Democrat Jim Martin has released a new radio ad featuring President-Elect Barack Obama urging Georgians to vote in the December 2 runoff. Martin is facing Republican Saxby Chambliss, whose staunch support of Bush’s economic policies has hurt Georgia’s working families. Martin supports Obama’s middle-class tax cuts, and will fight hard for the middle class in the U.S. Senate.

For more on the Georgia Senate race, see our race profile page or visit Jim Martin’s website.

This Wednesday, President Bill Clinton will join Democrat Jim Martin at a special event at Clark University in Atlanta. Martin is facing Republican Saxby Chambliss in a December 2 run-off for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat.

While Martin has a long record of fighting for the middle class, Chambliss supports the far-right economic policies that have led to record foreclosure rates and a crisis on Wall Street. When President Obama and the new Senate tackle our nation’s economic problems, Saxby Chambliss wants to be there to derail the process.

Martin’s latest campaign ad provides a great explanation of how out-of-touch Saxby Chambliss is on the problems with our economy:

Click here for details on the Wednesday event with President Clinton.

A new memo on the Georgia Senate race...

MEMO

To: Interested Parties
From: Martin for Senate Campaign
Date: November 11, 2008
RE: Chambliss Has Failed Our Veterans

SUMMARY:

Saxby Chambliss campaigns on his dedication to our veterans and men and women in uniform

But he stood in the way of a new GI Bill to give full education benefits to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and help them build a future.

He voted twice against giving them more time with their families between tours.

Chambliss voted 23 times against increasing health care funding for veterans, even with the deplorable conditions facing Iraq war veterans at Walter Reed Army Hospital.

He even voted against funds for body armor and bullet-proof vests to keep our troops in Iraq safe.

Saxby Chambliss, change for America starts with respecting those who serve.

BACKGROUND:

Chambliss Stood in the way of the New GI Bill for Veterans of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, voting for a much weaker measure

• Chambliss Voted for Graham Amendment Whose Defeat Allowed the GI Bill to Come to Floor. [2008 Senate Vote #127, 5/14/2008]
• Defeat of Graham Amendment Allowed GI Bill to Come to Floor. According to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which supported passage of the GI Bill, “Thankfully, the Senate voted forcefully, 55-42, to kill the amendment, giving the Post-9/11 GI Bill an opportunity to come to the floor. [IAVA Action Fund 2008 Congressional Scorecard, p.23]
• Veterans Groups Prefer GI Bill to Graham-Chambliss Proposal. “Several veterans groups expressed a preference for the Webb bill in a May 7 veterans committee hearing, and criticized the Graham bill because it may not cover full tuition costs. “[The Graham bill] does not reflect the real costs of education, and would cover far less of the real costs with each passing year,” testified Eric Hilleman, Deputy Director for National Legislative Service at Veterans of Foreign Wars.” [CQ Politics, 5/14/2008]
• Chambliss voted to block the GI Bill from Coming to a Vote.
  [2008 Senate Vote #161, 6/26/2008]
• Procedural Move Aimed At Veterans Education Funding. In June 2008, speaking before Chambliss’ vote to block the bill, Senator Murray highlighted the fact that a vote to block the bill would have endangered veteran’s education benefits. Senator Murray said, “Mr. President, the Senator from Oklahoma has raised a point of order, and I want all our colleagues to know that his point of order lies against the emergency designations for the census funding, as he has just talked about, but in reality his point of order lies against all the emergency spending in this amendment, including the veterans education funding and the extension of unemployment benefits, and against the disaster relief. So I urge our colleagues to vote with us on the point of order. It has already been part of the agreement.” [Congressional Record, 6/26/2008; S6238]

Chambliss Opposed the Webb Amendment Guaranteeing Troops Time At Home Between Deployments

• Chambliss Twice Opposed Guaranteeing Troops Time At Home Between Deployments. In 2007, Chambliss twice voted against the Webb dwell time amendment. The amendment guaranteed active duty forces as much time at home as they served while deployed. Further, it guaranteed National Guard and reservists three years at home between deployments. [CQ Bill Summary; Vote 241, 7/11/07; Vote 341, 9/19/07]
• Chambliss Said Troops Don’t Need Rest Because In WWII They Didn’t Come Home For Years – Call’s Webb’s Proposal Out Of Touch With History. Chambliss said, “During World War II and other wars of this country, service members participating in those wars deployed for 3 and 4 years with little or no break. With this in mind the current proposal by Senator Webb seems out of step with history and what it has taken to win the wars of this country. I can think of no way in which the Webb amendment will help our Nation succeed in Iraq.” [Congressional Record, Pages S8974-S8975, 7/11/07]
• Chambliss: Military Shouldn’t Worry About How Long Units Are At Home When Deciding Who To Redeploy. One reason Chambliss gave for objecting to Webb’s dwell time amendment was, “Units would need to be selected for deployment based on dwell criteria that may in fact cause significant disruption to needed reset, planned transformation or unit training schedules.” [Congressional Record, Pages S8974-S8975, 7/11/07]

Chambliss Has Voted Against Veterans Programs at Least 23 Times Since Joining the Senate

