ATLANTA, Ga. — Howard Dean is going to Georgia on Sunday to visit with former President Jimmy Carter, though Carter is not expected to endorse Dean's candidacy for the presidential nomination. Meanwhile, other Georgia Democrats are moving in an entirely different direction.
Sen. Zell Miller is bringing along some of his Georgia Democratic friends to an Atlanta fund-raiser Thursday evening featuring President Bush. The appearance aims to show voters that the president's support in the state is not limited to Republicans only.
In fact, nine other Georgia Democrats, including former U.S. Attorney General Griffin Bell, who served under Carter, are planning to announce their support for the president.
Georgia has been experiencing a gradual shift from Democrat-dominated to Republican-led politics over the last 35 years. In 2002, Georgia elected a GOP governor for the first time in more than a century.
Miller's decision to back Bush has angered Democrats, who say he is defying the party that has been very good to him, sending him to the statehouse as a senator, the governor's mansion and the U.S. Senate. But one observer said Miller's decision to back Bush is a sign of his developed political senses.
"Zell Miller is very astute and, holding his finger in the wind, has decided that Georgia has gone over the cliff into the Republican column," said political analyst Bill Shipp.
