Public Policy Polling released some new Georgia-centric data this week. A number and a name stood out to me.
37. That’s Gov. Nathan Deal’s and Sen. Johnny Isakson job approval rating.
If all you know about Georgia politics is what you read on local conservative political blogs, you’d think that Sen. Saxby Chambliss is the least popular Georgia Republican office holder. Turns out Chambliss’s job approval in the same poll is 45 percent. I’m not saying Chambliss is popular, but I’m surprised to see he’s more popular than Deal or Isakson.
The name that showed up in the PPP poll that stood out to me was Georgia State Sen. Jason Carter. PPP polled matched Gov. Deal and Sen. Chambliss against a small group of hypothetical Democratic challengers. Carter was in that small group along with Roy Barnes, Rep. John Barrow and Kasim Reed. Incidentally, no Democrat at the moment comes out ahead of Deal or Chambliss in the hypothetical match-up.
I have no clue what Sen. Carter’s intentions are, but in politics chatter begets chatter. The mere fact that his name shows up on a short list of Democrats who might run in a statewide election increases the likelihood he’ll show up on more such lists.
