Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Tuesday's primary proved two things primarily: the continued power of incumbency, even in a year of supposed change; and the fact that negative campaigning may often work, but can backfire big-time if it doesn't.
Paul Broun had both forces working in his favor in the Republican vote for 10th District Congress, which is why he denied challenger Barry Fleming even 30 percent of the total vote.
Broun was considered by many to be a marginal candidate in the special election to replace the late Rep. Charlie Norwood last year, but won. Just one year later, Broun has become ensconced as a tough-to-dislodge incumbent in Washington.
Nor did challenger Fleming help himself much. Although a popular and effective legislator in Atlanta, and the former majority whip -- the second-ranking Republican in the House -- it's clear that Fleming turned voters off with early and consistent negative ads targeting Broun.
It's likely nothing would have pried Broun from the seat anyway; he's done a monster job of selling his Christianity and conservatism, and has used every means at his disposal to ingratiate himself to voters. They obviously felt he'd done nothing to be fired for.
Nor did voters see any reason to cut state Sen. Ed Tarver loose -- and thank goodness.
We completely, utterly and most sincerely disagree with former state Sen. Don Cheeks when he said the impact of a Tarver loss would have been negligible. Yes, he's in the minority party. But Tarver has "statesman" written all over him, and is headed for a seat on the crucial Senate Appropriations Committee -- largely due to his good working relationship with colleagues of all political persuasions and races.
Tarver's opponent, on the other hand, was the irascible and divisive Marion Williams, who nearly singlehandedly held back progress in his days on the Augusta Commission. A Tarver loss on Tuesday would have tainted the local legislative delegation's image and severely damaged its efforts to rebuild some of the clout it once boasted in Atlanta.
Voters in District 22 clearly didn't want to make that mistake.
There were a number of other story lines from this election, including near-70-percent wins by Columbia County candidates Lee Anderson (state House District 117), Ben Harbin (state House District 118) and Charles Allen (District 3 County Commission). And former Harlem Mayor Scott Dean actually crossed the 70-percent mark in his District 4 County Commission race.
One political observer noted that none of those gentlemen lost a single precinct. Remarkable.
Still, the biggest story, and the legacy, from this election is Fleming's abysmal showing in his congressional race. Fleming didn't even carry his home Columbia County, and won his home precinct only by 19 votes, 86-67.
There may be a number of factors for that besides the negative campaigning, some of them seemingly trivial but which add up. His campaign didn't rely on local operatives or have a local flavor -- literally: We've heard complaints that Columbia County barbecue wasn't served at a Fleming event there. Again, that seems trivial, but it adds up.
Fleming also relied heavily on his television persona, which may not have been the most telegenic of the candidates.
The biggest blunder, though, will be remembered as his campaign's decision to spread negative information on Broun's checkered background. The information on Broun's former financial and court problems may have been legitimate fodder -- but voters don't like that sort of stuff coming from opposing candidates.
Perhaps you've seen stories recently about a black bear wandering around the area.
Not to worry. It's likely Fleming's campaign scared it off.
