he were to run). Porter's crossover appeal would be a added bonus in his arsenal. Something Marshall had when he controlled that seat for 9 years. Farmers love him, educators adore him, lower class status blacks & whites are drawn to his populistic approach & veterans appreciate him.

With the future of Macon-Bibb County up in the air, that should discourage Porter from running. I mean, let's face it, Laurens County is no liberal bastion with its mix of social & christian conservatism, so Porter wouldn't have any problem running in a much more rural district.

Porter's populism would go over well & let's not forget about Scott's vote for Paul Ryan's Medicare Reform that would cut $4.4 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years, eliminate the health care law passed last year, slash domestic spending and completely overhaul some of the nation’s entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid by issuing vouchers among other things. Under Ryan’s Medicare plan, the federal government would issue vouchers to seniors to purchase their own health care insurance in a private market. It would only apply to those ages 55 and younger & it even has many democrats saying that it would end medicare. That vote may or may not come back to haunt Scott, but that remains to be seen. If seniors start to become worried about their medicare, medicaid & social security, that voting bloc will up for grabs for Porter or any potential democratic challenger.

On the other hand, Porter may still be eyeing another run for governor in 2014 (without the shadow of Roy Barnes to fight thru). A run & loss for congress would put his political career on the ropes so he may not want to take that chance. A 2012 win would open the door for his wife Carol Porter to run for governor (which she would be the odds on favorite to win the democratic nomination).

I'm sure many democrats would love to see Porter take a swing at the 8th District seat. Its just a question of does Porter wants to?