Chambliss: No Supermajority for the Dems

While the Minnesota race remains too close to call, a very close and contentious election has come to a close in Georgia. As many of you likely know, the Senate race in Georgia went to a runoff between incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat challenger Jim Martin because neither candidate captured over 50 percent of the vote on November 4th. According to MSNBC (http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/03/1696852.aspx), voter turn-out was down significantly, especially among African American voters. Overall turnout was down by nearly half; a quarter of voters in the run-off were black (as compared to one-third on November 4th). Chambliss won by a considerable amount with 57% of the vote.

The implications of this outcome are tremendous. It guarantees that Democrats cannot hold a supermajority capable of overriding a filibuster (60 votes are needed). This may prove to be an important barrier for Obama and a democratic congress to push their agenda through. It also reduces the stakes in the Minnesota run-off because that outcome can no longer swing control of the Senate.

The overhanging specter of the supermajority became an important tool for Chambliss's campaign leading up to the run-off election. He was able to successfully cast himself as the 'key firewall' that could hold off an impenetrable supermajority by the Democrats (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hHW-ZJ03DLcUGUM9z9p2nkbRAG-QD94R6TMO0). He and other high-profile GOP figures (such as Sarah Palin) were able to use this threat to whip up support and mobilize a strong conservative turn-out.