Home / News /

Frankly, What Can Broun Do For You?

July 28, 2008 — Political scientists have been perplexed for years by polls showing how unpopular Congress is. Yet reelection rates types run high in America, especially in the House of Representatives.

Last year, approval of Congress dipped below 20 percent, while disapproval rates went as high as 75 percent. And this is nothing new. Most Gallup polls show disapproval rates exceeding Congressional approval ratings. Yet only once since 1976 has the reelection rate for the House of Representatives fallen below 90 percent.

Political Scientists Thomas R. Dye and the late Harmon Ziegler have shown that while Congress as a whole is regarded as highly unpopular, individual members do well in polls. So how do they do it? Dye and Ziegler point to several factors: (1) name familiarity, (2) office resources, and (3) campaign contributions.

What explains the ability of Congressman Paul Broun Jr. to defeat his opponent, State Representative Barry Fleming in Georgia’s Tenth Congressional District? After all, Broun squeaked into office last year via a special election, yet won the seat this with about 70 percent of the vote in the primary.

Last year, when Congressman Charlie Norwood passed away, Dr. Broun seemed little more than an afterthought in the race. After all, Broun had lost a congressional race and a Senate primary in prior years, earning him the dreaded moniker of “frequent candidate.”

Most of the attention went to State Senator Jim Whitehead, a former football star for the University of Georgia during the Fran Tarkenton days, excelling also in track. In fact, Whitehead won roughly more than twice the votes of his nearest two competitors in that election. Broun just inched his way into the runoff by less than 200 votes.

At that time, I predicted a Whitehead defeat due to self inflicted wounds, ranging from skipping debates to joking about the need to bomb UGA (except for the football team). Even then, Broun pulled out a victory by less than one percent.

This year, Broun faced a challenge from the well-financed Fleming, who also received an endorsement from the Augusta Chronicle. Broun’s name recognition was slight, owing as much to his famous father, a long serving state senator. Fleming, on the other hand, was a House Majority Whip who won his seat and position two years ago without opposition.

Fleming also negated any incumbent fundraising advantage for Broun with his own money-raising prowess, as reported by the Hill, the AJC, and SPR.

So how did Broun do it? Roll Call newspaper may have a clue. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Roll Call discovered Congressman Broun blew half of his budget on communications in an effort to boost his name recognition in this race, swamping the district’s voters with “franked” mailings. It’s one of the perks of the office (“franking” is loosely based upon the Latin word for “free”). But for the fiscal conservative Broun, such revelations are a blow. They are what I call a “core ideology scandal.”

A “core ideology scandal” means that you’ve gone against one of your key principles, even if you didn’t violate the law. It’s the Democrat who touts public education, then sends his kids to private school. It’s the Republican who claims to defend marriage, but winds up in a bordello.