Unseating Rep. Marshall Is a GOP Priority
MACON — State Representative Austin Scott of Tifton is the latest in a succession of Republicans believing they can unseat four-term Congressman Jim Marshall.
“We’re gonna talk about voting records, and how he votes when he’s in Washington, which is different than what he says when he’s in Georgia on fiscal issues,” said Scott.
Even Marshall admits he represents Republican turf, which helps explain why the Democrat voted against health care reform, and why he’s running TV ads claiming he’s tougher on illegal immigration than Scott.
Scott fiercely objected: “He’s part of a group that has failed to do what they said they were going to do. They have not sealed the border. He has not done any of the things in his ads that he says he’s going to do.”
Marshall countered: “If you look at how the two of us have voted, the legislation I’ve proposed, what I’ve said, what he’s said, it’s clear that he’s a good bit to the left of me on this subject.”
Marshall’s claim that Scott tilts left on anything draws sneers from Republicans.
Scott has drawn help from the national Republican party, which has sent national figures like chairman Michael Steele into districts like Georgia’s eighth, where they smell the blood of incumbent Democrats. The GOP wants Marshall’s middle Georgia district, which is rooted in Macon, to be part of a political upheaval that returns Republicans to power in Congress.
“He is a social conservative and a fiscal liberal,” said Scott. “And it’s fiscal policy I believe, jobs and the economy, that will drive this election.
“I’d just as soon not have the [GOP’s national] attention,” Marshall said. “But you know, these races have been very consistent. People know who I am they know what I stand for.”
Last time Marshall won this race, in 2008, his fellow Democrat Barack Obama lost in the eighth district by more than 10 points. Republicans figure this election will present as good an opportunity as any to put a stop to Marshall’s winning streak.
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