• Chambliss Has Opposed Vets’ Program Funding At Least 23 Times in the Senate Alone. Since joining the Senate in 2003, Chambliss has voted against increased funding for veterans’ health care programs at least 23 times. [Vote 161, 6/26/08; Vote 114, 3/23/07; Vote 172, 5/17/07; Vote 222, 8/2/06; Vote 67, 3/16/06; Vote 63, 3/16/06; Vote 41, 3/14/06; Vote 15, 2/13/06; Vote 7, 2/2/06; Vote 343, 11/17/05; Vote 251, 10/5/05; Vote 114, 4/28/05; Vote 89, 4/12/05; Vote 90, 4/12/05; Vote 55, 3/16/05; Vote 145, 6/23/04; Vote 48, 3/11/04; Vote 40, 3/10/04; Vote 34, 3/9/04; Vote 379, 10/14/03; Vote 83, 3/25/03; Vote 81, 3/25/03; Vote 74, 3/21/03]

Chambliss Repeatedly Voted Against Additional Funding to Give the Men & Women in Uniform the Armor and Equipment They Need

• Chambliss Twice Voted Against Funding for Armored Vehicles. In October 2005, Chambliss joined the majority of his Republican colleagues and voted against an amendment to the Defense Appropriations for $360.8 million to provide armored vehicles to American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In April 2005, Chambliss voted against an amendment offered by Senator Kennedy which would provide an addition $213 million to ensure that Humvee production remained at its maximum level through the fiscal year. [Vote 248, 10/5/05; Vote 108, 4/21/05]
• Chambliss Opposed Funding For Equipment And Armor For Troops. In 2003, Chambliss voted against providing an additional $322 million for safety equipment, including body armor, to troops in Iraq. Earlier that year, Chambliss voted against providing an additional $1.047 billion for procurement of National Guard and Reserve equipment. According to Mary Landrieu, the bill’s sponsor, much of the money would have been used for protective gear for Guard and Reserve troops. [Vote 376, 10/2/03; Vote 116, 4/2/03]
• Chambliss Voted Against $50 Million to Repair Military Equipment. In 2006, Chambliss voted against instructing conferees on the tax reconciliation bill to including funding to strengthen the military instead of extending capital gains and dividends tax cuts for the wealthy. Sen. Reed, who sponsored the motion, asked that $50 million be spent to repair military equipment, arguing, “Because they depend upon this equipment for their lives, we can’t tolerate equipment that won’t operate properly.” [Vote 18, 2/14/06; Congressional Record, 2/13/06]
• Chambliss Voted Against Funding for Military Equipment Repairs. In 2006, Chambliss voted to kill a proposal to provide $44 billion to improve and repair military equipment. According to sponsor Sen. Jack Reed, “$47 billion worth of equipment which they have used in Iraq and Afghanistan needs to be repaired and reconditioned.” The funding would have been offset by repealing capital gains and dividends tax cuts, while extending protections for middle-class taxpayers. [Vote 8, 2/2/06; Congressional Record, 2/2/06]

As of last night, five great Democratic candidates won their races for the U.S. Senate.

• Mark Udall of Colorado defeated Republican Bob Schaffer 52% to 43%
• Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire defeated Republican John Sununu 52% to 45%
• Tom Udall of New Mexico defeated Republican Steve Pearce 61% to 39%
• Kay Hagan of North Carolina defeated Republican Liddy Dole 53% to 44%
• Mark Warner of Virginia defeated Republican Jim Gilmore 64% to 35%

Four more races are still up in the air.

• In Minnesota, Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman are tied at 42% each.  With the margin between the two candidates at just a few hundred, Minnesota law requires an automatic recount.
• In Georgia, Democrat Jim Martin reports that he’s headed for a run-off against Republican Saxby Chambliss on December 2.
• In Oregon, results are still coming in, but pre-election polls showed Democrat Jeff Merkley with a good lead over Republican Gordon Smith.
• Alaska remains too close to call as convicted felon Ted Stevens attempts to hold onto his Senate seat.

And all 12 Democratic senators who were up for re-election this term claimed victory.

As it now stands, Democrats have picked up 5 new Senate seats (so far) this year, for a total of 56 seats.  Senator Schumer put it best last night when he said, “The era of obstruction is over.”

Congratulations again to the senators-elect and to all the great Democratic senators whose states chose to send them back to Washington to continue fighting for working families.

Lots of news and some new polling information as we head into the final campaign weekend.

Minnesota: Norm’s Numbers
A new poll out today has Democrat Al Franken continuing to hold a 5-point lead over Republican Norm Coleman.  That’s certainly grim news for Coleman, but there are some other numbers that signal much bigger trouble for him. 

New Hampshire: A New Direction
This Sunday, President Bill Clinton will join former Governor Jeanne Shaheen for three rallies in New Hampshire.  Click here for more information.  And a new poll out in the state shows Shaheen continuing to lead Republican John Sununu by a 52% to 44% margin.

North Carolina: Dole Flailing And Falling
Liddy Dole’s poll numbers keep sinking as she rolls out an incredibly dishonest negative ad campaign that’s been condemned by pretty much every newspaper and political observer in the state.  Someone should give Dole the news that North Carolinians don’t reward bad behavior; the latest poll shows Dole trailing Democrat Kay Hagan 53% to 44%.

Oregon: Merkley Pulling Ahead
New polls in Oregon show Democrat Jeff Merkley pulling ahead of Republican Gordon Smith.  To remind Oregonians why electing Merkley to the Senate is so important, his campaign has some great information available on Merkley’s accomplishments as Oregon Speaker of the House, and why he’ll be a strong voice for Oregon in Washington.