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Are Republicans in Georgia healing? Maybe. Maybe not

August 18, 2010 — It’s only been a week or so, but that’s time enough for the newly-minted Republican gubernatorial nominee, Nathan Deal, to begin healing some of the wounds from a contentious primary and runoff campaign. So how’s he doing so far? We’re getting mixed signals.

We are hearing that some key Karen Handel supporters haven’t been asked to take a seat at the table to help formulate a unified campaign against the formidable Democratic candidate, former Gov. Roy Barnes. They haven’t been asked to help raise money. They haven’t been asked for anything.

“That’s not atypical for the GOP,” says one longtime observer. “Wounds don’t heal easily. But normally, when the chips are down, everybody comes to the table. But by giving Roy Barnes a week’s extra time with some top Republican heavyweights not raising money and with various factions not talking to each other, that isn’t good.”

Another said it’s just going to take a little time but the wounds will heal.

“There are some people who were used to being at the head table who now are going to be at the second or third table. But things are moving better in Georgia than in some states that have had brutal Republican primaries. By Labor Day you will see a pretty strong team emerge,” he said.

Still, the mutterings are out there and they aren’t just coming from ex-Handel supporters who contend they are being snubbed. Some legislators who went to the wall for Deal, along with some political leaders and major donors, complain that once Deal sewed-up the nomination it became much more difficult for them to get through the palace guard for a one-on-one conversation with the former congressman.

What they fear they are seeing is a closing of the ranks by the inner circle – those who have been with the campaign from Day One - to prevent their numbers from widening so as to ensure their own access to power and positions in the event of a Deal win in November.

Too, some are wondering if Deal and his advisors believe the real battle ended with the runoff and that, as one recent poll showed, Deal is likely to beat Barnes in November.

InsiderAdvantage CEO and pollster Matt Towery said that anyone holding that view is kidding himself.

“Whatever number Deal has, I can’t imagine that it’s going to get any better than a week in which Barack Obama has basically offended most of the nation by saying that a mosque ought to be built where 9-11 took place. That may have gone over well with Michael Bloomberg, but it has absolutely ripped the President’s approval rating … If Barnes is able to withstand that (linkage with Obama, a fellow Democrat) then this is not a guaranteed race.”

“There are going to be some growing pains,” said another observer, who nonetheless said that Handel’s quick concession and decision not to seek a recount set the tone for the party to come together. “It sent the message that we all have to be on one team.”

But that doesn’t mean, he said, that some egos won’t get bruised along the way.

“When it’s not the candidate who is calling them but rather the finance director, that’s going to take some getting used to. Always in campaigns there are going to be people whose egos don’t feel touched or petted. But I think Deal is going to run an open-arms campaign that is not going to be about exclusivity.”

He added, “This is gelling much more quickly than most of the divisive primaries we have seen this year in various states.”

Whether the party will close ranks behind their nominee or remain divided as Democrats did in 2006 remains to be seen. The man who will have more to say about that than anybody had this comment in the final debate of the runoff: “It’s going to take some time I think for us to be able to heal some of the wounds that have been inflicted here.”

That came after Handel said she would support Deal if she wasn’t the nominee. Deal remained silent on whether he would support Handel.