Georgia Gov. Zell Miller, left, and Democratic Senate candidate Max Cleland appeared at a candidate rally Wednesday at the Julian Smith Barbecue Pit. Photo by Steven Shelton/Staff

  Millner may be top spender
  Norwood, Bell have common ground

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By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer

Democrats thronged Wednesday night to free barbecue and to rally around Georgia Gov. Zell Miller as he stumped in Augusta for fellow Democrats David Bell and Max Cleland.

About 450 people jammed the Julian Smith Barbecue Pit as Mr. Miller drew the battle lines for the election next week around one of his favorite topics: education.

``I have never seen any political party or any political candidate for that matter, that ran against education,'' Mr. Miller said of the Republicans. ``They want to abolish (the Department of) Education. They want to bash school teachers. They want to cut school loans. Abolish, bash, cut - those are the Republican Party's ABCs.''

Mr. Miller said that, like the Republican Congress, he has cut programs in order to pare down the budget. ``But not in education, there's a difference.''

Mr. Bell, seeking to unseat 10th Congressional District Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., slammed his opponent's votes to cut $31 billion out of education and $10 billion from student loans. He pointed out four HOPE scholarship students standing behind Mr. Miller and said that's the type of program he would fight for.

``They are going to make the 21st century the greatest century ever,'' Mr. Bell said.

Dr. Norwood's campaign said he has voted to increase education and wants to do it at the local level instead of in Washington. Campaign spokesman John Stone scoffed at Mr. Miller's statement.

``It sounds like Mr. Miller went to the same training seminar with the unions as Mr. Bell,'' Mr. Stone said.

Mr. Cleland, who wants to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn, said there is a common thread among the Democrats gathered.

``We are in what Gen. Colin Powell calls the `sensible center.' I think Gov. Miller, David Bell and myself support programs that give hope and opportunity,'' Mr. Cleland said. It's also a distinction he draws with his Republican opponent, Guy Millner. He says Mr. Millner would privatize and destroy the student loan program, and support a voucher system that would devastate public schools.

Mr. Millner supports school choice but also supports government-backed student loans and has called on Mr. Cleland to pull ads claiming he doesn't. Mr. Cleland said his ads are ``truthful'' and he will keep them.

Mr. Millner had to pull his own ad off black-oriented radio stations Wednesday that claimed Mr. Cleland voted against making Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a holiday. Mr. Cleland actually voted for it and was the chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Committee.